Twenty minutes after the worst loss of the Doug Pederson era, as numb fans clicked off their TVs and 20,000 loyalists who had traveled to Miami contemplated the long flight home, the head coach rubbed salt in their gaping wounds.
“That’s a good football team,” Pederson said of the now 3-9 Miami Dolphins. “Their record doesn’t indicate anything about them. Those guys battled for 60 minutes.”
Let’s be honest. The Dolphins are a putrid football team. Their record is exactly who they are. And if they battled for 60 minutes while beating the Eagles, 37-31, it’s because they were handed the golden ticket. The Birds choked on a 14-point third-quarter lead through penalties, dropped passes, overthrows, blown coverages and mistakes — both physical and mental — that would embarrass a Pop Warner team.
We can place blame for this calamity of a season almost everywhere (last week I targeted GM Howie Roseman). But after this stink bomb, the sharpest barbs must be aimed at the head coach and his bumbling assistants.
Let me count the ways:
Pederson’s Play-Calling Reeks
Favoring the run may make me a Cro-Magnon among analytics freaks, but consider this: From the point they got up two TDs Sunday, Pederson called 20 pass plays and four runs. Overall, the Eagles had a 46-to-19 pass-run ratio against the NFL’s second-worst rush defense.
This has been the trend. In the last three losses — all close — Pederson called for passes on 72 percent of the plays. It’s not like the ground game hasn’t worked, even without Jordan Howard. Miles Sanders averaged 4.6 yards per carry in those three losses; the team overall averaged 4.5.
The Defense Collapsed
Just when we thought the Eagles solved their defensive problems, old man Ryan Fitzpatrick unleashed five straight TD drives totaling 386 yards.
Throughout the second half, the Eagles rushed four men, sat in zone, and invited a cagy QB to carve them up. When they finally blitzed, Fitzpatrick read it like a first-grade primer. They never broke his rhythm.
On the bright side, the defense didn’t pose for any ceremonial pictures while down a touchdown or two this week. They just didn’t show up.
This falls on the players and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, of course. But Pederson’s the top man, so it really falls on him.
Take a hard look at the Eagles assistants — from the coordinators to the position coaches. Other than Duce Staley and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, is there anyone you want back next season?
Killed Again By the Trick Play
Why the hell didn’t Doug call a timeout when Miami shifted into that Arena League formation that allowed a punter to toss a TD pass to a kicker?
That’s three weeks in a row they’ve been befuddled by a gadget play designed to suck in a dumb team. Each marked the turning point of the game. That speaks to discipline and smarts. Pederson’s team displays neither.
Whatever mojo Doug had in the run to Super Bowl LII is long gone. His creative play calling and ability to adjust during games are just memories. His team has less talent, no doubt, but that doesn’t account for long stretches of dumb, unmotivated football.
His franchise quarterback has regressed – as have most of the players around him. This is a flawed, broken franchise.
Pederson isn’t going to get fired anytime soon, nor should he. The currency he built from the team’s first Super Bowl title is far from spent.
But Sunday’s loss to the rancid Dolphins could be one of those critical games you look back at when the end does come. From here, it sure feels like turning around this team is like turning around a rowboat that’s gone over Niagara Falls.
