November 20, 2016
Well that was ugly. The final score was "only" 26-15, but it was certainly much worse than the score would indicate, as the Seattle Seahawks showed the Philadelphia Eagles that you better be near-perfect to beat the NFL's elite teams. On Sunday evening, the Eagles were far from that.
As always, win or lose, we hand out 10 awards.
Win or lose, it seems as though Agholor is a goat almost every week, and not the cool version of "GOAT." Against the Seahawks, Agholor ruined a 57-yard touchdown to Zach Ertz when he did not line up on the line of scrimmage. The Eagles were called for an illegal formation penalty, which negated the touchdown, eventually leading to a punt. An Eagles' coach, as well as an official, were even urging Agholor to get up on the line before the play:
Both a coach and the ref were telling Nelson Agholor to get on the line of scrimmage, but he never checked to see if he was: pic.twitter.com/RNBTfOpKru
— Josh Paunil (@JoshPaunil) November 21, 2016
It's one thing if you're not making plays. It's another thing if you're dropping passes and actively messing up opportunities. It's a whole other level when you can't even line up properly.
And then ... it's an absolute disgrace when you've already made that mistake! Against the Redskins last season, an illegal formation call on Agholor negated yet another touchdown to Ertz. Nelson Agholor has wiped out as many touchdowns with penalties than he has career touchdowns.
Jenkins on what penalty did to sideline: "It’s frustrating. You think you can get lined up. That’s the basics of football."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) November 21, 2016
You'd certainly think, Malcolm. And yes Greg Lewis, Eagles fans feel your pain as well:
MOOD RIGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/i70kAyASF1
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) November 20, 2016
Here's Agholor lining up at the DMV:
On the very next possession, Agholor dropped what should have been an easy catch that probably would have been good for about 30 or so yards. But that's just normal at this point.
Agholor's updated highlight reel:
According to Jordan Matthews, Agholor was a big part of the game plan. When asked if the receivers, in general, were a big part of the game plan or specifically Agholor, Matthews confirmed that Agholor specifically was a big part of the game plan.
In other words, a guy who can't catch, who can't get open, and who apparently can't even line up correctly was a big part of the game plan against the best secondary in football.
(My head literally just exploded and my headless body is now typing the rest of this article).
We've gotten on Ertz for never breaking tackles or getting yards after the catch. On one of the Eagles' touchdowns, Ertz did a good job fighting through a Kam Chancellor tackle just enough to reach the ball over the goal line. And then on the 57-yard touchdown negated by Agholor, Ertz picked up most of that yardage after the catch, which would have raised Ertz's yards after catch average by 30,000 percent.
After staying very healthy for most of the season, the Eagles sustained quite a number of injuries against the Seahawks. Ryan Mathews left with a knee injury, Darren Sproles left with a rib injury, Leodis McKelvin left with a head injury, Halapoulivaati Vaitai left with a knee injury, and Jason Peters left with a forearm injury, playing the rest of game with some sort of cast.
There's a decent chance the Eagles will be playing very shorthanded against Green Bay next Monday night.
It should be noted that Agholor wasn't the only Eagles player guilty of a drop. Jordan Matthews had one. That was his seventh of the season, which is unacceptable, frankly. Kenjon Barner had one. Ertz arguably had one. I'll have to add them into this video this week:
The Eagles defensive line was OK against the Seahawks. They were able to beat the Seahawks' offensive line on occasion, but it simply wasn't enough against an undermanned unit that should have been a huge matchup advantage in favor of the Eagles. Of course, that's easy for viewers to say when they don't have to chase down Russell Wilson after beating a block.
Breaking: Carson Wentz is a rookie. He's cannot do it on his own. If Wentz could drop back to pass, break through the opposing defense's front seven and hand the ball to his receivers 20 yards downfield, I'm sure he would. Unfortunately, he cannot, and if his receivers could do the bare minimum, his numbers (and the Eagles' performance overall) would look so much better. For example:
Carson Wentz only has 86 passing yards. But Nelson Agholor also cost him ~100 yards and 1 TD on two plays (penalty and drop) alone.
— Josh Paunil (@JoshPaunil) November 20, 2016
Was Wentz "good" against the Seahawks? Nope. He was not. Most quarterbacks who face the Seahawks aren't. But good God, give the kid some help.
My apologies for beating this dead horse, but in case you're among the group who think the Eagles should just cut Agholor right now, he's not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, there's a better chance than not that he'll be on the team again in 2017.
On a day where other results around the league did not go the Eagles' way, the Birds fell even deeper into the cellar of the NFC East. The updated standings:
| NFC East | W | L | T |
| Cowboys | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Redskins | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Eagles | 5 | 5 | 0 |
There are only six games to go, and the Eagles' schedule remains difficult the rest of the way.
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