Weird things happen to the Eagles in the desert.
Things like Chip Kelly deciding to have Nick Foles throw the ball 62 times.
Things like Nate Allen for some unknown reason biting on a pass and allowing rookie John Brown slip behind him for a stunning 75-yard touchdown pass when it seemed like the Eagles were cruising toward a win.
Things like Kelly not challenging what looked to be a possible first down with the Eagles at the Cardinals' goal line, instead meekly opting for a field goal that allowed the Cardinals to win the game with a TD of their own.
Things like a crew of referees who insisted on hijacking the game in the first half, calling everything, then somehow missing a couple of key calls later in the game.
The Eagles have one of these games every season, their own special way of torturing die-hard Eagles fans. The Eagles should have won yesterday's game going away, but instead a couple of crucial turnovers took 14 points off the board for the Birds, foreshadowing the inevitable crushing loss.
Nick Foles threw for 411 yards. Normally, that would be a good thing. Not yesterday.
Foles continues to look shaky in the backfield, consistently drifting backward out of the shotgun and throwing balls off his back foot. That allowed him to make a couple of spectacular throws, but also to throw a killer interception when the Eagles looked like they were going to cash in for seven points.
It was the second time the Birds self-immolated near the Arizona goal line. Earlier it was rookie wide receiver Josh Hoff, who coughed up the ball after a good effort.
The Cardinals came into the game as the top-rated defense in the NFL against the run. Kelly obviously believed it. He decided to take the game out of the hands of Shady McCoy and put it in Foles. It didn't work out.
Kelly also will face scrutiny for failing to ask for a review of whether or not Chris Polk picked up a first down at the Cardinals' goal line late in the 4th quarter. Kelly never threw the flag, instead sending out his field goal team. He just hired a guy to do nothing but advise him on whether or not to challenge.
But without question the one image that will haunt Eagles' fans the most from this debacle in the desert is the sight of Nate Allen taking a couple of steps forward, biting on a play as Cards' wideout John Brown streaked by him.
All of it combined to make the Eagles 5-2.
You could make the argument that they should have won both the games that they lost, and that Chip Kelly left more than a little to be desired in both of them.
Then again, they easily could have lost several of the games they won.
In other words, just another Eagles season.
And just another visit to the Arizona desert, where Eagles victories almost always turn out to be little more than a mirage.
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