Thoughts and Observations from Eagles Loss to Washington

LANDOVER, Md. – Some thoughts and observations to an ugly 27-17 loss in the Eagles season opener against Washington… The biggest takeaway was Carson Wentz and

LANDOVER, Md. – Some thoughts and observations to an ugly 27-17 loss in the Eagles season opener against Washington…

The biggest takeaway was Carson Wentz and how he looked so good early, going 14-for-18 then really hit a rut, going 0-for-6 with two interceptions. He finished 24-for-42 with 270 yards, two picks, two touchdowns, two fumbles, one of which he lost.

“Kind of a tale of two halves, really,” said Wentz. “I gotta be better … I gotta clean up the interceptions. I put our defense in a bad spot on a couple of occasions. We definitely lost the momentum and we didn’t make the plays we needed to make. I gotta be better. It starts with me. I gotta protect the ball and lead these guys better.”

• There was a report that tight end Zach Ertz and GM Howie Roseman had a somewhat heated, on-field exchange last week after Ertz said to reporters that he didn't believe the organization felt the same way about him as he did about wanting to be in Philadelphia for the long term.

Ertz said that he let contract stuff enter his mind a couple of times during camp, so it makes one wonder if the fourth-down drop near midfield, with the Eagles trying to scramble back from a 24-17 deficit at the time with just under five minutes to play had anything to do with that.

"Even though, obviously, Zach’s frustrated about (the contract stuff), he’s being a great teammate and he’s not letting t affect his ability to play, his ability to be a leader," said center Jason Kelce. "Zach’s a tremendous teammate. He shows up every day ready to work. It’s in his best interest to go out three and play as well as he can. I think he knows that, regardless, with what happens with the team and his agent and everything like that. I hope they can work something out because I think he deserves it.

"He’s been outstanding in the building, outstanding today, I don’t think he’s let it affect him too much."

Ertz ended with three catches for 18 yards on seven targets and a five-yard TD catch that got the scoring started. 

• There’s always a tendency to overreact when the Eagles win or when they lose.

So, some perspective. They were without some key components, including running back Miles Sanders and right tackle Lane Johnson.

No excuses, though. This was still an ugly loss.

I think at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to this is Week 1, no excuses at all,” said safety Jalen Mills, who had five tackles. “We watch film and we gotta be critical of ourselves. Learn from the mistakes and don’t make the same mistakes twice.”

• Head coach Doug Pederson looked like he was hesitant to run the ball without Sanders and put it all on Wentz’s shoulders. The QB threw the ball 42 times but dropped back pass 50 times since he was sacked right times.

Yes, the OL was patchwork, but to just hand the ball off 17 times wasn’t enough. Something had to be done to blunt the heat Washington was dialing up on Wentz.

“This (Washington) is obviously a big front,” said Pederson. “In the way, we started the game with the tempo we felt comfortable there And we didn’t do our best in the run game. The scenario that we’ve got to clean up obviously and make the necessary corrections.

“But listen, I don’t necessarily in-game know if we’re going for throwing or running. I just know that we’re going to execute the play called and do our best to score.”

• Rookie first-round pick Jalen Reagor has some things he needs to work on, for sure. His lone highlight of the day was a 55-yard reception on third-and-22 that set up a 38-yard Jake Elliott field goal and opened up a 10-0 lead. But Reagor muffed a punt that an alert Craig James fell on and Reagor didn’t do anything else in the pass game.

• Some stats:

Nate Gerry led the Eagles in tackles with 10...

The Eagles had three sacks, a paltry number compared to Washington, but Josh Sweat had one with half-sacks notched by Duke Riley, Vinny Curry, T.Y. McGill, and Genard Avery...

Injuries struck pretty hard during the game, with Vinny Cury leaving with a hamstring injury, Brandon Graham undergoing evaluation for a head injury and never returning, and RT Jack Driscoll limping off and not coming back. All three happened in the second half.

• When the Eagles went up 17-0, the thought that the Eagles trailed Washington 17-0 in last year’s opener before roaring back to win crossed my mind. It was actually a motivational tool used by Washington QB Dwayne Haskins at halftime when the WFT trailed 17-7.

“We were up, we thought we had them,” said Haskins on what he said, if anything in the locker room to his teammates at this year’s halftime. “They came back in the second half and demolished us. So, pretty much the moral of the speech was: ‘We’re home. We’re the home team. They’re the visitors. There’s no reason why we should be feeling like we should be the little bro to them.’”

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