Eagles-Packers: Roob's 10 observations

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This was a flat-out dud at home against a team with a historically bad pass defense that had lost four straight games by an Eagles team that desperately needed a win.
 
So much for making a late run at the playoffs.
 
The Eagles, now 5-6 and 2-6 in their last eight games, have left themselves zero margin for error with five games to go. They probably have to win out just to have a chance at the playoffs.
 
That 3-0 start seems like ancient history, doesn’t it? 
 
So let’s get on with the sad Roob’s 10 Observations off a thoroughly deflating 27-13 loss to the Packers at the Linc (see Instant Replay). Hopefully, it has a little more juice than the Eagles did.
 
1. I know they’re banged up on both sides of the ball. I know they have youngsters in numerous key spots. I know Aaron Rodgers is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But this was just a terrible loss for an Eagles team that really hadn’t been challenged yet at home and was facing a Packers team that had lost four straight games, allowing nearly 40 points per game during that span. This was a game the Eagles had to have to maintain any reasonable hope to reach the playoffs, and they simply were outplayed on both sides of the football. Thanksgiving was a good day for the Eagles, with the Redskins losing to the Cowboys and the Vikings losing to the Lions. The door was left ajar for the Eagles, but they just couldn’t take advantage of it. They’re now 2-6 since that 3-0 start, and barring a miracle, this will be their third straight year out of the playoffs – something that last happened from1997 through 1999. And it will be their eighth straight year without a postseason win, something that last happened from 1981 through 1991. Once again, they came out flat. Once again, they couldn’t respond when challenged. Once again, they look like a bad football team.
 
2. For the record, I was in favor of sitting Nelson Agholor for at least a week. After standing at his locker after that Seahawks game last week and seeing how much emotional duress he was under, I just couldn’t imagine sending him out on the field for a prime-time national TV game eight days later. That said, his absence really magnified just how horribly thin the Eagles are at wideout. It’s not like Agholor was contributing anything, but when Jordan Matthews got hurt, it left the Eagles with Dorial Green-Beckham, Bryce Treggs and Paul Turner. How can this be allowed to happen? How did it get this bad? How can an NFL team show up to play with this array of wideouts? Two undrafted rookies and a guy who was traded for Dennis Kelly? The Eagles’ top five wideouts when training camp began were Matthews, Agholor, Josh Huff, Rueben Randle and Chris Givens. After Matthews hurt his ankle, the Eagles didn’t have any of them. Three were cut, one was hurt, one was inactive. The Eagles are so desperate for talent at wideout it’s just painful to watch.
 
3. Rodgers had been sacked 24 times in 10 games, but you wouldn’t have guessed watching Monday night. The Packers’ beleaugured offensive line did a nice job protecting Rodgers, and the Eagles’ pass rushers were once again effectively neutralized. The Eagles had 20 sacks the first six games of the season (3.3 per game) but have just six in the last five games (1.2 per game). 
 
4. It was nice to see Green-Beckham show up for a second straight week. DGB had 5-for-54 and a TD in Seattle and 6-for-82 Monday night against the Packers, including a garbage-time 24-yard gain. That makes him the first Eagle wide receiver other than Matthews with 55 or more yards in consecutive games since … Jeremy Maclin? That tells you more about the Eagles’ wide receivers than it tells you about DGB. It’s been a gradual process for Green-Beckham, but considering how desperate the Eagles are for functional wideouts these days, it’s been encouraging seeing him make a contribution. (And, of course, as soon as I wrote this, DGB was called for an illegal block, wiping out a 42-yard Darren Sproles catch and run. Welcome to the 2016 Eagles season.)
 
5. I don’t think Fletcher Cox is playing terrible football, and I don’t think a guy like Cox should be measured solely by sacks, because that’s only a small part of what he’s asked to do. Still, Cox has not played like an elite player the last month and a half. On a roster with few true impact players, Cox is one of the only guys that has the ability to change the course of a football game. But he just hasn’t done that. Then there’s the fact that over the past six games, he has three personal fouls and no sacks. Cox hasn’t been bad, but he hasn’t been the player I expected and the player the Eagles need. Hasn’t been close.
 
6. I really expected Carson Wentz to have a huge game against a Packers pass defense that came into the game with the highest road passer rating in NFL history (128.2) and the eighth-highest overall passing rating ever (105.4). And Wentz was sharp early but the absence of Matthews, some typical second-half drops and a thunderous hit he absorbed from Datone Jones all seemed to take a toll on him. One play after the Jones hit, he was picked off on a badly overthrown deep ball, and he just wasn’t the same after that. Wentz was 13 for 17 for 147 yards and a 101.8 passer rating in the first half and 11 for 19 for 107 yards with an INT and a 51.9 rating in the second half. Again, this is a 23-year-old kid making his 11th career start. With no weapons. He’s going to be fine. He just really needs to start eliminating those frustration interceptions on low-percentage deep balls when things aren’t going well. 
 
7. Not much to say about the defense. The unit just didn’t show up. No sacks. No takeaways. Terrible on third down (10 for 14, 71 percent, highest vs. the Eagles since the Raiders converted 82 percent in Oakland in 1995 in Randall Cunningham’s final start as an Eagle). Allowed nearly 400 yards. Gave up a 50-yard play. Just a meek effort by a group that was allowing less than 10 points per game at the Linc before Monday night. First time since the Steelers in 2012 and second time since 2008 the Eagles have failed to record a sack or takeaway in a game. First time since the Bills in 2007 it’s happened at the Linc.  
 
8. We’re seeing a real trend this year of the Eagles just not being ready at the start of games. In Detroit, they were down 14-0 before the end of the first quarter. The Redskins were up 14-0 in the middle of the second quarter. The Giants were up 14-0 after just 5½ minutes. The Seahawks got a 72-yard TD run on their fifth play from scrimmage. And Monday night, the Packers drove 75 yards on each of their first two drives to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. It’s happening too much to be a coincidence. The Eagles generally calm down after their slow starts and play better, but when a team repeatedly is digging itself into a big hole in the first quarter, it’s an issue. And it’s something Doug Pederson has to stop very quickly. 
 
9. Gotta ask what on Earth Pederson was thinking challenging an innocuous two-yard completion in the middle of the field in the third quarter that didn’t even give the Packers a first down. The Eagles won the challenge but lost their ability to challenge the rest of the half. All for two yards. It made no sense and there’s no excuse for it. That’s just terrible court awareness by Pederson.
 
10. Also, this: Pretty soon we’re going to have to add Caleb Sturgis’s name to the conversation about the best kickers in Eagles history. Seriously. Sturgis made two more field goals Monday night, including his fourth 50-yarder in five attempts this year. He’s 43 for 51 as an Eagle (84.3 percent), which is second best in franchise history behind Alex Henery (86.0 percent), who only made two 50-yarders in his three-year Eagles career. And he’s 25 for 29 this year (86.2 percent). Between Donnie Jones and Sturgis, at least we know the Eagles’ kicking game is among the best in the league. That’s all I’ve got right now.

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