Shaun Prater intercepts a pass intended for DeSean Jackson during the Eagles 48-30 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
Just as the Philadelphia Eagles were turning heads, they turned their backs on the competition. The Minnesota Vikings sank their Chip, and along with it their credibility as a playoff contender.
Sure, that’s a little extreme. The Eagles are still leading the NFC East, thanks to Tony Romo’s timely interceptions and the Green Bay Packers incredible comeback. They still control their own destiny. But this was a chance to do something greater. This was a chance to prove they were unstoppable, and against the Vikings they should have been.
Where do you begin with this game? Perhaps a good place to start is with the opening kickoff.
From the start, something was wrong with this team. One element of the team’s failure: kickoffs. I get the need to protect against a dangerous return man like Cordarrelle Patterson. But you mean to tell me that your kicker, Alex Henery, with no elements to deal with in a dome, can’t kick the ball out of the back of the end zone? The lack of trust in the kicker is frightening.
Next up is the defense. Again, where do you begin?
The defensive line played a brutal game. There was no pressure on Matt Cassel, allowing him to throw for only 382 yards and two touchdowns. He also had only nine incompletions. This was the type of game that earned Nick Foles a couple NFC Player of the Week honors.
Adding onto the total lack of pressure on Cassel, the secondary was pathetic. Cary Williams was playing a good 10 yards off his receiver, who of course happened to be Greg Jennings, who posted a career day with 11 catchers and 163 yards. Earl Wolff, out with injury, was never missed more as the Eagles benched Patrick Chung and turned to Kurt Coleman. The safeties struggled to pick out proper coverage. If one receiver was double-covered, another would be wide open. It’s been a problem all season. It was never more evident.
The linebacking group was probably the best on the field for the Eagles defense. Mychal Kendricks managed the only turnover, an interception late in the third. It did come at a crucial time and appeared to give the Eagles plenty of life. Kendricks and Trent Cole combined for six tackles for loss. Kendricks, DeMeco Ryans and Connor Barwin all had sacks on Cassel.
Take away the running game between the quarterbacks – Foles finished with 41 yards, Cassel had 19 – and the Eagles limited the run. The goalline stands were obviously going to be difficult, so the four rushing touchdowns for Minnesota really have no bearing on the game. The two teams played an equal game when rushing. One team just used it a whole lot more.
Considering one team was also without its top two running backs, that is far from a compliment.
That was the primary problem with the offense. Why did Chip Kelly abandon the running game just one week after it was the sole reason for a victory? Why wasn’t LeSean McCoy getting touches? Whatever the reason, it slowed the offense down and factored out one of the primary sources of success for the offense.
Foles did everything you would want him to in this situation. Much like last week, Foles was starting to lead the charge back. Was this his best game? Not even close. In fact, it ranks right up there with the Dallas game. But in the Dallas game, Foles simply couldn’t execute at all. He threw for 428 yards, completing 30 of 48 passes with three touchdowns.
Simply put, Foles can’t play defense, and as much as he would like to have Sunday’s first half back, he gave a valiant effort in cutting into the Minnesota lead and making things interesting. At the end of the third, there was certainly more than a chance the Eagles could win.
But Foles was at fault for a horrendous blocking penalty that should never happen. His teammates weren’t any better. The Eagles were penalized nine times for 94 yards. By the end of the game, the frustration of a five-game winning streak coming to an end was evident.
The playcalling wasn’t great either. As much as this loss falls on the players, it falls on Kelly as well. Obviously, he chose not to run the ball, and not just because the Eagles were trailing the entire game. His calls and decisions were confusing. Everybody has a bad game, but when the entire team is struggling, you would like to see your coach keep things together. Kelly wasn’t able to on Sunday.
So again, the Eagles survive thanks in part to the Cowboys collapse. Do the Eagles still have the upper hand in the division? Yes. There’s no way this team should lose to the Cowboys a second time. That alone will cement their place in the playoffs this season – regardless of Week 16’s results, the Eagles will either go to Dallas needing a win for the division title or already crowned division champions.
If anything, the Eagles not only damaged their credibility as a potential playoff team, it showed the possibility of what is to come. Now that they have been beaten and are vulnerable, could Dallas pull off the victory?
Consider the frustration of today’s loss where essentially nothing was at stake. The Eagles had a game to lose and could still make Week 17 meaningful. How frustrating was it to know the Eagles were better on paper only to watch them struggle? Now take the same performance and put it against Dallas with everything on the line. That nightmare scenario is more of a possibility now than it was yesterday.
That’s what the Eagles lost on Sunday. By virtue of the Cowboys loss, that loss in the standings is essentially meaningless. It doesn’t matter. But what it does is force all of the skeptics, who were finally coming around, to second-guess. Are the Eagles as good as we credit them? Sunday’s game didn’t show it.
Next Sunday’s now night game becomes all the more important. If Dallas wins, you simply need to keep pace. If they lose, you can make the final regular season game meaningless.
The Eagles still control their own destiny. But it also appeared they had destiny on their side. After losing to the lowly and battered Vikings, perhaps not.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Look for his Game Preview and recap every Sunday as part of Eagledelphia’s gameday coverage. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
