EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — At halftime Sunday, it was crystal clear that a Miracle at the Meadowlands was not in the DNA of this Eagles team.
So, one by one, the Eagles checked out because of injuries or some strange hope that by resting veterans, the next game would be different.
What a spectacle their world is. Quicker than the “ding” on an unwanted text notification, the Eagles blew whatever chance they had of coming together in a 27-10 loss to the New York Giants that was over before head coach Nick Sirianni could tell his guys how disappointed they all should be. After all, they had trailed 24-0 at the intermission.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who hurt his hand, center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson took the rest of the day off. Marcus Mariota, Landon Dickerson, and Fred Johnson stepped in for them.
Eighteen weeks, a coaching shakeup, and a lot of locker room angst stoked by superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown created an Eagles fade that came close to rivalling the collapse of the 1964 Phillies, and certainly matched up with that of the 1994 Eagles. To make matters worse, Hurts, A.J. Brown (knee), Sydney Brown (knee), Cam Jurgens (eye) and Reed Blankenship (groin) exited with injuries.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Sirianni said. “We didn’t coach well enough, we didn’t play well enough. … There’s not really an explanation.”
The Eagles’ fifth loss in six games completed the tumble from budding dynasty and the conference’s top seed in Week 12, when an overtime win over Buffalo elevated them to a league-leading 10-1, to the fifth playoff seed, and a wild card game in Tampa against the 9-8 NFC South champion Buccaneers and certain change ahead. At the very least, the Eagles made Tyrod Taylor some money. The 34-year-old Giants veteran took them apart, completing nine straight passes in one run to stake the Giants to their obscene lead in the first half. Taylor threw for 269 yards and a touchdown before giving way to Tommy DeVito.
The Giants gashed the Eagles for one big play after another, racking up nine plays of 15-or-more yards against a defense that still couldn’t line up correctly, and when it did it simply blew coverages. Saquon Barkley rushed for two touchdowns on the day and was inches from a 46-yard scoring reception, his momentum taking him out of bounds.
Meanwhile, Hurts was trying to fight off a blitzing Giants defense turbocharged by linebacker Bobby Okereke. He was sacked twice and intercepted when he exited with a 26.8 rating late in the half.
“There’s so much to be fixed that we’ve been struggling with now, offensively and defensively,” Kelce said. “This last month and a half has been pretty brutal. Obviously we didn’t expect this. It has been a colossal letdown.”
Mariota didn’t give you a chance to believe there would be a comeback as he locked in on his target and was intercepted on his first throw from the pocket. With 10:15 left in the fourth quarter, he found Quez Watkins, of all receivers, with a 16-yard TD getting the Eagles within 24-10.
Right now, there isn’t a lot to like about the Eagles, Sirianni or Hurts for that matter. They talk about execution and fall short. Taking care of the football and yet they turn it over four times. The Eagles enter the playoffs with a minus-10 in turnover ratio.
“It’s zero-zero,” Eagles veteran Brandon Graham said. “It’s on us to get better. At the end of the day it’s on us together. I know we’re going to fight. I know there’s a lot of people on the outside doubting us. But that doesn’t matter. There are a lot of people that are going home because their season is over. We’ve got some life left.”
Most troubling is these bad Birds have become predictable. When the going gets tough, they make so many mistakes they can’t get going. The dramatic second-half comebacks are little more than a memory. The double-digit deficits are the norm. You can make excuses all day long about injuries, but only some of them are valid. Yeah, it’s tough to come back without DeVonta Smith, who was scratched and A.J. Brown, who hobbled off before the half.
“We’ve got a lot of belief in that locker room,” Sirianni tried to argue. “We’ve made the playoffs, we move on to Tampa Bay. We need all hands on deck, because everybody’s 0-0 going into this week. We’ll make corrections from this game. Obviously, we’re all going to be (hissed) off … but you have to flush it.”
The Eagles can beat the Bucs. They defeated them 25-11 in Week 3 at Raymond James Stadium. But that was a different Eagles team than this one, which only succeeds in beating itself. For a squad playing slow and full of uncertainty, a fast change won’t be easy. Sirianni has tried just about everything to right the ship. Still, it’s sinking.
Strange as it sounds, another loss like Sunday next weekend in the playoffs and there could be some tough conversations about the entire coaching staff. Don’t think for a second a team couldn’t move on from a head coach who guided them to the playoffs in his first three seasons.
The Eagles in their last six games look a lot like the team that Doug Pederson stumbled down the stretch with in 2020. The difference is that the Eagles, we all know, weren’t playing for something the way this squad was supposed to be on this day.
Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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