Philadelphia Eagles: Flying South In a Hurry
You can never say never when it comes to the NFL. But Philadelphia Eagles fans never saw their team give up 45 points in back-to-back games…until now.
For a city that is synonymous with cheese steaks, Philadelphia is also the home of Chip Kelly’s Eagles, who are looking like chopped meat these days.
These Birds certainly looked like turkeys on Thanksgiving Day at Detroit. Facing a club that had scored less than 20 points in each of their previous four contests, the Lions exploded at home for a 45-14 win, handing Philadelphia its third consecutive loss.
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Nov 26, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Philadelphia Eagles free safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) tackles Detroit Lions running back Joique Bell (35) during the fourth quarter of a NFL game on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Detroit won 45-14. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, we are talking the big picture here and not just the developments on Thursday, a game in which quarterback Mark Sanchez was sacked six times and lost a fumble, while 2009 NFL draft classmate Matthew Stafford was busy throwing five touchdown passes, three to overdue wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
“There is no easy answers to correcting this, and there are going to be tough decisions that are going to need to be made, tough things to swallow,” said safety Malcolm Jenkins to Zach Berman of Philly.com following the 31-point setback. “People are going to really have to look at themselves and be critical. There is no easy road to fixing this. That’s going to come down to seeing what this team is made of man by man, and that is coaches and players alike.”
Eagles
“It’s a freaking embarrassment on national TV to come out with a performance like this,” added nose tackle Bennie Logan. “Forty-five points put on us back-to-back? It’s disgusting.”
You figure this out. A season ago, the Eagles managed an impressive 49 sacks but still allowed 30 scores through the air. In terms of cornerbacks this offseason, the club released Cary Williams, did not re-sign Bradley Fletcher and traded Brandon Boykin. Meanwhile, Philadelphia inked from Seattle Seahawks corner Byron Maxwell to big bucks.
The result: The Eagles have totaled 26 sacks and surrendered 25 touchdown passes in 11 games.
Nov 26, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez (3) looks for an open man against the Detroit Lions during the third quarter of a NFL game on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Lions win 45-14. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s take a look and see how this has unraveled dating back to late last season. After winning nine of their first 12 games in 2014, Philadelphia is 5-10 in its last 15 contests. In 2013, Kelly’s first year at the helm, his team turned over the football just 19 times in 16 regular-season contests.
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Dating back to 2014, these Birds have coughed up the football a disturbing 57 times in 27 outings, including 21 times so far this year. Last season, the Eagles were guilty of a league-high 36 turnovers.
Talk about a collapse. Since owning a 16-3 first-quarter lead at home against the Miami Dolphins in Week, 10, Kelly’s club has been outscored a combined 107-34 in their last 11 quarters of play.
In the span of five days, the Eagles allowed 90 points, 10 touchdown passes and 951 total yards in consecutive losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (45-17) and Lions (45-14).
This offseason alone, along with needed changes in the secondary, the Eagles dealt quarterback Nick Foles to St. Louis for Sam Bradford (and other considerations), traded 2013 NFL rushing leader LeSean McCoy to Buffalo and did not choose to re-sign wideout Jeremy Maclin. While Foles is currently riding the bench with the Rams, McCoy leads Buffalo in rushing and Maclin has totaled 48 catches for 612 yards and two scores this season.
That’s a lot of good players not playing for the Eagles anymore.
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We keep hearing that there is still time for the Eagles to turn things around, especially since they are in a division in which no team owned a winning record heading into the weekend. That’s just simple math.
But the eye test tells you that fixing whatever is ailing this club these days won’t be so elementary.