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The plan to sabotage his own team worked perfectly (if that was indeed the plan).
Doug Pederson took the talented but flawed Philadelphia Eagles, who had played inconsistently through six games, and put a bullseye squarely on their backs.
He predicted a victory on the road, on national TV, playing for first place in the NFC East, before facing their arch-rival Dallas Cowboys.
The response?
You guessed it! It fired up the Cowboys but good.
And his Eagles?
They didn’t even bother to show up Sunday night, losing 37-10.
It’s the kind of coaching you would expect from Pat Shurmur or whoever is coaching the Jets, not someone who somehow won a Super Bowl just two seasons ago.
In other words, pathetic.
Pederson certainly didn’t lead a Super Bowl run by using bush league tactics like predicting victory to try to psych up underperforming players.
“This team is mad. They’re upset, and they’re disappointed in how we’ve lost these last two games,” he told the media Wednesday. “They are embarrassed obviously from the other day, which is good. It’s not good that you lose, but it’s good the fact that they’re taking ownership of it.”
You know who else should be embarrassed? The coach who made a really dumb decision by predicting victory when his team can barely beat the Washington Redskins.
Maybe the Cowboys (4-3) aren’t as good as they should be. And maybe Jason Garrett doesn’t coach them as well as he should.
But at least he hasn’t stooped to pathetic motivational techniques that backfire spectacularly.
The Eagles (3-4) are talented enough to win this division. And if they do, it will be despite The Visor, not because of him.
They’re underperforming again, just as they did last season when we all blamed injuries and the dreaded Super Bowl hangover.
No more excuses. Pederson should take his own advice and take ownership of his failures.
Here’s the other need-to-know news around the NFC East this week.
Dallas Cowboys
You want to know how to begin a story, kids? Well Blogging the Boys’ Danny Phantom shows us how:
Take a bow, Phantom.
You know who also should take a bow? Barely legal offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who once again looks like a boy genius with his play-calling (no comments out of you, Tony Romo).
All of Dallas’ problems may not be solved with one victory, but its talent cannot be denied. It is the only team with a player in the top five in passing (Dak Prescott), rushing (Ezekiel Elliott) and receiving (Amari Cooper), RJ Ochoa reports.
Add that trio to one of the best offensive lines in the NFL — when healthy, of course — and you get something really special when things are operating at peak efficiency.
Like they were Sunday night against Pederson’s Eagles.
Now, you could go to the School of Doug Pederson, talk tough before the game and make an arse out of yourself. Or you can talk after the game — write this down, Doug — about how badly you needed to win. You know, show then tell.
That’s what the Dallas players did Wednesday, Cole Patterson informs us.
“This team needed this,” Elliott said. “This team definitely needed this win, especially in the fashion that we did it. Get some momentum for the season, get some momentum going into this bye week so we can close this season out right.”
Cooper, agreed, but took a different tact, keeping it in perspective.
“I don’t know if we proved much, you know,” he said. “We obviously won a very important game, but we still have that ‘backs to the wall’ mentality.”
Instead of, you know, having your own coach put your backs against the wall, like Pederson did.
Not only did the offense and defense impress, but the Cowboys even received some special teams love!
Kicker Brett Maher, who booted a 63-yard field goal in the victory, was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Ochoa reports.
But let’s not get too crazy.
How crazy?
Crazy like David Howman thinking Prescott is still an MVP contender.
That’s something Pederson would say.
Philadelphia Eagles
As you already know, the Eagles are mad, upset and disappointed. But what are they going to do about it?
Well Alexis Chassen explains.
“[Pederson] also talked about the messaging this week, and the head coach talked about how the coaches have to put in just as much work as the players to improve.”
Hey, he finally got one right! Indeed, lots of coaching improvement is needed in Philly this week.
So what exactly went wrong Sunday night? Well, just about everything. Michael Kist breaks it down. How about starting with allowing 27 first-half points — the fifth time in seven games the Eagles allowed 20 or more in the first two quarters.
Definitely check out Benjamin Solak dropping some impressive knowledge on ya via a telestrator in this link too.
Could Josh Gordon, he of the recent injured reserve placement, be coming to a Linc near you? Brandon Lee Gowton explains why it makes sense for all as the New England Patriots have tired of him.
If you’re too lazy to click on the above link I kindly provided, well, I’ll give you a hint: One reason might be DeSean Jackson still has not returned.
Yes, I just wanted you to click on another link. (So do it.)
BTW, Malcolm Jenkins ain’t no (anonymous) snitch.
How badly have the Eagles performed? They’re underdogs Sunday heading into Buffalo. Yes, the Bills are 5-1, but still.
It’s Buffalo.
Washington Redskins
So Washington plays the Minnesota Vikings (5-2) tonight in Minnesota.
We all know how it’s going to end, don’t we?
But Hogs Haven’s Scott Jennings has all the pregame info for ya in case you want to hurt yourselves that badly, DC fans.
Chris Thompson and Vernon Davis are no-gos, and Josh Norman is questionable, Jennings tells us. But Adrian Peterson, he of the grade 1 high ankle sprain and grade 2 low ankle sprain, is confident he will play.
Why not?
How can Washington (1-6) fix its offensive line? It’s a good question. Things are so bad, Ereck Flowers “has easily been the Redskins best offensive lineman through the team’s first seven games,” Mark Tyler says.
(Yes! He REALLY wrote that!)