Spotlight On the Philadelphia Eagles

Written by: Katie Markley

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Overrated and Overpaid?

The Philadelphia Eagles originally predicted as strong Super Bowl contenders finished week two at 0-2 after falling to the Dallas Cowboys 20-10. The Birds have looked nothing like the team of high scoring playmakers we saw during the off season. Week one’s Monday night loss to the Atlanta Falcons looked like a preseason game- a team still working out the kinks, playing together for the first time. Sunday afternoon’s game against the archrival Dallas Cowboys looked like Pop Warner football: missed tackles, dropped passes, penalties, turnovers, false starts and expired play clocks. It was pathetic.

The Eagle’s offense was anemic. They didn’t convert a third down till the second half, threw an interception on their only inspired drive after the Tony Romo fumble, and couldn’t get a block for DeMarco Murray to save their lives. They scored their first touchdown of the game with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter. The Eagles finished the game with seven total rushing yards. SEVEN.
The Eagles’ defense had more holes then a piece of Swiss cheese. Despite the fact that the Cowboys were missing their leading wide receiver Dez Bryant, have no established running game and even Tony Romo camping out on the sidelines in the second half- the Bird couldn’t stop them.

Eagles’ cornerback Bryon Maxwell played soft for the second game in a row. In week one, Falcon’s Julio Jones embarrassed Maxwell on Monday Night Football, scoring the teams only passing touchdowns and racking up 141 yards of offense. In Sunday’s divisional matchup, Maxwell was beat on several plays, including a late game slant route allowing the Cowboys to put the game out of reach. Maxwell, who’s in the first year of his 6-year, 63million dollar contract with the Eagles, has yet to show even a glimpse of the player he was in Seattle.

Photo by James Lang, USA Today Sports

DeMarco Murray ended the game with two positive rushing yards against his former team. Murray signed a 5 year 40 million dollar deal with the Eagles after coming off the 2014 season as the NFL’s leading rusher. Currently in the NFL, 21 quarterbacks have rushed for more yards so far this season then Murray.

The game against the Dallas Cowboys left the Eagles faithful restless and angry. The offense never got going and the defense looked underprepared. The Eagles will have many questions to answer and problems to solve as they take this week to prepare for Sunday, September 27^th game on the road against the New York Jets. Leave a comment below with your predictions for Sunday’s must win game!

This article was brought to you by local resident, Montco Happening guest writer and die hard Eagles enthusiast, Katie Markely. Stay tuned for more sports insights coming from Katie soon, GO BIRDS!