I was at the Linc for the Eagles' disappointing loss to the Lions. Yes, the refs screwed the Birds, but Philly also played sloppy football. They dropped at least 7 passes and special teams gave up a 101-yard kickoff return for a Detroit touchdown.
It was a beautiful morning in South Philly but the afternoon heated up and by the end of the game it turned muggy. The Lions won the coin toss and deferred til the second half. The Eagles got the ball first and looked for a rare fast start.
The Birds did drive the ball down field and scored an early field goal but not getting an opening TD seemed a bit deflating, even for the crowd.
That is when the Lions took the following kickoff back for a very rare run back TD. To the Eagles' credit, they stormed right back and scored, making it 10-7. Like a heavyweight fight, Detroit struck back with a touchdown. QB Matthew Stafford played well. Stafford is never mentioned among the great quarterbacks in the NFL but he is a solid, veteran signal-caller.
The Birds lost the turnover battle in the first half, highlighted by a Sanders' fumble around midfield. This fame the Lions a short field and they went into halftime with a 20-10 lead. The Eagles headed to the locker room amid a chorus of well-deserved boos.
It seemed like the Eagles were trying to play catch-up the entire afternoon, and never did catch Detroit.
An obvious penalty not called was on a kickoff when Sanders had his helmet ripped off by a Lion, with no call.
Coach Doug Pederson drew boos when, with slightly over 2 minutes left in the game and Philadelphia behind by 3 points, Pederson went for it on 4t down and 8 from the Eagles' own 22-yard line. Pederson had all of his 3 timeouts left, plus the two-minute warning. Instead of trusting his defense Pederson took one last gasp with the offense.
Lucky for Pederson, he was bailed out when the Lions failed to get any points. A field goal try by excellent kicker Matt Prater was blocked by Malcom Jenkins. Instead of a nice return by Rasul Douglas to near the Detroit 20-yard line, Jemkins committed an illegal block ( which had no consequences on the play).
I really thought, with time running down, the birds would win. They had the momentum and the field possession. But the offense didn't even get a first down, as 4 and out they went, leaving the Lions with a grueling 27-24 win.
Is Detroit this good at 2-0-1, or did the Eagles again play down to their competition? The Eagles fall to 1-2, with a dreadful Thursday Night game on tap vs undefeated Green Bay at Lambough Field. After a quick home game with the hapless Jets, the Eagles play 3 straight on the road. Games at Minnesota, Dallas and Buffalo wrap up the trip.
I'll have my Eagles-Packers pick Thursday morning. All I know is that the Birds are In trouble. You don't want to start the year behind the Cowboys, who are 3-0 while playing a trio of donkeys in the Giants, Redskins and Dolphins.
With WRs DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery not likely to play again this week. the Birds will hope to get off to the crisper start against Aaron Rodgers and the Pack.
They will get healthy and play again soon, but I'm wondering how if the Birds can hang in there til then.
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The Phillies are on life-support.They have 8 games left in the 2019 baseball season while in back of the second wild card by 6 games. Not only are the Phils running out of time, they have at least four teams to climb over.
The Phillies got scalped last night in Cleveland, losing 10-1 to the surging Indians. They lost 2 of 3 over the weekend. Bryce Harper now has 33 home runs and has a shot to go over his predicted home run total before the season started.
They open a 5 game series with the Nationals tonight in Washington, their final road series of the season.
Next Monday will be the first day after the 2019 season ends, and that could be a day when Manager Gabe Kapler loses his job. The real question is..will GM Matt Klentek get his pink slip as well?
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