Eagles Must Have A Short Memory To Make Postseason
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles were embarrassed in front of a national audience Sunday night by one of the best teams in football. It will mean nothing if they win on Saturday.
After being wiped out by the Cardinals, the Eagles have a record of 6-8. In the 2015 NFC East, that's good enough for second place and a chance to control their own destiny for the division title. The Eagles can win the NFC East with victories in their last two games. A victory on Saturday against Washington will give the Eagles a chance to clinch the crown against the Giants in the final week of the season. However, a loss on Saturday will give Washington the division title. Chip Kelly said he won't have to remind his team this week about their current situation.
"I didn't really talk about what we were going forward to," said Kelly. "It was kind of what are schedule is and where we are. I think everybody's aware of what's at stake and how this thing is going to shake itself out at this point."
If the Eagles are to move forward, they will have to get back to the basics this week. The defense missed tackles throughout the game against Arizona which led to the Cardinals scoring spree. For Kelly, it's a matter of his defense worrying less about stripping the ball and more about bringing the ball carrier to the ground.
"We were probably trying to knock the ball out a little bit," Kelly said. "We've got to secure the tackle first before we ever go for the strip. It''s kind of how we practice it, but we've got to do a better job. We're not doing a good job coaching that, and we've got to coach it better."
The poor tacking was especially frustrating for Kelly considering what the Eagles had accomplished the past two weeks. The defense was impressive in victories of New England and Buffalo, and Kelly said it comes down to going back to simplifying the task at hand.
"It's inconsistency right now," said Kelly. "A lot of it's just fundamental. There's a lot that's involved in it and it's just frustrating for everybody because we have been good at times this year, and there's been times when we haven't been good at it at all."
The defense isn't the only unit which needs to improve before the showdown with Washington Saturday. The running game never got on track against the Cardinals, while Sam Bradford threw two interceptions after getting off to a strong start. The offense as well as the defense must improve, or the Eagles division title hopes will end in South Philadelphia on Saturday night.
"I'm disappointed with everything we're doing on the offensive side of the ball from a consistency standpoint," Kelly said. "I'm not singling out any single player. I just think we haven't been as consistent enough as we need to be on the offensive side of the ball for us to be successful."
