Eagles season goes from suspense to stillness in a snap | Early Birds

Good morning. The Eagles season is finished after a 20-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints, leaving Philadelphia with the same feeling as the 51 seasons before last -- a football season that ends without a Super Bowl parade. The players will clean out their lockers today and have their exit interviews before dispersing for the offseason.

This is a Monday edition of the Early Birds newsletter, which will move from a daily format to a weekly format during the offseason. I want to know what you think, what we should add, and what you want to read, so send me feedback by email or on Twitter @ZBerm. Thank you for reading.

— Zach Berman

Alshon Jeffery sprawled across the Superdome turf in disbelief, and the striking finality to the season started to set in Sunday as the seconds ticked off the clock of the Eagles’ 20-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints. It’s always abrupt this time of year. When a season ends in Week 17, you can often brace for impact. When it happens in the final minutes in the second week of the postseason, it’s like the final scene of The Sopranos. The screen just goes to black, and you’re left trying to figure out what happened. It goes from suspense to stillness in a snap.

This isn’t a game the Eagles, or Eagles fans, should bemoan as a great “what if?”. They lost to a better team on the road. The Saints were on extended rest and had a future Hall of Famer at quarterback. The Eagles gave them their best shot. They came out swinging with a 14-0 lead. They held the Saints to 20 points. They had a chance late in the game. It didn’t happen, and that stung the players in the locker room and I imagine it hurts back in Philadelphia. But they left it out there. This isn’t one they should be regretting.

The enduring image from this loss will be Jeffery face down in the turf after the game-clinching interception. Yes, he should have caught the pass. He would tell you that. Who knows if they would have scored on that drive? It was certainly a scenario the Eagles would want going into the game – the ball in Nick Foles’ hands in the final minutes with a chance to win.

When the field goal sailed right, when the Saints were flagged for roughing the passer, it looked as if the Eagles had some of that magic left. Doug Pederson thought so. It didn’t happen, but I do know this: The Eagles would want that play to Jeffery in the same situation next time, and the time after, and the time after that. Jeffery is a big reason they made it this far. He’ll need to be a big reason that they’ll be back.

The reality is the offense didn’t do enough throughout the game. The Eagles looked great on their first two drives, and they couldn’t do anything thereafter. They gained 99 yards in the final three quarters. Part of that falls on Foles, who missed some passes he needed to make. Foles was locked in early — he was a big reason the Eagles jumped to a 14-0 lead — but he went cold quickly.

The running game also had much to do with it. This is going to be a key area to address during the offseason. The Eagles aren’t good enough in the backfield. Of course, they were supposed to have Jay Ajayi this season.

I thought the defense had a good day. I’m not letting the defensive players off the hook for third-and-long conversions they allowed, and they needed to play better overall on third downs (Saints went 8-for-15) and in the red zone (Saints were 2-for-2). But the Saints scored only 20 points — it was their third-lowest total in a game Drew Brees played this season, and their worst of any of his home games. The Eagles forced a turnover and had two sacks. Hold the Saints to 20 points, you should be in a position to win.

And they were. That it didn’t happen will sting, as the last game does for every playoff team except the one that hoists a Lombardi Trophy. This was a team built to repeat – that’s why the Eagles added so many veterans to a Super Bowl roster. So they fell short of that standard.

However, it’s hard not to be impressed with how they salvaged what seemed on its way to be a lost season. They turned 4-6 and 6-7 into being one of the final eight teams. There are 31 teams that end the season without a Lombardi Trophy, but I think reaching the second weekend of the playoffs deserves credit.

There will be time in the coming days and weeks to dissect the season. The offseason will come quickly — the combine in February, free agency in March, the draft in April. It starts today, though, which is later than it once seemed but sooner than they wanted.

Doug Pederson was asked about this after the game. The Eagles liked the look they had and the play worked: They got the ball to an open Alshon Jeffery. He missed the pass, but the play didn’t fail because they rushed it.

You could argue their concern should have been milking the clock there, and I would be there with you. There was no need to rush. On the flip side, they weren’t close enough to know they’d score. I could see both arguments. If it was a failed play because they rushed it, I’d feel strongly about going to the two-minute warning. But they got Jeffery open. If he caught that pass, the Eagles would have been in good position.

And I hope you fell asleep.

I actually thought the opposite through much of the season — the Eagles started slow and then played better in the second half. In fact, they were last in the NFL in first-quarter scoring this season with 41 points. It was the opposite Sunday, when I thought Pederson came out with a good script.

After those first two drives, the offense stalled. The lack of a running game had something to do with it and Nick Foles missed some throws, but I don’t think the problem was predictable play-calling. There were plays to be made: Foles missed an open Golden Tate and Nelson Agholor, as examples. Earlier in the season, I thought the scripted plays were a problem. Not so much Sunday.

Good question. I’ll need to review the game to have a better idea. But I have to imagine that was a factor. Brandon Brooks is an elite offensive guard and one of the Eagles’ best players. He’s been so durable this season. He tore his Achilles tendon, which is a devastating injury any time of the year, but it’s especially problematic for the Eagles that it happened in January.

When will he be able to return? That will be a big question this offseason. Brooks is a difficult player to replace.