Eagles: You won’t believe what Doug Pederson said this time
Head coach Doug Pederson may be uninformed about who and what his team is.
Ladies and gentlemen, Rome has fallen, the bottom has fallen out and the Philadelphia Eagles appeared to have mailed it in with four games left. Sunday, in a game where most of the Cincinnati Bengals fans showed up dressed as empty seats, all of the energy appeared to be on one side of the field. Unfortunately, it wasn’t on the side of the Eagles.
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Another questionable statement:
Head coach Doug Pederson, as he always does, was a guest via phone on The Morning Show with Angelo Cataldi on 94 WIP-FM. He discussed some of the disappointing play from yesterday’s game but offered a view on his team that the majority of us wouldn’t be able to share. When asked about his team’s lack of energy and effort and whether or not the team seemed ready to play, Pederson’s answer was totally off base.
“Quite honestly it was the opposite” said Pederson. “We felt our guys were more into the game than our opponent…There was no energy from the other team.”
Say what?
Just in case you missed the game:
There’s no reason the Eagles shouldn’t have walked out of Cincinnati with a victory. The Bengals’ offensive line is in disarray. Their defense was 28th against the run going into this game. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton didn’t have the luxury of having one of the leagues premier receivers, A.J. Green in the lineup. Philadelphia, after winning the coin toss, took the ball. Their first possession went three plays and out. There was a run for -2 yards and two incompletions. One saw the ball batted back into the face of Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| All NFL | 10 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 32 |
| All NFL | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
It only got worse after that. For the rest of the afternoon, the defense was pushed all over the field. The offense couldn’t run the ball against that 28th-ranked run defense, and the Eagles’ defense, in a performance that included no sacks, made Dalton look like Joe Montana. Wentz, on the other hand, turned in his worst performance of the season. He threw three interceptions on over 60 passing attempts. Guys made minimal effort to make tackles. No one blocked anybody with any consistent effectiveness. Tight end Zach Ertz, on one occasion, was literally a spectator on a scramble by Wentz. Fortunately, the rookie got out of bounds before a kill shot was delivered
Conclusion:
The million dollar question now is whether or not this team has given up on the season and they’re coach. Defensive end Vinny Curry was recently quoted as saying “I’m only doing what I’m coached to do”. Pederson continues to see something in this team that the rest of us don’t.
Next: Philadelphia Eagles relying too heavily on Wentz
“People are still talking about the Eagles. With four games left, we’re two games out of the Wildcard”. At this point, it’s hard to wonder what Pederson’s thinking. Does anyone really want this team into the playoffs? The’re losers of seven of their last nine, and they’re actually regressing. Now we have a week to ponder whether or not they’re even better than the Bengals.