3 Eagles judgment errors that elevated the Ravens while stifling Philadelphia

The Eagles ignore Patrick Queen as a trade option and deal for Kevin Byard instead.

No one's saying we don't like Kevin Byard. He's better than a lot of what the Eagles had in the secondary, but we also should have known something was up when the Tennessee Titans, a team that was starved of talent, were so willing to allow him to walk. Byard has made a few plays, but he's also slower and older than the guy we remember from a couple of seasons ago.

Byard hasn't necessarily plugged the hole in the Eagles' secondary as effectively as Birds fans hoped he would. Shaq Leonard's acquisition hasn't fixed the issues seen at the second level of Philly's defense, but Patrick Queen might have. Raise your hand if you remember when he was a discussion.

Rumor had it that the Ravens fielded trade offers for Patrick Queen. Rumors also stated the Eagles were among the interested parties, both during the summer and at the deadline. Smoke cleared. Dust settled. Queen remained in Baltimore.

We get it. Philly had their minds on Nakobe Dean taking the next step, but Dean has been injured. So far, after 16 regular-season games, Queen has tallied 125 tackles, 3.5 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble on the season. If you think the Eagles wouldn't have benefited from Queen's acquisition, you're sadly mistaken.

Instead, he's helping the Ravens continue to stack wins while the Eagles STILL need better production from their linebackers.