Koobservations: Eagles Look To Be More Pretender Than Contender Through First Three Weeks
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After the Lions defeated the Eagles 27-24, let me just say...Yikes. It's still 90-some degrees and it's just ridiculous. It's almost October, which means it's damn near Thanksgiving, which means it better start getting colder (a.k.a football weather) sooner rather than later.
Also- yikes for the Eagles.
A team we were boasting as a Super Bowl contender has showed to be pretender three weeks into the season. It's important to remember before we start marching into the Delaware River, it is only three weeks. But the only win this year has come over Washington who is without a doubt one of the worst teams in the NFL.
But here are some 90 degree September truths about the Philadelphia football team:
-The Eagles have one of the worst pass rushes in the National Football League.
-The Eagles are 1-2 and go to Green Bay (3-0) Thursday night to play a team that's defense has been buoyed by close personal friend and Doylestown, Pa. legend Mike Pettine, Jr.
-The Eagles get 10 days off after Green Bay and they'll need it. They're home against the Jets then at Minnesota (2-1), at Dallas (3-0), at Buffalo (3-0) then home against the Bears before the bye.
It's a rough stretch. Now that we're loose and limber, time for some KoObservations:
- First Quarter Offense
Let's start with the good before diving into the bad. Philly's offense produced 13 yards in the first quarter against Washington and 33 yards last week in Atlanta. Sunday they scored on both of their first quarter drives and averaged 7.4 yards per play.
Here's the breakdown:
2 Drives
17 plays
125 yards
10 points
Much better production out of the shoot. That bodes well heading forward, but the Birds still trailed at halftime. They've trailed all three games at the break.
- Who is handling the balls?
I'm not saying the Lions engaged in any tomfoolery before the game, but I am saying Lions head coach Matt Patricia was on the Patriots staff when they (cough) allegedly (cough cough) deflated footballs against the Colts in the AFC Championship game.
Doesn't it seem strange they come to Philly and Nelson Agholor drops one ball and fumbles another? The Birds drop seven Carson Wentz passes?
Miles Sanders fumbles twice on the same possession? Does Miles Sanders EVER fumble?
He fumbled 10 times in 38 games as a Nittany Lion (per CBS sports), and 5 times in 13 games last year.
Maybe the Eagles just don't hold onto the football.
- Who is hitting the quarterback?
Quick- let's play a game -- without looking it up, who do you think leads the Eagles in sacks this year.
Here are the numbers:
Brandon Graham: 0 sacks
Fletcher Cox: 0
Derek Barnett: 0
Malik Jackson: 0
Hmm. How about at the second level?
Linebacker Nigel Bradham? -- No.
Zach Brown? -- Nah.
For the love of Jim Johnson, is it Malcolm Jenkins?? -- Negative.
The Eagles leading sacker right now is safety Andrew Sendejo. He has one sack and the other? -- Tim Jernigan, who is currently injured.
The Birds have two sacks this season. The Lions sacked Carson Wentz on back-to-back plays Sunday.
They haven't been able to create a pass rush with four or even five guys. It's forced Jim Schwartz to have to blitz and it's exposed a weak Eagles secondary. Defense all works in tandem. Derek Barnett said it best after the game:
"Jim says we're the engine that runs [the defense]. He puts the onus on us and we have to step up to the challenge."
So far, no one has.
- Nelson Agholohhhh My God
Allow me to quote most millenials here.
'I Just Can't' with Nelson.
The finished stat line doesn't look terrible. Nelly finished the game with 8 receptions for 50 yards and two touchdowns, but it was an adventure getting there. He flat out dropped a pass early on before fumbling away another ball in the second quarter. Forced to play with no other healthy option available, Agholor hit circle twice against the Lions and found the end zone in the 3rd then again in the 4th. Great.
But in the guts of the game, the Lions rushed three and Carson Wentz said afterwards the Lions doubled Zach Ertz and they didn't make plays down the field. What he's saying here is there was no separation on one-on-one coverage from any other Eagle.
If they're going to survive injuries to DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, they need to win or scheme it up.
- Extra Point: My favorite thing of the week
This week's extra point is about press box food. Don't get me wrong, I understand how fortunate we are as working media to get free meals. We were treated to soft pretzels, hoagies and some scrambled eggs for a noon start today. All in all, the Linc press box food is very meh.
Which leads me to my final observation. For those traveling to Green Bay Thursday, it's a completely different story. As I've mentioned in this space before, I covered the Packers for parts of 4 seasons.
The press box meal is unmatched at Lambeau Field and with a prime time game, media should come on an empty stomach. There will be cheesesteaks, sure, but the carving station at Lambeau turns any strong willed adult into a slobbering, slovenly Homer Simpson gif. The pastries are so fine, so decadent, you'd think you were dining on a river in France instead of the Fox River that flows just a mile or so from the stadium.
The Eagles need to get back off the mat quickly and soon. Otherwise they're staring at a 1-3 start and potentially being 3 games back in their own division.
Eagles Nation should heed Lane Johnson's advice:
"I'm ready. I'm f****** ready. Let's go. If you're gonna tear us down, come tear us down. Backs against the wall. What are we gonna do?"
