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The Philadelphia Eagles' season is over. Okay, not really. They still have to travel to New York next week for a date with the Giants. But by virtue of their 38-24 loss to Washington, the Eagles will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. As with many games this season, it was a sloppy affair. The offense was anemic for most of the game, the defense couldn't get crucial stops, and overall sloppy play doomed the Eagles.
Let's take a look at who played well, and whose performances may have cost the Eagles in their most critical game of the season:
Winners
Fletcher Cox: On a night where so much went wrong, it feels right to start by acknowledging what a beast Cox has become. Just days after being named to his first Pro Bowl, Cox racked up seven tackles two sacks, bringing his season total to a career-high 9.5.
Cox demands a double team on every play, and both his sacks came on plays where he simply overwhelmed his blocker. The Eagles will need to re-sign him in the offseason - quite simply, he's the engine that drives the defense.
Zach Ertz: Putting Ertz in the Winner's Circle is more a comment on the state of the Eagles offense and less a nod to his play. Yes, he had a statistically impressive night. Heck, 13 catches for 122 yards is a nice night no matter what. But he also had a handful of drops.
His quarterback can't do it all on his own, and Sam Bradford found a connection with Ertz on Saturday night. But it simply wasn't enough. And in fairness, it wasn't all on Ertz - midway through the second quarter Bradford had Ertz about as wide open as any player in NFL history has ever been... and overthrew him. Such is the state of the 2015 Eagles offense.
Losers
Kiko Alonso: The Eagles' most heralded linebacker has been up and down all season, but had his worst game of the year against Washington. It's hard to single out the most problematic areas: he was slow in coverage, missed a half-dozen tackles, and was generally ineffective all night. Unfortunately, it wasn't just Alonso.
Clearly Cousins and the Washington coaching staff saw a linebacker corps that could be exploited, and did just that. Tight end Jordan Reed had a field day, catching nine passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Maybe Alonso just needs more time to recover from his ACL injury, but it hasn't been the year anyone envisioned for the former Buffalo Bill.
Nelson Agholor: Like Alonso, Agholor's night was indicitive of the kind of play we'd seen from him all season. He had his moments - he had a nice 18 yard grab earlier in the game - but that was about it. He finished the day with only one other catch for 17 yards. Otherwise, it was more of what we've seen all season. He had a handful of drops, and was a nonfactor all game.
It's likely that this season is just a case of the rookie jitters or a steeper than expected learning curve. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that the Eagles were counting on Agholor to deliver and was barely able to produce this year.