By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Another divisional game, same story.
For the third time, the Eagles suffered a loss to an NFC East opponent by less than a score and again it came down to lack of execution and questionable coaching.
Let's get to the full breakdown.
Going Deep
"We can all count."
Those words were mumbled by Andy Reid more than five years ago after losing to the Green Bay Packers in what would be Reid's final postseason game with the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a loss in which a pair of missed field goals by David Akers ended up being the difference in a game decided by five points.
Fast forward to present day and the Eagles are coming home after another five-point loss decided by a pair of field goals. Only this time, the Birds' kicker didn't get an opportunity to send the ball towards the uprights. Instead, Reid's protege, Doug Pederson, decided to roll the dice and be aggressive with a pair of play calls on 4th-and-short that left everyone scratching their heads.
Early in the second quarter, with the Eagles already trailing 14-3, Pederson decided to leave his kicker, who hadn't missed a field goal since Week 1, on the sideline on 4th-and-2. Instead of trying a simple 40-yard field goal, the rookie head coach instead called for a quarterback run around the left end, a play that not only didn't pick up the first down, but lost four yards.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Eagles found themselves inside the Giants 10-yard line, still trailing by 11 points. On 4th-and-1 from the 6-yard line, Pederson tapped Darren Sproles to pick up the yardage, only to have the Eagles' smallest player stopped for no gain and a turnover on downs.
Two costly decisions, six points lost in the process.
"I don't think any of the decisions today were so aggressive that it necessarily sent a bad message to our team or whatever," Pederson said after the game. "I still stand by them. We just have to execute better. That's the bottom line in those situations. If I elect to go for it on a fourth down or a situation like that, then we need to make sure that we execute that play at that time."
Pederson vowed to stay aggressive after the game, feeling he would be doing his guys a disservice to start playing things close to the vest and not letting them go out there and make plays. But there's a difference between being aggressive and being dumb, the coach even admitted as much.
"There's a fine line between crazy, borderline crazy, and doing the right thing," Pederson said.
The right thing would be to take the points in the first half of a division game and put yourself in a position to tie the game with just one score.
It would be one thing if the Eagles were an inferior team who were getting their teeth kicked in on a weekly basis, but they're not. They have proved over the course of this season that they can scratch and claw their way into games and remain competitive no matter what struggles they encounter early on in the game.
Which makes these last few weeks so frustrating for fans. The Eagles past two losses have hinged on poor decision-making by their leader. Pederson clearly has a special bond with his players, and there is something to be said for that, but his in-game decisions have hurt the team and cost them games.
Maybe these are just lessons for the rookie head coach and he will emerge from this poised to make a last-ditch effort at the postseason. But until he truly learns how to manage game scenarios, this close games could continue to slip away.
Injury Report
Did Not Play: Bennie Logan (groin), Allen Barbre (hamstring)
A relatively healthy game for the Eagles as only one player, Terrence Brooks, had an injury that the team felt warranted a report. Besides the reserve defensive back, Zach Ertz had a scary moment when his legs were rolled up on while on special teams, but he missed just two snaps.
Jason Peters also went down in the second half, grabbing his arm, but he too was back in the game after a quick breather. After the game, Reuben Frank reported that Brent Celek was in "tremendous pain" in the locker room, so that is something worth monitoring as we head toward next week's game.
Numbers Game
364: Carson Wentz set a career high in passing yards yesterday, posting 364 yards on a career-high 47 attempts. After not attempting a pass more than 16 yards down the field last week, it seemed like Pederson and Wentz made a conscience effort to stretch the field vertically in hopes of kick-starting the offense. It worked, to an extent, as the yards would indicate, but the offense still couldn't punch the ball in the end zone, going just two for six in their red zone opportunities.
-4: Talk about home cooking. The Eagles have a point differential of +61 during their three home games, but on the road, they have been outscored by four points in five games. Now, that number is a bit skewed thanks to the team's week two win at Chicago, but the difference between the team's success at home and struggles on the road is staggering. At Lincoln Financial Field, the Birds are scoring 28 points per game, compared to just 23.8 points per game on the road.
The difference is even greater on the defensive side of the ball, where Jim Schwartz's crew allows 24.4 points per game on the road and just 7.6 points per game at home. It's nice to see a distinct home-field advantage for the Eagles, but a successful football team needs to put together solid performances both at home and on the road. So far, the Eagles haven't proved they can do that this season.
9: One thing that may be a bit overlooked is how disciplined the Eagles have been playing of late. After committing 13 penalties in Detroit and 14 against the Washington Redskins, the Birds were flagged just seven times against Minnesota and have committed just nine penalties over the course of their past two games.
Sadly, the improvement in discipline has not translated to wins, but dumb penalties that extend drives have not been prevelant during the past few weeks, and that is a good start.
Quotables
In the last 25 years, three QBs have had 3 TD passes of 25 yards or more in a game vs. the Eagles:
Eli 2016
Eli 2011
Peyton 2002— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) November 6, 2016
In case you're curious, just like I was; no, Archie Manning never pulled off this feat. However, in his NFL career, Archie threw nine touchdowns in seven games against the Eagles and three of them went for more than 25 yards. So that's pretty cool.
Eli on last INT: "I hate tipped balls. I hate cheap interceptions and that's kind of as cheap as they come.''
— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) November 6, 2016
I get there is some sourness in this comment, but to say tipped passes are cheap interceptions is just ridiculous. It's one thing if a ball bounces off a receiver's hands or an offensive lineman's helmet and is picked off. I'll concede that. But when a defensive player knowingly bats the ball with his hand, it isn't cheap. It's more or less an assist. Manning threw a poor pass that was batted and intercepted. It's as simple as that.
Weekly Awards
Least Valuable Player, Offense: Dorial Green-Beckham
It seemed like Green-Beckham was taking small steps forward every week and becoming more and more accustomed to the Eagles' offense, but he took a huge step backwards yesterday. DGB was targeted five times, but caught zero passes and seemed rather uninterested in playing football for most of the afternoon. Obtaining the 2015 second-round pick in August for just Dennis Kelly seemed like an absolute steal for Howie Roseman and company, but Green-Beckham's warts finally showed up in a big way against the Giants.
For someone who stands 6'5" and weighs in at 225 pounds, Green-Beckham tends to struggle with contested balls and gave up on some routes in which the only standing between him and the ball was Janoris Jenkins. Even on third down on the Eagles' final drive, Wentz threw a beautiful ball down the seam where Green-Beckham had inside leverage, but the defensive back easily contested the pass and broke it up. It's obvious that DGB has elite size and potential, but it's worth wondering if he has the ability to put everything together. There's still plenty of time, but the early signs are pointing toward no.
Least Valuable Player, Defense: Leodis McKelvin
McKelvin was supposed to be the Eagles top cornerback this season and although he's been inconsistent all season, it wasn't until yesterday that he looked truly bad. He was beaten by Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants' first touchdown and collided with Jaylen Watkins, leaving his man wide open in the end zone for the Giants' second TD.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Beckham beat McKelvin later in the game for his second touchdown right after allowing a 46-yard completion to Victor Cruz. Schwartz has had no problem subbing out players who are ineffective and if McKelvin can't turn things around, Jalen Mills will be getting a lot more snaps on the outside.
Three-Step Drop
1. Despite the disappointing performance by the Eagles yesterday, some players really turned in solid games, like Zach Ertz. The tight end looked effective for the first time since coming back from his displaced rib, catching all eight of his targets for 97 yards. The fourth-year tight end had been a bit of a disappointment so far this season with everyone expecting a breakout campaign, especially after leading all tight ends in receiving for the final five weeks of 2015.
If Ertz and Wentz can finally get on the same page, it should open up a lot of things for this offense and give more room over the top for the wide receivers. Hopefully this game is not just a blip, but the start of a trend.
2. Speaking of over-the-top wide receivers, how about that kid Bryce Treggs? The rookie's first career reception went for 58 yards and set up Ryan Mathews' touchdown two plays later. I'll be honest, I didn't expect much from the undrafted rookie out of Cal, but he certainly has a skill-set the Eagles offense was sorely lacking for the early part of this season.
It'll be interesting to see how much opposing defenses respect his speed moving forward and how he will be used in Pederson's offense, but for now, at least we know there is someone on the roster who can keep teams from consistently loading up the box and daring the Eagles' receivers to beat them over the top.
3. On the other side of the ball, Jordan Hicks once again looked like the player he was a season ago. His interception in the closing minutes of the game was a thing of beauty and he has clearly established himself as the premiere playmaker on the Eagles' defense. He now has four interceptions and four fumble recoveries in just 16 career games.
According to Pro Football Reference, Hicks is the first linebacker to put up those numbers through the first two seasons of his career since Monte Coleman did it in 1979 and 1980. Hicks is just the 10th linebacker to pull off this feat, joining the likes of Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and Jack Ham among others. That is pretty good company.
Who's Next
The Eagles will return to Lincoln Financial Field in hopes of stopping their two-game skid and the Atlanta Falcons' top-ranked offense. Led by Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, the Falcons are averaging 33.9 points per game and haven't been held to less than 23 points all season. The Eagles will certainly have their hands full, but as we mentioned above, the defense has a tendency to show up big during home games, so hopefully that trend continues.
On the other side of the ball, Atlanta is just 28th in the NFL in points allowed and 31st in passing defense, although they hold opposing rushers to just 4.0 yards per carry. If nothing else, expect a shootout on Sunday afternoon, with a lot of yards and big plays from both teams. At the very least, it should be an entertaining game.
