Eagles Motivated To Improve Following Green Bay Meltdown
By Kevin McGuire
The Philadelphia Eagles got smoked by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon, and it is not sitting well with many this week. Nor should it. That was the worst game the Eagles have played this season and it resulted in the worst loss of Chip Kelly’s brief NFL career since leaving Oregon to coach in Philadelphia. Cracks on the team were exposed by Green Bay, which tends to happen with an experienced quarterback like Aaron Rodgers leading the offense.
When a team loses in the fashion the Eagles did Sunday, it provides plenty of room for improvement in the next game. It is also important to locate what did go right, even if it was few and far between. The Eagles defense did not do much of anything positive. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis says the defensive players are already working hard at correcting a number of flaws.
“Every man that comes in here should be the same man on a Monday, win or lose,” Davis said Tuesday. “I think the human nature side says yes to that, but I think our guys are pretty advanced. They're pros and I think they handle it well.”
If there was one play in particular Davis would like to prevent seeing again in a game that had plenty of poor plays, Eddie Lacy’s second touchdown run was it.
“Yeah, the Lacy touchdown was probably our worst defensive play of the season,” Davis said. “That's where we hit the frustration mode… It was one of the themes and what we've got to do to move forward is not have those plays, no matter what happens.”
Davis did see a change in attitude on the field after that moment though, and perhaps that can serve as a spark that carries over into the rest of practices and meetings this week while preparing for the Tennessee Titans.
“To credit, after that play, there was a whole bunch of everybody flying to the ball, but that was a pressure point,” Davis said. “But that's not us, and that won't be who we are.”
The offense did not have quite as poor an afternoon as the Eagles defense did, but it did get off to a slow start to help dig a big hole early on while the Packers offense was moving down field at ease. Fortunately for the offense, there may have been some more positives to build on Sunday than their defensive teammates.
“None of us did anything that was good enough to win, but he did some things better in this game than he did in the last game,” Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Tuesday.
The key player on offense for now will remain back-up quarterback Mark Sanchez. Shurmur liked how Sanchez handled the football and believes he saw some good things that can help the offense get back on track this week at Lincoln Financial Field against the Tennessee Titans.
“I thought he got the ball out quickly… But he battled through the game last week and certainly I think there are things he improved on, but we've all got to be better,” Shurmur said.
The good thing about the NFL is every week can offer a chance to reverse the momentum. The Eagles look to be in a favorable position this weekend at home against the struggling Titans. Despite being a solid favorite, the Eagles cannot afford to let sloppy play get in the way.
Quotes provided by PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
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Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.