Nick Piccone
Three wins and two losses. Mostly everyone wouldn’t be ashamed of that record if you told them the Eagles would have three wins and two losses before Week 1 of the season began on September 11.
After five games, maybe the Eagles are who we thought they were. [RIP Dennis Green]
With a rookie head coach, a rookie quarterback at the helm who didn’t know he’d be starting until one week prior when Sam Bradford was traded away, and a running game that still is trying to find some sort of identity, nobody gave the Eagles a realistic shot of winning the NFC East heading into the season. I thought the division would be putrid as has become the norm the last few years, but as we look at it now, no team in the division is below .500. The division is good. The New York Giants, currently sitting at 3-3, lost three games in a row before pulling out a win
The Dallas Cowboys have surrounded Dak Prescott with a really good team, and he’s paying dividends for them as Tony Romo recovers from a broken bone in his back. They’ve found their franchise quarterback after Romo. This same team struggled to win four games last season without Romo, and now they’re on pace to win the NFC East with no real competition.
Of course, it’s only October. Things can change drastically from week-to-week. Just look at the Washington Redskins. At 0-2, they were already written off and Kirk Cousins was all but considered to be on his way out of town without a long-term deal in place.
After wins against the Browns, in Chicago and against Pittsburgh, the Eagles, and all of us, were flying high. Sure, it was just the Browns. Just the Bears. Playing in Chicago is never easy, especially on a Monday night. The Steelers, despite having not won a game in Philadelphia in 50 years, are a Super Bowl contender [despite losing to Miami yesterday, also] and the Eagles handled them with ease, embarrassing them in the process.
Why shouldn’t we have changed our expectations after that? It’s only normal. What have you done for me lately? Oh, only crushed the possible AFC representative in Super Bowl LI in Houston in February. With a rookie quarterback and a defense that’s reinvigorated after Billy Davis made us long for the days of Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator.
OK, maybe that’s going too far. But that’s what we do. After losses to the Lions and Redskins, maybe this is exactly what the Eagles are. Or maybe the bye week really screwed with the team chemistry and they just can’t find their way on either side of the ball.
The defense? Not great last week in Detroit. Yesterday? Yikes.
Penalties certainly didn’t help. Maybe it’s because I’m an Eagles fan and every penalty is maximized, but damned if it didn’t feel like the Eagles were called for a penalty after making a defensive stop or, on the opposite side of the ball, gaining a first down. Plays like this weren’t called on the other side, which was an extension of some horrid officiating last week.
NOPE NO HOLDING HERE pic.twitter.com/SZ7Qi89f88
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) October 16, 2016
Now, I hate blaming the referees, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t piss me off in that moment. We’re only human. The Eagles almost overcame those calls against them last week in Detroit and yesterday in Landover. Wentz really tried to do a lot to get this offense going, but he took two sacks on the last drive and basically created a scenario where the defense had to play perfectly to give the Eagles a chance to tie the game.
That certainly didn’t work out.
Now, Wentz may be mature beyond his years, but he still made rookie mistakes. And that’s okay. The first three games, I guess, made us all think he wasn’t built for that or going to make those mistakes. But when you take away Lane Johnson, you take away comfortability in the pocket for Wentz, who clearly showed he was trying to force a few throws. He took a few sacks where he had time to throw the ball away. That’s going to happen. And he’s fortunate he wasn’t drilled and got injured because of his inability to make that decision quickly.
So, this is a team that’s being led by a rookie quarterback and also a rookie coach. The fact that they’re 3-2 and were in every single game, with a very real possibility of being 5-0, shows that this team isn’t without faults. They have all the faults we expected heading into the season. They are who we thought they were. And that’s okay. Frustrating? Yes, every game has their frustrating moments. But I don’t think they’re a bad team. We’ll really see what they’re made of these next two weeks against a stacked Minnesota Vikings team and a Sunday night tilt in Dallas.
The Eagles could very well be 3-4 after those games. And while that sucks, it doesn’t mean they’re entirely out of the playoff picture. Let’s see how our rookie quarterback and rookie coach adjust to their new challenges. It’s certainly not as easy at it looked the first three weeks. Let’s see how Jim Schwartz can fix this defense that has played almost entirely the opposite way the last two games than they did the first three.
Consistently inconsistent. Maybe that’s a good phrase to use after five games.