I’m not even mad about this one, and it’s really hard to blame anyone for the loss, despite CSN’s need to determine the sole humanoid or segmentation of humanoids responsible for the loss because DEBATE.

The defense? They played great in the second half. The Lions scored 24 points– their implied Vegas total was 21. So, three points more than they were supposed to. Give them credit for coming up with an excellent game plan and catching the Eagles off-guard with a variety of looks, including a nasty fake on Theo Riddick’s second touchdown. If anything, the Eagles’ mistake was not playing Nigel Bradham – who supposedly wasn’t suspended – in the first half. He’s been a major factor and played well late in the game. His absence early hurte.

The officials? Eh. If the NFL insists on employing Pete Morelli, they should assign him only to Florida games so no one will notice. His crew is laughably bad. On one unfortunate series, they flagged Connor Barwin for being an ineligible receiver (he plays defense), picked up the flag and then completely whiffed on a review of what was an incomplete pass to Jordan Matthews and ruled it a catch while making no mention of the earlier flag and confusing the entire country in the process. They probably hurt the Eagles more, but they did the Lions no favors either and ultimately didn’t decide the outcome of the game.

Ryan Mathews? He played well and fumbled at a bad time. I have more of a problem with the play call in that situation than the fumble (which may have gone out of bounds but was inconclusive). It’s third and short and Darren Sproles has been dicing up the line all day. A simple run up the middle probably gets you a first down. Though I would’ve voted for Doug Pederson’s TE screen™ to either Zach Ertz or Trey Burton. That play has been working all season and would’ve been the perfect safe play with a lot of upside. Ryan Mathews sprinting to  the edge was doomed from the start.

The final offensive play? Doug Pederson made it clear A BOMB TO NELSON AGHOLOR was at best the third option, so the throw is more on Wentz than Pederson. But, it’s hard to blame Carson for channeling his inner Brett Favre and going for the win. If anything, the Eagles are too conservative on offense and would’ve been better served taking a few chances earlier. So though it was kind of a stupid decision, I don’t have that much of a problem with it.


Sometimes you just lose games. They Eagles lost a bit of a trap game, coming off a bye, on the road, to a Lions team that isn’t great but is good enough on offense to be in every game. It sucks, but it’s no big deal.