Dalton throws 2 TDs as Eagles fall to Bengals 32-14

Quarterback Carson Wentz and head coach Doug Pederson were not on the same page Sunday, following the Philadelphia Eagles’ 32-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Eagles finished with 10 calls against them for 88 yards, making things even easier than they already were for the Bengals.

By the time the Eagles had checked out of the Cincinnati Bengals’ rather bland home field, Wentz had thrown the football 60 times with an assortment of results, majority bad. He also seemed to be the only player who could muster up some pressure on Andy Dalton, leaving Cincinnati with the team’s only hit on the QB.

The Eagles are 5-7 after a 3-0 start in Pederson’s first season as a head coach at any level above high scool.

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year and it’s turned out that way. They’ve regressed since a promising first month. The hope of a win might have been lost well before that, with the Eagles reaching the low point of the season with four games remaining against teams with winning records.

But the past three haven’t been close. Philadelphia is also 0-9 ATS since November 28, 2010 in road games following a home tilt, provided they are favored on the road (check point spread).

It’s rare for coaches of even the worst teams in the National Football League to admit their guys aren’t trying, so it would not be a surprise if there are certain players in particular that Pederson is irritated with. I pride myself each week to make sure the guys are ready to go, but at the same time, it comes down to, it’s a mentality by each individual player. We know it can be corrected and we’ve seen it be corrected, so it’s not time to push the panic button. The running game sputtered to the tune of 2.8 yards per attempt, and and the offense generated a meager 4.5 yards per play. “There are some younger guys on defense”. He didn’t commit a turnover, completed nearly 65 percent of his passes and posted a 103.8 passer rating in three games. In the last four losses, the Vikings have fallen by six, six, three and two points. Pederson said that can be chalked up to “strictly mechanics”. We’ve got to have time to develop this quarterback. With Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles both recovering from injuries, the fifth-round rookie figures to get a lot of work Sunday against the Bengals.

“We got some eight-man looks in the box, and I believe they assumed we may not pass in those situations”, Lewis said. Cincinnati scored on its first six possessions and racked up 412 yards. Cincinnati isn’t the most impressive defense either, but I think they will play well at home against this struggling Philly offense.

Pederson said he will sit down with Jim Schwartz and discuss the possibility of blitzing more to see if an increase in numbers will help make a quarterback at least sweat a little. Defense had 20 sacks in first six games and six sacks in last five games. Yet when you force your rookie quarterback to throw the ball 50+ times, that is never a recipe for success.

The Eagles went to Cincinnati and got pushed out of bounds. And we’re rushing with four, so you do the math. They are 2-7 in their last nine games, and they’ve lost the last three by double digits.