The win on Sunday against the New England Patriots was “nice.” Unfortunately, fans must should remain cautious and not celebrate the upset that nobody saw coming. It was the “way” the team won that should keep everyone’s expectations “in check.”
Defensive touchdowns and special team contributions created the illusion in 2014 that the Eagles were a good football team. Down the stretch when those plays were missing from games, the offense failed to show up and the defense was exposed.
The game against the Patriots gave me the same feeling as last year; however, I’m not going to be fooled this time.
I can’t ignore the question marks at the running back position and the inability for the wide receivers to create space in the passing game. It’s impossible for me to look past team owner Jeffrey Lurie coming into the locker room pregame to hype up the players. DeMarco Murray is pissed, the owner and not a leader in the room needed to give the pregame speech, and Murray needed to speak with Lurie about how pissed he was.
These are qualities of a good football team?
The Eagles offense did enough against the Patriots to get the job done, but a similar performance against the next two opponents will not be enough.
Buffalo is 10th in the league in points per game while Arizona leads the league.
Subpar performances by Sam Bradford and the underwhelming receiving core will be exposed if Chip Kelly continues to call the same plays.
In quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Carson Palmer, it’s likely the Eagles offense will need to generate three touchdowns in both matchups to remain in the football game. The Bills defense has underachieved, but it’s still coached by Rex Ryan, and the blitz designs could be overwhelming for the Eagles offensive line. The Cardinals defense can create havoc all day; will Chip do anything to confuse them?
The Eagles are flawed just like the NFC East. Big plays by Malcom Jenkins, Darren Sproles, Chris Maragos and Najee Goode helped to mask the flaws on offense against the Patriots. The Eagles defense wasn’t impressive, they registered sacks and forced turnovers, but Brady had little trouble moving the football even with a banged up offensive unit.
I’m sure the win was just what the team needed; but how confident is the fan base moving forward?
As quickly as spirits were lifted when the three gaming losing streak came to an end, the feeling of disappointment can quickly return if ex-Eagle LeSean McCoy runs wild against the Eagles, and the team fails to show up in front of the home crowd at Lincoln Financial Field.
To be honest Jeff, how they Won or whether it was impressive just doesn’t matter.. No one gave than any chance coming out of Foxborough with a W
So let’s enjoy the fact that they did, but last weeks upset Win at New England means very little if they don’t beat the Bills today..