Eagles heading backward as losses get worse

Sunday’s torture in Cincinnati started early, as Carson Wentz’s first pass was rejected at the line of scrimmage and his second bounced off a defender’s hands. “For us as coaches, it’s about the same”, Lewis said. They have worked their tails off. “All of the things we’re not doing now, those are the things we need to get back to doing”.

Same old, same old for the Eagles (5-7), who have dropped seven of nine after their 3-0 start. Only three other quarterbacks in franchise history have thrown the football that many times in a single game and the result in each of those games was the same as it was Sunday for the Eagles.

The head coach was asked if he could honestly say that everyone on the team played hard after reviewing the game film. “It’s a collective effort in all three phases”. Rookies Tyler Boyd, Cody Core and Alex Erickson all had grabs and second year receiver James Wright caught two passes for 20 yards before leaving the game with a knee injury.

Vontaze Burfict, Cincinnati Bengals – The middle linebacker was incredible on Sunday, ending the day with 10 total tackles, four pass deflections, and an unbelievable interception. The Eagles came in as the third-most penalized team in the National Football League (90) and added to that total with 10 infractions for 88 yards.

“I don’t think it’s the mechanics”, Wentz said of his problems. And it’s not as if he’s getting surprised by opposing defences. “We’ve just got to be better with our discipline and just keep attacking”. After throwing just eight picks all year, the Bengals hit him with a career-high three in what was Wentz’s worst outing as a pro.

To end his press conference, Pederson was asked if this Eagles team needs to be “loved up” or if it’s time for some tough love. They also had a missed 51-yard field goal attempt by Caleb Sturgis.

A third straight double-digit loss – 32-14 at Cincinnati – has Philadelphia reeling down the home stretch. These meetings, per Pederson’s description, are unfailingly positive for the rookie head coach, from the first handshake to the closing hey-let’s-get-those-Bengals-this-week. But the questioner mentioned safety Rodney McLeod not aggressively trying to tackle the Bengals’ Jeremy Hill on his 2-yard touchdown run.

Against a team missing its best wide receiver, the Eagles gave up three conversions of at least third-and-8 and completions of 50 and 44 yards. Nugent made field goals from 32, 33, 26 and 38 yards, the last one deflecting off the left upright.

Pederson said some of the pieces aren’t cohesive, based on youth in certain areas. The coach said, too, that Agholor may have even played every snap because Matthews would have been in the slot.

The Bengals scored on each of their first six drives to take a 29-0 lead in the third quarter en route to collecting their first win since October 23. Wentz found Ertz for a 13-yard touchdown with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and then the defense forced a fumble on the next possession. The Eagles went another week without a sack. “Looking at the tape and watching where Carson was scrambling, and of course he was heading towards out of bounds, and I think he just pulled off at that point, that’s all I can say”. “Now everybody in the locker room is enjoying themselves, happy and smiling”.

Pederson delivered a message following the Eagles’ loss to the Green Bay Packers last week that the final month of the season would show who wants to be here and who doesn’t.