The Eagles have played six games and only won one of them.
That is a painful reality after the Eagles' 30-28 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, dropping their record to 1-4-1 on the year. For the second straight week the Eagles fought back after falling behind early, and almost pulled off the comeback, but couldn't get the job done.
There will be plenty to talk about from this one, but here are some of my initial thoughts on each position from the game:
Quarterbacks
*** When assessing how Carson Wentz played it has to be mentioned that he was playing without four of his starting offensive linemen, both of his starting wide receivers, one of this (basically) starting tight ends and lost Miles Sanders in the third quarter — while going against the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
*** Give Wentz credit — he is definitely a tough player. Wentz took hits throughout the game, saw passes dropped, saw teammate-after-teammate go to the medical tent, but he stayed tough in the pocket and kept fighting. Even when the game seemed over, Wentz carried an offense that was compromised of mostly all backups into the end zone on a 11-play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter to pull the Eagles to within eight, 30-22. Wentz then took the offense on a
*** Wentz missed tight end Zach Ertz on 2nd-and-six midway through the first quarter, a continuation of him being unable to deliver accurate passes to Ertz this season. Ertz was wide open for the first down, but Wentz put it too far ahead of him — and the pass looked late as well. Ertz and Wentz failed to connect again in the third quarter when Ertz was open along the sideline on 2nd-and-six. The ball was behind Ertz, but it hit his hands and probably should have been caught. The duo just can't seem to get on the same page this year.
*** Wentz fumbled the ball towards the end of the second quarter, giving the Ravens the ball on the Eagles' 30-yard line. The play to knock the ball out of Wentz's hands at the end of a run was a great one by DeShon Elliott, but it was yet another example of Wentz's turnovers — which he has 11 of this season now — putting the defense in a tough spot.
*** Jalen Hurts gave the offense some life midway through the second quarter. He took his first carry up the middle for a 20-yard gain, then took his next carry three-yards, but made multiple defenders miss on the play. The Eagles' offense didn't have a first down until Hurts entered the game — they got three on the first drive he was on the field. In the first half, with Hurts on the field, the Eagles' offense averaged 8.5 yards-per-play on four plays. They averaged 2.5 on the plays he wasn't on the field. In the third quarter, Hurts was on the field for Sanders' 74-yard run. He didn't see the field after that, an odd decision from the coaching staff.
Running Backs
*** Miles Sanders dropped a touchdown in the end zone towards the end of the second quarter. It wasn't an easy catch, as he had to turn around twice to find it, but the ball hit him in the hands. Sanders wants to be considered an elite running back. It was a catch an elite running back would have made.
*** Sanders had a 74-yard run at the start of the third quarter, but fumbled it at the end right near the end zone. Luckily for Sanders, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside recovered it. Sunday was very much an up-and-down day for Sanders. His 74-yard run resulted in the first Eagles' points of the day, but his dropped touchdown pass was a killer.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
*** John Hightower dropped a 50-plus yard gain on the third snap of the game, letting a huge play slip right through his hands on 3rd-and-23. The pass was perfect. Hightower was wide open. He just dropped it. Hightower made up for it in the third quarter when he pulled in an equally-wide open pass down the field for 50 yards.
*** J.J. Arcega-Whiteside scored his first touchdown of the season just like everyone expected — on a fumble recovery in the end-zone after a 74-yard run by Miles Sanders. Arcega-Whiteside not only made a nice block down the field, but stuck with the play and was there to recover the fumble. The touchdown pulled the Eagles to within 11, 17-6.
*** Practice squad tight end Jason Croom caught his first touchdown in an Eagles' uniform, pulling in a wide-open two-yard touchdown in the fourth-quarter. The touchdown pulled the Eagles to win 10, 24-14.
*** Zach Ertz went into the locker room with what seemed to be an ankle injury with just under eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
*** You can only keep Travis Fulgham out of the end zone for so long. Fulgham pulled in a 18-yard touchdown with just under four minutes to play in the game, pulling the Eagles to within 30-22. Fulgham clearly has the trust of Wentz, who threw the ball to him 11 times on Sunday, the most of any player of the team.
Offensive Line
*** Jamon Brown, the team's starting right guard, really struggled. Brown allowed a sacked on first play of the game, getting beat easy by Calais Campbell. Brown was then called for a false start on 1st-and-10 on the first play of the second drive, hurting the drive before it even got started. Brown nearly brought down Wentz himself at the beginning of the second quarter when he ran into Wentz on 3rd-and-five. Brown struggled throughout the game and will likely have coaches hoping Matt Pryor is ready to play on Thursday night.
*** The play of any of the offensive linemen outside of Brown was not a major issue, but the Ravens did an excellent job getting pressure on Wentz with various blitzes — which is on the line, but also on Wentz and the running backs.
*** The Eagles suffered another injury along the offensive line, with starting right tackle Jack Driscoll going down with just under seven minutes to play in the game. Brett Toth replaced him.
Defensive Line
*** Josh Sweat had a great start to the game. He got in Lamar Jackson's face on 2nd-and-12 on the Raven's second drive of the game, batting down Jackson's pass. Then, on the next play, Sweat drilled Jackson in the pocket, helping to make a 3rd-and-12 attempt incomplete.
** Fletcher Cox made a really nice at the beginning of the second quarter when on 2nd-and-five he got right through the Baltimore offensive line and brought down Gus Edwards for a two-yard loss.
Linebackers
*** It was Alex Singleton was the team's linebacker in dime packages, not Nate Gerry.
*** Davion Taylor got his first snap of the season on 3rd-and-1 from the Eagles' seven-yard line. The Ravens scored a touchdown right up the middle on the play.
Secondary
*** Nickell Robey-Coleman started at outside cornerback with Jalen Mills back to safety, ending his two-week stint back at corner. Was beat on 3rd-and-10 for a Raven's first down on the first series of the game.
*** The secondary held up for the most part throughout the game, as the Ravens didn't do much damage through the passing game.
Doug Pederson
*** Doug Pederson decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Ravens' 20-yard line, with the Eagles down 17-0 and just under one minute to play in the first half. The decision was the right one, even if Wentz was stopped on the quarterback sneak up the middle.
*** Pederson also decided to go for it on 4th-and-five with just over nine minutes to play in the game, his team down 13 points and the ball on the Eagles' 27-yard line. It was the right decision, but like his first fourth-down attempt, the Eagles were unable to convert.
*** Pederson's decision to go for two on the Eagles' first touchdown of the game came back to hurt them, as they were forced to go for two, down 30-28 with under two minutes to play in the game, instead of being able to tie it with a PAT.
*** The Eagles' two-point play to try to tie the game was a disaster. It looked like it was supposed to be a running play to Boston Scott, but the blocking was terrible, and Wentz tried to hold onto the ball. Pederson can't block, but his decision to take the ball out of Wentz's hand on the game-deciding two-point play was not ideal.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
