PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles were cooked from the beginning.
The offense ushered in the New Year with lousy play-calling and sub-par decision-making from spot starter Gardner Minshew. During the first half of Sunday’s contest against the Saints, the Eagles were scoreless and managed just two meaningless first downs across five drives. The Saints compiled the perfect mix of intermediate completions, gut-wrenching rushes, and clock-eating possessions.
Entering halftime, Minshew and Co. were booed by the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles mustered slightly better effort in the second half, but an assortment of penalties and Marshon Lattimore’s pick-6 off Minshew sealed the home team’s fate: an embarrassing 20-10 defeat to an underwhelming Saints team that departs Philadelphia with just its seventh victory.
For the Eagles (13-3), they’ll need to wait until the regular-season finale versus the New York Giants next weekend to determine their playoff destiny. The Eagles have still yet to lock up home-field advantage and the division title, with other contenders still looming.
Offensive struggles
Over the next couple of months, offensive coordinator and play-caller Shane Steichen will likely garner attention for several expected head coaching vacancies. But Steichen’s script on Sunday — specifically his calls from the first half — was arguably his worst outing since he took over play-calling responsibilities last season. Part of the blame falls on Minshew, who took a handful of avoidable sacks, six total. The Eagles also are missing franchise right tackle and Pro Bowler Lane Johnson. But eight days after putting up 34 points with a backup quarterback against Dallas, Steichen failed to prioritize his top offensive weapons.
The trio of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert went without a single target until there were eight minutes left in the second quarter. The NFL’s No. 1 offense — averaging a league-high 29.7 points per game — folded with four consecutive three-and-outs to begin the Week 17 contest. Smith paced the offense with nine catches and 115 yards and Brown had a 78-yard touchdown reception, but that was essentially all the Eagles managed in a what was an overall disappointing, forgettable performance against a mid-tier opponent.
Hurts’ status and what’s ahead
The Eagles became the first NFL team to clinch a playoff appearance nearly a month ago. But since then, they’ve suffered two losses in three weeks. It became even more evident that the health of starting quarterback Jalen Hurts remains a top priority.
Ahead of this weekend, Hurts returned to the practice field for the first time since sustaining his shoulder injury Dec. 18. While the 24-year-old pushed to make his return, the Eagles decided against Hurts and sidelined him for another week. With the loss falling largely on Minshew’s shoulders, the pressure is turning up immensely on the coaching staff ahead of Week 18. The Eagles go as Hurts goes — despite missing the past two games, he’s already tied a franchise-record 35 touchdowns — and the Eagles will face tough decisions this week with home-field advantage still up for grabs.
Minshew has proven he’s capable when he and Steichen are on the same page. But that wasn’t the case for a majority of Sunday’s game, and now the call for Hurts grows louder with the postseason looming.
Pass-rush history
Brandon Graham sacked Saints quarterback Andy Dalton twice, setting a new career high with 11 sacks. Collectively, the Eagles had seven sacks on Dalton and Taysom Hill. The defense needs just six more to set an NFL single-season record.
Injury report
During the game’s opening drive, Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat was seriously injured while attempting to make a tackle, and needed to be carted off the field on a stretcher. It was a scary moment as Sweat laid flat on the grass while nearby teammates dropped to one knee in front of a silent crowd. Sweat was carted off at an extremely slow pace, and he attempted to give a thumbs up before the cart exited into the tunnel.
The team announced Sweat suffered a neck injury was transported via ambulance to a local hospital with movement in all of his extremities. It remains to be seen how much time Sweat might miss. The 25-year-old edge rusher is enjoying the best season of his five-year career. He has registered career highs of 15 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, and 47 pressures.
