Loss To Redskins Pushes Eagles To Brink Of Elimination

Well, it doesn't look like the Eagles' season will go any further past next week's game against the Giants.  While there is a small sliver of hope if the Eagles win next week and the Cowboys lose out, the odds are that the Eagles will be the odd man out come playoff time this year.  The Eagles desperately needed a win against the 3-11 Redskins, but failed to do so, losing their 3rd consecutive game in a row by a score of 27-24 in overtime.  

After defeating the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day and moving to 9-3 on the season, the Eagles have pretty much self destructed and are now sitting at 9-6 on the year.  With 5 teams in the NFC having at least 10 wins already, the Eagles really needed to win both of their final two games in order to even make the playoffs.   In three weeks, they went from being in the driver's seat for a possible first round bye, to having a slim to none chance at even making the playoffs.

Obviously using a backup quarterback for more than six weeks doesn't help, but there were a few other problems that helped the Eagles dig themselves an early grave.  After a 2013 season where there were virtually no injuries on the offensive line, the Eagles saw both Mathis and Kelce miss extended time.  The inexperience on the backups on the line showed and manifested itself into a couple of losses early on.  

LeSean McCoy, after an amazing 2013 season, struggled out of the gate in 2014.  He has over 1100 yards on the season, but there were quite a few games in which he just didn't even show up.  The offensive line issues affected Shady as well, but in their current 3 game losing streak, McCoy didn't have a single game of any more than 88 yards rushing.  

But possibly the biggest issue for the Eagles was the shaky secondary.  There was not a single player Kelly could rely upon out there, as cornerbacks and safeties were constantly getting burned all season long.  That has to be the first fix for the Birds this offseason.

There is still a small chance the Cowboys lose their last two games and the Eagles make the playoffs, but the odds are that the last game of the season will be next week.

By: Dan Goggin
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