Not too much to say about this pitiful loss. This was a game Philly probably deserved to win but the combination of a series of awful decisions and executions in the red zone and a total collapse of the pass defense leaves this team at 1-1. To me, this game will go down as the Red Zone Game for the following reasons:
On third and four from the Falcon's nine, Jalen rolls left on a pass play and has a real shot at running for the first down. Instead, he holds the ball, takes an incompletion and sets up what should have been a chip shot Jake Elliott field goal...
...but as you know, Sirianni inexplicably takes a shot on 4th down (???). Converting a fourth-and-four is about a 46% shot historically, and of course you then have to score (no guarantee). I normally applaud the fourth down aggression, but if you have less than a coin flip of getting your conversion (again, this wasn't fourth and inches, it was fourth and four), take your automatic three points. Speaking of...
...Philly had to settle for a FG in the fourth quarter after DeVonta Smith drops a touchdown.
Third and three with the game on the line, the Eagles do what we all feared they would and threw the ball needlessly. Atlanta had all but totally failed to stop the run on that drive and you only needed three yards. Even a failure drains 40 vital seconds off the clock. You know what happened; the play actually worked but Barkley drops the ball.
Correct two or three of those plays (most of which were coaching goofs) and this is an Eagles win. Much will be made of the defensive struggles (understandably so), but frankly the defense wasn't awful on the whole before that final drive. That scenario gave me flashbacks to the Seattle game last week.
I'd like to try to give Jalen some props, but that game-ending pick really soured the moment. Up till then he had a remarkable game, as both a runner and thrower. Still, the opportunity to get that win (in spite of all mentioned above) was right there and that pick blew it.
I also have to give Atlanta some credit; they played much better than I initially thought they would, especially on defense. I'm still pessimistic about their chances to make a playoff run, but we need to look to our own side now: our inconsistent defense gets an unexpected test against the surprising Saints in New Orleans in less than six days.
I don't really believe this result changes the seasonlong trajectory of the team, unless of course things get toxic in the locker room again. It'll be on the coaches and the leadership to make sure that doesn't happen.
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