Yes, the Eagles were dreadful. Clueless vs. Seattle, the teaser I used on Page One this morning, does not begin to describe it.
Carson Wentz continues to regress. If he thought last week was bad on talk radio, he'll need earmuffs this week.
Doug Pederson wasn't a lot better. His play-calling lacked imagination at a time when his struggling QB direly needed help from his coach. None was forthcoming. It was so bad the Seahawks said after the game they knew exactly what plays the Eagles were running and were actually calling them out at the line of scrimmage.
Yes, it was all that and more. Or less, as the case may be.
And this morning, incredulously, the Eagles likely are closer to the playoffs than they were at this time yesterday.
The Patriots, who beat the Birds last week at the Linc, did us a favor and knocked off the Cowboys. That means the Eagles continue to control their own destiny. They have five games left against four dreadful teams and the Cowboys.
It is not a reach to think that they could run the table, win the division, and snag a playoffs spot.
I just wouldn't put the mortgage check on it.
That's in part because of the play of Wentz, who simply continues to regress. He's never been especially accurate, but yesterday he missed a couple of throws that almost defy belief, including a wide-open Miles Sanders a few yards away in the flat that could have resulted in a touchdown.
He continues to be a turnover machine. He holds the ball too long, fails to sense the pressure, then coughs it up when he gets hit.
The key to Wentz? Watch his feet. His footwork is terrible. He's throwing off balance or off his back foot. That tells me there is a coaching problem here.
Yes, he doesn't have much in the way of weapons. His wide receivers are useless. The entire right side of the offensive line was a disaster yesterday, after rookie tackle Andre Dillard proved he can't simply flip to the other side and right guard Brandon Brooks had a reoccurrence of his anxiety issues that forced him out of the game.
Doesn't matter. The Eagles needed Carson Wentz to put the team on his back and deliver. He failed.
So why isn't any of that the one thing that really stuck in my craw yesterday?
That's easy. Something the defense did kind of defies description.
Yes, they were outstanding yesterday, again shutting down a very good quarterback in Russell Wilson and giving the offense every chance to win the game.
But in the second half they managed to come up with a turnover. It was at this point, down 17-3, that the members of the defense decided to run into the end zone and hold one of their impromptu celebrations.
Again, while they were trailing, 17-3.
Yeah, a lot has changed in sports.
This hasn't. It was embarrassing.
Almost as embarrassing as the play of the Wentz and the Eagles offense.
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