Tag: Football

That Eagles Loss Sucked, But Let’s Not Overreact

It was bound to happen eventually. In each of the Eagles’ past two seasons, they managed to sneak by the Atlanta Falcons in low-scoring games, beating Atlanta 15-10 in the 2017 NFC Divisional Round and then 18-12 in last year’s season opener. Both games were played at Lincoln Financial Field, and both games were won in the final seconds after Atlanta drove deep into Eagles territory and were unable to convert a fourth down.

This time around, the script was flipped: the Eagles found themselves down late, driving with less than a minute to go in the game. On 4th and 8 at the Falcons 16 yard line, Carson Wentz found Zach Ertz, who came up short after being unable to shake Atlanta cornerback Isaiah Oliver. This came minutes after Wentz orchestrated a go-ahead drive featuring some ridiculous passes and a QB sneak for the lead, which was quickly relinquished when Atlanta ran a perfectly-executed screen pass to Julio Jones to take the lead. The Eagles nearly retook the lead when Wentz found Nelson Agholor wide-open on the subsequent drive, but Nelly dropped the perfectly-thrown pass.

Did it suck that the Eagles lost? Yes, very much so. Should they have won the game? Yes, very much so. Is this the end of the world or even the Eagles’ season? No, not at all. Last night saw the Eagles have maybe the worst injury luck I’ve ever seen in a football game. Here’s a list of Eagles players that either didn’t play or missed plays because of injury last night:

  • Carson Wentz (ribs, concussion protocol)
  • Alshon Jeffery (calf)
  • DeSean Jackson (groin)
  • Jason Kelce (concussion protocol)
  • Dallas Goedert (calf)
  • Timmy Jernigan (foot)
  • Nelson Agholor (concussion protocol)
  • Corey Clement (shoulder)
  • Jason Peters (unknown)
  • Sidney Jones (concussion protocol)

Not every game is going to extract a toll that high. Many of those players returned to the game, and while I’m no doctor, I’m willing to guess that not everyone who was forced to sit out last night will be missing significant time.

The Eagles are far from a flawless team. The offense has a penchant for slow starts, the defensive line is thin, and the secondary is streaky at best. However, not every game is going to end with Wentz being limited to Agholor, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and Mack Hollins as his only wide receiver options. The Eagles aren’t going to face off against offensive weapons like Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Devonta Freeman, and Mohamed Sanu every week. We’re fine.

The Eagles take on an average-at-best Lions team next week. Hopefully, it will be an opportunity to work out some kinks without injuring 10 key players.

Is Antonio Brown Still Feeling the Effects from Vontaze Burfict’s Dirty Hit?

Most major sports media outlets are exploding with today’s news that Antonio Brown has been suspended by the Raiders for not paying a team-imposed fine and getting into a shouting, almost-physical altercation with Raiders GM Mike Mayock today at practice. Apparently, Brown had to be held back by none other than Vontaze Burfict, who delivered the hit above during a 2016 playoff game. Brown was obviously concussed as a result of the attempted beheading hit.

Since being traded to the Raiders this past offseason after forcing his way out of Pittsburgh, Brown has been a human roller coaster. He ruined the bottoms of his feet by forgetting to wear proper footwear into a cryogenic chamber, then refused to practice because he couldn’t wear the type of helmet he had worn for his entire career. See, the helmet he prefers was banned by the league because it was found to be more likely to cause concussions. This ban affected several players, including Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Brown made far and away the biggest stink out of any player affected by the ban.

Where did this diva-ish behavior come from, though? Brown has been an elite receiver for over half a decade now (100+ catches and 1,200+ yards every year since 2013), and until the last year or two has been a pretty quiet guy.

It makes logical sense that after years of being a top-three receiver, Brown got tired of keeping his mouth shut. There have been dozens of diva wide receivers in the NFL through the years (as an Eagles fan, I would like to present the case of one Terrell Owens). But do you know what else makes sense? That Vontaze Burfict hit Brown so hard in the head that he suffered a concussion with serious long-term effects. Brown was wearing a helmet that was found to insufficiently protect him from concussions, after all.

Is this definitive? Absolutely not. I’m just speculating based off of some stuff that I saw on social media. If it is true, there’s no way the NFL will ever acknowledge it (after all, this is the league that vehemently denies that there is any correlation between concussions and CTE). It’s certainly interesting, regardless of how true it is.