Playing it Safe Leaves Eagles in an Even Deeper Hole
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles didn’t lose on Sunday but by playing it safe Doug Pederson might have lost the Eagles.
Last week Jim Schwartz fell on his shield after his defense played poorly against the Los Angeles Rams but his sentiment resonated with his players and they responded by providing a more representative performance during a 23-23 tie against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The talent of the opposition probably had more to do with the better play but don’t dismiss what a pat on the back can do.
Optimism always beats pessimism and Pederson himself had a chance to lift the spirits of a downtrodden team on a couple of occasions against the Bengals.
The best time to strike was actually at the end of regulation when Carson Wentz, despite another uneven performance, willed Philadelphia, which lost Dallas Goedert and DeSean Jackson in-game, into the end zone with 21 seconds left.
The score was 23-22 pending Jake Elliott’s PAT attempt or Pederson could have ended it right there by calling the best two-point play he had in his game plan and sent Cincinnati on its way. As a team used to losing and reeling from the late-game score, it was the right move against the Bengals, something only magnified by the loss of two of the Eagles' biggest offensive playmakers.
Even a failure plays better to Pederson's team at that point because it emphasizes the belief in them to get things done at the biggest moment.
But it was also a decision that needed to be based on feel. After all, the home team that has more talent and 70,000 or so screaming lunatics on hand typically just goes to overtime to finish things.
But this is 2020 in a Blue City which means no fans and a wait-for-the-next-shoe-to-drop mindset.
“Big B@#$@ Doug,” who became a star in this profession by always putting his foot on the gas and named his own book "Fearless," decided to play it safe against one of the worst teams in football because it was the prudent thing to do.
This wasn’t skydiving or hitting 150 on the Autobahn, this was buying more insurance than needed.
“I did consider it, but I also felt like the way our offense was playing, you know, down the stretch — battled to get ourselves back in position —, Carson in overtime, I felt comfortable there to just kick the extra point and then put it back in our offense’s hands at that time,” Pederson said after the game. “So, just elected to kick the extra point.”
By the time the coach called for Cameron Johnston in overtime, Pederson had signaled to all three units that he had no confidence in them.
The offense was alerted he thought Cincinnati had a better chance to gain 12 yards in the last 20 seconds than they did. Jake Elliott was told 59 yards was OK but 64 wasn’t, and the defense has to go to sleep tonight understanding the assumption was there that they couldn’t stiffen if they had to.
Three strikes and you're out.
Belief is a powerful thing. Reservation wields just as much power in the opposite direction.
"Obviously in those situations, you hopefully do what's right for the football team," Pederson said. "That's probably a decision I'll look back on tomorrow and say we could have done something else. It is what it is.
"We'll learn from it. I'll learn from it."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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