Eagles mail it in, without their stamp

The freefall ends with a thud in Tampa Bay, as Philadelphia loses the wild-card game 32-7.

Jalen Hurts

In the end they couldn’t even shove it.

They lined up on Tampa Bay’s one-yard-line for a 2-point conversion, down only 16-9 despite their worst efforts. They got a chance at the Brotherly Shove, the anti-football move that reliably propelled Jalen Hurts to touchdowns and first downs throughout this season and last. This time it didn’t work, as the Buccaneers caught Hurts just before the line and never let him go. Somewhere in there, an Eagle’s face mask was pulled without official detection, and that was just as well. It’s always sunny in Philadelphia, but when it rains, the lights go out.

If the Brotherly Shove quits working, who do you call next? Nobody. Eagles fans have their own echo chamber, and it has been a fearsome place for a couple of months now. Their season began 10-1 and it ended 11-7, with Monday night’s 32-7 wild-card loss to the Bucs. Their theme song, indicated by their indifference, was written long ago by David Allen Coe: Take this job and shove it.

The Eagles lost the Super Bowl last year on Kansas City’s last drive, and they began this season with five consecutive wins (including a 25-11 win over Tampa Bay in Week 3). A four-turnover loss to the Jets preceded another five-game streak, including 28-23 over Dallas, 21-17 at Kansas City, and 37-34 in overtime against Buffalo. 

Still, Eagles fans were restless. They kept pointing at turnovers, at sloppy defense, at leads that were blown and at poor first halves that necessitated comebacks. Some of that, of course, was dismissed as Philadelphia neuroses, but some of it was based on fact, and both, after all, could be true. But they always had the Brotherly Shove, and against Washington, combative coach Nick Sirianni dictated a fake push that set up DeAndre Swift’s touchdown. He seemed to celebrate it a little too much, as is his wont, but he wasn’t worried about karma. It wouldn’t dare step inside Lincoln Financial Field on a Sunday.

Then the bully went a step too far. The Eagles were brutalized at home, 42-19, by San Francisco. The playground lined up for revenge. Here came losses to Dallas (33-13), Seattle (20-17), even Arizona (34-31), in which the Cardinals rambled for 221 rushing yards. Hurts was clearly limited physically, and an aging defense suddenly couldn’t cover or tackle, which was obvious against Tampa Bay Monday.

The Eagles boosted Baker Mayfield’s career rehabilitation project, getting no takeaways and watching him throw for 337 yards and three touchdowns. They gave up four 20-or-more-yards pass plays. They tried to run 15 times, and 148 of their 250 passing yards went to Davonta Smith, with A.J. Brown out. They were 0 for 9 in third down conversions and had 13 first downs.

And when the Eagles took over on their own 10 in the third quarter, down only 16-9, nobody could block the Bucs. On third down Hurts was besieged in the end zone by 6-foot-7 Anthony Nelson and flung the ball just before he was sacked, an intentional grounding call that became a safety. Up 18-9, Mayfield hit rookie Trey Palmer, who slalomed and frolicked through the reticent Eagles for the season-adjourning 56-yard score.

This is what happens when you loosen the qualifications for playoff membership. Somebody who doesn’t belong always gets in. It isn’t always the lowest seed, as Green Bay demonstrated Sunday, but it’s always a team that knows it’s traveling without a valid passport, and just waiting for the authorities to notice. Only a supreme effort would jolt the Eagles to life in Tampa, and it hardly seemed worth it, especially on the long touchdowns by Palmer and David Moore. Eagle defenders studiously watched both Bucs wriggle their way to the end zone, as they overcommitted and arm-tackled their way to oblivion.

Six primary Philadelphia defenders are 30 years old or older. General manager Howie Roseman kept bringing in troops, like Kevin Byard of Tennessee and Shaquille Leonard of Indianapolis, and the bleeding continued. But veterans like Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham looked relatively good Monday, among the desolation around them. They and center Jason Kelce will have career calls to make.

The Eagles lost coordinators Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon last winter, as they became head coaches in Indianapolis and Arizona. They did well. Quarterback coach Brian Johnson was promoted to replace Steichen, and he has become a local pincushion, and Sean Desai became the new defensive boss and was then joined, uncomfortably, by former Patriots coordinator (and Detroit head coach) Matt Patricia.

But if Hurts had been able, physically, to stress the corners of the defense while showing off his passing skills, maybe all of that is window dressing. We will learn the extent of his pain soon enough. I’m not sure teams who lose six of their final seven games make highlight films anymore, or if anyone in Philly is inclined to watch this one. Better, maybe, to cue up The Longest Yard.