You didn't really think the Eagles were going undefeated, did you?
I didn't.
But then again, I didn't expect them to be 3-0 coming out of the bye and heading into Detroit yesterday.
And seeing as how they had just dominated a very good Pittsburgh Steelers team, I did not expect them to come out flat in Motown.
That's the NFL for you.
Ryan Mathews picked a horrible time to commit the Birds' first turnover of the season. Nursing a 23-21 lead late in the 4th quarter, the Eagles had a chance to run out the clock.
But after taking a pitch from Carson Wentz, Mathews got caught with the ball in the wrong hand going around right end. A Lion put his helmet right on the ball, knocking it loose, with the Lions coming up with it in a pileup at the sideline.
To their credit, the Eagles defense stuffed the Lions' offense and used just a handful of ticks off the clock, forcing Detroit to settle for a field goal.
Carson Wentz got the ball back with about a minute and 30 seconds left in the game. Of course, that's when the standout rookie decided to throw his first interception, a long heave that wideout Nelson Agholor didn't seem to make too much of an effort to catch.
It took the Eagles a half to shake off their Bye Week vacation.
They didn't look like the same team in the first half, especially on defense. Apparently linebacker Nigel Bradham was benched for that gun incident, and the Birds' defense struggled mightily, as Matthew Stafford and the Lions picked them apart on three straight possessions to race out to a 21-10 halftime lead.
There were a lot of curious things about this game, starting with the opening kick. The Eagles won the coin toss, but decided to kick off, a bit odd considering they had to know they were not starting Bradham. The Lions promptly marched right down the field for a go-ahead TD.
Maybe the Birds were offering a salute to Jim Schwartz on his return to the place where he was fired as head coach. If so his players let him down. This was not the same defense that played so well the first three weeks of the season.
Wentz had another good day, but lots of penalties and the lack of a standout wide receiver are going to kill you every time. I think it's safe to say that with three weeks worth of tape to look at the Birds, the Lions made a decision a lot of teams are going to consider in facing Wentz and the Birds. They went with lots of press coverage, daring the Eagles' wide receivers to beat them. You can see the result.
The team did not feature the sharp, well-coached look it had the first three weeks. Communications issues between Wentz and center Jason Kelce in the shotgun led to a couple of delay of game calls. It appeared as if Wentz was furiously clapping for the ball, but Kelce never snapped it. Those are things Doug Pederson's team did not do those first three weeks.
The Eagles has a chance to run their record to 4-0.
That disappeared in their sloppy performance in Motown.
That's too bad. Because this team can not afford to give any games away. The schedule takes a serious turn to the more difficult side now, with the Redskins in D.C. kicking off their NFC East standoffs.
Don't look now, but both the Redskins and Cowboys are red-hot after losing on opening day.
The Eagles gave away a game they should have won yesterday.
We'll remember this one if they come up one game short of the playoffs.
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