Eagles Blow It

Wow. 

If any game has ever summed up a season for a team, yesterday was it.

A week after losing a heartbreaker to the New York Giants, this game was a must win. at 5-4, the chance of getting in the playoffs was a long shot. The Eagles needed a win, and there couldnt have been a better set up. 

They were facing the 1-8 Cincinatti Bengals. Worst defense in the league. Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. 

And they blew. 

Right off the bat, it was bad. The Eagles offense went three and out on their first three drives, not getting it until into the second quarter. They totaled -3 yards in the first quarter. While the defense played strong, the offense also managed to give the Bengals the ball on the 1 yard line after a fumble by McNabb. 

The defense was able to pull off a goal line stand, making the score 3-0. This was a big stop by the Eagles defense because after the awful play of the offense and that huge turnover, the stop was able to give the momentum back to the Birds.

On their next drive, the Eagles were able to answer, getting a 42 yard field goal after a 44 yard screen pass to Correll Buckhalter. But that tie would not last long, as 2 drives later, the Bengals finally broke thru, hitting T.J. Housmenzadah for a 26 year touchdown. It was a beautiful throw by Ryan Fitzpatrick. For some reason the Eagles had Joselio Hanson matched up with the Bengals best wide receiver on the play. 

The Eagles offense played bad all day, but down 13-3, McNabb managed to put together a nice drive. He hit Hank Baskett on a short route, who stiff armed a Bengal and shot up the field for a 51 yard gain. On the next play, McNabb found L.J. Smith for a touchdown to pull the Eagles to within 3. 

With 8 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, down 3, and their season on the line, the Eagles offense took the field for the 12th time, needing a field goal. The Eagles slowly moved the ball down the field, but on a key 3rd and 6 play near the Bengals endzone, the Birds came up 1 yard short. They had already converted a 4th down try earlier in the drive, but Reid decided to kick he field goal. 

In the next 20 minutes of football, including overtime, the Eagles managed to get nothing going. Even with the Bengals practically trying to give the game away, the Eagles couldn't take it. They coulnd't convert short yard plays. Rocca all of the sudden forgot how to punt. They had 3 penaltys on the offense in overtime- in 1 series.

What this all adds up to is an embarrising 13-13 tie. This moved the Eagles record to 5-4-1. With the Cowboys winning last night, this dropped them to last place in the division. 

McNabb played his worst game as a pro. He threw 3 interceptions and lost a fumbel. He threw the ball 50 times and completed only 20. He didn't hurry up the offense at all towards the end of the game, leading to a delay of game penalty. For all of the times I defend him on this blog, he lost the game for the Eagles yesterday. 

This game was a picture of what the season for the Eagles has been like. Close, but not close enough. Could have won, but didn't. Played bad, they were still in it. All season, Eagles fans have pointed to close losses by the team, saying they can play with teams like the Giants. But at what point do we just say the Eagles are not a good team? They are talented, but there just not good. They can't win close games, don't make big plays, and can't convert simple plays. Their poorly coached and can't run. 

And watching yesterdays game, it was hard to tell who was 5-4 and who was 1-8.