Philadelphia Eagles: Takeaways From Loss To Seahawks

Credit: Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles got absolutely dominated by the Seattle Seahawks. There’s no way to hide this, the Eagles played awful and were beat by a clearly superior team on Sunday. The 24-14 score line flattered the Eagles in the end. I expected a lot better from this game.

There’s a ton of negatives to take away from this game, here’s my main takeaways, I’ll try to keep some positive:

Mark Sanchez is not very good: This is becoming more obvious every week. Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez played fine last week but he didn’t have to make one difficult throw. When the running game isn’t working, Sanchez is not a good enough quarterback. Nick Foles should start when he’s healthy, I have no doubts about this anymore.

The whole offense was terrible:

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The entire offense played horrendous. The running game didn’t work. The passing game didn’t work. It was a complete no show from the Eagles, hard to believe the Eagles spent ten days preparing for the Seahawks. 139 total yards from the Eagles.

Chip Kelly deserves some criticism: Nobody is immune to criticism, not even head coach Chip Kelly. He had 10 days to prepare for this game. The first Eagles offensive play was a throw to Richard Sherman’s side. Unbelievable. The first three scripted plays were passes, against the Seahawks defense with Sanchez at Quarterback. That is inexcusable.

Zach Ertz needs to be on the field more: I know he doesn’t block as well as Celek but yesterday the running game was doing nothing regardless. Zach Ertz was by far the Eagles best weapon in the passing game yesterday yet he had 25 snaps. He needs to see the field more than that, especially in a game where the receivers can’t get open.

Lack of creativity: Running back Darren Sproles is so underutilized it hurts. He had 13 snaps yesterday in a game where he could have been a major factor. Why aren’t we splitting Sproles out wide more? Get him the ball more in the passing game and get him in space where he can hurt defenders with his quickness.

Defensive errors hurt: Linebacker Trent Cole had a bad game. The Eagles defense face the read option every day in practice, how does Cole have no idea how to defend it then? Malcolm Jenkins had a really bad game too, he should’ve had a pick 6 and gave up 2 big receptions.

Fletcher Cox is an absolute stud: Let’s get to some positives, defensive end Fletcher Cox is incredible. He’s an all-pro defensive end right now. The last 5 weeks he has been outstanding. He blew up multiple runs yesterday and also got some pressure, just another great performance.

Defensive standouts: Linebackers Mychal Kendricks and Connor Barwin both had good games. Kendricks especially was dominant. Barwin seemed like the one of the only Eagles defenders not named Fletcher Cox who could stop Marshawn Lynch from gaining extra yards after contact, shows how strong Barwin is. Brandon Graham also had another great game, the Eagles can’t afford to lose him.

The officials were awful: The Eagles did not lose this game because of the officials. The officiating was still inexcusable though. Seattle were all over the Eagles receivers and I don’t even mind that as long as you call it both ways. Then they call pass interference on cornerback Bradley Fletcher when he got his head around on a deep ball and swatted the ball away. Officials have to be consistent and they weren’t yesterday.