For this series, we will be reviewing all of the teams that did not make the NFL Playoffs. After today, the teams will be selected at random with a random number generator based on their draft position, but I want to get to Philadelphia Eagles while they are a popular discussion piece.
Philadelphia Eagles Showed Weakness Since the Beginning
Oh, Philadelphia where do I begin with you? How did you manage to make yourself worse than you were last year? You managed to lose in Week 1 to a team with no name. That is where everything really went wrong and everyone should’ve known that this team was bad. Then, you go and tie the Cincinnati Bengals, which is probably more embarrassing. You tied a team that is still building around their rookie QB that you should’ve easily handled.
Philly miraculously got better as they got more injured, somehow. However, wins against the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, while barely staying competitive with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, tell me they didn’t play that much better with second-teamers.
Eagles Turn to Jalen Hurts
After the bye, the season came crashing down. Losses to the Giants, Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers led to a quarterback change to rookie Jalen Hurts. I will be honest, when I first saw that Hurts was starting, I thought it was stupid. However, Hurts was impressive in the game against the Saints. So much so that many thought he could turn around the season and lead the Eagles to the division title.
That thought got derailed the following week against the Arizona Cardinals. The offense did their job. The defense, on the other hand, was the let down, after allowing DeAndre Hopkins to score the game-winning touchdown. The Birds would be shot down and eliminated from postseason contention the next week, losing to Dallas and their backup QB Andy Dalton.
Eagles Improve Draft Position in Week 17 Finale
Somehow, the Eagles got the Week 17 Sunday night game against that good old no-name team. They were pretty competitive through one half, but then Doug Pederson did his best Hue Jackson impression and tried to lose. The Eagles benched Hurts for Nate Sudfeld, to claiming the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft.
This was actually very smart of them. Many of you can be mad all you want, but realize the Eagles had nothing to play for, and losing would help them in the long term. If you want to be mad, be mad at the NFL for flexing that trainwreck to Sunday night.
