 Sam Bradford avoided taking a safety here against Arizona on Sunday night, but he couldn't lead the Eagles to victory or even a solid effort. It’s kinda embarrassing. Or sad. As the ship submerges further into the drink, the deckhands, inmates and media members on board, forever attached to fulfilling the journey, continue to rationalize against reality, spin-doctoring futures both near and far as offering much better results, if not a safe docking spot. Hey, whatever works, right? … Unfortunately, nothing does. Twist that pretzel logic as much as you like. It still doesn’t change the fact that the Eagles, the 2015 edition of your favorite professional football team, just ain’t that good … and that isn’t going to change any time soon. Indeed, after another undressing before a national television by the Eagles, it’s high time the masses heeded some “Avast, ye mateys” advice … and just stop. If only as a matter of self-preservation. Or as a way to maintain some sanity. Here is life as it is, following Sunday night’s 40-17 loss to Arizona, without looking using midnight green-colored glasses:
The sad thing is, while Philly seems to rejoice, if not revel, in the fact that Foles has been benched by the Rams, using that in large part to fuel the façade that the Eagles got the better of that trade, the cold, hard facts of things are that they put their offense in the hands of a guy who is a lesser performer than 27 others running their respective shows. Make no mistake, he is not better than any of them. Not just the obvious ones such as Tom Brady and Drew Brees, but the not-so-obvious ones as Blake Bortles, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kirk Cousins. Yeah, that’s right, Kirk Cousins. Ain’t even close. Sorry, reality says so, not just in the fact he has led Washington to the top of the pathetic NFC East, but because he’s flat-out better. Better numbers, better athlete, better “You like that?!! You like that” attitude. Heck, rookies Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston have zoomed past him, and, right now, Matt Hasselbeck and his AARP card, really, resonate here as a step up. Bradford is, much like Kelly’s Eagles in general, half-hearted fool’s gold. People, deep down, know he’s not that good. But they want to believe so damn bad that something special resides within him, and is just waiting to come out, that they cling to false hope that yields nothing more than bluster, empty promises and, all too often, bloated contracts. The prevailing wisdom that floated out of Sunday night’s dreadful loss to the Cardinals was that Slingin’ Sammy didn’t play that bad. That he didn’t get any help. That he was island unto himself of “OK, if not good.” Oh, really? It’s amazing how a guy who coughed up the ball three times, twice on interceptions (marking his fifth multi-INT game of the season) and once on a fumble, and failed to ignite any fire in his team before falling behind 37-10 can be seen in such a way. It was then that Bradford connected with Jordan Matthews for a 73-yard TD. It was then that Bradford fluffed up his already meaningless yardage total. No, he’s not the reason the Eagles dropped this latest one to Arizona. But he’s not going to be the reason why they ever rank among the elite, either. That, among the many negatives, is reality. Sorry. - Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com | WHADDUP, CHIP?Insane. Of all the stupid things that Chip Kelly has done since arriving in Philly, almost without fail falling prey to his own arrogance, stubbornness and one-trick-ponyness, you’d think fans in town would really pounce on the guy when he actually blundered. But, no, we’re gonna kill him for deciding to use his best (and biggest and fastest) running back on a fourth-and-1 play at the Arizona 8 that failed miserably in the waning moments of the first half Sunday night. Yeah, makes perfect sense. Ughhhh … There were several things in the 40-17 loss to the NFC West-leading Cardinals that could have been picked apart as coaching ineptness. The incessant play calls on third down, for starters, that had quarterback Sam Bradford throwing the ball short of the sticks comes to mind. The overuse of Nelson Augholor whose 57 snaps netted an incomplete pass and a 5-yard penalty for the rookie wideout. There are many others. You could rip the play call on that fourth-and-1, or that Kelly either doesn’t allow Bradford to audible into different plays when one clearly is doomed or that he’s entrusted his faith in a signal-caller who doesn’t recognize when a play is doomed if an audible isn’t called. You could rip the idea of even going for it there at all. Thing is, the Eagles were only trailing 17-10 at the time, could have attempted a chip-shot field goal and been looking at taking the lead early in the third quarter since they were getting the ball to start the second half. But, no, we’re focused on the personnel used on that fourth-and-1, specifically with Kelly opting for Ryan Mathews instead of the overpaid, unhappy, eminently bench-worthy DeMarco Murray. All because NBC’s broadcast posted a graphic that showed Murray is 12-for-12 on fourth-down runs, and analyst Cris Collinsworth’s harping about that coincided so conveniently. The real beauty of it was C2 pitching it as if those dozen runs all came with the Eagles. This season. Umm, yeah. Not quite. Murray is 12-for-12 in his career. He’s 1-for-1 with the Birds this season, his first in town, which isn’t exactly overwhelming evidence to use him right there. Otherwise, he’s been brutal. Mathews, clearly, has been the better player, and he also was the guy who had been toting the rock the whole time for the home team leading up to that play. Murray hadn’t even stepped between the lines once the whistle blew to start the game. Kelly made the right call on which back to use. He may have made plenty of other mistakes throughout the game, but that wasn’t one of them. Hey, got no issue with ripping Chipster. But let’s have a little merit to the verbal mauling. |
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