The most alarming thing about this miserable 2020 season isn’t that the Eagles are losing games and playing terrible football.
The most alarming thing is that Doug Pederson doesn’t seem to have any idea how to stop it.
He has no answers. He seems lost.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
And it’s hard to watch it happening.
It wasn’t that long ago Pederson was so in command, so confident, almost cocky.
He was one step ahead of the rest of the league in 2017. Every decision he made worked. Every risk paid off. Every gamble worked out. Every left-field decision to go for it on 4th down or go for two.
It was a year of pure magic, culminating in the most magical moment most of us have ever experienced.
NFL
And gradually that magic touch wore off. The decline was gradual - 9-7 and a playoff win in 2018, 9-7 without a playoff win last year and now this.
The Eagles may be in first place in the woeful NFC East, but they’re one of the worst teams in football.
And right now Doug Pederson is one of the worst coaches in football.
If there was any doubt before, there can’t be now. Not after the Eagles barely put up a fight against a 2-7 Giants team with a rookie head coach and a 23-year-old QB.
Whether it’s Pederson’s inability to get this team ready at the start of games, his failure to get Carson Wentz turned around, his bizarre in-game decisions, his terrible play-calling, Pederson right now is just really bad at coaching the Eagles.
They’re never ready. Down 14-3 to the Rams. Down 17-0 to the Ravens. Down 9-7 to Ben Freaking DiNucci and the Cowboys. Down 13-3 in the first Giants game. Down 14-3 on Sunday.
They never play well on both sides of the ball at the same time. They don’t run the ball enough. They don’t get takeaways. They can’t sustain any offensive rhythm. Their defense always seems to give up a touchdown when the offense finally gets something going. Their once-borderline-MVP quarterback stinks.
Week after week after week.
It just keeps happening over and over, and Pederson has no idea why or what to do about it.
No answers.
How do you watch what the Eagles have become and not think, “You know what? It was a great run. We’ll always have 2017, and we’ll always have the Super Bowl. But maybe it’s time for a change.”
Maybe it is.
Honestly, the Eagles are lucky to have three wins. They came against three quarterbacks - Nick Mullens, Ben DiNucci and Daniel Jones - who have a combined 10 career wins. Two backups and another guy who just shredded them.
We’re nine games into the season, and the Eagles are no better than they were on opening day.
Even in Pederson’s first year, the Eagles weren’t this bad. They were 5-4 at this point and finished 7-9. This team is not winning seven games.
Not with the Browns, Seahawks, Packers, Saints, and Cards coming up between next Sunday and Dec. 20. Five teams that are 32-13, three of them on the road. Then the Cowboys and Washington to finish the season.
If I’m Jeff Lurie, I’m watching these next seven games to see how Pederson handles the biggest challenge he’s faced in his five years here.
I’m watching to see if this shocking decline continues or if Pederson is able to get the thing back on the rails.
I’m watching to see whether Pederson can lead Wentz out of this horrendous slump.
I’m watching to see if Pederson shows any sign of being the guy I still want leading my football team in 2021.
Because right now, it sure doesn’t seem like it.