While watching the game yesterday, for some reason the theme song from the old show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? kept playing in my mind with a change in the lyrics, as the chorus went, "Where in the world is Philadelphia's offense?"
For the second straight game, the Philadelphia Eagles offense went without scoring a single point in the team's 15-7 loss to the New York Giants yesterday. Quarterback Michael Vick never looked right and didn't last very long due to re-aggravating his hamstring injury. With back-up Nick Foles sidelined due to a concussion, the team had to resort to 3rd-string rookie quarterback Matt Barkley. To Barkley's credit, he played better than he had the previous week, but still played like a rookie. The former USC star had some nice moments, completing 17 of 26 pass attempts for 158 yards (6.1 per), but lost a fumble deep in Giants territory, had another pass picked off, and had a tendency to hold onto the ball for far too long, which resulted in being sacked three times for a loss of 24 yards.
The Eagles offense was atrocious throughout the game, gaining a total of just 200 yards for its duration (3.4 per play), including just 48 on the ground (2.5 per rush) and 152 through the air (4.3 per pass). The team was just 3 for 12 on 3rd down (25.0%) and 0 for 2 on 4th down (0.0%). The Eagles were -2 in turnovers and held onto the ball for only 21 minutes 55 seconds.
For as much talk as there has been about the quarterback situation in Philadelphia, one thing which has been overlooked in the team's offensive struggles these past two weeks has been the running game. The Eagles led the NFL in rushing yards per game, gaining almost 190 yards on the ground per contest before their loss to Dallas two Sundays ago. Tailback LeSean McCoy led the way, as he led the entire NFL in rushing yards. These past two games, McCoy has only gained a combined 103 yards on 33 carries (3.1 per) - about a yard and a half less per rush than his season average. This has put added pressure on quarterbacks whom either have a lack of experience or been battling injuries in conjunction with a banged up receiving corps. The Eagles are a run first pass second team, so when the running game is taken away, the offense tends to struggle.
I'm not sure where the offense goes from here. It's anyone's guess when Michael Vick's hamstring will allow him to play at full-speed again. Chances are Foles will be healthy enough to play in a week or two. If Foles is healthy and Vick's not ready to go, it'll be interesting to see if Chip Kelly decides to continue playing the rookie Matt Barkley or if he goes back to Foles, who is coming off the awful 11 for 29 performance against the Dallas Cowboys a couple Sundays ago.
It's really a shame the offense has been in shambles these past couple weeks, because the defense has played their best ball of the season thus far. In the team's last two losses, the Eagles defense has allowed a combined 32 points. On Sunday, the Giants gained just 325 yards from scrimmage (4.6 per play), including 88 on the ground (2.8 per carry). The G-Men were 0 for 2 in the red zone, 8 for 19 on 3rd down, and 0 for 1 on 4th down.
The only good news for the Eagles is they play in the awful NFC East, where the seemingly always .500 Dallas Cowboys found a way to blow a 27-17 4th quarter lead in Detroit to fall to 4-4, a game ahead of Philly. While the improved play of the Eagles defense and special teams is promising to a certain degree, the team won't be able to win many more games unless their offense steps up. Up next on the slate is a road game against 3-4 Oakland. The Raiders defense has been pretty solid throughout the course of the season, so whoever starts at quarterback for the Eagles will need to play better to give the team a chance. It'll be interesting to see how the improved defense fares against dual-threat Terrell Pryor. While the Philly defense contained Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III fairly well in Week 1, Griffin's recovering knee definitely wasn't at 100%, which limited his running ability. We'll see how the Eagles front seven fares against a healthy Terrell Pryor - the first fully healthy dual-threat quarterback the team has played this season.
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