Plenty of Questions for Eagles Moving Forward

by Marc Narducci | Dec 30, 2020

The Eagles had everything going for them and they still couldn’t stay alive in the playoff race in one of the worst divisions in NFL history.

The Eagles playoff string of three consecutive years was snapped with Sunday’s 37-17 loss in Arlington, Texas to the Dallas Cowboys.

When the Eagles were leading 14-3 in the first quarter and Carolina was beating the Washington Football Team, 20-3 in the first half, all things were aligning with the Eagles. (Carolina would eventually win, 20-13).

A Washington win would have eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs, but a Washington loss and an Eagles win would have forced a winner-take-all game between the two teams Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Now Washington (6-9) will win the NFC East if it beats the Eagles. If not, the winner of the game between the NY Giants (5-10) and Dallas Cowboys (6-9) will win the division.

So the Eagles (4-10-1) are the first team mathematically eliminated from a division that will send a losing team to the playoffs.

If ever there were a year to take advantage of such a bad division this was it, but the Eagles couldn’t.

Jalen Hurts, making his third start, took his lumps after his quick start. He completed 21 of 39 passes for 342 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble and had a 70.7 passer rating.

Anybody who feels that Hurts can be the franchise quarterback after that performance is taking a big leap of faith.

Conversely, anybody who thinks that Carson Wentz will be the answer, is taking an equally big leap of faith.

The Eagles, as they showed against Dallas with their depleted secondary and makeshift offensive line, have more problems than at quarterback.

So much will be made as to whether coach Doug Pederson and/or GM Howie Roseman will return next season, but no matter who is coaching and in the front office, this team has so many holes to fill and a salary cap situation that is one of the worst in the NFL.

The Eagles, as they did last year, had so many key injuries. This year was much worse and there were so many practice squad types who shouldn’t have been on the field, but had no choice.

Remember how bad Dallas looked when the Cowboys lost 23-9 in Philadelphia on Nov. 1?

In that game, the immortal Ben DiNucci was the Cowboys quarterback. He didn’t belong on the field and hasn’t been since.

After that loss to the Eagles, there was talk that the Cowboys could be the third worst team in the NFL. Dallas has fought and regrouped to go 4-3 since that loss.

The Cowboys have had devastating injuries, especially at quarterback and on the offensive line, but they found a way to win games.

This will go down as one of the most disappointing seasons in recent Eagles history, simply because they were the odds-on choice to win the NFC East this year.

And the fact that it won’t take a winning record to do so, shows how badly the Eagles fumbled this opportunity.

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Now they can play spoiler on Sunday against Washington. Nobody ever thought it would come down to this during such a forgettable season.

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Author: Marc Narducci

Plenty of Questions for Eagles Moving Forward

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