Lost season set to send Eagles back to the drawing board

There have been a lot of emotional highs and lows for Eagles fans during the last 12 months. It was around this time last year when Carson Wentz was lost for the season and a very promising 2017 looked to be dead. Everyone knows how the year ended.  

As per usual, winning the Super Bowl comes at a cost and the Eagles saw players like Trey Burton, Patrick Robinson and LeGarrette Blount collect paychecks elsewhere for 2018 while opting to give Nigel Bradham a new contract. Assistant coaches Frank Reich and John DeFilippo moved on to bigger jobs with other organizations while Jim Schwartz stayed in Philadelphia. Ironically, DeFilippo is available again after being fired by the Minnesota Vikings yesterday. Reich is the head coach with the Indianapolis Colts, a team on the rise that is flirting with a playoff spot in the AFC this year.

Of course, none of this diminished expectations for 2018 and there was no reason it should have. Doug Pederson did an outstanding job in 2017 and he was still with the team. Wentz was returning. They’d get Jay Ajayi in the backfield for a full season lessening the need to bring back Blount. Prized 2017 draft pick Sidney Jones was healthy and they spent a fourth round draft pick on Avonte Maddox therefore losing Patrick Robinson in the secondary wasn’t supposed to matter much. The first pick they made in the 2018 draft was on a tight end in hopes of Dallas Goedert being a cheaper Burton. Executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman had earned the right to be trusted.

                                                     Rick Schultz/Getty Images
Pederson and Roseman have their work cut out for them
heading into the offseason.

Fast forward to now and they’re under .500 with three games left in the season. So how’d we get here? A defense riddled with injuries is a good place to start, but it’s much more than that. The coaches that have returned have been much worse than they were last year and they’ve failed to replace the ones they lost. There are several hypotheses that could be made about Wentz’s inconsistency, but he hasn’t looked the same especially in recent weeks. While the team has stayed healthy on offense for the most part, Ajayi’s injuries woes returned and they’ve struggled to run the ball all season. Wentz is now the most recent injury so how’s that for coming full circle? Prior to all the injuries, the defense choked away a lead in Tennessee and was torched for too many big plays in Tampa Bay. Lastly, multiple players simply have not performed as well as they did last season.

Put it all together and you get a 6-7 team that’s found lots of ways to lose. Even their wins have been relatively uninspiring save for a blowout victory in the Meadowlands against the New York Giants.  The only pain left now is the continued tease of the NFC’s final playoff spot. The last wild card is there for the taking yet none of the teams are separating themselves with three weeks left in the regular season. Whoever “earns” the spot won’t be taken seriously in the postseason and with good reason. Fortunately, it’s not going to be the Eagles and there won’t be a façade to hide behind. It would be easy to sugarcoat the season as one that still resulted in a playoff berth despite the slew of injuries they suffered. It would also be delusional.

Could the Eagles return in 2019 and look more like last year’s team than this year’s? A lot of that probably hinges on how high of a level Wentz plays at but it’s certainly possible they’re right back in title contention at this time next season. It also hinges on how much retooling Roseman can do around Wentz. They don’t have enough playmakers on offense and pass protection was an ongoing issue most of the season. On defense, there are lots of question marks in the secondary, obvious holes at linebacker and a decision to make regarding defensive end Brandon Graham. Whatever happens in these final three games, you can start making your big boards and taking a look at upcoming free agents. There’s work to be done.

Photo: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/3/1/14779738/eagles-howie-roseman-doug-pederson-nfl-combine-2017-press-conference-video-live-watch-media