by Brandyn Campbell
LeSean McCoy ran for 119 yards in Monday night’s game but his efforts weren’t enough to help his team overcome defeat.
(Photo via the Philadelphia Eagles)
Nothing like a Monday Night Football embarrassment. The Philadelphia Eagles could only assemble 13 points against the worst defense in the league. The Birds notched 447 yards of offense and yet only came out of the game with 13 points.
Where do you go from here?
The Philadelphia Eagles have now fallen to 3-5 in the 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints with absolutely no signs of improvement in sight. The fourth straight lost for the Birds.
Mike Tirico called it, “The night of the red zone nightmare.” And that about sums it up. The turnover issues returned, and in the red zone, no less.
The offense was 0-5 in the red zone. Mike Vick was sacked 7 times. The offensive line got even worse when Todd Herremans left the game early with an ankle injury and Demetress Bell put in an absolutely atrocious performance at right tackle.
On defense, Eagles fans may be wondering if Juan Castillo is available to return as coordinator as things on that side of the ball were a mess once again. Getting pressure on Brees was absolutely essential this game, so of course the D did as little of that as possible, though Jason Babin and Brandon Graham had a sack a piece. The secondary, the unit that now-defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was brought in to the team to coach, was as it has been for much of the season – a problem.
Andy Reid said that Mike Vick would be the quarterback next week against Dallas, and why not? Nick Foles would get killed behind that line. Heck, it’s a miracle that Vick has lasted this long.
So what now?
The last game the Eagles won was on September 30 against the New York Giants. More than a month without a win. It’s astounding.
Andy Reid’s postgame presser showed a man who no longer believes his words but is desperately trying to put on a brave face. Mike Vick seemed shell-shocked. Brandon Graham expressed utter frustration at wanting to save his coach’s job and play a good season to honor Garrett Reid but having no idea what’s going wrong.
The Eagles’ loss rounds out a complete week of suckitude around the NFC East, with each and every team in the division suffering defeat. That at least means that the Giants haven’t been able to increase their lead over the Eagles. Up next for Philadelphia are the Cowboys at home, an always-intense battle. If the Birds suffer an embarrassing loss to Dallas at the Linc, the boos heard against Atlanta in Week 8 will seem soft as lullabies.
It’s clear that no one knows how to fix the problems with the Eagles because if they did, the issues wouldn’t keep reappearing. They would be fixed by now. Maybe there won’t be the dramatic wave of changes this week as many have predicted if the Eagles lost in New Orleans. Perhaps the team is resigned to the reality of their woeful and habitual under-performance. And maybe we all have to face the fact there are no more excuses – this is just not a good football team.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
