Who is to blame for Eagles’ struggles?; 3 keys to a win vs. the Bills
24 October 2019 Opinion
Nearly halfway through the 2019 season, the Eagles sit at 3-4, and are one game behind Dallas for first place in the NFC East.
This sounds all well and good, but the last two weeks have been terrible, as the Birds were outscored 75-30 by both the Vikings and Cowboys. Before yet another must-win game arrives on Sunday vs. the Bills, who deserves the blame for the Eagles’ struggles?
Dropped passes, slow offensive starts, turnovers, poor tackling, spotty pass coverage, huge defensive lapses, questionable efforts (yes, you, Agholor), at times a non-existent pass rush, tons of penalties and lackluster protection for Carson Wentz have all played a part. Doug’s play-calling performance Sunday night was an all-time low and Wentz has not played up to the standard we expect from him.
There have been a cluster of injuries as well that have set back the 2019 Eagles. Add all of this together and you get a struggling, beaten down 3-4 squad, in search of an identity.
Not a single player on this team is having a career year and it would be difficult to reasonably argue that any Eagle should be voted to the Pro Bowl. This is as underachieving as a team can be and playing up to their full potential is the only way to make a real playoff push.
Including the Dallas game and this Sunday’s game against the Bills, the Eagles will face-off against five top-10 defenses in a row, as they have the Bears, Seattle and New England coming up, luckily all at the Linc. The Eagles desperately need to win at least two out of the next four, with three being preferred, which might seem nearly impossible to even fathom right now.
Can it be done? Sure. Will it happen? That is to be determined, but this team is more than capable.
As for Sunday’s game in Buffalo, here are three keys to an Eagles win:
- Fast start – So many times this season, the Birds have been struggling to get off to hot starts and have found themselves down 10+ points to start. Looking forward to them getting out to an early lead which will help ause set the tone and will help Wentz settle in, instead of having to play catch-up.
- Incorporating Ertz – Tight end Zach Ertz has not really been much of a factor the last two weeks, netting just six combined catches and 92 total receiving yards. With the Eagles playing a lot of 12 personnel along with Dallas Goedert, Ertz has seemed to blend in with the rest of the struggling offense instead of shining like he did in 2018. Really expecting a big game from him vs. the Bills, somewhere in the vicinity of 8+ catches, 85+ yards and a score.
- Defense causing turnovers – For the Eagles to beat Buffalo, the defense will have to force at least two turnovers and should try to keep the Bills’ offense around 17-20 points. It’s a tough task but they are more than capable of stepping up with the season on the line.
Not even two full years since winning Super Bowl LII, there is no way this team should be playing as poorly as it has so far this season, and something tells me that the last two awful losses will urge this team up to play the way we all envisioned at the start of the year.
My prediction: A close, low(ish) scoring game with the Eagles coming out on top. Eagles 21, Bills 17.