Drops Haunt Philadelphia, Eagles Fall to 1-2

Drops Haunt Philadelphia, Eagles Fall to 1-2

The Eagles fell under .500 after a tough loss to the (undefeated!) Detroit Lions. Here’s what we learned:

1. Nobody Can Hold Onto the Football

Last week, Nelson Agholor somehow let a potential game-winning touchdown slip through his hands. He took full responsibility for the play and then proceeded to let go of the ball on multiple occasions this week. He had one really ugly fumble where the ball just came out after he tried to turn upfield following a reception. Miles Sanders lost two fumbles in the same drive; Detroit recovered the second one. Jordan Howard had a drop, Mack Hollins had a crucial drop, and Zach Ertz had a rare drop of his own. That wasn’t all though. With Philadelphia trying to stage a comeback, Dallas Goedert dropped one of the easiest touchdowns he’ll ever get. The Eagles still scored a TD on that drive, but lost a great amount of time in the process. After some special teams heroics, Philadelphia was in prime position to eke out a win, but an offensive pass interference penalty (a flag that plagued the Eagles all day) pushed them back to 4th & 15. Carson Wentz launched a pass to the rookie , and jump-ball specialist, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside… who dropped what would’ve been a sure touchdown.

2. Eagles Defense

There were good and bad observations about Jim Schwartz’s defense. One issue has been the complete inability to get pressure, something that just shouldn’t be happening with a unit upfront that was widely considered the league’s best before the season. The Eagles have two sacks on the season, in front of only the putrid Denver Broncos who have yet to record one. The front four continues to be one of the top run-stuffing units, but pressure needs to be generated in order to mask the deficiencies in the back seven. The secondary actually held it together for most of the game, especially Malcolm Jenkins and Rasul Douglas (who I firmly believe is the best corner on the roster). Matthew Stafford barely passed the 200-yard mark, and the Lions O only put up 20 points. Marvin Jones accounted for half of Stafford’s yardage on his own. Andrew Sendejo had his weekly lows (cut him), but overall there wasn’t a whole lot to complain about. One possible issue is the potential long-term absence of Ronald Darby (hamstring), but then again, maybe that isn’t an issue. With Aaron Rodgers and Co. up next, Jalen Ramsey would be very nice to have right now.

Other Observations:

- The Eagles allowed a 100-yard kickoff return right after they scored their FIRST first-quarter points of the year. Not fun.

- Yes, the Eagles scored points in the first quarter. Ten of them, actually. 

- The Eagles continue to allow Carson Wentz to get pressured too much. The strength of this team was supposed to be along both lines, but it hasn’t been that way this season.

- Jordan Howard only put up 37 yards on his 11 carries this week, but I still believe he should be the main running back going forward. He’s easily better than Sanders (for now, at least) and Sproles, and the offense looks best when he’s in there. Remember, he posted 3,370 yards between 2016-18. 

- I’ve seen Carson Wentz get a lot of blame for this loss, but it’s hard to do much when your receivers refuse to hold on to the football. It’s also hard when your top two receivers are injured. Obviously he can be better, but I like what I’ve seen in the past six quarters.

- There’s a chance Alshon Jeffery could return for Thursday night’s matchup against Green Bay. I’m not feeling too optimistic about that game right now.

- Why is Nate Gerry still getting snaps? Jim Schwartz just refuses to change personnel when it’s needed. Ronald Darby not being removed last week is a perfect example.

- Miles on Miles crime: On a kickoff return, Miles Sanders got his helmet torn off by the facemask by Lions safety Miles Killebrew and no flag was called. This is a league that fines you $15k for tackling a quarterback “too hard”, but a man nearly getting his neck flipped inside-out is no issue. It was easily one of the worst missed calls I’ve ever witnessed. Killebrew was also spotted laughing on the sideline after the play; I hope his game check is a lot lighter after the NFL reviews this.

Philadelphia (1-2) goes to Lambeau on Thursday to face the Green Bay Packers (3-0).

-By: Micah Jimoh