Eagles fall to 5-5

Sunday's matchup against the Seahawks really sums up how the 2016 season has gone for Philly. It was constant mistakes on both sides of the ball, especially with wide receivers Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor each dropping a pass. Agholor also cost the Eagles a Touchdown, lining up of the line of scrimmage for an illegal formation call.

QB Carson Wentz didn't have the best day throwing the ball with 2 interceptions on the day and only 218 passing yards. He also didn't get any help from the defense who looked very weak all game to say the least.

At this point in the season what we can hope for is a slim chance at the wildcard spot but other than that theres really not much else.

Eagles Seahawks Preview

Though it is only week 11 the Philadelphia Eagles match-up vs the Seattle Seahawks is essentially a playoff game. The Eagles currently sit at a record of 5-4 with an 0-3 record in their division. 5-4 is not the worst record but its not good enough with the division rival Cowboys sitting at 8-1.

Looking back on some of the games that Philly has lost this year they were not blow outs by any means. They were mostly decided by one score, penalty's, and mistakes late in the game. QB Carson Wentz has voiced his opinion on the fact that the Birds have not been able to finish the close games saying everyone is sick to their stomach over these close games.

One of the key things that the Eagles have to do this week to come away with the win is being able to get in the end zone instead of settling for a field goal every time they make a redzone appearance. They also have to consistently hold on to the football throughout the course of the entire game. There has been far to many drops this season for Philadelphia Wide Receivers this season, and in reality those are the things that determine the outcome of a game        

Battle of the Birds: Eagles on top

Wow Philadelphia. Just, wow. Shutting down the #1 ranked offense this year, and the 2015 #1 ranked offense in the same season. The Falcons averaged 33.1 points per game this season, and the Shwartz scheme held them to a measly 15 points and only one touchdown. Not to mention the revival of Ryan Matthews.

The offense wasn't spectacular in reality. With too many drops per usual especially from Jordan Matthews, one of which was off both hands while he was all alone in the middle of the field. Carson Wentz did a great job keeping plays alive and converting on 3rd downs. He ended the game with a mild 25/36 and 231 passing yards with no touchdowns. We are definitely seeing him develop, and quickly. He would of completed at least 3 more passes and possibly for touchdowns, if our receivers could make the hard grabs. Albeit, the passing/receiving game certainly wasn't the highlight. The rushing attempt could't of been any more dominant with the resurgence of a Matthews we haven't seen in a long time. Rushing for 109 yards and crossing pay dirt twice in one game is not an every sunday occurrence for the back, who almost lost the starting spot to Darren Sproles. Although Matthews was fantastic on the ground, I saw the real show in Wendell Smallwood, who quietly posted 70 yards on 13 attempts. For a smaller rookie back, it isn't half bad and we could see him develop into our workhorse in the future.

Now onto the sole reason the Eagles stayed in the game and was able to pull it out in the end, the defense. I'm no export of football strategy, but whatever Jim Shwartz did to kick this offense into 3rd gear he needs to keep doing it. The Atlanta falcons were the sole front runners for the #1 offense in football with their quarterback Matt Ryan and stud wideout Julio Jones leading the league in total yards. The Eagles kept Julio Jones out of the end zone and always wrapped him up before he could get any YAC (Yards after the catch) which is where Julio posted the majority of his yards gained. He makes catches at 5 yards away and rushes for the next 30 for a 35 yard reception, that's Julio. But, when the eagles corners are on him to tackle him and not try and cut into his routes, it stopped him from going anywhere. Technically speaking he won't drop 99% of his passes, so play to take him down and not to impede his catching ability, and it just so happened to work. I'm sure the rest of the NFL will be watching Eagles game film and taking notes on how to stop the best WR in the league.

Another small victory was Kenjon Barner tearing apart the Falcons special teams and returning the ball only 3 times, and averaging 38 yards per return. If fans watched the game, everyone knows if Kenjon can get past the Kicker...twice...and when the kicker was hurt...thats 14 more points for Philly off of those 2 returns. Though you can't blame him, the sudden exile of Josh Huff left as all surprised, but let's be honest, no one is gonna miss him the way the Eagles played this week.

Eagles Take another loss to a division rival

Things took a turn for the worst in Philadelphia after the Eagles took an L to their NFC East rival the New York Giants.

Any fans watching the game knew it was gonna be a long day after the giants rattled off 14 points within the first six minutes of the game. Head coach Doug Pederson was sticking to his game plan of being aggressive by taking shots down the field and going for it on fourth down early on in the red zone. This ultimately lead to the Eagles being down 21 to 10 at halftime leaving six points on the field after their failed fourth down attempts.

As far as offense because there were a few big plays and they seem to look solid at times but never seemed to really get into a rhythm. Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz started to look more like a rookie turning the ball over twice early on which both led to the Giants scoring a touchdown. However he did throw for an outstanding 364 passing yards by the end of four quarters. Entering The second half of the game the Eagles were down 11 points and managed to bring the game to a 21-17 four point differential. The Offense could not seem to get in the end zone when they needed to leaving the final score at 28-23

The defense seemed to be very poor and weak in the secondary early on but has a game on proved to be more solid forcing three and outs and turnovers at key points in the game.  

Ultimately the outcome of the game was poor playcalling bad execution and some controversial penalties

Some might ask what does this mean for the Philadelphia eagles 2016 season. They are now 0-3 in the division and 4-4 overall it seems as if all of the hype surrounding this new team has faded but the Birds aren't out of it just yet.