Philadelphia Eagles: One win and a first-place standing
Four games with just one win but the Philadelphia Eagles are first in the NFC East.
They are one of only four teams to reach the NFL postseason each of the past three years. But it’s been a rough start to 2020 for the defending NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles. They looked to turn things around on Sunday night at San Francisco against the defending NFC champion 49ers. And when it was all said and done, Doug Pederson’s club got its first victory of the season via a 25-20 triumph.
And believe it or not, the Birds are atop a division that has been underwhelming after four weeks. And that’s being incredibly kind. The Eagles were the only NFC East to win on Sunday as Washington fell at home to Baltimore, 31-17, Dallas was overwhelmed by the visiting Browns, 49-38, and the Giants failed to score a touchdown on the road to the Rams, 17-9.
Yes, a win is a win. But these injury-riddled 1-2-1 Eagles defy logic.
The Philadelphia Eagles have been a mixed bag en route to No. 1 in the division.
The club has been outscored by a combined 107-84 count. Quarterback Carson Wentz is completing 60.6 percent of his throws and has thrown almost twice as many interceptions (7) than touchdown passes (4) — although he has run for 111 yards and three scores. But he’s also fumbled four times and lost one of those miscues. Wentz (sacked 14 times in four games) has eight of Philadelphia’s nine turnovers.
On the positive side, the Philadelphia pass rush has produced an impressive 17 quarterback traps in four outings. That includes five sacks of 49ers’ quarterbacks Nick Mullens (4) and C.J. Beathard (1) in the 25-20 victory Sunday night at San Francisco.
And regardless of their current record, they lead a division with a combined 3-12-1 mark. Both the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks have already won four games this season.
Then again, getting off to a sluggish start has been commonplace for Pederson’s team in recent years. The Eagles were 4-6 in 2018 before winning five of their final six games and grabbing a Wild Card berth.
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A season ago, Philadelphia was 5-7 before prevailing in their final four outings and taking the division. So in some ways, stumbling out of the gates has been the norm for these Birds. Then again, the entire NFC East may truly be for the birds in 2020.