Philadelphia Eagles’ Secondary Is Primary Concern

Oct 26, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) catches a 75 yard touchdown as Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) defends during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Not much has gone right for the Philadelphia Eagles in the last two weeks. Following the Thanksgiving thumping of Dallas, the Eagles were returning home and ready to play the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks before hosting the hated Cowboys, a two-game stretch that packed a lot of possibilities.

Two wins and the Eagles were positioned well for a first-round bye.

Split the games and the NFC East title, at the very least, was theirs again.

The scenario not many saw coming (if you say you did you’re either an Eagle hater who just wants them to lose, or a liar) was two losses. Not after the way they manhandled the Cowboys in Dallas. Not with the way this team was playing at home.

But that’s exactly what’s happened. A 24-14 loss against Seattle in which the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t really compete. A 38-27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in which the team didn’t show up for kickoff, dominated the second and third quarters, and then apparently decided to beat the traffic and vanished in the fourth quarter.

A lot went wrong. Mark Sanchez has been, well, he’s been a backup NFL quarterback. There was a while there when we thought he was the perfect guy to take this Chip Kelly offense to new heights. Perhaps he was even going to seize the starting job for good, making Nick Foles expendable.

That hasn’t panned out. Sanchez was brutally bad against Seattle and simply average against Dallas in a game where above-average would have gotten it done. In a Sunday night game where you can point a lot of fingers, the backbreaking offensive play was Sanchez’s first interception, an off-target pass to a wide-open Ertz that positioned Dallas for a touchdown that gave them a two-score lead again. It was symbolic of the kind of night Sanchez had, where he several times missed open receivers on key downs. In most of those cases, the end result was the ball on the ground and an Eagles’ punt. On that pass to Ertz, Sanchez wasn’t as fortunate.

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But as bad as he made the offense look at times, it was the Eagles’ secondary that stole the horror show for the second straight game. The weakest area of the team has repeatedly killed the Eagles this season, unable to keep up with decent NFL receivers and making any above-average quarterback look like Joe Montana.

Despite our hatred of them, Tony Romo is a pretty good quarterback and Dez Bryant is a darn good receiver. That combination, much like Aaron Rogers and Jordy Nelson did a few weeks ago in Green Bay, exposed the Eagles’ secondary for what it is – pathetic. Bryant had six catches for 114 yards and three touchdowns – a career high. The guys on the back end seemed shocked that Dallas was throwing the ball to him on third-and-long plays, which given his resume was more than baffling.

We know that players like Bryant or Nelson are going to get their numbers, but it doesn’t stop there. A week earlier it was Doug Baldwin – Doug freaking Baldwin – who had 97 yards receiving and played the role of Eagle killer. Baldwin had 123 yards receiving against the Rams this year, his top output. His 97 yards against the Eagles is second, and marked only the second time all season he posted more than 61 yards in a game. In fact, Baldwin’s 97 yards was not just his second-best game of the season, but the second-best game of his entire career.

Let that sink in while remembering Arizona’s John Brown, who caught the 75-yard touchdown pass in Arizona earlier this season that beat the Eagles. Brown, a rookie, ended up with 119 yards receiving that day. He has no more than 73 yards in any other game this year. To put it another way, his back-breaking TD against the Eagles by itself would have been the best game of his entire career.

It doesn’t end there. Tennessee’s Delanie Walker had 155 yards receiving against the Eagles. That was the best game in the nine-year pro’s entire career, and only the second time he’d ever gone over 100 yards in a game. Brian Quick of St. Louis had the third-best day of his career on a Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. For Allen Hurns, who had 110 yards receiving with Jacksonville in the season-opener at the Linc, it was the second-best outing of his rookie year and one of only two times he’s gone over 100 yards. Playing the Eagles was the only time Pierre Garcon got over 100 yards for Washington this year, too.

Cary Williams. Bradley Fletcher. Nate Allen. These guys have to go. While they’re busy making career days for opposing players, they’re helping the Eagles waste the prime of the careers of some of the most talented guys to ever play in a Philadelphia uniform. And it’s not their fault. They are what they are. If the Eagles are ever going to take the next step, Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman have to see that, too.