It was a game most would like to forget. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks came into Philly on Sunday looking to keep their winning ways going. The Eagles were looking to make a statement win after losing earlier in the season to the likes of Green Bay and Arizona. At the end of the day though, it was another discouraging performance by the birds as they couldn’t hang with the NFC’s elite.
Coming into Sunday’s game the Eagles were riding a 10 game home winning streak. The crowd was loud and into the game. Problem is the Eagles couldn’t bring their A game like they did on Thanksgiving against Dallas. It was a real wake-up call for the Eagles as they believed they were ready to hang with the elite teams. Without a doubt there was some questionable calls made or not made by the refs but you can’t solely blame them for this lousy performance. The Eagles did allow 24 points to a team averaging only 20 points per game on the road. They gave up critical big plays on key third downs. They were repeatedly tricked by the zone read. The offense was just two for eleven on third down conversions and really couldn’t sustain an offensive drive the entire day. The offense also only put up 131 yards was is the lowest total by an Eagles offense in 31 years.
It was just ugly all the way around. Let’s start with Shady McCoy who actually broke the Eagles all time rushing record on Sunday. The record breaker was followed by showers of boo’s as McCoy had a key fumble to start the second half. McCoy has now fumbled two weeks in a row which is very uncharacteristic of him. He’s got to put an end to his fumblitis because today it was a huge momentum changer which was part of the reason the Eagles couldn’t win. Two plays after the McCoy fumble to start off the second half Seattle scored a touchdown.
Right up there with Shady McCoy and his pathetic performance Sunday was QB Mark Sanchez. I suppose you haven’t really had the full Mark Sanchez experience until you go through some of the lows of his game and we sure got to experience that side of the Sanchize on Sunday. Sanchez was only 10 for 20 throwing for 96 yards and a touchdown. I know the Seahawks have a terrific secondary but good lord that was bad. The Seahawks came into the game allowing 209 passing yards per game, and opposing QBs have completed 64 percent of their passes against them. What that says is it’s not impossible to throw against that defense and Sanchez has the weapons around him to make it happen. Late in the game the Eagles recovered a key Marshawn Lynch fumble which set them up with a chance to get to within one score to tie or take the lead. Instead on the very next play Sanchez, instead of scrambling with open space threw on the run and tossed up an interception. It was a momentum killer for the team and the fans as it was basically over at that point. Sanchez just looked very lackluster and dull throughout the afternoon. It was the complete opposite of what we saw in Dallas on Thanksgiving. I thought Sanchez turned the corner with his performance on Thanksgiving but clearly he still has some work to do against the elite defenses of the NFL.
The defense actually looked half decent. The only major issue I had with them Sunday was the fact they couldn’t get off the field on third down. Russell Wilson did exactly what I thought he would. He used his feet to scramble out of the pocket and buy time. He even scampered into the end-zone on a 25 yard run. The play of Wilson frustrated Eagle fans all day but he’s good at what he does. The Eagles did a decent job of pressuring him and bottling him up though aside from his TD run. Problem is the times Wilson and the offense were able to come up big was on third down when the Eagles defense needed to get off the field and give the ball back to the offense. Still though, letting up only 24 points to the defending champs should be enough to win and at the end of the day Sanchez, McCoy, and the offense just couldn’t get it done.
The Eagles fell to 1-3 against the NFC West this season with losses now to Seattle, Arizona, and San Fran. The loss also makes it that much harder to clinch home field advantage or a first round bye in the playoffs because the Eagles won’t hold tie breakers with Seattle, Green Bay or Arizona. At this point you almost have to play for the division and hope to at-least clinch a home playoff wild card game. The Eagles are now set up for another huge matchup next week against the Cowboys on Sunday night for the division. Winner will have the inside track to the division title while the loser could potentially miss the playoffs entirely.
The Eagles will meet with the Cowboys for the second time in an 18 day span. Dallas will come in off a Thursday night victory against the Bears and looking for revenge from Thanksgiving. The Cowboys have had extra time now to rest up for their Sunday clash with the Eagles in Philly. Based on what we all saw on Thanksgiving though the Eagles should beat Dallas but then again the Oakland Raiders beat the 49ers on Sunday so anything can happen on any given week. If the Eagles can beat Dallas they’ll be set up nicely to run the table and finish as the division winner as they’ll finish the season at the Redskins and at the Giants. The game against Seattle would have been a great victory because we finally could have seen the Eagles beaten a legit team and it would have positioned them nicely for a first round bye. Now the first round bye will need a major miracle because I don’t see Seattle, Green Bay, or Arizona losing two of the next three which means if the Eagles finish in a tie with those teams they’ll all hold the tiebreaker. It’s all or nothing next Sunday night in another classic Eagles/Cowboys matchup. Hopefully Thanksgiving will repeat itself.