Philadelphia Eagles Blown Out By Cincinnati Bengals 32-14

Before I start with the analysis, let me apologize for not writing this and submitting it on time. When stuff happens and your team gets blown out, it is easy to have writers block. Not to mention I have begun watching shows on Netflix and Hulu so that has been occupying my time. Because of my personal opinions on my team's quarterback, there will be very little blame placed on him because he is a rookie and because the team was put in such a terrible spot to begin the game. When you get tons of pressure in your face, your line doesn't block, your teams gets down late in the game and a fifth of your passes get blocked at the line of scrimmage, it kind of makes sense that you will be throwing interceptions. This coaching staff has failed the quarterback as well as the defense, which had tons of trouble getting off the field.

The Cincinnati Bengals played amazingly in the game when it mattered. The first three quarters, their offense clicked in the passing game, especially when the Eagles did so well stopping their runs. Their third down game was probably the most impressive as for the first half, the Bengals never punted. Andy Dalton and the Bengals offensive line deserves all of the credit as he did the job without his best wide receiver, A.J. Green. Their offense was placed in many third and long situations, but the Eagles proved that they were unable to get to Dalton and he made them pay. I believe by the end of the game, the veteran quarterback had three touchdowns and no interceptions in one of the better games that he has played all season.

And while the Bengals offense played well, their defense played better. They did the job in pressuring rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz. They tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage multiple times and ended up getting three interceptions. Two because the line was able to pressure Wentz and one because the rookie made a bad throw down the middle intended for Ertz. I didn't like the throw, but when your team is down by over 20 points in the fourth quarter, you gotta make something happen. The Eagles running game was nullified early in the game and the team got down by so many points, it made the Bengals job on defense really easy as there would be a pass almost every time. Heck, Carson Wentz had so many tipped passes that he caught his own pass and ran for like five yards.

I don't want to make this all gloom and doom, I actually want to congratulate a player on the team. That player is rookie sensation, Paul Turner. I believe the rookie free agent caught every ball that hit him in the hands and without veteran receiver, Jordan Matthews and an injury in the game to Dorial Green-Beckham, the young receiver got a lot of targets. I would like to see him worked into the offense because he has talent, he catches passes and he doesn't give up on balls. During a rebuilding season, I don't care about wins and losses, I care about trying your best and having heart and it has become a theme in December that this team lacks heart. I am especially disappointed by the mindless penalties of helmet to helmet hits, horse collar tackles, and late hits out of bounds. That shows a lack of focus and an increase in frustration. I am also extremely disappointed when veteran players almost purposely miss blocks on other players because it shows a lack of trying. I also liked the way that the defense fought back late in the game by holding the Bengals to punts and two fumble recoveries, however, the offense was only able to score after the first fumble recovery. These were the only bright spots the defense showed all game.

I don't expect this team to win every game, I don't care if they end up being 5-11 during a rebuilding year where the team obviously lacks talent at certain positions. I'll tell you what makes me upset during it all, players who have shown time and time again that they are playing for a paycheck. I would much rather see players at the bottom of the depth chart come in and play their hearts off, then see overrated veterans disgrace the wings like they have been doing for weeks and years. There, somebody had to say it and I am especially looking at those players that were selected by former head coach Chip Kelly. Thanks to him and his "diligence", the Eagles have a lot of finesse and talented players that are just plain lazy and do not come to play when their number is called.

Andy Dalton evades Eagles tacklers in his team's victory

Philadelphia Eagles Stuffed By Green Bay Packers 27-13

In all ways, shapes and forms, this was the worst game that the Eagles have played in all season. The Packers were coming in with 4 wins to their name after hard losses to the Titans and Falcons in recent weeks, so I expected the Eagles to have a decent game against a defense with a depleted backfield. The Eagles on the other hand recently deactivated struggling receiver Nelson Agholor and activated Practice Squad receiver Paul Turner. This would be a good test for Carson Wentz, as well as the defensive line as the Packers were a very injured team.

The game, however, started out in the Packers favor and they never lost the lead. Aaron Rodgers looked like the savvy veteran he always looks like against the Eagles and many of his passes appeared to magnetically hit his receiver in the hands. The Packers really didn't run the ball effectively as I believe their leading rusher was Aaron Rodgers. The guy still has it, at least against the Eagles as he was able to go for two passing touchdowns to Davante Adams on the first and second drives. Aaron Rodgers with his turtle screens and short passes seemed unbeatable as the Eagles rarely had a single answer for the Packers offense.

The Eagles offense started out well with Carson Wentz being perfect in passing on his first drive, ending the drive with his first rushing touchdown of the season. I thought he played decently in the first half as he got the Eagles out of a lot of 3rd and long situations. However, the Eagles were unable to add an equalizing touchdown in the second quarter after Wentz threw a pass to Bryce Treggs while the receiver was being interfered with. The officials didn't call holding or pass interference even though I thought they should have. Wentz's lone mistake was an over the middle shot to Zach Ertz that was intercepted by Packers Safety, Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix. Wentz also was able to target Dorial Green-Beckham and Jordan Matthews a lot in the first half, but after Jordan got injured, the Eagles attack was basically nullified in the longer passing game.

With running back Ryan Mathews out of the game, the Eagles relied on Sproles, Barner, and Smallwood to carry the load. Smallwood actually was playing well in the game, but he was hampered by poor play calling. The Eagles had a chance to extend drives while running the football, but they lost their edge when they relied on the passing game with injured receivers. The Packers had only six drives, as did the Eagles as Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense was able to lead long drives that spanned over ten plays. When that happens, coupled with roughing the passer, off-sides, and holding calls, it really does a number on the team.

The offensive line really didn't do Carson Wentz very many favors as he was pressured with four guys often and there were a lot of times in which holding and false-starts occurred, which kept the Eagles out of good position to convert drives. The lone bright spot on the Eagles team continues to be Caleb Stugis, as he was able to hit two field goals from very long distance. Sturgis was able to keep the Eagles in the game, but bad play calls and penalties kept them out of good position. The game was 17-13 at one point, but the Eagles defenders were unable to disrupt the Packers short passing attack and Aaron Rodgers had his was with the Eagles like he always does. It makes me question the coaching staff sometimes until I remember that this is a rebuilding football team with five wins in eleven games, which was far better than I expected. I know this was a very short recap, but to be honest, the game went by so fast that not even the annoying commercials could make it long enough to fill a three hour time slot.

I congratulate the Packers on their win even though some of the penalties made me a little salty. I am not as salty as I was after the Lions game, but I do question the officials when the Eagles defensive line are held a lot, the receivers are held even more, and it seems like Dorial Green-Beckham cannot even block on screen plays without getting called for offensive pass interference, when I see other teams get away with the same thing. Then I realize that it was probably karma for pushing that woman down the stairs. I am very disappointed in this team and I am merely hoping to see improvement throughout the season as the playoffs seem to be a lost cause with this team.

Aaron Rodgers with poise against the Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles Out Flown By Seattle Seahawks 26-15

Before I start with this post, let me just say that I didn't expect the Eagles to win this game and even penciled my favorite football team in as losing this game very early in the offseason. With that said, this team still had every chance to win this game, but because of the fact that the Seahawks are a craftier and better prepared team, they did not win. The Seattle Seahawks are a very good team at home and the Eagles have not been a very good road team, only winning one road game against the lowly, 2 win Chicago Bears. 

The game started out with the Seahawks having the ball, but they went three and out and punted to the Eagles. The Eagles had a chance to get a good drive started, but they stalled because, yet again, they decided to pass the ball three consecutive times instead of running it. Not only does this seem to be a trend with this team, it also is starting to be a trend by the Head Coaches in attempts to outsmart the opponent. The other team is great against the pass, lets pass anyway to keep them on their toes. The Eagles then punted the ball back to the Seahawks and on Seattle's seemingly first play ripped off a 70 or so yard run by C.J. Prosise for a touchdown that immediately put the Seahawks up 6-0 in the first quarter after a blocked extra point.

One thing I was extremely happy about was the fact that the Eagles offense still had fight in it. They had fight by going all the way down the field on a seemingly seven minute drive that was capped off by a Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz touchdown pass. This was Ertz's first of the season and Wentz's first in two games. Regardless, the Eagles took the lead and did so by using the running game as well as some key short passes. The Seahawks next drive started deep in their own territory and it looked like if the Eagles could get them off the field that they could take control of the game. However, third down after third down and the Seahawks kept on converting, kept on converting until Seattle was at the Eagles 40 yard line and at 3rd and 16. The Eagles had a chance to force an incomplete pass, but were flagged for being offsides. So on 3rd and 11 on the Eagles 35 yard line, Russell Wilson turned a seemingly broken play into a Jimmy Graham touchdown catch with a missed tackle by Watkins. Believe me, it was embarrassing but not the most embarrassing touchdown Seattle scored that day. 

Now here is where the Eagles started to piss me off. Now they had a chance to score a touchdown on a screen pass, but guess who messed it up for the Eagles? You guessed it, Nelson effing Agholor. Because he wasn't lined up two inches closer to the line of scrimmage their touchdown was nullified on an illegal formation and they were instead forced to punt. I am kind of up to here with that guy. When he isn't dropping passes, he is screwing up touchdowns. He is a great route runner, the best on our team, but he just sucks. On the ensuing drive, Russell Wilson would throw deep to Doug Baldwin for 44 yards and that would lead to a Seahawks field goal. If the Eagles could get one bit of credit here, the red zone defense was just about immaculate as I don't think the Seahawks ever scored from close range. 

Before the half, the Eagles had a chance to nullify a part of a two possession lead by the Seahawks, but Carson Wentz was intercepted on 1st and 10 from the 50. The ball was intended for Dorial Green-Beckham and Wentz did not see Cam Chancellor and if he had waited a little longer, it might have been a completion. It really sucked to not get points off of that drive, but they might not have gotten points anyways as there wasn't much time left on the clock. I like the fact that Wentz was being aggressive, but it shows up as an interception none the less. 

After the Eagles and the Seahawks traded punts to begin the second half, the Eagles had the ball deep in their own territory. On 2nd and 4 with plenty of time in the pocket, Wentz forced a pass down the field to Bryce Treggs in double coverage and the ball was intercepted by Richard Sherman. Shouldn't have thrown the ball, but deep in your own territory, it is basically a punt on 2nd down. The Seahawks would then get into the red zone and Russell Wilson would jet sweep the ball to Doug Baldwin, run around the defense and would throw the ball to his quarterback, who was wide open for a touchdown. It seems very ironic that Russell Wilson would do that in a game where Nelson Agholor played so poorly in because him and Nelson Agholor are tied for receiving touchdowns this season. 

So the 4th quarter was extremely boring filled with punts, field goal attempts, field goal misses, turnovers on downs, but the Eagles still had the ball and were able to get the ball down the field thanks to some good passing by Carson Wentz. The Eagles were even able to get Dorial Green-Beckham open in the end zone for a touchdown and thanks to Nelson Agholor, a 2 point conversion. Now instead of doing the smart thing and saving their onside kick for their potential game winning drive, Doug Pederson elected to onside kick the ball with 3:33 on the clock, which is such a no no, that isn't even funny. The Eagles had the Seahawks on the ropes and they have a great special teams unit. You kick the ball deep and force a three and out. Instead, the Eagles onside kicked the ball, didn't get it and forced the Seahawks to punt, but instead of being deep in Seattle territory, the ball was at the Eagles 47. 

So the Eagles get the ball back and with a little less than two minutes to go were caught with a phantom pass interference call on Dorial Green-Beckham on a screen play that would have made it close to the Seahawks red zone, but instead lost 10 yard and were unable to capitalize and then lost. Let me say that despite some bad calls and no calls, I knew the Eagles weren't going to win. Seattle played really well on defense and again, they are just the craftier team. One moral victory is the fact that this team fought and didn't give up and if they had been smarter, they would have possibly had a chance to score earlier and possibly get an onside kick on the ensuing kick off. Not saying it would have helped them win, but it might have been a closer game. This team falls to 5-5, which if someone told me the Eagles would have 5 wins at week 10, I would have slapped them in the face and called them crazy. 

Russell Wilson extends football after catching first career touchdown

Philadelphia Eagles Play Gritty Against Atlanta Falcons 24-15

After losing a tough game against the New York Giants, the Eagles were looking to go home and regroup. A lot of questions surrounded the Eagles play calling as Doug Pederson called the game way too aggressively the week before. Everyone knew that the Eagles were a good team at home, but the Falcons were probably one of the best offenses in the game with Matt Ryan at quarterback, Julio Jones at wide Receiver and a great duo at running back. The Eagles would have their hands full as the Falcons had a three game winning streak all time against the Eagles.

However, this was a whole different team with a whole different coaching staff. After kicking the ball to the Falcons and stopping them in their own territory, the Eagles put the ball on the ground and moved the ball 81 yards for over seven minutes and forty-one seconds to cap off the drive with a Ryan Mathews rushing touchdown. After Mathews had been put in the doghouse by the fan base with two previous fumbles, one costing the Eagles the game against the Lions, it was good to see the Eagles premiering the savvy vet. Not to mention, Carson Wentz also completed four passes for four attempts to help the Eagles get down the field mistake free.

After the Eagles forced the Falcons to punt, the Eagles marched down the field with the signature play being a twenty yard screen pass to Ryan Mathews, but the even bigger problem with the drive was the fact that Caleb Sturgis missed a pretty simple 44 yard field goal. Caleb Sturgis had been pretty good thus far, but that was a pretty bad miss because the Falcons would end up going down the field after a long pass to Julio Jones. However, the drive stalled and Matt Bryant ended up kicking a field goal. After a three and out by the Eagles, the Falcons got the ball and went down the field again thanks to Julio Jones, but the Eagles stopped the Falcons in the red zone and Matt Bryant kicked yet another field goal.

After a long Ryan Mathews run, Carson Wentz got sacked and he fumbled with the ball being recovered by the Falcons and got the ball into Eagles territory. It really seemed like the Falcons were going to do something with the ball, but the only problem was the fact that Matt Ryan missed a 53 yard field goal. With 22 seconds left to go in the half, the Eagles had the ball in good field position, but very few time outs. With eight seconds left to go in the half, Pederson elected to call a play on 4th down, but none of the receivers got open and Wentz threw an incomplete pass on 4th down with two seconds left to go. I was really worried that the Eagles handed the Falcons a hail mary pass, but everything was okay because nothing came out of it.

After halftime, the Eagles were able to get the ball down the field quite easily. They did this mostly using the running game. However, once the Eagles got into the red zone, they seemed to freeze as the Eagles got a holding penalty with the ball deep in Falcons territory and were unable to convert. This series ended in a field goal that put the Eagles up 10-6. With the ensuing kick off, Matt Ryan was able to air mail a pass to Julio Jones and Matt Bryant was able to kick another field goal. After another drive of Ryan Mathews driving the ball on the ground, the Eagles had the ball on 3rd an 1 at the Falcons one yard line. However, instead of calling a quarterback keeper up the middle with his 6'5" quarterback, Doug Pederson elected to call a stretch play. I was really mad at that point because this was a point in time where the Eagles could have gone up by a touchdown, but that didn't happen.

After Caleb Sturgis kicked the short field goal, Matt Ryan was able to target Taylor Gabriel going up against Leodis McKelvin for a deep touchdown. The Falcons would take their first lead and the Falcons gained another victory after forcing the Eagles to miss a 55 yard field goal that was outside of Sturgis' range. This really pissed me off because on the previous kick off, Kenjon Barner was able to bring the ball back 52 yards on the kick off so the Eagles appeared to waste a good return. The other problem with this drive was the fact that Wentz was able to hit Jordan Matthews on a mid-ranged pass, he was popped in the face and dropped the ball. All of the Eagles fans around me were pissed off because we all thought it was hitting a defenseless receiver, but of course, the referees weren't watching because they wear a blind fold when it comes to calling penalties for the Eagles. Luckily, the Eagles were able to stop the Falcons on the next drive and they forced them to punt.

With the ensuing drive, Wentz was able to shine by passing the ball to Zach Ertz and by finally getting a pass interference call on a deep pass to Jordan Matthews. The Eagles were then hooked up with 1st and goal at the five and Ryan Mathews took the run from the shotgun and get the ball into the end zone. The score was 19-15 as the Eagles decided to go for two. After there was a hold penalty called on the first attempt, the ball was moved to the one and the ball was handed to Mathews for a successful conversion to go up by six. After trading punts, the Eagles were able to pin the Falcons deep in their own territory, but this was dashed as Najee Goode hit the return man out of bounds unnecessarily and 15 yards were tacked on to the play. At this point in time I thought the game was over but the Falcons only gained 5 yards. So on 4th and 5, Matt Ryan threw to an open Julio Jones in the zone, but the pass was miraculously dropped.

So the Eagles had the ball at the Falcons 40 yard line and were able to get eight yards, but that wasn't enough for a first down. However, it was enough for Sturgis to hit a 48 yard field goal right down the pipes. With a nine point lead I felt very comfortable, but there was still one minute, 57 seconds left. The Falcons were able to get sixteen yards, but Matt Ryan made the fatal mistake of throwing an interception to Leodis McKelvin for the walk off interception. The man was able to redeem himself for giving up the long touchdown and the Eagles were victorious. The Eagles did great running the football and really cut down on the mistakes. While Julio Jones had a lot of yards receiving, he didn't scorch the Eagles for a touchdown. While the play calling was bad at times, Wentz really wasn't getting much help from Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham, but Darren Sproles continued to be the unsung hero with 8 receptions for 57 total yards. The officiating was also terrible, but that is no surprise to me, I am totally used to that, but I know the officiating will get worse when the Eagles play the Seahawks next week. They are the one team that seems to be immune to penalties as they rarely get called for anything and referees strangely keep their hands in their pockets when they commit penalties, should be an interesting one, but I was content to get the win.

Ryan Mathews scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game

Philadelphia Eagles Get Edged by New York Giants 28-23

As we go through a rebuilding season, I tend to lose more and more faith that this team will go to the playoffs. While the playoffs are always the first goal for every team, sometimes that just isn't realistic. It seems like every time this team loses, the fan base jumps off of a bridge and this was even something that I saw after this last game against the New York Giants. I knew this game was going to be close because that is how the games at Met Life Stadium usually are. Despite the fact that the Eagles haven't lost to the Giants in two whole years, I always knew that with a rookie Quarterback and Head Coach the game would be tough.

The game opened up with the Giants getting the ball and going three and out and punting it right to the Eagles. Once the Eagles got the ball, Carson Wentz completed one pass and then immediately threw and interception. This was an interception that immediately went for an Eli Manning touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. This was a positive and a negative for me because I have both of those guys on my fantasy team. Then on the next drive, Carson threw another interception and then Eli Manning threw another touchdown, this time to Roger Lewis after the Eagles cornerback and safety ran into each other.

On the Eagles next drive, they got their offense started when they featured Trey Burton twice for a total of 43 yards, but the drive stalled deep in Giants territory and then Stugis kicked a field goal. However, Landon Collins rolled into the kicker but no penalty was called. The Eagles would then force a punt and with their next drive they again, went down the field, but they stalled deep in Giants territory. However, on a 4th and 2, Doug Pederson elected to go for it on a Quarterback sweep, but Wentz was dropped for a loss and the Eagles were forced to hand the ball back to the Giants when they could have gotten a field goal. The Giants would go backwards on their ensuing drive and on the Eagles drive, Wentz would connect with rookie free agent receiver, Bryce Treggs, for a 61 yard pass. This would be the longest completion of the day and the longest of Carson's career. Many Eagles fans were eagerly awaiting the playing of Treggs because he is very quick and he didn't disappoint. The drive would eventually lead to a short run for a touchdown by Ryan Matthews to make the game 14-10.

On the Giants ensuing drive, Eli Manning would methodically take the Giants down the field with the highlight play being a Victor Cruz catch over the head of Leodis McKelvin. Cruz would then leave the game with an injury after the play and the Giants would score on a passing play to Odell Beckham Jr. The only highlight of the rest of the half for the Eagles would be a long return by Darren Sproles and if he would have scored, it would have been good for the Eagles, but instead of kicking a field goal when the drive stalled, Doug Pederson again elected to run it up the middle on 4th and 1 with little Darren Sproles. The Eagles didn't get it and the whole time I sat there, yelling at the TV, "KICK THE F***ING FIELD GOAL!" The half basically ended with a blocked Caleb Sturgis field goal by Jason Pierre Paul so when Dog finally stopped being stupid, he wasn't even allowed to get the points. 

The Eagles would open the second half with a long drive the was mostly set up by Darren Sproles. Carson was able to throw a 20 yard pass to under achieving receiver, Nelson Agholor and Kenjon Barner was able to pound the rock into the end zone for a touchdown. With the Giants next drive, they went straight down the field on a long drive that was capped off with a Sterling Shepard touchdown thrown by none other than Eli Manning. It seemed like in this game, whenever the Eagles could catch a break, the Giants were always able to take the momentum back to their side.

On the bright side for the Eagles defense in the 4th quarter was the fact that they were able to get two turnovers. One in which Nolan Carroll was able to steal it away from Odell Beckham before he was able to secure it and the other with the ability to run the ball, Eli Manning threw a tipped pass right into the hands of Jordan Hicks. This was an extremely ill advised situation because it put the Eagles in the situation where they could score the go ahead touchdown after adding two field goals. So with the game on the line, the Eagles ran three passing plays from the Giants 17 yard line. I couldn't believe this, even with one time out, I expected them to at least try to run the football. However, on 4th down, Carson Wentz threw a fade route to Jordan Matthews, Jordan tried to adjust but was looking over his opposite shoulder. The ball fell to the ground incomplete and the Giants won.

It really sucked to see the Eagles lose this game because there were many points in the game where they could have won. Too many points were left on the field and the Eagles were also completely foolish to not kick those field goals earlier in the game. Carson Wentz also blew the first quarter by throwing costly interceptions. I don't really fault him because he is a rookie, but it appears that he has been trigger happy in certain situations. He did settle down eventually and was one of the reasons why the Eagles were able to come back in the game. I will say that as a football fan, this was a very good game and the better team won here. It isn't easy to say that, but the team has to play smarter. Not to mention, Doug Pederson has to find the featured back on this team because he just keeps mixing and matching backs without allowing them to get in a groove. He was criticized for playing to conservatively against Dallas and showed everyone by playing to aggressively against the Giants. He needs to find a middle ground soon or the fans will eat him alive.

Jason Pierre Paul blocks Eagles field goal

Philadelphia Eagles Submit to Dallas Cowboys 29-23 (OT)

Instead of making this post a reaction to everything that happened in this game, I am merely going to make it a critique of rookie Head Coach, Doug Pederson. Let me just say that this was a really good game. It had offense, defense, clutch performances, turnovers, and it went down to the wire. While I knew that the Philadelphia Eagles were going to lose, I was very impressed by the way that they were able to halt rookie sensation, Ezekiel Elliot and was able to disrupt rookie Quarterback, Dak Prescott. The Eagles were actually winning 23-13 at one point in the game, but because of some really bad coaching decisions, the Eagles eventually submitted to the Dallas Cowboys. The main reason was because while the Eagles made some questionable decisions in the 4th quarter and the Cowboys showed their experience and made some good choices of their own.

My girlfriend is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and ever since I started dating her exclusively we circled October 30th as being our biggest test. Lets just say that she was very down in the 4th quarter, until her team started to come back and go into overtime. When Jason Witten caught the game winning touchdown, she was happy, but full of so much emotion that she didn't know what to do. I knew before that overtime drive even started that the Eagles would probably lose. I actually said to myself in the 3rd quarter that it would be really cool if the Eagles won this game, they would be 5-2 and at the top of the division, despite being a rebuilding team. Okay, back to the point of the post, the reasons why the Eagles gave this game away to a formidable Cowboys team in order was:

Number 1: Chris Jones fake punt run

At the end of the third quarter, the Dallas Cowboys trailed the Eagles 20-10 and had a 4th down deep in their own territory. Instead of punting the ball, they instead threw a curve ball to everyone watching by calling a fake punt. Chris Jones, the Cowboys punter, is actually a really fast human being. After getting by the rush, he went down the field for about 25 to 30 yards. If the Cowboys had punted, then the Eagles would have gotten it at around their own 40 yard line in good field position. As anyone might know, fake punts don't usually happen, but this is the second time the Cowboys have fooled the Eagles on special teams. In 2014, the Cowboys kicked the ball shallow, the Eagles return man, Josh Huff, didn't go to get it and the ball was recovered by the Dallas Cowboys. If memory serves me, the Cowboys scored a field goal on the drive to make the game 20-13.

Number 2: Switching out to cold running backs

One of the things that the Eagles have yet to figure out this season is who their feature running back is. For a few weeks, they have been playing Darren Sproles a lot in the first half because they are worried that Ryan Matthews keeps fumbling the football. This came into play because the Eagles got back up 23-13 and had the ball at around their own 40 yard line. This until on first down and ten, the Eagles gave the ball to rookie running back, Wendell Smallwood, trying to get cute and they fumbled. The Cowboys recovered and then kicked another field goal to make the game 23-16. Now I don't know about everyone else, but when you are trying to ice a game in clutch situations, the last thing you do is give the ball to a back that doesn't have a lot of experience. This would have been a good chance to work out someone like Kenjon Barner, but instead, they put their chances in the hands of a rookie and paid for it.

Number 3: Swing passes for negative yards

Swing passes are a situational thing for most teams. Usually if the defensive backs play off of the line, you can bring a receiver in to block for another one going out on a screen. However, the Eagles don't have any deep threats on the team and Carson Wentz threw short, pretty much the whole game. The receivers even had trouble catching these swing passes and these plays either ended in an incomplete pass or a really short gain. Late in the 4th quarter, however, the Eagles had a 2nd down at the Cowboys 32 yard line with a chance to run the ball and ice the game with a late field goal. However, instead of playing it safe and going forward, the Eagles ran a fake jet sweep, swing pass to Darren Sproles, which lost yards. Now Doug Pederson thought the team was out of field goal range, so he had Donnie Jones punt the ball.

Number 4: Eagles have 3 time outs, but they don't stop the clock

With about 30 seconds left in the game, the Cowboys were deep in their own territory and it was 3rd down. A coach with a lot of experience in game management would stop the clock so that they can have their offense have a chance to win the football game. However, this never happened as Doug Pederson let the clock run down to zero with me yelling at the TV, "CALL A TIMEOUT!" You call a time out, you can make a stop on 3rd down and get the ball back. Why? Because with two or one timeout(s) and about 20 seconds left is enough time to kick a field goal, especially with how short the Cowboys would have likely punted the ball because they wouldn't have wanted Darren Sproles to get a huge return. The time, however, went off the clock and the game ended.

Now the Eagles a 4-3, Carson Wentz had a decent game, it wasn't super impressive, it wasn't horrible. The guy is a rookie on a struggling offense that doesn't have many weapons and hasn't found it's complete identity. The coaching staff has a lot of time to grow as the team is rebuilding even though they are likely not admitting that the team is "rebuilding". The Cowboys really impressed me with how they bounced back because Dak was having a terrible game up until the 4th quarter as he completed less than 50% of his passes. However, when it all came down to it, the Cowboys were more proactive at the end of the game and made more "gutsy" calls to win. I hope this teams learns from this as they build for the long haul through the draft and free agency. Good game Dallas, it was a game for the ages.

Jason Witten score the game winning touchdown in overtime

Philadelphia Eagles Defend Against Minnesota Vikings 21-10

After last weeks game against the Washington Redskins where the Eagles didn't score a single offensive touchdown, the fans were really down. All of the fans that were claiming the Eagles were going to win the division after they defeated the Steelers in week three were claiming the Eagles were going to go 3-13 and every part of the team sucked. However, I think very few fans even thought the Eagles had a chance against the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings coming off of their bye. I heard people say the Eagles would get shut out and the Vikings would score over thirty points total.

Going into the game, I knew the Vikings were a good team. They win their games by running the football, playing it safe, getting good field position, kicking field goals, and capitalizing on the mistakes that you make. If you get down by ten points to the Minnesota Vikings, you are probably going to lose, that just shows how good of a team they are. They don't have a good offense and if you get pressure on them, they will make mistakes. Teams that play them make the mistake of playing too aggressively and forcing passes into tight coverage against their shutdown defense. What they should do is run the football consistently and throw short passes. If the receivers aren't open, take the sack or throw an incomplete pass.

Beginning the game I thought that if Carson Wentz can survive the game without getting splattered all over the field, then it would be a moral victory. Our rookie offensive tackle, Vaitai was still starting but I was hoping that he would get some help. The other story line for the game was the fact that former Eagles Quarterback, Sam Bradford was going to line up with the Minnesota Vikings. He was with the Eagles last year and during the preseason. However, the Eagles traded him for a first round draft pick after the Vikings lost franchise Quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater for the season.

And now to the game, the Eagles went three and out and punted to the Vikings. The Vikings returned the favor by going three and out, however, that was all foiled after Trey Burton on the Eagles ran into the Vikings punter and the Vikings got a free first down. However, they got to around midfield and then punted back to the Eagles and the Eagles got the ball at their own one yard line. Three plays later, on a 2nd and 9 play, Wentz threw the ball short intended for Brent Celek, but the ball was intercepted by Andrew Sendejo and the Vikings had the ball inside the five yard line. Now here is where things get very crazy, three plays later, Sam Bradford threw an interception of his own to Rodney McLeod in the end zone and the Eagles took over at their own twenty yard line.

On the ensuing drive, Carson Wentz botched the hand off with Darren Sproles and the Eagles fumbled. However, the game got crazier when on the very next play, Sam Bradford fumbled the ball after getting sacked. Malcolm Jenkins recovered the fumbled and ran the ball in for a touchdown. However, the touchdown was reviewed and Jenkins was actually downed by contact by Vikings tight end, Kyle Rudolph. On the next drive, Wentz made yet another mistake with an interception to Xavior Rhodes. It was a really bad throw on 3rd and 11 because Nelson Agholor was being covered tightly and it is the kind of ball that the turnover hungry Vikings would capitalize off of. The better idea is to throw an incomplete pass or take a sack because you can punt the ball away and win the field position battle, but instead Wentz got too aggressive.

During the next two trading drives, the Vikings punted after six plays and then the Eagles punted after nine plays. However, the Vikings were able to go down the field after a long 3rd down pass to Kyle Rudolph and the Vikings ended their drive off with a Blair Walsh field goal. On the ensuing kick off, Josh Huff took the ball and returned his first kick off for a touchdown for the season. The Vikings were charged with roughing the kicker so Doug Pederson elected to have the Eagles go for a two point conversion. The play was successful after Carson Wentz rushed the ball for a yard straight into the end zone and the Eagles went up 8-3.

Right before the end of the first half, it looked like the Vikings were driving on the Eagles for either a touchdown or a field goal. This was until Rodney McLeod sack-fumbled Sam Bradford and the ball was recovered by Eagles defensive tackle Beau Allen. When the Eagles began their drive at their own 48, I was expecting them to run the football down the field and that is exactly what they did at the beginning, however, they had a 3rd and 2 and Wentz had Trey Burton wide open, however, he threw the ball too high and the ball was incomplete. However, Doug Pederson had confidence in Wentz and the young quarterback repaid his head coach by getting the first down. On the next play, Wentz threw deep to Dorial Green-Beckham and the receiver was being molested down the field, but no flag was called. The one thing I have noticed is that referees aren't calling penalties when it comes to defensive backs playing against Green-Beckham, I was upset, but I remembered earlier in the game, Jalen Mills should have been called on a pass interference on Steffan Diggs, but the officials picked up the flag for no reason at all. This might have been one of those no calls to cancel the last no call out.

The Eagles were, however, able to get the ball deep into Minnesota territory, but the clock was running low and Sturgis was ready to kick a field goal. Knowing that this would be a good time to ice the kicker, Vikings coach, Mike Zimmer, called a timeout. In response, Doug Pederson put the offense back onto the field to run another play, but the ball went incomplete. So during the next play, Sturgis came back onto the field and the ball was kicked straight into the uprights and the Eagles lead 14-3 at halftime. While both defenses were playing well, both Quarterbacks, who had played well during the season to not turn the ball over both had three total turnovers and had completed far less than 50% of their passes.

To begin the second half, the Vikings got the ball first and the defense for the Eagles was ready to play. They were so ready that Sam Bradford was sacked on back to back plays by Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham. Unlike last week where the Eagles relied on their front four against the Redskins, they brought the heat and pressure against Sam Bradford and the Vikings. The Eagles got the ball after the punt at their own 23 and methodically drove the ball down the field with running back Ryan Matthews and some inopportune Vikings penalties including one by Trey Waynes against Dorial Green-Beckham and one on Linval for an illegal hands to the face on a Ryan Matthews 27 yard run. After two blotched snaps by Carson Wentz at the end of the drive, he threw a five yard strike to Dorial Green-Beckham for a touchdown to go up 18-3.

The Vikings actually had a very good ensuing drive late in the third and early in the fourth. They were able to make it deep into the red zone and I thought they would end up scoring a touchdown, however at the end of the drive the Vikings had a 4th and 1 situation that they were unable to convert thanks to a strong Eagles defense. The Eagles got the ball at their own five and went three and out, but the Vikings muffed the punt and it was recovered by Trey Burton. The Eagles then made it deep into Vikings territory thanks to some hard running by Darren Sproles. While it was a good nine play drive, the drive stalled and Sturgis kicked a field goal to make the score 21-3.

Now here was the problem for the Eagles at the end of the game, after getting the ball on downs, Ryan Matthews was back to his fumbling ways and fumbled the ball. On their final drive, Sam Bradford lead an eleven play, 53 yard drive for a go ahead touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. While it ended well for the Vikings, I am pretty sure Sam Bradford was sacked and he fumbled twice and the ball was recovered by Minnesota. The last ditch attempt for an onside kick was tried by Blair Walsh, but he failed as the ball rolled out of bounds. Carson Wentz finished the game in victory formation and the Eagles won the game 21-10.

This was one of the craziest games I had ever watched. The moment you thought that one team would profit off of the turnovers of the other team, they would turn the ball over themselves. Sam Bradford had the chance to have the Vikings be the first team to go 6-0 and have the starting quarterback have zero interceptions, but Sam not only threw an interception, but he also fumbled twice. The Eagles played really well on defense and I am specifically impressed with Mychal Kendricks, who was blitzing very well. He doesn't do well covering and he doesn't do well in run defense, but he does do well blitzing. On a sad note, nickel cornerback, Ron Brooks was lost for the season and this really sucks because now they will be using Malcolm Jenkins to cover Cowboys slot receiver, Cole Beasley. When those two teams played last year, Beasley had two touchdowns and consistently gave Jenkins ankle-breakers. Good luck to him next week as the Eagles have the daunting task of playing the 5-1 Dallas Cowboys.

Josh Huff flips into the end zone after scoring a touchdown