NFL Reactions: Collapse Complete

The collapse of the Eagles is one of the more puzzling anecdotes in the history of defending Super Bowl champions, even when factoring for the substantial handicap posed by Carson Wentz's absence in the first two weeks. The particular way their season's ambitions ended – an emphatic beatdown in a highly-anticipated matchup that was known in advance as a do-or-die scenario – could hardly seem less likely based on what was assumed a few months ago.

For a presumed elimination game to end in a 48-7 loss is normally the look of a quitting team, especially when the team carries the expectations of a Super Bowl winner. That didn't happen, but that fact all the more highlights how bizarre it is that Doug Pederson – the first coach to figure out how to successfully ambush the Patriots, and with Nick Foles of all people – couldn't get his Wentz-led offense to score more than a single touchdown. Even the run defense that was so historically good until as recently as a couple weeks ago imploded summarily, allowing Mark Ingram to stomp his way to 103 yards and two touchdowns in what could go down as his top rushing performance of the season.

Pederson is almost certainly still a very good coach, and Wentz is doubtlessly a great quarterback despite completing just 19-of-33 passes for 156 yards and three interceptions against a New Orleans pass defense that probably isn't good, but an outcome like this implies that Philadelphia has some real issues to sort out, issues that might not have been alleviated even if Wentz had played since Week 1. Philadelphia's extensive injuries in the secondary were of course a huge setback through no fault of their own, but the pass defense was trash all year even before the injuries struck.

Perhaps the departures of Frank Reich (offensive coordinator) and John DeFilippo (quarterbacks coach) zapped a bunch of the bandwidth that Pederson would formerly have the freedom of allocating toward quality control measures that he was unable to in 2018, or perhaps the league has adjusted to Pederson's methods and he finds himself charged with the task of finding successful counter-adjustments. The Eagles will be in position to compete immediately again in 2019 for the mere fact that they have Wentz, but they'll need to improve their defensive back personnel and might need to find a new left tackle, too. They might miss the third-round pick they exchanged for Golden Tate on the assumption of a playoff run that never happened.

• The only promising showing from the Eagles in that game was Josh Adams, who totaled 53 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against a Saints defense that defended the run very well this year. Adams has a lanky, upright build for a running back and might not be able to serve as more than a rotational runner as a result, but his pure running talent is clearly of a standout quality. Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood are not serious long-term assets at running back, so the competition for the 2019 starting role could be surprisingly friendly to Adams.

• The safe assumption is that Mark Ingram's opportunity level spikes upward the less competitive the opponent. It seemed a safe assumption that the Eagles, with their season on the line, would be a substantially competitive opponent. I shied away from Ingram by that reasoning, but it was horrifically wrong. The Eagles were grounded from the start, and the Saints smartly gave Ingram extended run to preserve Alvin Kamara for an opponent more worthy of his time.

• That might be the best game of Tre'Quan Smith's first few years in the league, but that's only because his usage is ambiguous or even capped in an offense that resolves to channel itself through Kamara or Michael Thomas as much as possible. Smith is an adequate or above average athlete with a standout natural skill set as a downfield wideout, meaning he'll likely do reliable damage on whatever basis Drew Brees decides to throw it his way.

• Lamar Jackson's starting debut Sunday was definitely my most anticipated appearance of 2018 to this point, and it was mostly a success as he led Baltimore to a 24-21 victory. It wasn't the kind of game I specifically hoped for, however, because the offense Marty Mornhinweg called is not at all sustainable. I don't know if Jackson was under-prepared after spending who knows how many practice reps at receiver over the year, or if Mornhinweg simply didn't trust Jackson with an expanded playbook, but Jackson wasn't really allowed to throw downfield, finishing 13-of-19 for 150 yards and an interception. Those numbers are fine enough at a glance, but not when you account for Jackson running 27 times otherwise. He cannot be running more than he throws, and it discourages me that the Ravens called a game plan like this instead of one that resembles how Jackson will need to play if he's going to be a viable starting quarterback in the NFL. Now, I have no doubt Jackson is more than a viable starting quarterback in the NFL, but if this is the best Mornhinweg and John Harbaugh can do, then it'd be good for them to leave this offseason as expected. Jackson is surely raw as a passer at 21 years old, but you don't even give him a chance to develop unless you give him serious passing reps. He has a cannon arm with a quick release that should open up big downfield opportunities with the rushing threat pulling in the safeties. The Baltimore game plan from Sunday was self-defeating as it sought to hide Jackson as a passer.

• Some might have thought I was joking when I said earlier this year that I considered Gus Edwards a bigger threat to Alex Collins than Javorius Allen, but I was totally serious. Edwards is a big back who posted conspicuously explosive numbers at Miami (FL) before persistent injuries robbed him of opportunity, and if healthy I really thought he could match or exceed Allen as a runner just because Allen set the bar so low with his career 3.7 YPC. I didn't consider today's events a serious possibility, however. Collins finished with just 18 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while Edwards bruised his way to 115 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Ty Montgomery is a threat to see further implementation into the offense since he's such a good checkdown target, so Edwards' emergence really might make Collins just about toast. I think it's likely to be a seesaw sort of dynamic between the two, so Collins should have his moments at least, but knowing when either runner might do something useful could prove difficult.

• Ryan Fitzpatrick's profound deficiencies as a red-zone passer caused him to go off the rails Sunday, and now it appears we somehow have Jameis Winston back in the starting lineup, again. Both quarterbacks have their respective issues, and turnovers generally is one they have in common, but Winston could provide actual standout fantasy utility at quarterback since Tampa's pass defense tends to provoke catch-up scripts reliably. With a deep group of pass catchers to go along with the bad defense, the volume theoretically coincides with favorable throwing conditions. Winston's reintroduction is good news for Adam Humphries and bad news for DeSean Jackson.

• If the Giants had much foresight they would have signed Teddy Bridgewater this offseason just for the long shot chance that he bailed them out of the quarterback conundrum they were left with as a result of drafting Saquon Barkley over Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen. Between Barkley, Odell Beckham, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram, the Giants offense might have been as strong as a top-five unit with Bridgewater throwing instead of Eli Manning.

• That Atlanta vs. Dallas of all games turned out to be a slugfest was somewhat annoying, though I guess I should know by now that reality is liable to invert from any given moment to the next in the NFL. Not only did Matt Ryan deal with uncharacteristic struggles in the home venue where he's normally automatic, but Dak Prescott was significantly worse yet (22-of-32 for 208 yards) despite playing against an Atlanta defense that folded at almost every opportunity prior to Sunday. Prescott's poor game meant a wasted opportunity for Amari Cooper, who saw just five targets after combining for 18 in his first two games with Dallas. The Falcons might have won if they had given Ito Smith's six carries (10 yards) to Tevin Coleman (58 yards on eight carries).

• The Lions got the win, but they still seemed pointedly dysfunctional. Carolina only really lost because Graham Gano missed a 34-yard field goal and an extra point attempt, so Detroit is lucky that they were able to win despite Matthew Stafford throwing for just 23-of-37 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown. Kerryon Johnson is likely to miss some time with a knee injury he suffered after running for 87 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, so Detroit's issues only figure to get worse. At least between the Golden Tate trade and the injuries to Johnson and Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay is locked into extreme usage after claiming 14 of Stafford's 37 targets.

• D.J. Moore is very impressive in a lot of ways, yet his skill set as a receiver still is far from polished. At the moment he's mostly dependent on manufactured touches or otherwise simple routes, yet he's demonstrating enormous upside anyway. He won't turn 22 until April, so the route-running aspect of his game could still develop yet, but in the meantime it seems like he might be capable of above average production even if he remains underdeveloped in that part of his skill set. Moore's ball skills and after-the-catch abilities make him profoundly dangerous in space, and if he can learn to create downfield separation he could be a true menace for defenses.

• The Jaguars had a 16-6 lead going into the fourth quarter, yet despite their best attempts to hide Blake Bortles (18 pass attempts), they still couldn't make the clock run out fast enough. Leonard Fournette might be an injury liability for the duration of his career, but it's beyond foolish to question his talent, including as a pass catcher. He led the Jaguars in receiving yardage (46 on two catches) in addition to running for 95 yards and a touchdown against a tough defense. Keelan Cole's unceremonious retirement is one of the more underacknowledged surprises of 2018, but it makes sense for the Jaguars to turn to rookie D.J. Chark so they can develop that game-breaking speed of his.

• With six more sacks Sunday, that Pittsburgh defense is a real problem. They're so much better than they were at the start of the season, and they've really mastered the practice of wrecking the offense with the blitz.

• Alex Smith's gruesome injury is a disturbing bummer, but Colt McCoy can probably meet the standard of play the Washington offense had grown accustomed to with Smith. Turnovers will presumably be a greater risk with McCoy, but the playmaking might be a slight improvement.

• Demaryius Thomas' disappearance (one target) was exceedingly bizarre, even if we concede that Keke Coutee is a good receiver, which he certainly seems to be. I still wouldn't cut him if you own him, but it's admittedly easy to imagine him offering little or no actionable fantasy value the rest of the way. If that's the case, though, I think you corner yourself into optimism for Coutee, who could very well merit it.

• The Titans in 2018 are the most ridiculous team I've ever seen, and mostly in depressing ways. With Marcus Mariota apparently re-injuring the throwing elbow that had been such a persistent yet nebulous problem all year up until a couple weeks ago, whatever flicker of hope the Titans generated with their recent victories has burned out already, and for good this time. The Mike Vrabel coaching regime does not seem capable of building a coherent identity with this team, instead showing an ability to occasionally successfully adjust their tactics from one game to the next, but never in a way that stays ahead of the curve. The range of outcomes the Titans have shown this year defies belief.

• Eric Ebron saw none of Andrew Luck's 32 targets. Frank Reich is doing a very good job with the Colts – he's done what I hoped LaFleur and Vrabel would do in Tennessee – but his handling of Ebron looks like one of those cases where an otherwise smart coach gets away with a dumb practice just because the other coaches are too inept to make him pay for the error. Andrew Luck is scorching right now, but Ebron's combination of length and athleticism would make the field bigger with T.Y. Hilton the only other vaguely explosive receiver on the team.

• Cardinals fans have something of a Catch 22 on their hands. It's in their interest to see Arizona lose as many games as possible in the most disheartening fashion imaginable in their remaining games, because Steve Wilks is clearly an inept coach whose reign in Arizona will serve as nothing but setback, and Wilks might get another year in Arizona if the team shows promise in the final weeks. On the other hand, we don't want it to get so bad that it traumatizes or otherwise harms Josh Rosen. If you have a good coaching staff this franchise could bounce back in a hurry. David Johnson is still the guy we thought he was all along, while Christian Kirk is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the best receivers in the game.