Eagles Week 4 Notes & Observations: Frustration

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Ugh, this is getting really frustrating. Somehow, someway, the Philadelphia Eagles are finding different ways to lose every week.

They fall now to 1-3 after a tough 23-20 loss today at Washington. Andy Reid never lost consecutive games in Washington. Chip Kelly now has.

Notes & Observations below compiled from online sources: Reuben Frank, CSN Philly, NJ.com, ESPN, and Bleeding Green Nation.

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Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) 20 @ Washington Redskins (2-2) 23

  • The Eagles are now 1-3 and 0-2 in the division.
  • The Eagles have now lost 6 of Chip Kelly’s last 8 regular season games…
  • Andy Reid never lost consecutive games in Washington. Chip Kelly now has.
  • It had been at least 20 years since the Eagles lost a football game by allowing a fourth-quarter game-winning drive of 90 or more yards.
  • Eagles 1-3 start this year isn’t similar to 2013. Eagles were still 1-0 in division and conference that year. Currently 0-2 and 0-3.

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  • Cody Parkey made a 30-yard FG last week with 3 torn muscles in his groin. Completely healthy Caleb Sturgis missed a 33-yard FG this week.
  • The loss gives the Eagles zero margin for error and about a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs.
  • For the second time this season, the Eagles failed to score in the first half. It’s also the third time in 2015 that the team has scored three or fewer points in the second half.
  • Chip Kelly has only himself to blame for the current state of the offensive line. For the first time in franchise history, the Eagles have gone two straight years without drafting an offensive lineman, and despite losing Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans this offseason, they didn’t even sign any free agents, other than John Moffitt, who had been retired.
  • Time of possession: Redskins 41:07, Eagles 18:53
  • Combined time of possession this season: Eagles: 112:11 Opponents: 148:49

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  • Teams with time of possession over 41 minutes are 109-5 in non-OT goes since 1983 – as far back as Pro Football Reference has T-of-P stats.
  • Three games into his NFL career, Jordan Hicks has two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, a sack and an interception.
  • Eagles defense has a significant amount of injuries already. When you play 67 percent of games, this is going to happen.

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  • DeMarco Murray: 40 touches in 3 games. He averaged 28 offensive touches per game last season, most in NFL.
  • DeMarco Murray rushing at this point last year: 99 carries, 534 yards, 5 TDs.
  • DeMarco Murray rushing now: 29 carries, 47 yards, 1 TD.
  • The fewest carries DeMarco Murray had last year was 19. The most he’s had this year is 13.

  • Eagles had the ball for 18:52 in their loss today. That’s 31 percent of the game.
  • The Eagles lost four players to leg injuries in the first half, which makes you wonder about their choices of footwear on a wet surface. Cornerback Byron Maxwell hurt a quadriceps muscle. Linebacker Mychal Kendricks aggravated his hamstring. Defensive end Brandon Bair left with a groin injury. And late in the half, left tackle Jason Peters exited the game with a quad injury.
  • Sam Bradford can throw the ball downfield after all. Bradford had mysteriously avoided taking any deep shots through three games.
  • Bradford was 0 for 3 in the Eagles’ first three games when attempting passes 20-plus yards downfield. Against the Redskins, he completed four of them. He hit Agholor for 45 yards in the second quarter, connected with Riley Cooper on a 62-yard touchdown, completed a 31-yarder to Jordan Matthews, and hit Miles Austin in stride for a 39-yard TD.

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  • Sam Bradford’s 122.6 rating against Washington was the 2nd highest of his career.
  • Sam Bradford’s 62-yard TD pass to Riley Cooper was the 2nd longest TD pass of his career.
  • Bradford was 7 for 13 for 161 yards and three TDs directly after halftime, but had another extremely slow start. He did not complete a pass in the first quarter, and entered halftime 5 for 10 for 75 yards with three sacks.
  • Bradford only completed 53.5 percent of his passes Sunday. And though the Eagles scored three touchdowns on, the offense punted three times and lost a fumble in their first four possessions of the game, and weren’t able to score in the fourth quarter after Austin’s early touchdown.
  • Bradford was good in the second half, but he has yet to be good for 60 minutes, and he’s still the biggest reason the Eagles are 1-3.
  • DeMarco Murray played after sitting last week out because of a hamstring injury. He provided one of the few offensive highlights of the first half with a 30-yard run. It was slow-going from there, though, as he finished with eight carries for 36 yards. Ryan Mathews had four carries for 20 yards.

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  • Riley Cooper: 7 recs, 125 yards, 3 TD in last 2 games at Washington.
  • Miles Austin’s 39-yard TD catch was his longest since Week 2 of the 2011 season.
  • The Eagles defense, which was on the field for over 41 minutes Sunday, yielded a scoring drive late.

From CSN Philly:

Key injuries

  • Jason Peters, Mychal Kendricks, Byron Maxwell and Brandon Bair all left with injuries. None of them returned.
  • Peters aggravated the quad issue he suffered in the Week 3 over the Jets. Matt Tobin shifted from right guard to left tackle with Peters out and Dennis Kelly stepped in at right guard for Tobin.
  • Kendricks aggravated his hamstring injury on the Eagles’ first defensive series. Maxwell (quad) was also hurt on that drive.
  • Bair left with a groin injury.
  • Lane Johnson stayed on the ground after an extra point attempt, but walked off under his own power and returned to the game.
  • Bradford limped off the field after a second-half series but had his right ankle taped and didn’t miss a play.

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Red-zone defense

  • All that will be remembered was the inability of the defense to prevent the game-winning TD, but red-zone D was a strength for the Eagles until the final drive.
  • Washington drove 77 yards on 13 plays in its opening drive but had to settle for a field goal. Later in the first quarter, the ‘Skins again reached the Eagles’ 20 but were forced to kick.
  • After the Eagles tied the score at 13 midway through the third quarter, a nine-play Redskins drive ended at the Eagles’ 15.
  • The importance of the Eagles’ limiting the ‘Skins in the condensed area was shown in the fourth quarter when they clung to a four-point lead.
  • The Redskins’ first touchdown was set up by a ticky-tack pass interference call in the end zone against rookie cornerback Eric Rowe, who replaced the injured Maxwell. Rowe did not appear to interfere much with the receiver, but he got his head around late and made slight contact. A lot of times, that play goes uncalled. But a rookie who is late to track the ball doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt, it appears.
  • It’s hard to blame the defense too much for that game-winning score. The Redskins held the ball for over 41 minutes of game time.

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Long conversions

This was a problem. The Eagles gave up first downs to Washington on 3rd-and-19, 3rd-and-13 and 3rd-and-8, and allowed 15 yards on a 2nd-and-16 that led to another first down.

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Up next

The Eagles are home for a 1 p.m. game against the struggling New Orleans Saints next Sunday.

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