Welcome to the NFL, Eagles fans.
You didn’t really expect the Birds to run the board did you? After winning nine in a row, the Eagles came back to earth a bit Sunday night in Seattle.
You got the feeling this was not the Eagles night in the first half when Carson Wentz missed a wide open Nelson Agholor - with nothing but open space ahead of him. But Went did what he does on occasion, sailing the pass way over Agholor’s head.
Down 10-3 at the half, Wentz and the Birds seemed ready to make one of the patented second-half storms, taking the second-half kickoff and promptly marching methodically down the field.
Then, once again, all those breaks that have been going their way for the past nine weeks, instead came up snake eyes again. A scrambling Wentz looked ready to plunge into the end zone, but coughed the ball up just before crossing the goal line. The ball bounced through the end zone, resulting in a touchback and the ball going over to Seattle. Instead of a tie game, the Birds got a reality check.
Russell Wilson did what he does, improvising enough to lead Seattle to a 24-10 win.
It’s just one game, but take a glance in the rear-view mirror. Despite their 10-1 start, the Eagles have not run away from the rest of the NFL, even if they did blow away the NFC East. Minnesota, New Orleans and Atlanta are now in hot pursuit.
The Eagles are not even guaranteed a bye in the playoffs at this point.
All of which makes this week even more important.
The Eagles are not coming back to the East Coast. They will stay on the Left Coast and practice all week in L.A. and get ready to tangle with the Rams next Sunday.
We’ll have Eagles beat writer Bob Grotz in L.A. all week to report on the Birds’ preparations.
The loss last night isn’t a big deal. A second straight loss this week to Jared Goff and L.A. would be a problem.
Stay tuned.
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