I suppose if you look at the Eagles from afar, you see a 5-4 team entering the bye week with two home games on tap. It would seem as though the glass is half full this morning, considering that this is the same team that slumped to 3-4 after getting walloped in Dallas a few weeks back. Now they’ve rebounded nicely to find themselves in relatively decent shape with 13 days to prepare for the Patriots.

Dig a little further though.

Shrink the macro-level viewpoint into a micro assessment and you’ll come to the realization that this team just doesn’t pass the eye test. The receivers stink. DeSean Jackson lasted a few plays before leaving injured, again. The Bears compiled nine total first half yards and somehow found themselves in a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter. The Birds couldn’t kill off a team that looked completely inept for a good two hours.

That’s why I’m not feeling it. Nothing about Sunday was really truly impressive, at least to the extent that it would make you believe that Doug Pederson’s squad can actually do some damage if they make the playoffs. At times, this game felt like a carbon copy of the Jets matchup, where the Eagles’ offense bumbled along, just sort of cruising in the middle lane on I-95 without any real purpose or direction. It was like they were out for a Sunday stroll instead of trying to leave the opposing team in the dust, as should be the attitude every weekend.

I looked over at the couch around 3 p.m. to find my wife, dog, and daughter all asleep, which was a good snap shot of this game. But listen, you never know what may happen in the National Football League. The Eagles could come out refreshed in two weeks and beat the brakes off of Tom Brady and company, though I’m heading into the bye week with a somewhat negative attitude. I’m going Negadelphia on the Eagles for the next two weeks. I’m sorry.

1. Carson Wentz, killing off the game

He finished 26-39 for 239 yards and a touchdown. Zero turnovers again.

It was nice to see the early targets for DeSean before he left the game. It makes a lot of sense to try to get a dynamic guy like him established early on his return from injury, and one of those looks turned into a defensive pass interference penalty.

And I liked the opening drive, but Carson just can’t take that sack on third down, especially after you converted 4th and 2 and got yourself all the way down the field.

I also noticed some designed roll outs for him, not a ton, but just a couple of simple plays to get him moving. That’s a common theme in these parts, the idea that Carson is good on the run and the Eagles should try to move him out of the pocket a bit.

Some other Carson thoughts:

  • not sure how he overthrew Alshon Jeffery on that sideline route, had him wide open
  • the audible on the 4th and 1 play and ensuing overthrow of Mack Hollins was horrendous
  • thought it was a really nice pass to Alshon on the sideline before halftime, but Jeffery dropped it and honestly didn’t seem to put much effort into that play
  • he missed Darren Sproles right before half on what looked like a really simple pass, just led him a bit too much
  • on the first deep ball, Nelson Agholor didn’t make much of a play on the ball
  • on the second deep ball, Agholor did make a decent effort, but he’s just never gonna be that kind of guy because he’s a SLOT RECEIVER
  • Jeffery should have caught that 3rd and 10 pass
  • Carson took another bad sack on a 3rd and 5
  • he made a nice play to step up and hit Jeffery on the next 3rd and 10, which Alshon dropped

Wentz wasn’t exactly carving up the Bears, but he converted four straight third downs on the final drive, which killed the clock and won the game. Isn’t that what the critics have been waiting for? For him to “take charge of a game,” especially late? That’s what he did here, and I know three of those passes were relatively short tosses, but the reads were correct and the Eagles moved the chains, so I’m not sure what else you can really expect from him at this point.

2. Angry Zach Ertz

Nine grabs for 103 yards and a touchdown for his best performance of the year and his first 100-yard receiving game since the Texans game last December.

He seemed… kind of pissed off? He was breaking tackles and piling up YAC yards while looking more like the Pro Bowl player we’re accustomed to seeing. When asked why Ertz had a big day, Wentz and Doug Pederson didn’t have much of an explanation, but here’s what the tight end himself said:

“I felt like the past two weeks I was going to kind of be more of a focus in the game plan. Obviously, last week in the win it just turned into a running game, but this week I felt like I was going to be a factor in the game. I felt confident going into the game. I felt like I had a really good week of practice, both Dallas  and myself. I’m really excited about how the tight ends played today.”

Ertz typically plays well against Chicago. He had his only 100-yard receiving game of 2017 against the Bears and went for 52 yards on five catches last year in the playoff game. Nice to see him involved again, because the Eagles are getting diddly poo from their receivers and need the tight ends to carry the load.

3. Bad Alshon Jeffery

Three drops for him, which comprised 37.5% of his eight total targets.

I pulled up those plays and hit the pause button right at the moment the ball arrived, so you can see where Wentz placed each pass (spoiler, he hit him right in the hands) –

Ok, maybe the one pass was a bit high, but the Alshon Jeffery of 2017 and 2018 catches that ball 999 times out of 1,000.

Jeffery might be cooked, or he could be nursing another mystery injury that we don’t know about, but he did make good by snagging a third down catch to move the chains on the game-killing drive. 36 yards receiving was his lowest number of 2019, and right now he’s on pace to finish with about 60 catches for 600 yards and 6 touchdowns. That would be the least productive season he’s had since 2016, his final year with the Bears.

4. Man coverage and single-high safety

Mitch Trubisky really befouled Lincoln Financial Field with his stinky performance out there. It was downright noxious.

Only in the second half did he have any luck throwing the ball, and I thought the Eagles did a nice job of playing closer to the line of scrimmage and being physical there, instead of sitting 10 yards back and allowing a bunch of bullshit instead.

It really helps that Avonte Maddox, Jalen Mills, and Ronald Darby are all on the field now, and with those three the Birds showed stuff like this, which was effective:

The Eagles are not frequently on the line against opposing receivers, especially not on 2nd and 11 and 3rd and 9, but this was a nice change-up from Jim Schwartz on Sunday.

Said Doug:

Our defense plays a lot of one-high defense, and that’s part of Jim’s background and his M.O. We definitely wanted to — felt like we could get after (Trubisky) a little bit, put pressure with our defensive line, which we did early in this game and play a bit more man-to-man and just make things harder. When you can do that, I think it’s a carryover from last week in the Bills game, our defense did that. And it is a credit to the D-Line, though, putting pressure with our four, and then some of the blitz packages, being able to get home and disrupt some timing.

Really nice to see some man coverage out there, and Genard Avery got a half-sack and a QB hit in his Birds’ debut.

5. The red zone

The Eagles’ lead should have been more than 12 points going into halftime, which was probably the main reason for the grumbling on social media, or from your Delco uncle.

Honestly, those two field goal drives were solid, but I think Doug let his team down with some wonky red zone decision making, first calling pass plays on 2nd and 3rd down of the first drive, then deciding to run this appalling smoke screen on 3rd and 2 of the next drive:

One guy unblocked and a Zach Ertz whiff as that play was shut down before Isaac Seumalo was able to even engage at the next level.

The Eagles actually entered the game with a 65.3% red zone touchdown number, which was good for 6th in the league overall and a stat that surprised me. With the personnel they do have available, this should be a Philly strength. They have a power running back in Jordan Howard. They have a quarterback that can sneak the ball and do things with his legs. They have two big-bodied tight ends and a possession receiver who can theoretically win jump balls near the pylon, unless he drops them.

6. Mistakes and breaks

The drops made up for a good chunk of these:

Mistakes:

  • missed extra point
  • Jeffery drop on sidelines right before halftime
  • Andrew Sendejo with his one dumbass play of the game, this time a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty
  • another Jeffery drop
  • unsportsmanlike conduct on 3rd down punt, giving Bears really good field position
  • …another Jeffery drop
  • bad field position from questionable kick and punt return decisions
  • killer false start on 3rd down in the 4th quarter

Breaks:

  • Boston Scott only getting flagged for running into the kicker, no roughing (penalty declined, Eagles get the ball)
  • benefited from myriad jumpy Bears defensive line penalties
  • bailed out on a 4th down roughing the passer call after an Eagles incompletion (they also somehow got away with a delay of game on this play, unless the broadcast clock was incorrect)
  • refs picking up the flag on the Zach Ertz offensive pass interference call
  • David Montgomery dropping a beautifully set up screen pass
  • Bears muffing the final kickoff, which sealed the victory

The refs were in the bag for the Eagles Sunday, at least early on. It’s extremely rare that the refs favor a Philly team, so it’s something you should cherish and savour.

But on the Ertz touchdown, he mugged Kyle Fuller:

Yeah, well, we’ll take anything we can get.

7. Ancillary wins and losses

Rather thorough domination here, very similar to Trubisky’s rookie year at the Linc.

Stats:

  • won time of possession, 40:18 minutes to 19:42 minutes
  • +1 turnover margin
  • 8-18 on third down (44.4%)
  • 1-1 on fourth down
  • allowed Bears to go 2-10 on third down (20%)
  • lost 23 yards on 3 sacks
  • 2-4 success rate in the red zone
  • 8 penalties for 75 yards

That’s a higher penalty number than the Eagles have typically been posting this year.

But jeez, look at that TOP number. 40 minutes? They possessed the ball for 12:11 in the first quarter alone despite kicking off first. There’s no way this should have been a one score game when you look at how the Eagles controlled the clock and limited Chicago on third downs throughout.

8. Doug’s best call?

The 4th and 2 on the opening drive made a lot of sense from a field position perspective. I liked how they went to their bread and butter on that play and got Ertz on a short little outside/inside after putting him in pre-snap motion. Aside from the second and third down in the red zone, I thought it was the best-called opening drive that Pederson has put together this season.

9. Doug’s worst call?

We already went over the 3rd and 2 screen, though I understand why he calls them. They don’t have much of anything in the downfield passing game without DeSean Jackson, so they’ve been trying to mix in some lateral stuff to see if they can space it out that way. Personally, I think we need to find Doug’s playbook and Ctrl+F for the words ‘smoke,” tunnel,’ and ‘bubble,’ and remove those entirely.

Another candidate here is the series that took place at the end of the second quarter, when Darren Sproles got the ball three times in a row. Two of those touches were Wentz picking him via reads, but I don’t know why he’s on the field to begin with. Sanders and Howard please. 12-personnel. Less Mack Hollins. Play to your strengths? Please..

10. Broadcasting adventures with Dick Stockton

Dick Stockton and Mark Schlereth on this one.

Stockton has had a fantastic broadcasting career, and I’ve got a ton of respect for anybody who’s been doing it as long as he has. Guy has been calling games since 1974, when I was -10 years old.

He’s 76 now and has struggled in recent years, getting names wrong, reacting slowly to action on the field, and just frequently seeming “off” throughout a typical broadcast.

In this game, he:

  • said Miles “Saunders.”
  • called the Eagles the Bears and called the Bears the Eagles (this happened several times)
  • said Alshon “Jefferies”
  • failed to say anything at all about Jackson leaving the game, then surmised that he might have an “equipment situation”
  • called Charissa Thompson “Charissa Mack”
  • believed Zach Ertz might be down at the one-yard line when he basically finished his TD three yards into the endzone
  • said Lane “Jackson”
  • said a bunch of things that went in one ear and out the other

Again, much respect to Stockton for putting together a stellar, 45-year run, but FOX needs to make a change in the offseason. You don’t want to soil 40 great years with a couple of crappy seasons at the end of your career.

Happy Monday. Here’s a song from Rage Against the Machine, who have reunited for a handful of U.S. gigs in the spring: