PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — So much for getting healthy after the bye week.
Despite getting several injured players back in the lineup after a week off, the same mistakes which were sprinkled throughout the first half of the season led to a frustrating defeat in North Jersey. The Eagles fell to the Giants, 27-17, in a game in which New York never trailed.
It was once again a team effort as a combination of mistakes on both sides of the ball proved to be the difference. The defense gave up too many big plays while the offense was inconsistent throughout the afternoon. Coach Doug Pederson could not explain his team's lack of execution even with an extra week to rest and prepare for the Giants.
"I felt like the guys were ready to go," said Pederson. "I'm obviously disappointed, and it's on me, that we played the way we did today. I felt the energy was good. We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. That's the bottom line."
The Eagles offense continued to frustrate fans with another up and down performance. Miles Sanders returned to give the backfield a boost, but the Eagles went 0-for-9 on third down conversions as they struggled to stay on the field.
"I think we were beating ourselves," Sanders said. "I don't there was anything the Giants did necessarily that was spectacular. They did play a hell of a game, but we're beating ourselves up and we're losing games like that."
The Eagles were fortunate to win against the Giants in their first meeting, but their mistakes caught up to them in this rematch. The loss was a missed opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Giants as well as the rest of the NFC East. Safety Jalen Mills and his teammates were left with a feeling of frustration as they try to figure out what went wrong.
"We're pissed off," said Mills. "We put the work in throughout the week. It should reflect. That's how sports works, that's how football works. You practice how you play. We haven't put it all together."
At 3-5-1, the Eagles incredibly still lead the NFC East. However, the next five games are all against teams outside of the division with a winning record beginning with a contest in Cleveland against the 6-3 Browns. For Carson Wentz and company, they will have to find a way to clean up their mistakes or even winning the weak NFC East might be too difficult for this flawed version of the Eagles.
"It is frustrating to be where we're at," Wentz said. "At the same time, we've got no choice. We've got no choice but to bounce back. We've got another good football team ahead of us next week. We're going to learn from this one. We're frustrated, but we're going to learn from it and come out and attack next week."
