The Eagles won a game. “Wow, great for them” says most people, but this is an especially important feat considering it was the first time they had won in two months. They were riding an eight game losing streak, but now they have bounced back. Well, at least a little bit.
A win against the Buccaneers isn’t the greatest win in the world, but a win is a win. It was the Eagles’ fourth, and they could still potentially finish with a 7-9 record, which isn’t completely awful. Yes, they have played pretty bad and deserve to finish more around the 4-12 mark, but anything can happen. The new guys on the Eagles are really starting to come around and show that they can perform, especially rookie QB Nick Foles.
Foles came out in his first start and was blown out by the Redskins. He then suffered two more losses as the starter, not proving to anyone what he was actually made of. But after leading the NFL for the week in passing yards and even getting a rushing TD, he showed he has some serious talent. Yes, again, this is the Buccaneers we are talking about and they’re not the greatest, but they do have the number one run defense in the league and the extremely slow Foles was still able to score on the ground.
As for rookie RB Bryce Brown, he had a reality check last Sunday. He posted about a half a yard per carry on twelve attempts, which is just putrid considering he put up over 300 yards in his first two games combined. Brown didn’t fumble though, which is a positive, but he really didn’t get the ball enough to have a chance to lose it. There were multiple times where he probably could’ve been stripped had there been an extra tackler, but he was too busy losing yards anyway. But as he later said, he’d much rather take a win and a poor statistical performance than a great individual game and a team loss.
So, the Eagles really need to ride their small momentum from here. Yeah, it’s only one win and they are starting a ton of rookies and other young guys in a season that no longer matters postseason-wise, but they are playing for pride and their jobs next year. They all need to prove themselves, and these next three games are going to be the pefect opportunity to do so. Many new players could gain a lot of playing time next year if they can show they deserve to see the field.