I wanted to take a day to internalize and digest what happened to the Eagles Sunday night because I wasn’t seething mad or looking to destroy something in a fit of rage when it ended, which was weird to me. That’s exactly how I should’ve felt after a loss like this, especially to the fucking Cowboys. But my expected anger was immediately replaced with calm acceptance as I sat slumped on the couch following Jason Witten’s game-winning touchdown catch without a defender even on the screen. So maybe on Monday, after the initial shock wore off and the sting of putting on a masterclass in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on national TV had a chance to settle in, all that simmering emotion would course through my veins. Nope. Instead the feeling I have is one of resignation to the Eagles’ 2016 fate, a “this is what they are” acceptance that would’ve been nice to stave off for another week had they finished strong and closed out the Cowboys and, oh by the way, been the #1 seed in the NFC today.

THE GOOD

Darren Sproles

So much for Sproles being done as a regular on offense. He’s the only skill position player with any semblance of explosive ability, and the Eagles leaned on him Sunday night. He had an incredible game, finishing with the fourth-most carries (15) and fifth-highest rushing yards (86) of his career. The rushing yard total would’ve been the fourth-highest of his career, if not for the asinine third-down play-call that resulted in Doug Pederson’s first inexplicable Andy Reidian tendency that ended up costing his team the game. Sproles was the only running back who did anything worth a damn and should’ve received over 20 carries. It sure looks like he’ll be the featured back going forward. At 5’6″ and 33 years of age, I’m sure his body will respond positively to an unprecedented workload and the physical punishment it begets.

 

Carson Wentz

The final numbers aren’t exactly impressive. In fact, Wentz set a record reflective of the limited and pathetic nature of the Eagles’ offense. Never before had a quarterback thrown over 40 passes, completed over 70% of them and averaged under 5 yards per attempt.

Nothing could better capture and encapsulate the futility of what we’re witnessing, yet it’s illogical to conclude from watching the game that Wentz was too cautious or otherwise somehow a hinderance. His ball placement was off at times and he had a couple dangerous throws, but expecting perfection with this shit heap of a surrounding cast is absurd. In fact, I thought Wentz played quite well and was certainly good enough to win. He was masterful in certain spots, especially the two-minute drill before the end of the first half. The issue, as it’s been for the last month, is that Wentz has no help in the form of scheme, talent, or execution. Wide receiver screen after wide receiver screen, minimal throws over 15 yards (the most critical of which was dropped anyway), literally zero shots deep, drops, and the only instance of creativity came at a time when the Eagles were running it down the Cowboys’ throats and had no reason to get cute.

I just hope Wentz’s ability and confidence aren’t stunted by what’s transpiring. He’s a gunslinger by nature, a guy who’s going to take chances. I’d much rather lose like that than by being conservative to the point where it feels like the objective is to see how many completions can go for zero or negative yards.

 

Brandon Graham

That’s as dominant an effort as you’ll see from a guy who doesn’t get a sack, and against a less mobile quarterback I feel like Graham gets at least three. He made Doug Free his bitch all night, recording 11 quarterback pressures and numerous run stuffs. There were plenty of uncalled holding penalties on Free, as well, including on the game-winning touchdown. Graham was a monster in the first three games, then quiet against Detroit and Washington before coming back with a vengeance the last two weeks. He’s been the Eagles’ best player along the front seven to this point in the season.

 

Caleb Sturgis

Sturgis missed his first field goal of the season but has been automatic since and is not-so-quietly — also very, very sadly — the Eagles third-best offensive weapon. I think every one of his 15 made field goals have split the uprights. Sturgis went 3/3 against Dallas, including a 55-yarder before the half, and would’ve gone 4/4 had Pederson shown some stones and given him the opportunity.

 

Josh Huff

Huff’s got himself into a pickle today because he’s an idiot. Focusing on the field, he had another big return, though he couldn’t get clean of the kicker and take it to the house. Huff is a gadget player only on offense, but they really do have to find ways to get the ball in his hands. I know they force it with screens, but that’s ill advised. I feel like the time has come to try him out at running back. It’s already a committee approach, might as well truly embrace it. Why not see if you can take advantage of one of your few explosive athletes and mix him in? This offense needs a spark of some kind, in any form, and Huff has experience playing running back from his Oregon days.

 

Stefan Wisniewski

Replaced an injured Alan Barbre at left guard in the first quarter and played very well. He was instrumental in the success of the north-south run game and prevented interior pressure on Wentz. I think he’s generally better than Barbre, anyway.

 

Run defense

Held up surprisingly well against that offensive line, Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys’ top-ranked rush offense, despite no Bennie Logan and entering the game 24th in yards per carry allowed. Zeke is a freak and will break off his share of chunk plays, but he was largely kept in check, averaging 4.4 yards per carry (he came in at 5.1). His only long run was called back for a hold.

 

Jordan Hicks

Bona fide Cowboys killer, just like Sean Lee is a bona fide Eagles killer. That’s now two straight masterful performances from Hicks, who baited Dak Prescott into an end-zone interception and harassed him all game.

 

Leodis McKelvin

This is a tough one because his mistakes were glaring even though his overall game was solid. McKelvin got toasted on the first deep pass to Dez, he also would’ve been the guilty party on a long touchdown had Cole Beasley put a smidgen less air under the ball on his throw to Terrance Williams. However, McKelvin made a number of strong plays on the ball in coverage and battled Dez tooth and nail all night. Then again, McKelvin dropped the potential game-sealing interception and on the next play Bryant hauled in the tying touchdown.

 

Penalties

Only five for 40 yards. Alright!

 

THE BAD

Drops

Same shit, different game. Six drops, including two crucial ones inside the 10-yard line by Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham. Agholor’s drop was on a ball that hit him in the hands in stride and would’ve gone for a first on third down, but it sure seemed like he subconsciously let the fear of an impending hit affect his concentration. Green-Beckham’s was a more difficult catch on a low throw at the goal line and God forbid a receiver on this team help out Wentz and make a grab consisting of any degree of difficulty (turn the lights off, Jeff).

Agholor is well on his way to being a bust of historic proportions and is at Andrew MacDonald level for me. He didn’t drop another pass after the first and actually made a tough catch in between defenders for a first down later on, but post-game quotes signal a player who’s obviously frustrated but weak mentally and not likely to improve at all. It seems more and more realistic that Agholor is not an Eagle next season. I wonder what kind of trade value he has to a team that liked him predraft and might view him as a reclamation project, because I can’t imagine it’ll take much.

 

Offensive pass interference

Three of them, one of which (against DGB) was extremely weak. Still, when you call as many wide receiver screens as the Eagles do and have players with low football IQ, the inevitable result is guys engaging as blockers immediately in that split second before Wentz throws the ball.

 

Zach Ertz

Soft as baby shit. Name three times in Ertz’s career that he’s broken a tackle and successfully fought for extra yards. He’s listed at 6’5″, 250 pounds and would get tripped up by an arm tackle below the waist by a 5’8″, 170 pound cornerback. Then instead of owning it and taking some responsibility, Ertz has the audacity to whine after the game that his number isn’t being called, despite playing 90% of the snaps. But don’t worry, Ertz’s new, shiny contract guarantees he’s here through at least 2019 so we’ve got three more potential breakout seasons to look forward to!

 

Connor Barwin

Circle button!

Barwin beat Doug Free with his patented spin move last season, but Tyron Smith is not Doug Free. He has made maybe three or four impact plays this season despite the most playing time of any defensive end. Barwin’s snaps need to start going to other players. Vinny Curry’s been disappointing, but you signed him to a contract so maybe just put him on the field? I’d even rather see Marcus Smith (showing some flashes!) and Steven Means. By the way, prayers go out to Connor with the SEPTA strike starting today.

 

East-west runs

Every run play that doesn’t start with the ball carrier taking a step toward the line of scrimmage needs to be scrapped from the playbook.

 

A million wide receiver screens when the defense doesn’t have to respect anything deep

Second and short routinely become third and medium or third and long (because of an offensive pass interference). Everyone knows what’s coming. Kill me.

 

“Kill kill” audible

It’s never anything other than a run right or run left, and Cowboys linebackers were pointing out where plays would be going before the snap. There’s no element of surprise, so execution better be flawless.

 

Missed tackles

Jim Schwartz’s defense played their hearts out and were excellent until the final two touchdown drives, where they looked out of gas, but there were still too many missed tackles — 12 in all.

 

Jalen Mills’ awareness

The rookie lazily jogged in and abandoned the edge, allowing the punter to get outside for an easy 30-yard run when the Eagles defense had just forced another three and out. Then later in the drive, Mills did his ridiculous finger wag on an underthrow in the end zone where he didn’t turn around to look for the ball and it hit him in the back. The Cowboys kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 20-13.

 

THE UGLY

Doug Pederson

Kyle rightly ripped into Pederson for his Monday morning press conference. Doug has gone from cool, rad dad to boring, timid dad. The coach we’ve seen since the bye does not resemble the one from the first three games of the season. The aggressiveness and gumption are gone. He’s coaching scared, and he’s coaching not to lose rather than to win. When you have a team like this, which cannot compete on talent alone, the coaching staff needs to pick up the slack. Pederson drastically failed his players on Sunday. The play-calling and game management were reminiscent of Andy Reid’s worst tendencies, and even though Doug professed he’ll learn from it, I fear this was our first illuminating glimpse into what will be his most basic, inextricable faults. I would’ve loved to see Pederson grab the game by the balls, accept the early penalty and go for it on 4th and 1, but I can certainly understand taking the points early.

Everything was fine for the first 45 minutes but started to go to hell with 13 minutes left when the play-call was for Wendell Smallwood, who’d been barely utilized in the last four weeks, to get his first carry of the game. The right side of the line was blown off the ball immediately, and he was hit just as he received the handoff. I feel so bad for the rookie. I don’t know if Pederson is the authority here or Duce Staley still has autonomy over the running back rotation, but either incorporate Smallwood early in the game or not at all. It’s beyond unfair to have him come in cold in a big spot, and it is a textbook definition of not putting a player in the best position to succeed. Utterly unacceptable.

Up seven. On the Road. Eight minutes left. With the ball. At the opponent’s 30-yard line. And the play-call on third down is a backwards pass — more than anything I’m shocked Sproles didn’t drop it for a fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score by the defense — where you’re relying on your hobbled center to get out in space and pick up Sean Lee despite there being no misdirection or fake of any kind to stunt his read-and-react instinct? Then you double-down on your idiocy by not letting your kicker, whose confidence is at an all-time high, try to extend the lead to 10, instead opting for 26 yards of field position that the Cowboys gained back in four snaps? Inexcusable, no matter how much Pederson tries to justify those decisions by pointing to how well the defense had played up until that point. There were three minutes left in the game and the Cowboys had all their timeouts. This was chicken shit, loser football. It gave life to the Cowboys’ offense, and you can only suppress a collection of star skill players for so long.

Oh, and lastly, calling “heads” for the overtime coin flip? COME ON. Always tails, Jesus. As soon as the official announced “tails,” you knew Wentz wasn’t going to have a chance to touch the ball again.

The Eagles still lead the NFC in point differential (+62) and have been in every game until the end, but this is an undertalented team that can’t overcome mistakes and therefore cannot afford to make them. It surely can’t afford the compounded hardship of having the head coach make several boneheaded, crippling decisions with the outcome hanging in the balance. The Cowboys tried to give the game away for three-plus quarters, but the Eagles weren’t good enough to take it. There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll look back on this in two months as the game that either cost them the division or a Wild Card berth.

 

WHAT’S NEXT

The Eagles have to lick their wounds and travel to the Meadowlands to face a well rested Giants team that has plenty of problems of its own both on and off the field. Let’s see which team can out-derp the other in what will probably be a game that features tons of mistakes, comes down to the wire, and induces heart palpitations. Speaking of well rested, big thanks to the NFL for scheduling the Eagles three straight opponents coming off their bye.