The season is on the brink

If you believe that it is my primary goal to put a "positive spin" on everything related to the Eagles, then you can certainly appreciate the difficulty of this moment.

The Eagles started the second half of this regular season with a clunker on Sunday night, losing 27-20 against Dallas Cowboys rival Lincoln Financial Field, dropping to 4-5 this year with a road trip to 8-1 at New Orleans .

Worse, it was learned that the starting cornerback, Ronald Darby, had been torn by the ACL and that he would miss the rest of the year 2018. The Eagles will be taxed again in the defensive secondary circuit on Sunday. facing quarterback Drew Brees. Another runner-up, Jalen Mills, may be out for the next two weeks or more due to a foot injury. Brees has a total of 21 ridiculous touchdowns, one interception and a leading league score of 123.8, guiding an attack with an average score of 36.7 points per game.

So, yes, the Eagles are in a deep ditch here. They lost three straight home games, a 180-degree reversal from the last two seasons in which the Eagles had the second-highest winning percentage (.773, 17-5 record) since 2016 before Sunday night game.

While inconsistencies, lack of execution, and sustained momentum have marked the season so far, injuries have ravaged the lineup. What happened last season was extraordinary: the Eagles were able to defeat the wounds of some key players: left tackle Jason Peters, quarterback Carson Wentz, linebacker Jordan Hicks and right-back Darren Sproles, as well as Special Security Team / Chris Maragos. Darby was injured at the ankle and missed half of the season. Placekicker Caleb Sturgis was injured and lost after the first week. The Eagles replaced these players and, of course, won the Super Bowl.

But what happened this year is beyond ridicule. Darby, when he will officially join the injured Reserve, will join attacking back Jay Ajayi, wide receiver Mike Wallace, defenseman Derek Barnett and safety Rodney McLeod, all starters. The starting defensive tackle, Tim Jernigan, has not played since the Super Bowl, although he is getting closer to a comeback. Acting receiver Mack Hollins was to play a role in the pbading game but was dismissed as a result of an injury to the groin. Sproles has not played since the first week because of a thigh injury. Striker Lane Johnson missed the game on Sunday night due to a knee injury. Peters missed shots with a variety of ailments, the most recent being a biceps injury. Offensive midfielder Corey Clement has not been the same since his quad injury. Wentz did not play until the third week and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (rotator cuff) only played in the fourth week.

The list is lengthened increasingly. Injuries are part of the game … and they have had a devastating impact on the Eagles this season.

But there are many other reasons why the Eagles are 4-5, and we've been talking about it all season long because they have been apparent all year and have not been corrected. Slow starts blocked the offense and added extra pressure to the defense. The lack of points to remember in defense was directly at the opposite of the Super Bowl season. Poor games in the red zone, a myriad of self-inflicted injuries and, honestly, mistakes made by the coaches prevented the Eagles from staying on the ground.

Where is the urgency? While head coach Doug Pederson praises the "resilience" of his team, he also said his team has been "a little bit" urgent, and that it just will not win the games football coming soon. The Eagles have to show urgency for 60 minutes of each game, as each week is a "win-win" situation. There are too many things that are not synchronized with this team currently to point to one or two domains. Does the defense play too pbadively? Yes, sometimes, but if you were the coordinator Jim Schwartz and you saw Rasul Douglas and Chandon Sullivan – without disrespect to those two, they are forced replacements to start playing – would you take risks in terms of blanket? Has the offense taken a step back from last year? No question about it, but there is no simple way to fix the attack if it is not to continue working and improve the current game, involving even more the new Golden Tate wide receiver, and hoping than Something click, and hurry.

the positive spin There are seven games left and the NFC East is still there – the Eagles are ahead of Washington by two games, with two games remaining against the Redskins – and the Eagles are going to fight. They will be "resilient", and that's a good thing.

But let's be realistic here too: the Eagles seized a great opportunity on Sunday night to settle in the NFC East to open the second half of the season. The loss was revealing in many ways. How can this team allow Cowboys to take command of Lincoln Financial Field? Where was the fire? Where was the pbadion? L & # 39; emergency?

Pederson, his coaching staff and players will have to tackle these issues to prepare for New Orleans. This football team is in a difficult situation and this is the current situation. The only way to improve the story is to go out and shock the world and defeat the Saints. A big task is therefore to come for a team that has a season in the balance with seven games to play.