With another embarrassing loss on Thanksgiving Day, the Philadelphia Eagles sank lower than they have all season.
This marks the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has lost a game on Thanksgiving. It is also their third straight loss after winning a close game with the Dallas Cowboys.
It’s safe to say this team is in shambles and nobody seems to know where to go at this point.
Three weeks ago, the Eagles lost their breakout rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks to a season-ending pectoral muscle tear. Since then, the Eagles have been blown out in two out of their last three games. The Eagles defense has given up 11 touchdowns and and 951 total yards in the past two games.
Without Hicks, the defense looks lost out on the field, almost as if it has no idea what to do anymore. Starting out the season, Philadelphia’s defense looked to be their strong suit. However, since their young leader went down the team, as a whole, have shown even worse form.
There have been multiple reports of Chip Kelly having lost his locker room this week. It looks like the team has no motivation to play hard anymore and whatever momentum they were building with Sam Bradford at quarterback was shot down once he injured his non-throwing shoulder and suffered a concussion against the Miami Dolphins in Week 10.
Bradford seemed to be getting acclimated to his new surroundings until Pro-Bowl right tackle Jason Peters went down with a quadricep injury. This forced the offensive line to shuffle around into an erratic mess that could not stop Miami’s pass rush. The offensive line allowed Bradford to get sacked four times until he exited the game due to his injuries.
Philadelphia has dealt with injuries to too many key players. It looks like they are lacking any leadership on the field and have given up on their head coach. It will be interesting to see what the Eagles will be able to do to salvage their season, if they even can at this point.
They play an undefeated New England Patriots team that looks unstoppable. Philadelphia's division rival and also the NFC East leader, the New York Giants, were able to keep the game close all the way to end when they played New England, however, Tom Brady and the Patriots ultimately got the best of them. If the Eagles want any shot at turning around this season, it’s going to have to come from a monster upset against a virtually flawless football team.
Surprisingly, with all that has gone wrong with the Eagles, they still have an opportunity to win the division and claim a playoff spot. If the Giants lose to the Washington Redskins this Sunday, Philadelphia will still only be one game back from first place.
But it almost doesn't feel that way, given the way the Eagles have struggled with injuries, a lack of leadership and a head coach that is losing the locker room by the week.
Dan Ketler is a contributing writer for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ketler11.
