The defending Super Bowl champions were written

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When the Philadelphia Eagles gather around their coach in the locker room after each win Cheap J.J. Arcega-Whiteside Jersey , Doug Pederson yells: “We’re not done yet.” off after a 48-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints dropped their record to 4-6 in November.They responded with two wins before an overtime loss to Dallas knocked them out of contention for a division title. But backup quarterback Nick Foles has led the Eagles to four straight wins, including a 16-15 comeback victory over Chicago in an NFC wild-card game.Now, the Eagles (10-7) are heading back to New Orleans to face the Saints (13-3) in a divisional playoff game on Sunday.“We hear disrespect. We listen. It’s hard not to hear. A bunch of talking heads said we were done,” defensive end Chris Long said after Philadelphia upset the Bears.“I heard somebody say we needed to start worrying about losing games so we can get a higher draft pick, somebody that gets paid a lot of money. And that’s fine. People are wrong sometimes. Not everybody knows what is going on. We’re a tough team and the chips have been down for us before.”The Eagles are in a familiar role as playoff underdogs, but they have a much tougher road this time around as they try to become the third No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl.Last season, the Eagles entered as the No. 1 seed. They were underdogs in every game because they were missing starting quarterback Carson Wentz.They’ve been in playoff mode for a month now after Wentz went down with a back injury. They had to win three straight games, including consecutive wins over the playoff-bound Rams and Texans, and get help — the Bears defeating the Vikings in Week 17 — to reach the playoffs.Then they had to rally against the stingiest defense in the NFL, taking a one-point lead over the Bears when Foles tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate on fourth down with 56 seconds remaining. The victory was secured when Treyvon Hester tipped Cody Parkey’s 43-yard field-goal attempt and the ball hit the left upright and then the crossbar.“We keep winning. We keep putting ourselves in a position to be successful Youth J.J. Arcega-Whiteside Jersey ,” Pederson said Monday.A rematch against the Saints was difficult to imagine when the Eagles left New Orleans on Nov. 18. Wentz had the worst game of his career and Drew Brees dominated an injury-depleted secondary. But the team never quit.“Immediately after the game, you flush it and you’re moving on to the next week’s opponent,” Pederson said. “I think you just have to look at where we’ve come and what we’ve done,” Pederson said.“Just the way this team has come together at the end of the season, to be counted out with even about three games to go. … This team believes in everything that we’re doing, and you saw it yesterday and we’re different. It’s a different mind-set. It’s a different football team. And we’re a different group than when we played New Orleans the first time, and we’re learning from it and obviously have been better since.” The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, 27-20. Here are some thoughts on this highly disappointing defeat.1 - The Eagles’ season is probably overSad to say, but it’s probably true.We knew the stakes coming into this game. A win meant a 70% chance at the playoffs. A loss meant dropping to 35%.Well, the Eagles lost. Philadelphia is now third in the NFC East and 11th overall in the NFC playoff picture. They’re not mathematically eliminated Black J.J. Arcega-Whiteside Jersey , no. But let’s be real. It’s Week 10 and this team hasn’t been able to string together back-to-back wins all season. What’s the likelihood they’re going to get hot down the stretch and make a run? Not saying you have to give up on the team. Stranger things have happened. Still seven games left, with four against divisional opponents. But the odds are certainly not in their favor. More likely than not, they’re done.The Eagles are very much staring 4-6 in the face with a road game against the juggernaut Saints up next.2 - Doug Pederson deserves a lot of blameThe Eagles had no great reason to lose this game. They were coming off their bye. The Cowboys were coming off a short week after playing on Monday Night Football.The Cowboys were 0-4 road and averaging 13.5 points per game in those four losses. And yet the Eagles lost.The offense struggled out of the gate, going three-and-out on their first drive of the game. This didn’t look like a team ready to make a statement that they’re back.For a team that’s talked a lot about getting off to fast starts, the Eagles only put three points in the first half. And it took a 56-yard field goal to get those three points. The Eagles obviously improved in the second half by scoring 17 in the final two quarters but the overall output just isn’t enough in today’s NFL. The team’s offensive struggles and lack of urgency ultimately do not reflect well on Pederson. I’m not even going to get into nit-picking specific play calls. The overall theme is that the offense is just not good enough. It’s not inspiring. It feels like the Eagles have to work so hard to generate their offense. It’s hardly as effortless as other teams in the league (Saints, Rams, Chiefs, etc.). A team that was so good at moving the sticks last year only managed to convert four of 12 combined third/fourth down attempts on Sunday night.The struggles really make you wonder about Pederson. I think it’s too much to say he’s a total fraud who was only propped up by Frank Reich and/or John DeFilippo. He was ultimately the one calling plays during the Eagles’ Super Bowl season in 2017.But with Reich and Flip now gone, it’s hard to ignore how the offense has lost its’ luster. The truth is the Eagles were always due for some offensive regression because they were just so good in key areas last year. But the regression has been compounded by the absence of good coaches.I can’t help but wonder if the Eagles were a little too hasty in making internal promotions, especially with Mike Groh at offensive coordinator. Maybe having a new Youth Corey Clement Jerseys , more experienced voice from the outside would’ve helped Pederson more. He’s ultimately in charge of his staff.It’s hard not to be losing faith in Pederson right now. He just hasn’t done a great job of coaching this team.3 - Jim Schwartz isn’t off the hook, eitherAgain, the Cowboys were averaging 13.5 points on the road this season. Schwartz’s unit allowed them to double that figure on Sunday night.The Eagles ultimately had no answer for Ezekiel Elliott, who ran 19 times for 151 yards (7.9) average and one touchdown. He also had six receptions for 36 yards and one score.Schwartz’s unit allowed Dak Prescott to have one of his best games of the season. Prescott finished with a season high in completion percentage and his third best passer rating at 102.8 overall.In fairness to Schwartz’s unit, the secondary was pretty depleted, especially when Ronald Darby went down with a knee injury. At that the point the Eagles were missing their top three corners and a starting safety. Not ideal. Philadelphia was down to Rasul Douglas, undrafted rookie free agent Chandon Sullivan, and recent acquistion Cre’Von LeBlanc at corner.But injuries don’t explain away all of the defense’s struggles. A common theme that’s persisted throughout the season now is this unit’s inability to come up in the clutch. For example, the Eagles FINALLY get on the board with a field goal late in the second quarter and then the Eagles allow the Cowboys to easily march down the field for a touchdown drive. Then the Eagles finally string together some touchdown drives of their own and the defense immediately hands the momentum back over to the other side.We saw this same issue against the Titans, Panthers Corey Clement Jerseys Stitched , and even Jaguars. I brought this up following the Jacksonville game:On the whole, the offense deserves more blame than the defense this season. But Schwartz’s unit still deserves criticism.4 - Carson Wentz failed to come up big in another big spotCarson Wentz was 7-0 in his last NFC East games. This was his opportunity to advance to 8-0 in a big way.Once again, however, Wentz ultimately didn’t come up big in a big moment.The numbers certainly weren’t bad: 32/44, 360 yards, 8.2 average, 2 TD, 1 INT, 102.5 passer rating. And zero fumbles! But those numbers don’t show the plays that Wentz left on the field. Wentz had Alshon Jeffery open in the end zone for a touchdown but he got the ball out too late and the contested pass ended up being complete. The Eagles settled for a red zone field goal instead of seven points. Wentz’s accuracy was off on some other throws as well. And his interception, which was a really bad throw Ron Jaworski Jersey , just set a bad tone early on.Wentz is a very good quarterback and the Eagles’ future is potentially bright with him under center. But the Eagles need him to come up bigger in big moments such as Sunday night’s game.5 - There’s really no run game to rely upon Eagles running back carries over the last three games:Smallwood is average at best and Clement is just giving this team nothing. Adams has been the team’s most efficient rusher but unfortunately it’s not as simple as giving him all the carries. Adams is an undrafted rookie who is a non-factor as a pass catcher (one reception) this year. It just sucks the Eagles can’t rely on the run to make life easier on Wentz at times. 6 - The Golden Tate trade is already looking questionableThe Eagles gave up a 2019 third-round pick for Tate. In his first game with the Eagles, Tate only played about 20% of Philadelphia’s snaps. He was targeted four times and had two receptions for 19 yards.Tate only has seven more games with the Eagles before he becomes a free agent this offseason. The Eagles may have given up a significant draft pick for a rental who won’t really be able to help the team make the playoffs.7 - Zach Ertz is having hell of a seasonOn a positive note, the Eagles have a great tight end. Zach Ertz finished the game with 14 receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He’s up to 75 receptions for 789 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Where would this unimpressive Eagles offense be without him?8 - Michael Bennett is killing it, tooBennett had a strong game against Dallas. He finished the night with two solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. Bennett now leads the Eagles in sacks this season with 5.5. He’s easily been the team’s best offseason addition.9 - There’s a reason why Jalen Mills wasn’t getting benched I’d like to think I’m neither a Mills hater nor a Mills stan. But I must note that the Eagles’ defense still struggled without everyone’s favorite scapegoat. And it was Mills’ replacement — Rasul Douglas — who was getting toasted in coverage. Now you might see why the coaching staff had Mills ahead of Douglas. It’s not like Douglas is this infallible stud who’s an obvious upgrade on Mills.10 - Maybe the Eagles are playing four dimensional chess? Maybe the Eagles lost on purpose so the Cowboys keep Jason Garrett and Dak Prescott around for the long-term?!Nah. The Eagles needed to win this game. I’m just looking for a silver lining here.11 - Trying to put a disappointing season in perspectiveI feel like I’ve mentioned this before but I find the need to put the Eagles’ struggles in perspective. Winning in the NFL just isn’t easy. There’s a reason why there hasn’t been a repeat winner in the NFC East since 2004. And why there’s only been one repeat Super Bowl winner in the salary cap era. It’s just tough. The Patriots missed the playoffs the year after they won their first Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick era. The Eagles had a bad year in 2005 after having a great season when they went to the Super Bowl in 2004. I’m not saying this means you shouldn’t be upset about the Eagles having a disappointing season. But this idea that they’re blowing a golden opportunity to repeat just isn’t true. Also, just because the Eagles aren’t having a good season in 2018 doesn’t mean their 2017 Super Bowl championship is any less legit. That still very much counts.At the same time, there are very real issues with this franchise moving forward. It’s completely fair to express concerns about such.