The Eagles Aren’t That Good, But Maybe We Knew That
“We’re a great team, I think we’re a really, really good team honestly. We have all of the pieces to be a good team, we’re just not playing very smart football right now. That’s really all I can say. We just have to do better, everybody, including myself.”
These are the words of Eagles running Miles Sanders as he joined Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie for his weekly Monday 1 pm call-in. There have only been six teams in the history of the league who have reached the playoffs after beginning the season 0-3. Luckily for Philadelphia, they were barely able to avoid the fate, after Sunday’s 23-23 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, you read that correctly. The Philadelphia Eagles, the same team Sanders declared to be “great” were only able to come away with a tie with the team that held the first overall selection of the 2020 NFL Draft. Now, this “really, really good team” is heading into the first week of October winless. Not very often that you see that, huh?
It’s hard to fathom why the Eagles are in this position. Questions surround the team like how is a defense, who on paper is much improved from previous seasons is playing just as bad if not worse than before. Or why the franchise quarterback who hasn’t had more than seven interceptions in a season since his rookie year, now leads the NFL with six and seems to be rapidly regressing to the point the head coach is talking about simplifying the offense for him… in his fifth season. And most importantly, why the Eagles just can’t seem to get out of their own way. Or maybe it isn’t.
Here’s some food for thought; maybe, just maybe the Eagles aren’t a good football team. Maybe that’s what happens when you mix injuries, with the most undisciplined brand of football the city has seen in quite some time.
Something head coach Doug Pederson himself recently admitted.
“Right now we’re not a very good football team. We’re not very smart. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot. We’re leaving touchdowns on the field offensively, and we’re just not executing.”
Pretty surprising for a team that had playoff aspirations all off-season. Sure injuries have put a damper on the parade of many of the featured acquisitions expected to play a significant role, as well as some already key contributors. But this is an Eagles team that had made a name out of the ‘next-man-up’ mentality. When most teams watch seasons fall to the waste because of injuries, Philadelphia won divisions and championships despite the horrible luck. This is why Pederson understands that “no one will feel sorry for the Philadelphia Eagles”, because everyone knows these players, this coach, and this team is better than what they’ve shown through three games.
However, what if I told you that a season of these proportions is something that Howie Roseman tried to warn us about during the off-season but in the most subtle way possible. This was long before the team failed to pull off victories versus the Bengals and Football Team respectively. Long before Roseman shocked the world by using the 53rd overall pick in the draft on a quarterback.
And long before the COVID-19 outbreak changed the sporting world as we know it. In fact, you’d have to go all the way back to the NFL Scouting Combine, in February.
“If we can get the right free agents, we’re not in a mode now where maybe we try to find the undervalued older guys that we tried to find the last couple of years. Going forward, we’re trying to build this over a period of time. We’re not in this one-year window … looking at this 2020, 2021, 2022, in this three-year period of getting guys for a part of it. I guess similar to how we looked at free agency in 2016 and 2017.”
Notice that Roseman spoke in intervals of a three-year window similar to the years of 2016-2019. During the off-season of 2016, the Eagles were big spenders in free agency, bringing a multitude of players who would go on to become key contributors on the roster; featuring the likes of Brandon Brooks and Rodney McLeod. Philadelphia also used the 2016 draft to create the pillar of the roster including guys like Carson Wentz, Isaac Seumalo, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and Jalen Mills. Of course, as we know Philadelphia went on to finish that season 7-9 and last in the NFC East (I’m sorry 7-9 in the last place of the NFC East? Boy have times changed) but the 2016 season was a significant part in helping Philadelphia identify what players would be playing a huge role in the 2017 Super Bowl run.
The other reason why the three-year window is so significant is it marks a huge stepping stone in the future of the Philadelphia Eagles. Why? Well, it’s worth noting that both Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman’s contracts are set to expire following the 2022 season. Which has put both Pederson and Roseman ‘on the clock’ effectively immediately. So even with the numerous pleas from Roseman stating that “we’re trying to balance being in a position where every year we give our team an opportunity to compete and get in the tournament”.
It’s obvious that Roseman has failed to find the perfect blend of young players and veterans. Sure, he’s hit on players such as Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, and of course Carson Wentz; players who have become pillars of the team going forward. However how many players under 28 do the Eagles have that they can call ‘key pieces’ moving forward? Their two best defensive linemen are 30+, their two best offensive linemen are 30+, and their WR1 is 33 and is hampered with injuries. Well, at least Roseman acquired that shutdown cornerback the franchise has been pleading for since the stone ages, that one pillar for years to come right? Well by seasons end he’ll also be 30 and 33 by the end of his contract.
Now, do you understand the thought process behind Philadelphia’s 2020 NFL draft?
The big complaint about this group is that aside from Jalen Reagor, how many of these players could truly be a contributor for the Eagles this season. The truth is, none of them were. Let’s face it could Davion Taylor play any worse than Nate Gerry right now?
Sure Jalen Hurts moved up to QB2 and seems to have worked himself into a few packages, but did you really think you’re going to see an extensive amount of Jalen Hurts this season?
The Eagles could have something in John Hightower but the world may never know if Carson Wentz doesn’t start hitting on some of these ‘layups‘. Plus who knows how much playing time he’ll continue to see once Jackson and Jeffery return. None of these players were supposed to make an impact this early and if it isn’t obvious, Philadelphia is in the midst of a watered-down rebuild.
This is a roster filled with mostly aging veterans, a handful of young contributors, and a few players looking to make the most out of their prime. Not exactly how you build a team meant to compete right now.
“That’s the biggest challenge that we have and that I personally have. Balancing what we’re doing today with where we’re going to be two or three years from now.” – Howie Roseman
Photo: Tim Tai/The Inquirer
Of course, when you play in the NFC East where no team has a winning record and the division with a sitting at a combined record of 2-9-1, it becomes a little easier to start to talk yourself into believing maybe Carson Wentz is right when he said the offense is “not that far off”. Then as you watch weekly as the same undisciplined team trots out onto the field, producing a performance mirroring the disappointment of last you begin to ask yourself, “how did we get here“? Is it Doug Pederson? Well, it’s hard to blame him when his franchise quarterback is doing him no favors. So it’s Carson Wentz? While his play this season has been dreadful, he looks like a quarterback who has limited faith in his offensive line and pass catchers. So this has to mean it’s Howie Roseman’s doing right? Well, contrary to the popular belief right now, Roseman actually had a productive off-season. COVID-19 and injuries just put a damper on his plans.
The point being, this isn’t one of those times where you have company, they help ruin your room and manage to escape before cleaning time, leaving you to deal with the mess alone. Just because the Eagles aren’t playing well doesn’t mean the blame is all on Wentz because he isn’t playing well. Or Pederson because he isn’t coaching good enough. Or Roseman isn’t signing enough good players. Each one of them has a hand in the pot which has led us to this point and this result.
Think about it, when a general manager doesn’t provide a head coach with his preferred personnel (which Roseman has been doing), it forces the coach to play the cards that he was dealt looking to get the most out of said roster (which Pederson has normally done). Which in turn, puts more pressure on the quarterback to more than he normally is expected to (which Carson Wentz has up until this season).
Honestly to an extent, it’s a testament to Wentz and Pederson that it has lasted this long, but it was as Thanos would say, inevitable.
Featured Image: Tim Tai/The Inquirer
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