Anthony DiBona
I know, I know, none of us want to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles embarrassing 20-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins. The game was there for the taking multiple times and they just couldn’t get the job done. But shouldn’t we expect this from the Eagles by now? It’s been the same story for nearly each and every single game so far this season.
Either way, there were some positives and negatives that I took away after watching the game once again. Here are my five takeaways from this past Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Dolphins!
1) Jason Kelce is really, really bad
While it’s surprising that this is a legitimate takeaway, it’s sadly been true for most of the regular season. Eagles starting center Jason Kelce just hasn’t been good at all in 2015. Although following the game against the Dolphins, Kelce may have said it best himself, courtesy of Reuben Frank of CSN Philly:
“If you want a quote, here it is: That was the worst game of my entire career,” Kelce said.
“Three penalties. (Bleeping) bad snap. (Bleeping) just a terrible blocking performance. I got to get it corrected. But other than that, that’s about all I have to say.”
But the biggest problem is it wasn’t just one bad game, it’s been an awful season for the former Pro Bowl center. According to Pro Football Focus, Kelce is the most penalized center in the NFL…and it isn’t even close. Kelce has been flagged for 11 penalties, two of which were declined. The next closest center, Pittsburgh Steelers center Cody Wallace, has been flagged seven times. Kelce has also botched numerous snaps throughout the season, which was understandable earlier in the season with a new quarterback but now enough is enough.
2) Mark Sanchez has the need for speed
Once Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game after suffering a concussion and separated shoulder, Mark Sanchez stepped in and did an admirable job. Sure, Sanchez threw a costly interception in the red zone but haven’t we seen that before from Bradford? Either way, two things stood out once Sanchez took over at quarterback.
The first thing was the pace at which the offense was moving. It seemed like once Sanchez took the field, Chip Kelly really pushed the gas pedal and we started to see flashes of the offense we all fell in love with. According to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com, Eagles starting offensive tackle Lane Johnson said Sanchez emphasizes tempo more in practice than Bradford does…very interesting. Could it be that Kelly trust Sanchez’s knowledge of the playbook a bit more than Bradford?
The second thing that stood out to me when Sanchez was in at quarterback was his elusiveness and ability to extend plays. When Bradford is in the pocket, he rarely moved outside of it unless it was by design. Sanchez was under pressure a few times against the Dolphins but did his best to duck, dodge and maneuver around defenders to keep plays alive. It’s just something to keep an eye on moving forward during these next few weeks with Sanchez running the offense.
3) The quarterbacks still aren’t getting the help they need
Bad blocking, dropped passes, lackadaisical routes…once again, we saw it all from the Eagles’ offense this past Sunday. Philadelphia’s offensive line was credited with allowing eight quarterback hurries, six quarterback hits and two sacks against the Dolphins. Lane Johnson, who filled in for Jason Peters at left tackle, allowed quarterback hits by himself. The offensive line was also called for five penalties, including three on starting center Jason Kelce.
Then there were the problems with dropped passes and awful route running, once again. Just on Philadelphia’s final offensive drive alone, there were a few plays that stood out. On first down, Eagles wide receiver Miles Austin was running wide open across the middle of the field and Sanchez fired a pass right to him, yet Austin didn’t even look for the ball.
On second down, the Eagles ran a beautifully designed screen pass to running back DeMarco Murray…and he just let the ball fall right out of his hands. The saddest part about this play is all of the room Murray had in front of him, if only he had caught the ball. Just look at this screenshot from the all-22 film of the game:
4) Fletcher Cox is not human
It’s a proven fact by this point, Eagles starting defensive end Fletcher Cox is not from this planet. At 6-4, 300 pounds, there’s no reason why Cox should move as fast as he does. But it isn’t just his speed that’s unfair, he’s the total package. Usually a 3-4 defensive end is supposed to two gap and worry about taking up blockers so that the linebackers can make all of the plays and pad their stats. Yet that isn’t the case with Cox, especially this season.
Against the Dolphins, Cox had a good old time destroying the interior of Miami’s offensive line. I’m pretty sure they are going to have nightmares about ever facing #91 in their careers ever again. According to Pro Football Focus, Cox racked up nine quarterback hurries, two quarterback hits and a sack in Sunday’s game. That’s right, I said NINE quarterback hurries. Cox now has a total of 31 quarterback hurries on the season, three more than any other 3-4 defensive end, including 11 more than Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt.
5) Special teams is now a major problem
Twice this season the Eagles have had a punt blocked and twice they have missed a field goal inside of 40 yards. That just can’t happen, especially when they are in such close games. Just a season ago, the Eagles were the ones blocking punts and making plays on special teams. Now it seems like they’re starting to struggle as a total unit and it’s becoming a major problem.
According to Zach Berman of Philly.com, Kelly was clearly unhappy with the team’s struggles on special teams:
“Any time you have a block, we can’t have that,” coach Chip Kelly said. “Those are momentum-changing plays in a game, and that’s our second blocked punt of the year. We’ve got to get that straightened out, because we’re not going to win when we’re doing things like that. We had a blocked punt for a touchdown, we missed a field goal, and had way too many penalties on the offensive side of the ball for us to be successful.”
While it was easy to blow off a few poor special team’s plays earlier in the season, now it’s becoming a recurring problem. Hopefully the Eagles can get back to their old ways of being a steady unit on special teams and be the ones blocking punts and scoring touchdowns. It’s tough being on the other side of a problem like this but it’s something Kelly and the players will have to get fixed soon.