This Eagles season hasn’t been good.
Blame whoever you want. It’s not good.
The Birds come into Sunday’s game against the Dolphins at 5-6. Somehow, they’re just a half-game behind Dallas for first place in the NFC East.
And with a game against Miami today, you’d think this is a golden opportunity for the Eagles to climb back into a tie with the Cowboys.
Don’t get too excited just yet.
This season bears a striking resemblance to the 2015 season. And that’s not a good thing.
Eagles vs. Dolphins Preview
A win today puts the Eagles at 6-6. And there’s no better opponent — outside of the Bengals — for the Eagles to face right now than the Dolphins.
The game’s in Miami but it’ll probably sound like a home game. The Fins struggle to get fans in the stands and this is one of those dates Birds fans plan vacations around.
But again, don’t get too excited before the game thinking this will be the one that rights the ship.
Let’s look back to the 2015 season to draw some parallels.
The 2015 season was also the last time the Eagles and Dolphins met. It didn’t go well for a struggling Eagles team.
Philadelphia came into the game at 4-4 halfway through the season. This year, they’re 5-6 and things are looking eerily similar to this fateful year.
The 2015 Philadelphia Eagles vs. 2019 Philadelphia Eagles
The 2015 season would end up being Chip Kelly’s final year with the Eagles. His run as coach would end in disaster.
Remember, he was fired a week before the end of the season. He allegedly ordered players to skip owner Jeff Lurie’s annual Christmas party to attend a practice ahead of a must-win game with the Redskins.
Believe it or not, at 6-8 coming into that Redskins game, the Eagles still had a chance to win the division and make the playoffs. They didn’t, of course. They got pounded, 38-24, a week after getting humiliated by the Cardinals, 40-17. Lurie had seen enough and canned Chip.
Nick Traded vs. Nick Walks
That was only the last of many bad decisions Chip made that year. The first came at the beginning of the season. That’s when he shipped Nick Foles to the Rams for Sam Bradford. And he sent Shady McCoy to the Bills for Kiko Alonso.
Neither of those terrible deals worked out, initially.
In 2019, the Eagles seem to have made a similarly stupid decision. This time, rather than getting something for Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, they let him leave in free agency to Jacksonville.
Now, we’re stuck with Carson Wentz and his inability to move the offense forward with any regularity.
They Keep You Hanging In
Even at 5-6, the Eagles still have a legit shot at the playoffs. That may not be a good thing when you look at the team’s performances this year. A playoff appearance may not go well. Then again, it seems the Eagles play better against superior competition and worse against the bad teams.
Four years ago, it was worse than this year (at least so far). Imagine going into a game at 6-8 with a shot at the playoffs. That’s what the Birds did in 2015 and they could be headed in that direction this year, too.
The Dolphins Game
If you missed the Dolphins game in 2015, you would have known how the end of the season was going to go, despite the possibilities.
With a chance to win the game at the end, backup quarterback Mark Sanchez – yeah, 2015 was that kind of year – turned the ball over in the red zone, costing the Eagles a chance to at least kick a game-winning field goal.
Instead, Birds lose 20-19.
Prediction: Eagles vs. Dolphins
Maybe we’re off base here. But it’s hard to ignore the similarities between this season and the last time the Eagles and Dolphins played.
The Dolphins finished that season at 6-10. The Birds finished 7-9 and out of the playoffs.
As much as we think the Eagles are going to get on the right path this season, we’ve seen more evidence this isn’t going to happen.
This Dolphins game has “missed opportunity” written all over it.
Canary Pick: Dolphins 20, Eagles 18
Eagles vs. Dolphins Fast Facts
The 2019 Philadelphia Eagles season in a GIF nutshell.
- Miami leads the all-time series 8-6
- Philadelphia vs. Miami happens every 4 years since 1999
- Eagles have won 3 of 5 against Miami
- In 1994, the Eagles and Dolphins met in a fictitious Super Bowl game for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
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