Anyone else still dealing with the hangover of that disappointing Eagles loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Wild-Card game Sunday?
Yeah, I know the feeling.
Not making it any easier is the way it went down - or rather the way Carson Wentz went down. The Eagles QB - making his first playoff appearance after failing to finish the season in his first two campaigns - was forced from the game when he was speared in the back of the head with a helmet-to-helmet hit from Seahawks' defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. After the hit failed to draw a penalty and was almost totally ignored by the NBC broadcast crew, the NFL announced yesterday it would review the play.
It won't make the outcome any easier to swallow.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and GM Howie Roseman will meet the media later this morning to offer their thoughts on the season and the future.
I have a question for both of them.
The first actually could be answered by both.
In all the non-stop talk about Wentz and the hit by Clowney, one thing has flown - at least to me - conspicuously under the radar.
Maybe I'm old school, but was anyone else surprised that the hit on their leader, their quarterback, did not draw an immediate reaction from any of his teammates.
Maybe it was because he got up and actually stayed in the game for a couple of plays.
But there was a time - not that long ago - when the unwritten code of the game would have demanded someone on the Eagles immediately confront Clowney and let him know in no uncertain terms that such a hit was unacceptable.
If it drew a penalty, so be it. Delivering the message was that important. Instead, the message was that the Birds were OK with such a blatant cheap shot on their QB.
Why do you think for all those years that Bobby Clarke, certainly one of the chippiest and biggest agitators in the NHL, was for the most part off-limits to big hits. Because opponents knew that if he was targeted, three guys would be coming over the boards to get at him.
What I am hoping is that this was just a moment lost in the heat of the game. There really was no stoppage of play. I certainly hope this is not any lingering feelings on the part of his teammates when it comes to Wentz, who dealt with all this in the offseason.
Wentz put the team on his back and carried them to four straight wins, the NFC East crown and a home playoff game.
He deserved more reaction from his teammates than he got.
For Howie Roseman, my question is simple.
Actually, it's not even a question, it's a name.
D.K. Metcalf.
In two games this year - one in the regular season and one in the playoffs - the Seahawks wide receiver has burned the Birds. On Sunday he racked up 160 yards on 7 catches, including a crucial 53-yard TD.
Why is he so important? Metcalf was taken with Pick No. 64 in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
That would be 7 picks after the Eagles took wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside at No. 57.
How does that happen.
OK, I'm done.
When does training camp start.
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