By Michael Heilman
It wasn’t pretty, but the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chicago Bears 22-19 Sunday afternoon to improve their record to 5-4 heading into the bye week. While a win is a win, this team must make changes if they have any chance of making the playoffs.
First, there was a bright spot in the Eagles win, and that was rookie left tackle Andre Dillard. It’s not easy covering a guy like Khalil Mack. Dillard did a respectable job covering him and prevented Mack from getting to Wentz. That’s a good thing, and the Eagles should permanently have Dillard play at left tackle, he is the future, and it’s time to let him grow. Jason Peters has done great things over the years, but he is consistently injured as he’s gotten older, and the Eagles should make him a backup until the season is over.
Second, another bright spot for the last couple of weeks has been the running game. This is the team’s strength with Jordan Howard and rookie Myles Sanders leading the way. Howard and Sanders are averaging 4.4 yards rushing attempts. I would love to see Howard resign with the Eagles once the season is over. He is only 25 years old and should be a focal point in the offense. The Eagles need to continue using Howard and Sanders in the long run and get Boston Scott involved as well. While the Eagles have gone to Darren Sproles, he is another guy as of now should only focus on special teams. Sproles hasn’t had a productive season since 2016. Like Peters, the Eagles should let go Sproles after the season.
Third, probably the weakest part of the Eagles offense is the receivers. This receiving core is talented, but for some reason, they haven’t been able to produce the way they are capable of playing. Outside of a few players like Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, and Alshon Jeffery. The rest of the group has not done much. Sure, Jeffery had a bad game, but you can’t keep relying on him to save the team. Nelson Agholor is not a No.2 receiver. He is too inconsistent and can’t be relied on unless he is a slot receiver. During the Eagles Super Bowl run a couple of years ago, Agholor was at his best when he was a slot receiver behind Jeffery and Torrey Smith. They have other weapons, and they need to start using them. Insert Mack Hollins or JJ Arcega-Whiteside into the No. 2 slot and move Agholor back to the slot. DeSean Jackson isn’t the player he once was; you can’t rely on a 32-year-old to be a deep threat. Since 2015, Jackson has not been able to stay healthy. The Eagles have other weapons just sitting there, use them.
Fourth, I won’t spend too much time on this, and that is the Eagles defense. Their defense is at most fifty-fifty. Their front line is still good, led by Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox. Their linebackers need changing, though. I would love to see the Eagles insert Alex Singleton as a starter. For those who don’t know who Singleton is, he was a key contributor in the Calgary Stampeders winning the Grey Cup in 2018. During his three-year CFL career all with the Calgary Stampeders, Singleton had three hundred and eleven tackles, four sacks, one interception, and six forced fumbles. Singleton is a locker room leader, and the Eagles should use his presents out on the field.
As for the secondary, well, this is what the Eagles have, and there is not much you can do except hope that the key players Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby stay healthy the rest of the way. Howie Roseman has done a great job over the years drafting offensive players but not so great for defensive players. That’s why the Eagles had a hard time trying to acquire a secondary player last week because this team has trouble drafting defensive players, primarily for the secondary. The Eagles must address the secondary in the offseason.
In closing, I believe a majority of the Eagles coaches don’t know the players; they have in front of them. If you look at the other teams like the Patriots, Seahawks, Chiefs, etc., they know a player’s strengths and weaknesses. They have players that you never heard of unless you’ve watched college football to see that player’s capabilities. It’s essential for coaches to know the players they have. Otherwise, if they move on from them, they could come back to bite them.
Just making some of these changes could help the Eagles possibly make the playoffs. The next moves the Eagles desperately need to make in the offseason is getting a new Offensive and Defensive Coordinators. If you want to recapture the magic the Eagles had a couple of years, you need to find the right coaches to do this. What they have now is not the answer. One wants to be a head coach somewhere and the other, who knows. Instead, I would love to see Duce Staley become offensive coordinator and get Dan Quinn as a defensive coordinator next year.
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