(Photo Courtesy of Wkimedia Commons)
As a lifelong Eagles fan, yesterday was one of the hardest games I’ve ever watched. I knew it was going to be difficult before I sat down. However, I don’t think my worst-case scenario was as bad as what I watched. The Eagles didn’t even look like they belonged on the same field as the Saints. There are lots of factors that go into this. Obviously, the Saints are one of the best teams in the NFL. The Eagles are down to their 4th and 5th string corners. At this point, the Eagles are plucking guys off the street to play corner. They’ve also been without safety Rodney McLeod for the majority of the season.
Besides the banged up secondary, there are problems on the offense. While Adams looked good yesterday, the Eagles don’t have the reliable running game they had once upon a time with Blount and Ajayi. The offense looks so out of sync and anemic that Doug Pederson doesn’t know what to do. At the end of the day, most of the blame falls on the head coach and quarterback. Those are the two spots that most of your leadership comes from. Wentz and Pederson both have to be better and that’s the bottom line.
At this point, I have zero expectations for the Eagles the rest of the season. If they win out and make the playoffs, great. If they lose out and get a top 10 pick, also great. It is pretty clear that the 2018 Eagles are nowhere near what the 2017 Eagles were. Last year’s motto was hungry dogs run faster. Well this year, the dogs are well fed and are running slower after winning the super bowl. A super bowl hangover is natural, but to this extent it’s something I don’t think anyone in their wildest dreams could have envisioned.
The Eagles don’t need a complete rebuild after this season. The main pieces are still there and they’ll have three picks in the top 50 to plug some holes in the drafts. They just need some re-tooling and adjustments to get them back to their 2017 form. Until then, things may get pretty ugly the rest of the season.
