I have been an Eagles fan for about a quarter of a century and during that time, I have seen a lot of dumb things happen. I went through the Ray Rhodes years where the organization attempted to place the future of the team in the hands of Rodney Peete, Ty Detmer and dare I say it, Bobby Hoying. I saw Andy Reid's coaching absolutely crumble before my eyes, outright forgetting that he had generational talent at running back, trading McNabb, letting Hall of Fame Safety Brian Dawkins go, and even worse, firing what would soon be a successful head coach in Sean McDermott at defensive coordinator to hire his offensive line coach at defensive coordinator. Of course Chip Kelly sabotaged the whole team by dumping talented players in return for complete nobodies and then Doug losing control of the locker room and not being able to bring in great minds to critique him. Sure it hasn't all been bad, the 2017-18 season was a shining example of either how everything can come together to make something great, or how luck is actually real. However, this last Monday Night Football Game against the Cowboys was the icing on the cake of literally the most embarrassing game in my time of being a fan.
I can't even be mad about the loss itself, Dallas is a great team that is built well from top to bottom with very few weaknesses. They are well coached, they have a ton of talent, they draft well and for the first time in 20 years, Jerry Jones has finally gotten out of his own way of tripping over his own feet. Dak Prescott is the kind of quarterback that I want my team to have. The guy was out all of last season, dealing with mental health problems and how he would return to the field after his injuries. He has talent around him as well as coaching on offense and defense. The guy looked like a man on a mission with Super Bowl aspirations. The expectation at this point is that the Cowboys are the clear favorites to win the division and I do not expect them to have much competition at that. I know Eagles fans might not like that, but it is the honest truth.
Before I begin rambling about why this game was the most embarrassing game I have ever seen, let me start by saying that this isn't in a podcast because I get busy. I have more time on breaks at work to discuss this and at home there are more distractions and less time. I am a father with a job and it would be too loud and noisy for me to make a podcast about this with family visiting from another state and people to host. With that out of the way, I don't think many will care, but the reasoning is out there.
Beat Dallas T-Shirt:
Nick Sirianni is a new, young coach who seems like a nice guy that wants to fit in with the fanbase. The best way to do this is to show how much you hate Dallas and want to beat them. Eagles fans have the Cowboys circled in their scheduled from the beginning of the season and losing to them is unacceptable. You can be 2-15 by the end of the season and it'll be successful as long as both of those wins were against the Cowboys. That is how much the Cowboys are in the Eagles heads. The issue that I have with the last two Eagles head coaches is that they would talk about how they would beat the Cowboys on a regular basis, but they would prove that they couldn't.
I get it, I wouldn't expect the guy to wear a shirt that says "we will try to beat the Cowboys" or "I guess we will let them trample us" but it just gives the Cowboys bulletin board material and you better beat Dallas or else you look like a tool bag. So maybe put away the shirt, put away the fan fair, we hate Dallas, but at this point, I think the Cowboys know that the Eagles are below them. Maybe the team should spend more time working to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in Primetime at their own stadium instead of you know, making fun of them and talking about the rivalry. Maybe that is why the Cowboys won and the Eagles didn't, because they actually wanted to win instead of talking about winning. This team is all talk and no action and this is incredibly annoying.
Barely Any Running Plays:
I have a philosophy when it comes to football, which a few of my friends share. This philosophy is that you win games in the trenches and it is important to run the ball to set up the pass. I have seen a lot of stingy running coaches on the Eagles. I have seen Andy Reid call 6 running plays to Brian Westbrook for 50 yards and then completely abandon him for the rest of the game against the Raiders in a 13-9 loss in 2009. I have never seen what fresh faced head coach Nick Sirianni did to Miles Sanders against the Cowboys. Two carries for 27 yards... TWO CARRIES for the whole game for Miles Sanders. There is absolutely ZERO excuse for this Z-E-R-O! I have never in my quarter century long time of being an Eagles fan seen them give up on the run that quickly.
Hold on though, there is context here. Yes, the Eagles went down early and yes the team never had a lead to continue to run the ball, but it isn't like the Eagles were down by multiple possessions in the first quarter and even parts of the second quarter, but the Eagles only passed the ball. With the fact that Jalen Hurts isn't the best passer in the league, he would certainly profit off of the fact that he has a steady running game. You give up on running the ball when you are down like 3 or 4 possessions, but not one. It is almost like Nick Sirianni forgot that Miles Sanders even existed. I was absolutely revolted and I was embarrassed he was the coach of the team. Zero excuse of this, absolutely none!
Defensive Ineptitude:
After years of Jim Schwartz's sticks defense and having man corners playing very far off I was glad that the Eagles were bringing in a defensive coordinator in Jonathan Gannon who was going to play to the strength of the players. It doesn't take a genius to know that Darius Slay and Steven Nelson are man corners. They shouldn't be playing so far off, but for whatever reason, they are. Playing so far off allows receivers to do almost anything against you. The route tree is very much open and the Dallas Cowboys exploited the Eagles corners and thus the defensive scheme.
Which brings me to the defensive scheme, the Eagles are not a 3-4 defense it is very clear to me. They are a 4-3 defense. The Eagles cannot stop the run, especially without Brandon Graham. Ezekiel Elliot completely mauled the Eagles front 7. It is because they aren't a 3-4 defense, I am sorry that this isn't a nice thing to say, but it is the truth. Again, I thought the coaching staff would coach to the strengths of the players, but this is a lie.
Limitations of Jalen Hurts:
I know this might have been a completely sinful thing to say, but Jalen Hurts has limitations. All offseason Eagles fans gushed over the swag he wore and his workout videos like nobody ever did them before. I think Jalen Hurts has a very good arm, but the problem is that he cannot read a defense and he is essentially a one read, then run quarterback, which sucks, but it is extremely important to point it out. Jalen Hurts is a player that needs to try to make it so that the defense cannot contain him, but what ends up happening is that he cannot be contained by his own offensive line as he forces the offensive line to hold the defense down when he runs out of the pocket.
Jalen Hurts also doesn't understand how the RPO works. The run pass option works by making it so that a play can have a run or a pass depending on what the defense does. The problem is that the quarterback has to throw the ball before the offensive line, who assumes that the quarterback is running the ball, gets down the field. If they get down the field too quickly and there is a forward pass, it is a penalty. If that is how Hurts is going to play, then he needs to know that the ball has to get out of his hands faster.
Conclusion:
I don't mind losing in this current era. I know that the Eagles are a rebuilding football team. I know that they are going to have to fight hard for wins, but if they play games like this, they won't be winning very much this season. "Oh but you're being negative, you're just a hater" people might say. I want you to tell me what there is to be positive about. We got clapped by the Cowboys, yes a great team, but with opportunities missed, you can't help but feel embarrassed and disappointed. Again, not mad about losing because I expected to lose, it's just how the team lost in a joint effort and watching Cowboys players celebrate without a fight and Cowboys fans yelling "WE DEM BOYZ!" is just absolutely revolting. I don't expect the Eagles to beat the Chiefs, but with the fact that they are honoring Shady McCoy, I am hoping they at least put an effort forward to try to win and learn from their mistakes. The problem is that I know my words will likely fall on deaf ears and they will likely lose, badly.
