Eagles Must Put Up Or Shut Up

Despite sitting at a 5-7 record that no one saw coming, the Philadelphia Eagles are lucky enough to be playing in a division no one wants to win. The Dallas Cowboys have had every chance to run away from Philadelphia, yet an Eagles victory over the Giants tonight on Monday Night Football will once again put the two teams in a tie atop the division. If the Eagles have any intention to take advantage of this opportunity, there’s no more excuses - the bleeding needs to stop tonight.

Since Super Bowl LII, the Eagles have had enough “wake up calls” you would think they’d just unplug the phone cord. They’ve talked after each “wake up call” repeatedly how they have to “look themselves in the mirror.” This was after brutal losses last year vs. Tennessee, Minnesota, Carolina, and New Orleans. Then again this year after squandered opportunities and crushing losses to Detroit, Minnesota, Dallas, New England, Seattle, and most recently the Miami Dolphins.

At some point you’re either a good team or you’re not. The Eagles have spent the better part of the last two seasons trying to convince everyone they’re just a good team just playing bad football. Time’s running out to show that to be true. The overwhelming evidence shows that they just aren’t good. They got outplayed and outcoached by a 2-9 Miami Dolphin team, then afterward admitted Miami, who is nowhere near the playoff picture, “wanted” it more. Seriously?

This week we’ve heard the same rhetoric. “We’re angry... we’re hungry… that’s not who we are.” Apparently they weren’t angry and hungry enough coming off two pathetic losses to the Patriots and Seahawks, both games that were right there for the taking, to beat the Dolphins.

Everyone’s tired of hearing the same lines over and over again, with the same product being put forth. It reeks of a team that still thinks they are just as good as they were two years ago and magically, one week, that team will somehow show back up on the field.

The Eagles keep being gifted opportunity after opportunity to go win this division and clinch a home playoff game. They need to show the hunger, the fight, the desperation that got them to the top of the NFL in 2017. Even if this team is not as talented as the Super Bowl team of 2 seasons ago, it won’t take that level of performance to simply win this year’s NFC East.

Three weeks in a row, the Eagles have been the less desperate, less hungry team, and their head coach even admitted as such. There’s absolutely no excuse for that when you’re under .500 but still in the hunt. Tonight against the Giants, they’ll either fight like they’re on life support or they won’t. If they choose not to, it’ll likely be another long, miserable step towards a total roster reconstruction. While a roster reconstruction is necessary on some level, it will feel a lot better to do it after a playoff berth, after Carson Wentz finally gets to play in a playoff game.

The time for the Eagles to talk and tell everyone how hungry they are is long over. Show us– the fight, hunger, desperation. The division is still there for the taking. It’s time for the Eagles to go out and just get it, if they are as good as they seem to think they are.

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