Good morning, Eagles fans. Obviously, it's a tough one to say the least. The holiday week is not off to the best start following the 45-17 loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. An outcome that none of us saw coming. With a quick turnaround ahead of the Thanksgiving showdown with the Detroit Lions, the Eagles are back to work today.
Head coach Chip Kelly will host his day-after press conference at 10:50 AM which will be streamed live on PhiladelphiaEagles.com as well as our mobile app. Following the conclusion of the team's training session at 1:15 PM, safety Malcolm Jenkins will discuss why the defense struggled to slow down the Bucs' offense. At 5 PM, Brian Westbrook joins Dave Spadaro to recap the game on Eagles 360. Until then, here are the 5 Things to Know Today for Monday, November 23 ...
1. Thank Goodness It's A Short Week
Fortunately, for the players and fans, the Eagles have very little time to dwell on Sunday's game. The key for the Eagles, as head coach Chip Kelly has said many times in the past, is that they can't let this most recent game beat them twice.
"We can't dwell," said tackle Lane Johnson. "If we keep dwelling, we'll keep getting kicked in the teeth. We’re getting ready for Detroit on Thursday. They're a team that's kind of like us. Their backs are against the wall and they're looking to get some momentum going, so it's going to be a dogfight between us and them.
"Anything we do from now on needs to be positive and we need to start winning some games."
2. The Lions Have Some Momentum
Last season, the Eagles and the Lions combined for 21 wins in the regular season. The Eagles didn't make the playoffs, but the Lions did and should have defeated the Cowboys in the Wild Card round.
This year, it's been a different story for both teams. We all know what's going on with the Eagles. The Lions currently have a worse record at 3-7, but have won two straight games.
In Week 10, the Lions ended a 24-year losing streak in Green Bay by upsetting the Packers, 18-16. On Sunday, Detroit jumped out to a 9-0 lead on three Matt Prater field goals and regained the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Matthew Stafford to get the 18-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
One positive note for the Eagles' defense is that the Lions have scored fewer than 20 points in four straight games.
3. What's Happened To The Defense?
The calling card early in the season for the Eagles was a strong run defense.
In the first six games of the season, the most rushing yards that the Eagles allowed were 127 in the loss to Washington. In three games, the Eagles allowed fewer than 100 yards rushing.
Something changed with the Carolina game on October 25. Jonathan Stewart gained a season-high 125 yards on the ground to become the first player to hit the 100-yard plateau against the Eagles since Frank Gore in Week 4 of 2014.
On Sunday, Doug Martin gained 235 yards on the ground. Only two players have ever rushed for more yards against the Eagles in a single game.
The problems weren't just limited to the run game. Rookie quarterback Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes and didn't turn the ball over.
"Awful. All day. Starting with me. The whole thing was awful," defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. "That's not news to anyone out there. We didn't stop the run, we didn't stop the pass."
4. Offense Unable To Keep Pace
After an impressive early drive to take a 7-0 lead, the Eagles were outscored 21-7 in the rest of the first half. The Eagles' defense allowed a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ate up 9:47 to start the second half.
Down 35-17, quarterback Mark Sanchez and company were forced to the skies and Tampa Bay took advantage notching two of its three interceptions in the second half including one that was returned by linebacker Lavonte David for a touchdown.
"We didn’t do enough to win the game on the offensive side of the ball," said Sanchez following his first start of the season in place of an injured Sam Bradford. "That's it. That's the way we think about it as an offense."
Sanchez completed 26-of-41 attempts for 261 yards with two first-half touchdowns and the three interceptions. Running back DeMarco Murray gained 64 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry but the big deficit limited the impact of the ground game.
5. Will Injured Eagles Be Ready In Time?
Bradford missed Sunday's game with a concussion and shoulder injury. We'll see later this morning if Kelly has an update. Running back Ryan Mathews was also sidelined with a concussion.
During the game, tight end Zach Ertz suffered a concussion when he hurdled a defender and then got flipped over while in midair.
