Can the Eagles Regain Their Winning Way?
The Eagles have lost their last two games to San Francisco and Dallas Cowboys by a combined 75-32 score.
San Francisco, the Eagles and Dallas are all 10-3, but San Francisco, which has beaten both teams, is the new No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Technically, Dallas is ahead of the Eagles in the NFC East, but if the Eagles win out, they will be division champions.
Whether the Eagles have a legitimate chance to be the No. 1 seed will largely rest on how they fare on Monday Night (Dec. 18) at Seattle.
The Eagles likely aren’t a lock against the Seattle Seahawks. Before beating the Eagles, Dallas earned a 41-35 home win over Seattle.
That was in Arlington, Texas, where the Cowboys never seem to lose. Now the Seahawks, desperate to stay in the NFC playoff race with a 6-7 record, face a must-win against the Eagles.
Then again, one could say it’s a must-win for Eagles.
After that game, the Eagles have what is perceived to be a three-game bye – with games against the NY Giants sandwiched around one with Arizona.
The Eagles can't afford to look ahead.
They were routed the last two weeks, losing by different means.Article continues below
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In the 42-19 loss to the 49ers, the Eagles didn’t turn over the ball. They also didn’t cause any turnovers either.
Against Dallas, it was different. The Eagles committed three turnovers, all fumbles. Dallas committed one turnover.
The Eagles defense, all of a sudden, has to plug up some serious leaks.
Even in the 37-34 overtime win over Buffalo that preceded the current two-game losing streak, the Eagles had trouble stopping the Bills as the final score indicates.
In that game, the Eagles lost the turnover battle 2-1, while allowing Bills QB Josh Allen to accumulate more than 400 yards of total offense.
It was mentioned in the Sunday night game against Dallas that the Eagles look tired.
That could be the case, but the only way for some rest would be to clinch the No. 1 seed before the regular season ends.
Good luck with that.
Now the Eagles have to hope they win out and San Francisco loses one of its final four games – at Arizona, home against Baltimore, at Washington and home against the LA Rams.
The Baltimore game especially, should be challenging, but then again, stopping the 49ers will be also.
Every team goes through lulls.
Remember, the 49ers had an earlier three-game losing streak against Cleveland, Minnesota and Cincinnati.
The Eagles have to hope they are just going through a lull. They also need QB Jalen Hurts, mentioned as a major MVP candidate after the Buffalo win, to step up his game.
It’s all possible, but the Eagles have to show drastic improvement.
The defensive line, the strength of the team, must pick it up. Only Haason Reddick has been the only impactful defensive lineman as of late.
The secondary has been well below average.
Besides the turnovers, the Eagles have shown no consistency on offense.
The 49ers loss should have been a wakeup call.
Dallas?
That was supposed to be the game that the Eagles bounced back after being embarrassed.
Despite the last two games, the Eagles are still one of the best teams in the NFL.
The one difference is that they are no longer, at this point, the best, which they were after the Buffalo loss.
So now they again must regroup because Monday’s game in Seattle is much bigger than originally expected.
It’s too early to write the Eagles off, but not too early to be concerned.
The Eagles earned that concern with their ragged play the last two weeks against two test teams on their schedule.
San Francisco, the Eagles and Dallas are all 10-3, but San Francisco, which has beaten both teams, is the new No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Technically, Dallas is ahead of the Eagles in the NFC East, but if the Eagles win out, they will be division champions.
Whether the Eagles have a legitimate chance to be the No. 1 seed will largely rest on how they fare on Monday Night (Dec. 18) at Seattle.
The Eagles likely aren’t a lock against the Seattle Seahawks. Before beating the Eagles, Dallas earned a 41-35 home win over Seattle.
That was in Arlington, Texas, where the Cowboys never seem to lose. Now the Seahawks, desperate to stay in the NFC playoff race with a 6-7 record, face a must-win against the Eagles.
Then again, one could say it’s a must-win for Eagles.
After that game, the Eagles have what is perceived to be a three-game bye – with games against the NY Giants sandwiched around one with Arizona.
The Eagles can't afford to look ahead.
They were routed the last two weeks, losing by different means.
advertisement
In the 42-19 loss to the 49ers, the Eagles didn’t turn over the ball. They also didn’t cause any turnovers either.
Against Dallas, it was different. The Eagles committed three turnovers, all fumbles. Dallas committed one turnover.
The Eagles defense, all of a sudden, has to plug up some serious leaks.
Even in the 37-34 overtime win over Buffalo that preceded the current two-game losing streak, the Eagles had trouble stopping the Bills as the final score indicates.
In that game, the Eagles lost the turnover battle 2-1, while allowing Bills QB Josh Allen to accumulate more than 400 yards of total offense.
It was mentioned in the Sunday night game against Dallas that the Eagles look tired.
That could be the case, but the only way for some rest would be to clinch the No. 1 seed before the regular season ends.
Good luck with that.
Now the Eagles have to hope they win out and San Francisco loses one of its final four games – at Arizona, home against Baltimore, at Washington and home against the LA Rams.
The Baltimore game especially, should be challenging, but then again, stopping the 49ers will be also.
Every team goes through lulls.
Remember, the 49ers had an earlier three-game losing streak against Cleveland, Minnesota and Cincinnati.
The Eagles have to hope they are just going through a lull. They also need QB Jalen Hurts, mentioned as a major MVP candidate after the Buffalo win, to step up his game.
It’s all possible, but the Eagles have to show drastic improvement.
The defensive line, the strength of the team, must pick it up. Only Haason Reddick has been the only impactful defensive lineman as of late.
The secondary has been well below average.
Besides the turnovers, the Eagles have shown no consistency on offense.
The 49ers loss should have been a wakeup call.
Dallas?
That was supposed to be the game that the Eagles bounced back after being embarrassed.
Despite the last two games, the Eagles are still one of the best teams in the NFL.
The one difference is that they are no longer, at this point, the best, which they were after the Buffalo loss.
So now they again must regroup because Monday’s game in Seattle is much bigger than originally expected.
It’s too early to write the Eagles off, but not too early to be concerned.
The Eagles earned that concern with their ragged play the last two weeks against two test teams on their schedule.
Photo of D'Andre Swift Courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles
Author: Marc Narducci
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