Should The Eagles Tank Or Win?
The Eagles have been facing the most scrutiny in the league because of their inability to win games, whether it be subject to poor QB play, bad coaching, terrible play calling, you name it. Eagles fans are divided when it comes to winning the division or tanking the rest of the season to have a Top 10 draft pick. After a 24-21 victory against the Saints, they are still in place to win the division, if the Eagles would win the three remaining games left.
Why They Should Win:
Obviously, the Eagles play to win, you would think, but the way things have been looking over the course of the season, no one really knows what is going on. From a fan perspective, no one enjoys seeing their team play terrible and winning brings out the best in the players and substantially raises Philly fans egos, which can be good or bad.
The point of being in the NFL is to win games, make the playoffs, and win championships. I can’t seem to understand why settle for the bare minimum if you consider yourself a die hard birds fan, that’s just my opinion. I know not everyone feels that way, but some do.
Doug Pederson has won a Super Bowl with this team in his second season as the Eagles head coach. It seems as though him and Wentz have some kind of disconnect for one, and his lack of enthusiasm/sarcastic press conferences raise a concern if he really wants to be coach next year. The best thing for Pederson is to continue to show why he is the Head Coach and how he has gotten us to three straight playoff appearances, looking to make it four.
I believe the more we win, then his job is more secure even with the speculation of him on the seat. Doug has been persistent on not relieving play calling duties to another staff member, because you know, we don’t have a real offensive coordinator to begin with.
When the Eagles make the playoffs, the grit that this team has can make any team be uncomfortable in any given situation. Out of the the six playoff games the Eagles have played over the course of three years they only lost two of them by a 10-point margin. The last time the Eagles lost by more than that in a playoff game was the WildCard game against the Cowboys in 2013 by 20 points.
In 2018 and 2019, injuries have plagued both sides of the ball and it has gotten to a point where we can’t use that as an excuse for this team anymore because it’s an Eagles new norm.
They are one mistake away from momentum swinging their favor, like what if Alshon Jeffrey caught it in 2018 and what if Wentz doesn’t get a concussion from an illegal hit? There’s a lot to go into it, but I like our chances potentially hosting a playoff game this year. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 there won’t be any fans in attendance which i think would give us an advantage against any team.
Why They Shouldn’t Win
There is only one logic reason as to why the Eagles shouldn’t try to win and make the playoffs this season and that is solely because of their draft position in the upcoming NFL Draft. That’s it. This might be the Eagles second year in a row with a receiver under 500 yards. Travis Fulgham is the closest with 467 yards on the year and his snaps have diminished with Jeffery’s return.
The point is, we need to draft a receiver in the draft and losing out would keep us in contention for one of those receivers. To name a few, some receivers who they can take in the Top 10 picks could narrow down to LSU’s Ja’marr Chase, Bama’s Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, these guys are considered the top receivers in the class. As good as it sounds to have these guys, they won’t save the entire team from the tragedy that is occurring in the 2020 season.
They drafted J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in the 2nd round of the 2019 draft and Jalen Reagor in the 1st round of the 2020 draft. Whiteside hasn’t made an impact on this team at all and barely sees the field to begin with and was taken seven spots ahead of star receiver D.K. Metcalf.
Reagor can’t be written off right now either as he suffered a thumb injury in the beginning of the season and missed games, he has a lot of upside and has shown that the past couple weeks.
But some would also take the narrative of wanting a whole new coaching staff and start fresh with Jalen Hurts and build around him, but Wentz will be here next year, starter or not because of his $128M contract extension.
The coaching personnel as been just as bad as the players and have to be held accountable and take accountability for their mistakes. Until they can do that, then there is no point in going into the playoffs if things don’t change within the organization.
In Conclusion
As fans, we all have these frustrations with the team and I think we can all agree that Howie Roseman is an issue and he has to go. He has made incompetent picks since he got his general manager position back after the firing of Chip Kelly in 2015. He has drafted one Pro Bowl caliber player since and that is Carson Wentz. Roseman wants to be the smartest person in the room instead of making the right pick. Whoever decided to give him the “wizard” nickname is ridiculous.
The Eagles will be about $65M over the cap for the 2021 season because of contracts he gave out to kicker who can’t make 22 yard field goals, a receiver who is washed and taking snaps from a promising young receiver, and a QB who was given a prematurely massive extension before his rookie deal is up.
Also, it doesn’t help that he drafted Hurts in the 2nd round after signing him to this contract less than a year ago. Doesn’t make sense at all. The Eagles have to make significant changes within this organization if they want to be Super Bowl contenders once again.