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Eagles vs. Bengals Week 13 Observations and Reaction (With Videos)

Adrian Fedkiw|

Earlier this week head coach Doug Pederson said that he’s going to find out a lot about his players and coaches over the last five games and see who wants to be a part of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.

Jason Peters stated that he was going to demand that the Eagles fight until the end.

So much for that.

The Eagles’ 32-14 loss to the now 4-7-1 Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon was despicable.

Does anyone want to be part of the team next season?

The Eagles just lost their sixth straight road game and seventh of their last nine overall. The vaunted front seven didn’t register a sack for a second consecutive week. The defense allowed Cincinnati to score on each of its first six possessions, three touchdowns and three field goals, en route to a 29-0 deficit. Carson Wentz threw the ball 60 times, that’s right, 60 TIMES, and tossed three interceptions.

It was embarrassing.

So what’s going on with Wentz, who finished 36-of-60 for 308 yards and a touchdown to go with those aforementioned three picks? The mechanical flaws remain the same. He’s still staring receivers down, he’s still throwing into double and triple coverage, he’s still not setting his feet in the pocket and he’s still airmailing the seam routes. By the way, those 60 pass attempts were the second most in NFL history by a rookie.

Donovan McNabb was always known for throwing the low ball, but when you rifle it right into the ground it’s an incompletion. When you overthrow a receiver, the ball has a good chance of landing into the waiting arms of a safety.

Wentz is obviously a rookie quarterback and with first-year players come growing pains, but he hasn’t steadily gotten better, he’s regressed. That makes me point at the coaching staff. He’s got two former quarterbacks in Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich mentoring him. He has quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. Wentz continues to have the same mechanical problems and there’s been no progression in fixing them.

Why?

The defensive line has flatlined. After recording 20 sacks over their first six games, they’ve gotten to the quarterback just six times over their last six. Then there’s the secondary. Going up against a receiving core without star wideout A.J. Green, Andy Dalton still went 23-of-31 for 332 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a passer rating of 130.0 to go with a 74 percent completion percentage. When the defensive line can’t pressure the quarterback, the lowly cornerbacks get exposed.

The Eagles couldn’t establish any type of running game going against the 26th ranked defense in terms of yards per carry allowed (4.4). Wendell Smallwood carried the ball eight times for 19 yards, while Darren Sproles toted it seven times for 14 yards and a score. In all they rushed it 19 times for 53 yards and a measly 2.8 yards per carry average.

Philadelphia didn’t get on the board until there was 2:30 left in the third quarter when Wentz found Zach Ertz in the back left corner of the end zone.

To go back and answer what I said in the beginning and about who might want to be part of the team next season, there were a couple Eagles who showed up to play.

Despite doing most of his work in garbage time, undrafted rookie Paul Turner caught six passes for 80 yards, with his first NFL reception going for 41.

Brandon Graham might not have made a lot happen pressuring the quarterback, but did play the run really well and recorded a pair of tackle for losses.

Trey Burton was Wentz’s favorite target on third down Sunday. He moved the chains on a 3rd-and-10 and 3rd-and-7, hauling in five receptions for 53 yards in all.

Bennie Logan showed a lot of effort to chase down Rex Burkhead from behind and force a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter and the Eagles trailing 29-7.

And lastly, Kenjon Barner had a 61-yard kickoff return late in the third quarter. He’s averaging 5.1 yards per carry, but didn’t carry the ball once despite Smallwood and Sproles struggles.

Other than that the Eagles weren’t prepared and appeared disinterested. There was no fight and no effort.

It was sickening.

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