I personally have been a long time Eagles supporter, I have plenty of friends that are Eagles fans and I may consider them my second favorite team behind the Saints. Yesterday’s game was summarized effectively by one of the announcers saying at the end “that was some ugly football”. The Eagles looked dismal yesterday at best. The offensive line looks pathetic, Demarco Murray is not gaining yards, and every time Sam Bradford gets hit the Eagles front office has a mini heart attack. The pass defense looked awful and could not guard Terrence Williams for most of the game. Demarco Murray rushed for 2 total yards and unlike last weekend, failed to find the endzone. Sam Bradford’s QBR was a 5.3, you read that correctly 5.3. So now to any NFL fan and especially Eagles fans; is it time to realize the Eagles are not a Super Bowl contender.
Long Shots
The Eagles started off 0-2 and since 2009 only 2 teams have simply made the playoffs. The Eagles are in the same boat as the Seattle Seahawks who also started off 0-2 and to top it all off the Colts also started off 0-2. 3 of the Super Bowl favorites have all flamed out in the opening weeks of the 2015-16 season. Plenty of Eagles fans have been all over Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford in all forms of the media. The ultimatum as far as the Eagles goes is the fans are passionate because they want to win. I am not saying that in a bad way but the Eagles have yet to win a Super Bowl. Any of the NFC East teams very well know this and not having a Super Bowl is agonizing to fans. You never want your team to lose a big game but the Eagles lost a nationally televised game of the week against one of their biggest rivals who lost their starting QB and Dez Bryant. Now as far as fantasy goes plenty of people are asking is it too early to burn the Eagles bridges like DeMarco Murray, Sam Bradford, and Jordan Matthews.
Fantasy Impact
Honestly you can say I was slightly bias towards the Eagles this offseason but literally every expret had them doing quite well and their big 3 of DeMarco Murray, Sam Bradford, and Jordan Matthews leading the way. This has literally all been turned upside down, DeMarco Murray has literally looked pathetic so far this season. Whether you want to blame the offensive line or not, ultimately Murray is not playing like the leading rusher he was last season. Whether you want to believe it or not Chip Kelly, you are using Murray wrong. Chip Kelly’s plan was to take DeMarco and fill him right into the LeSean McCoy role. There are 2 major issues with this plan. The biggest of the problems is the running style Murray and McCoy each use. LeSean is a side to side runner that likes to turn the corner and get outside down the lines. Being brutally honest, Murray is nothing like this. Murray has always been a guy that goes up the middle and then goes from there. This may be because Chip Kelly knows his offensive line looks awful but ultimately he is using Murray wrong. As many of you know I was expecting Sam Bradford and Jordan Matthews to have phenomenal fantasy seasons this year. Jordan Matthews has been playing efficiently but if Sam Bradford can not step it up Matthews will not be able to sustain his current 12.0 points per game average. Bradford has thrown 4 interceptions and just 2 touchdowns which looks awful on paper. Bradford has scored 19 total fantasy points this year and fortunately I did drop him and add Carson Palmer. Waiver wire targets aside, Sam Bradford has a lot to prove this year and he is not adding to his resume.
Verdict
Get rid of Sam Bradford. Add a better more consistent guy like Marcus Mariota or Andy Dalton who can both score more points than Bradford on any given week. I personally would hang onto DeMarco Murray for a little while longer but if you are getting trade offers do not be hesitant to pull the trigger. Jordan Matthews has played pretty well so far this season and if he keeps it up he will have a good fantasy year. Overall the Eagles need to have a good week 3 or they will likely be criticized even more.