It is difficult to explain why the Philadelphia Eagles have underperformed. A visit to sites that offer top rated American football lines like MyBookie will tell you what everybody already knows.
And that is the fact that the Eagles’ Wild Card chances are very slim. Consider just how optimistically the season started. Even non-Eagles fans expected them to excel, and it wasn’t just because of Carson Wentz, who is a decent athlete.
The team’s schedule wasn’t especially challenging starting out. They also had a strong rookie to depend upon. They were, more or less, guaranteed success, or so some critics claimed. And the season didn’t start out too terribly for them, what with Wentz kicking things off 3-0.
The new head coach couldn’t hope for a better collection of players with which to tackle the challenges the year had to offer. And yet, the Eagles haven’t quite found their stride. At least not since their initial successes.
Their 5-5 record places them at the bottom of the NFC East, which is ridiculous. Their damaging losses to three of their division rivals destroyed the team’s morale, and yet they can still fall further if they are not careful.
If they want to a chance to play football after January, then there can be no mistakes from this point onward. The Super Bowl is still a pipe dream for the new coach. Wentz just isn’t cutting it trying to do things himself, but he isn’t the only one.
The running backs and wide receivers just can’t connect with their quarterback; and even worse, everyone cannot seem to complete a play. If it wasn’t for their defense, all hope would have been lost for the Eagles a long time ago.
It is high time the Eagles opened their eyes and threw some of their dreams away. Realistically speaking, the future doesn’t bode well for them. With the opponents waiting ahead, they cannot hope to win out the rest of the season, and they must realize and accept that.
If they know where they have lost, they can focus on those goals still within their grasp. Thanksgiving was a great opportunity for Philadelphia. The Cowboys-Redskins game was intense, with Dallas eventually coming out ahead.
The Minnesota Vikings, on the other hand, didn’t put up as impressive a fight, thoroughly losing to the Detroit Lions. With those games, the Eagles have a chance to make a case for the NFC Wild Card.
Tampa Bay, Washington, and Minnesota are solid obstacles ahead of them. Eagles fans are hoping that the team is considered if a tiebreaker emerges with regards to painting the playoff picture.
No one doubts the fact that Tampa Bay will get in over the Eagles. Philadelphia cannot win enough games this season to gain any real advantage over the Vikings either.
But they still have a decent chance (27 percent) of squeezing into the playoff. The key isn’t to get a better quarterback, though. Everyone agrees that Philadelphia just needs to play better football.
They are struggling with the basics. Sure, Carson Wentz hasn’t quite delivered in the absence of playmakers around him, and he definitely shouldn’t shoulder all the blame. The Eagles need to improve every aspect of the team. Only then can they hope to get ahead.