LANDOVER, Md. – The Eagles keep inventing new ways to lose.
It had been at least 20 years since the Eagles lost a football game by allowing a fourth-quarter game-winning drive of 90 or more yards.
That’s exactly what the Redskins did Sunday in their 23-20 win over the Eagles (see Instant Replay).
These 10 observations are more fun to read when the Eagles are winning, aren’t they?
They’re more fun to write, too.
Here we go:
NFL
1. I give a lot of credit to the Eagles’ defense for holding up under the weight of the insane number of snaps they had to face Sunday. They were out-manned, depleted, and on the field for 41:08. Still, to let Kirk Cousins drive 90 yards in 15 plays and beat you with 26 seconds left? Kirk Cousins? That just can’t happen. The Eagles were one stop away from evening their record at 2-2, and they just couldn’t get off the field.
2. Sam Bradford showed me a lot with his second-half performance. I wouldn’t have blamed Chip Kelly if he benched him for Mark Sanchez at halftime. The Eagles hadn’t scored, and Bradford was once again grossly ineffective in the first half, going just 5 for 10 for 75 yards. But he showed some resilience, battling through his early ineffectiveness, a ton of early hits and sacks and even an ankle injury in the third quarter. He threw three touchdowns after halftime and for the first time all year got the ball down the field, something the Eagles should have been doing right from the start of the game against this awful Redskins secondary. But here’s the bottom line. Bradford has still yet to play a full game, and you’re just not going to win very many games with a quarterback who produces one good half every other week. Bradford was good in the second half, but he has yet to be good for 60 minutes, and he’s still the biggest reason the Eagles are 1-3
3. Chip Kelly has only himself to blame for the current state of the offensive line. For the first time in franchise history, the Eagles have gone two straight years without drafting an offensive lineman, and despite losing Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans this offseason, they didn’t even sign any free agents, other than John Moffitt, who had been retired. The conclusion that they could get by with Allen Barbre and Andrew Gardner as starters and Dennis Kelly and Matt Tobin as backups seems preposterous now. If you want to make some kind of point by cutting ties with two very solid guards in Mathis and Herremans, fine. Get rid of them. Make your point. But how do you get rid of them both and not replace them?
4. The Eagles did better running the football, but when they needed to dial it up in the fourth quarter to run out the clock? They couldn’t do it. The running game is still a liability for this football team.
5. It’s unbelievable how hard it is to find a kicker. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles release Caleb Sturgis on Monday, ending his Eagles career after one game, one 33-yard field goal and one missed extra point. But if he was the best of the six guys they brought in for workouts Monday, then how bad were the other guys? Just makes you appreciate David Akers even more. Akers kicked at such a high level for the Eagles from 1999 through 2010. He missed a few, but you always felt that with the game on the line, he just wasn’t going to miss. Heck, Dave always kept himself in great shape. He’s only 40. I’ve heard worse ideas.
6. OK, three games into his NFL career, Jordan Hicks has two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, a sack and an interception. I don’t know how long Mychal Kendricks will be out and I don’t know how long Kiko Alonso will be out, but I do know that Hicks has been phenomenal the last three weeks, and Bill Davis is going to have to find a way to get him on the field once the Eagles (if the Eagles) are back at full-strength at inside linebacker.
7. I think Nelson Agholor is going to be a stud, but he’s got to be stronger to the football and hang onto the thing. But he really does have a knack for getting open and making circus catches. His one-handed 45-yarder Sunday was magnificent. He’s just got to be more consistent. But you can say that about most rookie wide receivers.
8. He got off to a slow start Sunday, but in the second half, with the defense dragging, Donnie Jones hit some great punts to keep giving the Redskins a long field and give the defense a fighting chance. Jones is never going to be among the NFL’s statistical leaders because he plays in an outdoor stadium in the Northeast. But he’s solid. And he generally seems to come up big when you need a big punt at a big moment. It’s nice to have one guy they don’t have to worry about.
9. Was good to see a few guys who have been invisible making plays. Mainly Riley Cooper, whose 62-yard TD was the second-longest of Bradford’s career, and Miles Austin, whose 39-yard touchdown was his longest in four years. If the Eagles are going to salvage anything out of this lost season, they’re going to need more than just Jordan Matthews catching the football. So there’s that.
10. Finally, how much of this mess is on Chip? Really, most of it is on Chip. This is the team he wanted, this is the team he went out and got, this is the team he designed, this is the team he built. They’ve lost three of four games and are playing as inconsistently as any Eagles team we’ve seen since 1998. They’re now 1-3 and 0-2 in the division. Let’s be honest. They’re not going anywhere. It’s been seven years since the Eagles won a playoff game, and it’s hard to imagine it won’t be eight in a few months. Chip’s future? He’ll be here another year. But that’s all he gets. He’s got the rest of this year and next year to figure out a way to build a team that can put together a deep playoff run. If he doesn’t do it, time to bring in the next guy.