Eagles player questions team’s plan after loss: ‘You just have to adjust’
PHILADELPHIA —Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee was sacked three times, and running back Dameon Pierce only rushed for 35 yards in their 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia’s offense has been a disaster this season and is the biggest reason the team has lost four consecutive games and dropped to 2-4.
The problems start up front: The Eagles’ offensive line has struggled to protect the QB and block on running plays.
“They were sending more than we could block,” Eagles left guard Willie Lampkin told NJ.com after Sunday’s game. “Even if they send eight, we have five, six. How are we going to block? You just have to adjust, just have to execute better.”
On Sunday, the combination of a struggling offensive line and an immobile quarterback proved to be a recipe for disaster.
On the first play of the game, the Panthers sent linebacker Bobby Okereke on a blitz, and Philadelphia’s interior offensive line failed to pick him up. McKee was sacked for an 11-yard loss. McKee was sacked two more times.
This month, All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson retired, and the Eagles traded left guard Cam Jurgens to the Baltimore Ravens. Those moves made an already struggling offensive line even worse.
When the Eagles placed quarterback Jalen Hurts on injured reserve on Saturday because of a blood clot, their offensive line took another hit. Hurts can compensate for poor blocking by extending plays with his legs.
“You just got to want it more than the guy across from you, and today we fell short of that,” Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata said. “We had a couple good drives in the second half, shot ourselves in the foot a whole bunch in the first half, putting us behind the sticks. Kind of the same old story.”
“We can’t move the ball if you’re in third-and-long situations and third-and-very long. And so, we just need to do a better job up front. Again, just communication-wise and execution-wise on both protections and runs, and we didn’t do that today.”
The Eagles scored one touchdown in each half, but those were the only bright spots during an ugly performance.
On second-and-8 from their own 33-yard line, with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter, Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd came through the middle unblocked and sacked McKee for a six-yard loss. Two plays later, the Eagles punted the ball to the Panthers.
After scoring their first touchdown of the second half, the Eagles wasted their next scoring opportunity.
With 9:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, Eagles center Jake Majors botched a snap on first down for a 12-yard loss, and Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown tipped McKee’s pass, which fell incomplete on third down. The Panthers blocked a punt by Eagles punter Braden Mann on fourth down.
“That’s bullcrap,” Mailata said when asked if starting three new offensive linemen is an excuse for their struggles. “The standard is high, and so the guy who’s stepping in has to step up to the occasion. Again, we’ve seen some adversity, but it’s an opportunity for that guy to step up into that role and ball out.
“Yes, we’ve seen position changes, retirements, trades. We’ve seen it all. But again, it presents opportunity for the young guys to come out and make a name for themselves.”
When the Eagles opened the season, their starting five — Mailata, Tyler Steen, Jurgens, Landon Dickerson and Johnson — looked like a solid unit on paper.
Steen and Mailata are the only two opening-day starters who played against the Panthers.
For the last two weeks, third-round rookie Markel Bell has started at right tackle, Lampkin has started at left guard, and Majors has started in place of center Drew Kendall, who has missed his last two starts with a knee injury.
Lampkin said developing chemistry up front after all the changes is “challenging,” but he’s not ready to give up.
“We just got to stick together,” Lampkin said. “You can’t disassociate from the team. You have to continue to build, continue to build that chemistry, continue to build that unity. I feel like that’s the biggest thing.”
New Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has not shown the ability to scheme a good offense, but his play-calling is also being hindered by talent issues.
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“Or we just going to abandon it?” Mailata said rhetorically when asked whether he still believed in Mannion’s scheme. “What do we run now? You have to have belief. There’s a lot of execution errors out there. The very first play of the game, the offensive line, one side goes left, the other side goes right, 11-yard sack.”
Mailata said a lack of focus and effort was the reason the offensive line played poorly against the Panthers. He did not believe it was a scheme issue.
“Maybe I need to go meditate or something,” Mailata said about handling the four-game losing streak. “Bring everyone with me. I know we’re going to do it together. Whatever we do, we’re going to do it together because, shoot, there’s no point in pointing fingers. That’s not going to do us any good.”
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Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.