Philadelphia Eagles Losing Streak Exposing Problems on Both Sides
The Philadelphia Eagles lost 20-17 to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football extending their losing streak to three games and further degrading the odds they’ll repeat as NFC East Division Champions and compete for a No. 1 Seed in the upcoming playoffs.
With the Dallas Cowboys losing their Week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Eagles had an opportunity to get back in the win column and regain the division lead all in one game.
Instead, the loss keeps Philadelphia in second place and has the team on a collision course toward a spot in the Wild Card round instead of a first-round bye.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Lumen Field.
USA TODAY
Meanwhile, the same San Francisco 49ers that handed the Eagles just their second loss of the year three weeks ago in a 42-19 blowout, are sitting comfortably at No. 1 in the NFC. They seemed to have kicked off the spiral the Eagles currently find themselves in.
Not only did San Francisco start the losing streak it launched a string of three games Philadelphia has failed to score even 20 points.
Being outscored by more than 35 points in the last three games while the Eagles offense continues to struggle getting its championship legs underneath it, the defense has gone through quite the shakeup as well.
After allowing 75 points combined in losses to the 49ers and Cowboys in back-to-back weeks, Philadelphia made the decision to move defensive coordinator Sean Desai up to the coaches booth while senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia called plays from the sideline on Monday.
The result was 20 points surrendered in Week 15 which will come across as an initial improvement, but giving up close to 300 yards of offense and a crushing touchdown to the Seahawks with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, the results are going to weigh heavier than any positives can relieve.
Philadelphia lost both of its coordinators following the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of last season but most considered the internal promotions to be of the same quality. Because of it, the team was considered to be the best in the NFC despite coaching and roster turnover this offseason.
Through 11 games, it wasn’t pretty all the time, but the Eagles still carried the title of best in class. Now, not only has Philadelphia been knocked from that perch, its mired in a losing rut so deep many are starting to question whether this team will even get the chance to defend its conference championship.
It’s not the offense, not the defense, but both sides of the ball being exposed. Without answers as effective as defective as the recent play has been, this may go down as one of the more disappointing endings to an Eagles regular season on record.
