It was back in late November that the Philadelphia Eagles found themselves at 10-1 after consecutive wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
At that point, the defending NFC champions looked like legitimate Super Bowl favorites despite narrow wins throughout the first three months or so of the season.
Then, came a home outing against the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game. Philadelphia would go on to lose at home by the score of 42-19, setting into motion a disaster class of stretch that culminated in Sunday’s ugly 27-10 loss to the New York Giants.
Philadelphia headed into the game with an outside shot of earning the NFC East title. Despite losing four of its previous five, a win against the Giants coupled with the Washington Commanders defeating the Dallas Cowboys would have clinched the division.
Instead, the Eagles fell down at halftime by the score of 24-0. Jalen Hurts was terrible (7-of-16 passing, 55 yards, 1 INT) before exiting with a finger injury. Star wide receiver A.J. Brown also left with a knee injury and did not return to action.
Losing with a division title on the line is one thing. Being blown out by a five-win team while seeing two stars go out is another thing. For an Eagles team that has a dark cloud hanging over them right now, the timing of this most-recent loss couldn’t have come at a worst time.
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Philadelphia Eagles up against it heading into the NFL Playoffs
It’s not impossible for a team to simply flip the switch after such a tough stretch of games. However, it is extremely difficult.
Philadelphia now heads into the NFL Playoffs set to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road during NFL Wild Card Weekend.
For a team that had home-field aspirations just a few short weeks ago, this can’t be seen as an ideal scenario. Add in the fact that Tampa Bay has won five of six heading into the playoffs, and that’s magnified further.
The aforementioned Jalen Hurts just has not been good during this six-game span, throwing five touchdowns while turning the ball over six times.
Philadelphia’s defense has been a disaster class, too. It headed into NFL Week 18 having yielded 34 passing touchdowns compared to nine interceptions.
Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito combined to complete 25-of-34 passes for 306 yards in Sunday’s game. With these two backup-caliber signal callers looking like elite playmakers, it does not bode well heading into next week’s game against Baker Mayfield. The potential NFL Comeback Player of the Year has accounted for 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions over the past five games. He’s been brilliant as of late.
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“I don’t think we were committed enough,” Jalen Hurts said after that loss to Seattle. “Been talking about execution all year,” Hurts saic. “Getting on the same page, everyone being on the same page. We didn’t execute. I don’t think we all were committed enough. You know, just got to turn it around. You know, it’s a challenge that we have to embrace. Just continue to see it through.”
I guess we’ll find out just how committed this team is after Sunday’s ugly loss to the Giants and heading into the NFL Playoffs.
Confidence can’t be sky high at this point. That’s for sure.