Among several players who played terribly during Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, Jason Peters arguably had the worst outing aside from quarterback Carson Wentz.
He played in 47 of the 68 offensive snaps, because of course he got banged up and had to take himself out of the game. Did you notice what Jason Kelce did when he got hurt? He refused to go into the blue tent, he reluctantly went to the locker room, and came out after halftime with a brace on his left arm and continued to play.
Peters doesn’t have that kind of drive anymore. Maybe he did three years ago, but it’s not there now.
When Peters was on the field Sunday, he was atrocious. He allowed 3 sacks, 3 additional QB hits, and 7 total pressures. Not to mention the Browns didn’t have their best defensive player in Myles Garrett in this one. I can’t imagine how ugly that matchup would have been.
Despite this abysmal performance, Doug Pederson came out Monday and stated that Peters will be the starting left tackle moving forward this season.
Are you really that surprised?
Jordan Mailata has serious potential to be a starting tackle in this league, but Pederson — for reasons I can’t explain — is deciding to put his development to the side in favor of a guy who is going to retire at the end of the year and has no business starting on an NFL roster right now.
What is he seeing on tape that leads him to this conclusion? How has Peters justified keeping his starting spot?
This franchise has a loyalty problem. Ever since they brought home the Lombardi Trophy, everyone who had a hand in bringing it to Philly has been treated like royalty by the organization. Peters may be the most egregious example, but he’s far from the only one who gets this treatment.
Carson Wentz has been allowed to get away with mistake after mistake this season. Week to week we see no progression in his game; nothing has changed in his game at all this year. It started Week 1 and has carried all the way to Week 11.
Jalen Mills is on a one-year deal and playing like a below average safety. He won’t be here next year, so why not start the rookie K’Von Wallace? He’s the future of the position as it stands right now. Mills hasn’t done anything this year to justify keeping his starting spot.
Alshon Jeffery missed over half of the season because of an injury. The fanbase was told he’s in the best shape of his life, he’ll be a big contributor when he returns!
Here’s Jeffery’s stat line since returning to the lineup: 0 catches, 3 targets, 1 drop, and 1 interception when targeting him. The fact that he’s actively taking snaps away from a guy like Travis Fulgham is beyond belief.
This team is in full denial at this point. They won the Super Bowl out of nowhere three years ago and it gave them a sense of invincibility. They pulled off the rebuild so quickly, it was damn near perfect. But now, we see what happens when a franchise let’s success get to their heads.
Whether they want to admit it or not, Doug, Howie Roseman, and essentially everyone on this roster is fighting for their jobs right now. But honestly, you wouldn’t know it listening to these guys talk after losses. They say the same cliché stuff. “We need to improve, we can’t keep doing the same things each week.” Then they go out, led by their boneheaded head coach, and do the same exact things every single week. And it all starts at the top, with their constant catering to these washed up has-beens.
That could prove to be the fatal flaw for Doug and Howie. If they keep doing what they’ve been doing all year, they won’t have jobs once the season is over.
The post-Super Bowl reality couldn’t have played out worse for the Eagles. They had so much promise, so much more to give this city, but they’ve screwed it up at almost every turn.
If this era of Eagles football comes to an end after this season, it’ll be one of the most unbelievable downfalls of any organization coming off a Super Bowl victory in NFL history.
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