In the end, this Eagles team is way past earning ribbons for moral victories. We can praise them for fighting back Sunday, as they endured their own Body Bag Game. But resilience doesn’t gain you tie-breaker points at the end of the season.
A loss is a loss is a loss.
So remember this crusher to Atlanta in three months, when the Eagles are battling the Cowboys for the NFC East title. It may have a huge significance in the standings.
Of course, there is more to take away than the short end of a 24-20 score. Truth comes in grays, rarely in black and white.
On the one hand, QB Carson Wentz needs to get beyond his perplexingly inept starts to games. Kid Carson’s first-half stats and decision making evoked Bobby Hoying — even factoring in that vicious hit to the ribs and the absence of his two best wide receivers.
On the other, Wentz fought through it and executed a brilliant drive to give his team the lead with 3:13 to go. The Houdini pass to Mack Hollins as his knees were millimeters from the ground is the stuff of highlight films. Wentz played brave and he played clutch.
On the one hand, the Birds front four couldn’t touch Falcons QB Matt Ryan early and the secondary — again — couldn’t hang with receivers. Ronald Darby looks like the worst player in the NFL after two games. Andrew Sendejo isn’t far behind.
On the other, give credit to defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Usually averse to blitzing, Schwartz recognized he needed to be aggressive and sent as many as seven rushers toward Ryan — who tossed three interceptions under pressure. Schwartz was one play away from closing it out until, well… Julio Jones.
On the one hand, the Eagles were shockingly poor running the ball against a Falcons defense that surrendered 172 rushing yards last week to Minnesota. Jordan Howard and Mile Sanders combined for 18 carries for just 46 yards — 2.6 per carry. Darren Sproles, last week’s workhorse, never even took a handoff.
On the other, that incompetence is somewhat mitigated by the calf injury that knocked TE Dallas Goedert from the game before it started. It seems logical the Eagles strategy was to run 12 personnel — using double tight ends to blast away at Minnesota’s defense. Doug Pederson essentially had to scrap his game plan while listening to the National Anthem.
Pederson’s woes went way beyond that. The Birds lost Desean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey early, taking away Wentz’s two best wide receivers.
The coach ended up relying on veteran Nelson Agholor, who on the one hand, made one of the worst drops ever, flubbing a sure late TD pass. On the other hand . . . no, there is no other hand here. Agholor says he lost the ball in the lights, which is no better an excuse in football than in baseball.
Agholor was among four Eagles — including Wentz — who went through and cleared concussion protocol during the game. Wentz took a beating all night long. We can only imagine how his ribcage ached during the long plane ride home.
Injuries were a factor Sunday, and we’ll learn more about their significance as this week goes on. Nothing can destroy a good team’s championship hopes quicker than a swollen inactive list.
But injuries had nothing to do with the offensive line’s bad performance, nor the secondary’s spotty coverage.
For now, Sunday’s loss stands as just a Week 2 heartbreaker. Here’s hoping I’m wrong, and it doesn’t mean more than that down the road.
