It's a sad day for Philadelphia Eagles fans when their team falls to division-rival Dallas and many are left with a look on their face which says, "Well, that wasn't too bad." That's exactly what happened last night when the Eagles dropped their 8th straight - this one to the Dallas Cowboys by the final score of 38-33.
There is good news to be had in light of last night's game, however. No, it wasn't the defense. The defense was as putrid as ever. It really says something about a defense when Chris Collinsworth refers to their performance on a Sunday night game as "much improved" when the team allowed the opposing quarterback (Tony Romo in this case) to complete 22 of 27 pass attempts for 303 yards (11.2 per attempt), 3 touchdowns, and an almost perfect quarterback rating of 150.5. In Collinsworth's defense, the Eagles defense did allow Washington's Robert Griffin III to have a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating a couple weeks ago, so I suppose the 150.5 they allowed to Romo was a slight improvement.
No, the good news I'm talking about is with regard to offense and special teams. The special teams unit has been slowly improving through the weeks and place kicker Alex Henery has been as solid as any kicker in the NFL this year - having not missed a field goal since the first game of the season. Return specialist Damaris Johnson tried making things interesting toward the tail-end of the game as well. Down 38-27 without much time left in the game, Johnson returned a punt 98 yards for a score to bring the Eagles to within five at 38-33.
As for the offense, one has to give these guys some credit. The Eagles were without starting quarterback Michael Vick, starting running back LeSean McCoy, and starting wideout DeSean Jackson. Even without three of their most explosive players on offense, the Eagles were rather efficient for the evening. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles was given some more freedom and flexibility with the playcalling and rookie tailback Bryce Brown, outside of another lost fumble, had a stellar game. Brown carried the ball 24 times for 169 yards (7.0 average) and 2 touchdowns. Since McCoy went down a couple weeks ago, Brown has carried the ball 43 times for 347 yards (8.1 average) and 4 touchdowns. He has also lost three fumbles in that same time-span, but if he's able to work on that, it appears as if the Eagles have found themselves another great tailback-in-the-making in Brown.
As for Foles, of his three starts, last night's was the best. He looked rather rusty in his first start against Washington. He wasn't given much to work with in his second start against Carolina. Last night, it finally felt as if the coaches were ready to truly see what the guy could do. Granted, he did almost throw another pick 6 and I'm still not entirely sold on arm on deep balls, but the guy seems to be rather alert, bright, and efficient with the short and intermediate routes. For the game, Foles finished 22 of 34 for 251 yards (7.4 per attempt - vastly improved on the 5.7 from last week), and 1 touchdown, for a quarterback rating of 96.6. As is common for young quarterbacks, he threw it to his tight end rather regularly - with Brent Celek finishing the game having caught 7 passes for 73 yards. Foles did spread the ball around a bit better to his receivers than he had his first couple games. The wideouts caught a total of 10 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown (Riley Cooper).
The offensive line played better last night too. Foles was only sacked once and hurried a handful of other times, it seems - which is remarkably less than both he and Vick had been hurried for much of the season.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, even with the improvements I saw on offense and special teams, they still found a way to lose at game's end, falling to 3-9 on the year. It's not going to get any easier for the club either. Up next on the slate will be a road test against Tampa Bay, who at 6-6, is fighting for their playoff lives. They'll play Cincinnati at home, who is also in the midst of the playoff race. They'll then close the year with two in-division games, playing Washington at home and the Giants on the road - Washington still with an outside shot at a wild card (especially if they beat the Giants tonight), and the Giants are definitely in the middle of the playoff race. As sad as it is to say, I find it difficult seeing the Eagles winning again this year. With that, I don't see much point in giving Vick or McCoy many reps the rest of the way. The team is 3-9, well on their way to 3-13 and a top 5 draft pick. It's time to look to the future and see if Foles, Brown, and other youngsters will have what it takes in the years to come, or if the team will need to start looking to fill those holes in the coming off-season.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/phi/philadelphia-eagles
There is good news to be had in light of last night's game, however. No, it wasn't the defense. The defense was as putrid as ever. It really says something about a defense when Chris Collinsworth refers to their performance on a Sunday night game as "much improved" when the team allowed the opposing quarterback (Tony Romo in this case) to complete 22 of 27 pass attempts for 303 yards (11.2 per attempt), 3 touchdowns, and an almost perfect quarterback rating of 150.5. In Collinsworth's defense, the Eagles defense did allow Washington's Robert Griffin III to have a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating a couple weeks ago, so I suppose the 150.5 they allowed to Romo was a slight improvement.
No, the good news I'm talking about is with regard to offense and special teams. The special teams unit has been slowly improving through the weeks and place kicker Alex Henery has been as solid as any kicker in the NFL this year - having not missed a field goal since the first game of the season. Return specialist Damaris Johnson tried making things interesting toward the tail-end of the game as well. Down 38-27 without much time left in the game, Johnson returned a punt 98 yards for a score to bring the Eagles to within five at 38-33.
As for the offense, one has to give these guys some credit. The Eagles were without starting quarterback Michael Vick, starting running back LeSean McCoy, and starting wideout DeSean Jackson. Even without three of their most explosive players on offense, the Eagles were rather efficient for the evening. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles was given some more freedom and flexibility with the playcalling and rookie tailback Bryce Brown, outside of another lost fumble, had a stellar game. Brown carried the ball 24 times for 169 yards (7.0 average) and 2 touchdowns. Since McCoy went down a couple weeks ago, Brown has carried the ball 43 times for 347 yards (8.1 average) and 4 touchdowns. He has also lost three fumbles in that same time-span, but if he's able to work on that, it appears as if the Eagles have found themselves another great tailback-in-the-making in Brown.
As for Foles, of his three starts, last night's was the best. He looked rather rusty in his first start against Washington. He wasn't given much to work with in his second start against Carolina. Last night, it finally felt as if the coaches were ready to truly see what the guy could do. Granted, he did almost throw another pick 6 and I'm still not entirely sold on arm on deep balls, but the guy seems to be rather alert, bright, and efficient with the short and intermediate routes. For the game, Foles finished 22 of 34 for 251 yards (7.4 per attempt - vastly improved on the 5.7 from last week), and 1 touchdown, for a quarterback rating of 96.6. As is common for young quarterbacks, he threw it to his tight end rather regularly - with Brent Celek finishing the game having caught 7 passes for 73 yards. Foles did spread the ball around a bit better to his receivers than he had his first couple games. The wideouts caught a total of 10 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown (Riley Cooper).
The offensive line played better last night too. Foles was only sacked once and hurried a handful of other times, it seems - which is remarkably less than both he and Vick had been hurried for much of the season.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, even with the improvements I saw on offense and special teams, they still found a way to lose at game's end, falling to 3-9 on the year. It's not going to get any easier for the club either. Up next on the slate will be a road test against Tampa Bay, who at 6-6, is fighting for their playoff lives. They'll play Cincinnati at home, who is also in the midst of the playoff race. They'll then close the year with two in-division games, playing Washington at home and the Giants on the road - Washington still with an outside shot at a wild card (especially if they beat the Giants tonight), and the Giants are definitely in the middle of the playoff race. As sad as it is to say, I find it difficult seeing the Eagles winning again this year. With that, I don't see much point in giving Vick or McCoy many reps the rest of the way. The team is 3-9, well on their way to 3-13 and a top 5 draft pick. It's time to look to the future and see if Foles, Brown, and other youngsters will have what it takes in the years to come, or if the team will need to start looking to fill those holes in the coming off-season.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/phi/philadelphia-eagles
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