Both the Eagles and the Dolphins have had disappointing seasons so far. The Eagles are desperately trying to stay afloat in the NFC East with a 5-6 record while the Dolphins have been a trainwreck with only two wins on the season.
On offense, Miami ranks 27th or worse in every meaningful category including points, yards, passing yards and rushing yards per game. And on defense, they’re just as bad. They rank 30th or worse in points, overall yards and rush yards allowed per game. The only bright spot is that they are 22nd in the league in defending the pass. That’s hardly something to get excited about as a Fins fan.
The Eagles aren’t quite as putrid on offense as the Dolphins are, but they certainly aren’t doing great. The only thing they do above average is running the ball, where they rank 12th. In every other offensive category, they rank in the bottom half of the league.
On defense, though, things are a little more optimistic. They are great at defending the run, ranking fifth in the league in that category. They’re in the top half of the league in points, yards and passing yards per game as well.
But the truth of the matter is, stats are just white noise when it comes to this matchup. If Philly is the team they keep telling everyone they are, they have no business losing to a team that, earlier in the year, was seemingly trying to do everything they could do not win games.
At the end of the day, if the Eagles come out of this with a loss, no amount of closed-door, “team-only” meetings can save them. Losing to the Miami Dolphins at the point in your season when your team should be rounding into playoff shape is inexcusable, and that’s no disrespect to the Dolphins.
Brian Flores is still learning all the nuances of being an NFL head coach. Spending only one year as a defensive coordinator with the Patriots clearly did not set him up for future success. He needed more time to hone his skills and master his craft. But being a coordinator in New England immediately launches you to the top of the potential future head coaching list and almost every single one leaves too early and doesn’t have nearly the success that they were hoping for.
When you have to choose between eternal journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick or the unproven Josh Rosen, the expectation for immediate success has to be tamed. Even with all his shortcomings, Flores can only do so much with the talent, or lack thereof, that he’s working with.
On the Eagles’ side, there’s no excuse for how their season has unfolded. Turmoil every week. Current and former players airing the teams dirty laundry. A receiver who may or may not be using burner accounts to throw shade at his own team. Philly preaches that they all want to have fun, but sometimes, you have to reign in the antics and get down to business and win football games.
Fun is great, but winning is better.
With Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffrey all limited in practice this week, it’s going to be another tough outing for Carson Wentz who, even when he had a full arsenal to work with, has looked shaky at best all year. Further, Jordan Howard has been ruled out. Wentz needs to take this opportunity to show his fans and the NFL world that the Eagles didn’t keep the wrong quarterback this offseason.
And he will.
The Eagles will come out and look like the team everyone thought they would be coming into the season. Will that just be the result of playing such an inferior team? Nobody knows. But a win is a win and at this point in the year, Philly is grasping for any bit of momentum they can as they try to snag a playoff spot.
Prediction: Philadelphia 27, Miami 17
