The Wide World of Dirt

Well that absolutely sucked.

I can’t lie to you all, I was beginning to think I would never have to do a recap of the Eagles losing. That’s how good I was beginning to believe this team would be.

I forgot how the NFL works.

When it rains, it pours, and the Eagles were standing in the pouring rain locked out of their apartment.

Now if I had written this the night, or even the day after the game, this would have had a completely different tone.

It was not a pleasant 24 hours.

Anyway, let’s get into it. 

Missed Opportunities

Even if this game didn’t result in an Eagles loss, this was quite obviously their worst game of the season.

An area of concern that I haven’t mentioned a lot is the Eagles’ special teams. They haven’t been able to get any sort of return game going, either from kickoff or punts, and their coverages haven’t been all that impressive.

It was an issue on the first drive of the game.

After forcing Washington to go 3-and-out, the Eagles special teams ran into the kicker and gave up a possession.

Fortunately the Eagles forced a turnover the very next play, but they never should have been in that position.

Special teams is a VERY important part of the game, yet it feels very underrated. 

Once again, the Eagles run defense was a problem, and to be honest, the rest of the defense wasn’t much better.

The Eagles allowed 156 yards on the ground. A ton of those yards were on third down too as they let the Commanders convert 12-21 third downs.

12 of them is crazy; you won’t win many football games if you can’t force the opposing offense off the field.

They also let the Commanders keep possession of the ball for 40:24.

That is absolutely insane.

I haven’t been on Jonathan Gannon’s case for a few weeks now, but here I am once again. His soft zone coverages and “bend don’t break” philosophies once again have caused me to go insane.

There was absolutely no reason for Darius Slay, a top cornerback in the game, to sit five yards off of Terry McLaurin, one of the best wide receivers in the game.

McLaurin absolutely cooked our secondary, and there was little to no adjustments made to compensate for him.

Gannon has the players to run his scheme effectively; however, his scheme is one that can be exploited pretty easily.

I get the defensive numbers look good, and to be fair, this is a good defense. But, with the amount of talent there, I think it’s fair to say the players are pulling more weight than the coach.

Hopefully another team gives him a head coaching interview, so I don’t have to worry about it next year.

Finally, the offense.

This was the worst performance all season.

Jalen Hurts was 17/26 for 175 yards 2 TDs and an INT. It wasn’t his best night. He could have played better, but he still gave this team a chance. I think that’s commendable.

That INT also wasn’t his fault. You can argue he shouldn’t have passed it since it was double coverage, but it was a perfect throw that landed in AJ Brown’s hands.

Brown just couldn’t hold on, and it ended up in the safety’s hands. There was an ill-timed fumble by Dallas Goedert (more on that later) that killed a drive.

There was another ill-timed fumble by Quez Watkins after a beautiful 50-yard pass by Hurts that killed any momentum.

There were only two really bad three-and-outs. One at the end of the first half that gave Washington a drive that resulted in a field goal, and another in the second half that pretty much sealed the game.

Miles Sanders also only got 12 carries for some reason? I get the Eagles were playing catch up for some time, but he is one of your better playmakers. He has been having a career year.

This was a trend the past few years by both Pederson and Sirianni’s staff(s). Above all, it was just not the Eagles’ night. 

Questionable Officiating

I hate blaming officiating as a reason teams lose games.

However, there are some circumstances in which it might be right to call into question the referees.

The number one thing is that referees should not, under any circumstance, be able to affect the outcome of the game. They are there to keep the players in check.

But on Monday night, I asked myself, Who is going to keep the refs in check?

Seriously, this crew was one of the worst I have seen. The Dallas Goedert facemask no-call is one of the worst no-calls I have ever seen.

The last truly awful one was back in 2019 Eagles vs. Lions where a Lions defender who had a blatantly obvious facemask on Miles Sanders that was never called.

The replay showed an obvious face mask, and it was never reversed. Fun fact: The Eagles ended up losing that game!

Flash forward to the Monday Night game, and the same thing happened. It was so bad that it caused Goedert to fumble AND THEN injure his shoulder.

Goedert’s shoulder injury then led him to go on Injured Reserve where he will miss at least four games. It really added insult to injury.

The fact that after the game one ref said, “I didn’t see anything,” while the replay of a certain angle shows a ref RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE PLAY really boggles my mind.

That is what really frustrated me.

The unnecessary roughness call annoyed me and pissed me off in the moment, especially since I’ve never seen a QB scramble around and then take a knee.

Brandon Graham had a hard time slowing up and couldn’t stop in time. It is what it is. 

Looking Forward

The run defense has been acknowledged by the Eagles as they have signed Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh to one-year deals.

I very much like these moves, especially Suh. They provide depth, and once Jordan Davis comes back, they will have a DEEP rotation of defensive tackles.

The Goedert injury hurts more.

Dallas Goedert is one of the best tight ends in football, and Sirianni made it clear the passing attack runs through three guys: Goedert, Brown, and DeVonta Smith.

It really is going to be interesting how they replace Goedert’s productivity. Heck, I wouldn’t mind reaching out to Gronk! (lol) 

Like I said, this team was unlikely to go undefeated, and they probably will lose a few more games.

That shouldn’t take away the fact that this still is a very talented team. It took everything from Washington to win, and they still never put the Eagles fully away.

They have a chance to regroup against an underwhelming Colts team in Indianapolis. I believe they’ll come out of this loss with a better sense of themselves.

They finally have been punched in the mouth.

Better they get this loss out of the way now than when it’s for a playoff-clinching spot. I still love this team, and I still believe in them.

As always, Go Birds.