With the Eagles winning Super Bowl LII, and keeping most of the roster together for the next season, you would think that they would have some success, right?
Well we were surely mistaken as the Eagles have dropped to 4-5 after their loss to the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field last Sunday.
Now lets not get too irrational, the season is far from over, but the chances of us making the playoffs are slim after this most recent loss. With the Eagles having to play tough teams like the Saints this week, and then the Rams later this year, it's highly improbable that they will make the playoffs this year. There is still hope though, the Eagles play the division leading Redskins twice and the rest of the division once, so it is certainly not over yet.
But how did we get here? Here is how the Eagles got to this point.
The Eagles started the year without their star quarterback, Carson Wentz. Instead the Birds had to start the first two games with Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles under center. Let me get this straight - Nick Foles is not a bad quarterback in the slightest and Philadelphia will always be grateful for what he did for the organization, but he is not nearly as good as Wentz. Foles lead the Eagles to a 18-12 win over the Atlanta Falcons at home, the lack of offense was concerning, but was taken lightly by the team because they were without their QB. Foles and the Eagles then suffered their first lost of the season when they faced a red-hot Ryan Fitzpatrick and lost to the Buccaneers 27-21. Philadelphia fans then rejoiced as the news that Carson Wentz will be back at the helm for the Eagles.
The Eagles barely squeaked out of Wentz's return game against the Colts, winning 20-16. Wentz and the offense looked rusty, but it felt a lot better with him at the helm.
The Eagles then went to Tennessee to face Marcus Mariota and the Titans. The Eagles were dominating this game 17-3 going into the half. But then, everything fell apart. The Eagles ended up losing this game 26-23 in overtime. This loss put everybody in the Eagles organization on notice, and proved that it would not be easy to be repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
The Vikings then came to town in an NFC Championship Game rematch. The Eagles were looking to bounce back after their rough loss in Tennessee, but the Eagles offense could not get going in the first half and were dominated by the Vikings. They started making a 2nd half push but could not get the job done. The Eagles lost this game 23-21, and fell to 2-3.
The Eagles needed a win to get back on track, with the offense sputtering and the defense playing below expectations, a win would mean wonders to the team. They then played the Giants in Metlife Stadium. They ended up squashing the struggling Giants 34-13 and the confidence in Philadelphia began to come back, but only ended up lasting a week.
The Panthers then came to town, with the Eagles coming off a big divisional win. The birds dominated the first 3 quarters of the game and had a 17-0 lead going into the 4th quarter. The team collapsed, the defense fell apart, the offense couldn't stay on the field, and the Panthers came back and won 21-17. The lack of a running back and a struggling secondary was starting to show with the injuries to Jay Ajayi, and Sidney Jones.
The Eagles were then off to play in London, where they beat a dismal Jaguars team 24-18. With the big win over the Jaguars they lost their starting corner Jalen Mills to a foot injury, but spirts were high heading into the bye week. The Eagles had a week to reast, and then were set to face the Cowboys in a pivitol NFC East matchup. The Eagles then made a big acquisition of getting Golden Tate at the trade deadline and looked like they were loading up for the rest of the season.
The Eagles were big favorites for this game, they were coming off a bye week at home against a struggling Dallas team who coming in to Philly on a short week. It was nearly a must win game for both teams. The Eagles then went out and laid an egg. The defense was awful, letting Ezekiel Elliott rush for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. The offense having the same struggles only scoring 3 points in the first half. Ronald Darby, the Eagles number 1 corner went down with a torn ACL and is now out for the season. The Eagles eventually lost this game 27-20.
The city is now livid. some fans are out for Jim Schwartz's neck, and some fans are out for Doug Pederson less than a year removed from a Super Bowl victory. The team is starting to look like an average team which is hard to comprehend because the roster is practically the same. The secondary is banged up with four starting secondary players being hurt, which makes it hard to stop teams' passing attacks. The offensive line is under performing, and the play calling has been very questionable so far this season. It seems like the team is just a big mess and something needs to be fixed to get this team back on track before it's too late.
