Philadelphia Eagles are robbed of their first win by Doug Pederson again

Philadelphia Eagles who aren’t fans of Pederson’s playcalling are fuming now.

Everything was there for the taking for the Philadelphia Eagles in overtime. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox came up with some huge sacks during the Cincinnati Bengals’ final overtime drive. The latter forced Cincy to make a decision on fourth and long from inside their own ten-yard line with 1:49 to play.

As you might have imagined, the Bengals elected to punt. The next thing you know, Philly was set up with a first down near mid-field with what should have been an eternity for an NFL offense with an above-average quarterback.

Somehow, Philly’s final drive of Week 3 ended with a punt on fourth down following a series that was highlighted by Matt Pryor short-circuiting everything as he was flagged for a false start as the Eagles lined up for a potential game-winning field goal by Jake Elliott from their own 41-yard line. Philly now has an 0-2-1 win-loss total following what should have been one of their more winnable games of the season. There’s a lot to unpack here, but everything always falls in the lap of the quarterback and head coach, so let’s talk about Doug Pederson. This may not be a loss, but it feels like one, and the building blocks for yet another disappointment began a long time ago.

The Philadelphia Eagles head coach needs to accept most of the blame for this one.

In his postgame presser, Doug Pederson explained his decision to punt on fourth down, a decision that has been met with some raised eyebrows harsh criticism. Now, as most of you could have figured out without hearing Doug’s answer, a miss would have set the Bengals up with a first down near midfield with 19 seconds to play.

You can argue that left plenty of time for rookie Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow to complete a pass, run down, and spike the ball to set up a last-second field goal for Cincy, especially seeing as how Philly’s linebackers can’t cover and somebody who hasn’t played much (Craig James or Trevor Williams) probably would have been left on an island in coverage. That obviously would have been devastating.

Okay, so forget that idea. How about this one? You can also argue that Philly should have attempted a conversion on 4th and 12. Had they done so and had they been successful, maybe they could have killed the clock and attempted an easier field goal themselves.

Then again, had Philly failed on said conversion attempt, which was a strong possibility because Jordan Mailata was playing the left tackle position, they would have taken precious seconds off of the clock, leaving less time for Cincinnati to mount one final charge. In Coach Pederson’s mind, the safe play was to punt and play for the tie.

Now whether that was the right move or not would be questioned all week. Doug can’t be blamed for the untimely penalties, or Matt Pryor’s snafu, or Jason Peters’ ineffectiveness, or all of the injuries to Dallas Goedert, and Avonte Maddox, and DeSean Jackson. Coach Pederson can’t be blamed for Miles Sanders running down the left sideline wide open and Carson Wentz missing him with yet another errant throw.

If you’re going to blame Doug, blame him for the vanilla playcalling, or the refusal to run the ball (the only thing that worked consistently for Philly all day), or his decision not to hire an offensive coordinator in the offseason. Those decisions are why this team is where it is now. Next up on the schedule for the Eagles is the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens. Don’t be surprised if the ‘Birds’ are 0-5-1 after six weeks. The Eagles avoid a loss in Week 3. Unfortunately, it still feels like one.