Two Sides to Every Story
At the risk of repeating myself in my attacks on the local media, I cannot stop snickering at the breathless coverage last week of the first – and only – interception thrown by quarterback Jalen Hurts in the entire 2024 Eagles training camp.
Wow. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore must be a miracle-worker. He transformed Hurts from a blitz-assaulted loser, 32-9, in the playoff game last January into a combination of Joe Montana and Tom Brady in their primes.
During the first 15 practices encompassing hundreds of throws, Hurts had kept the ball out of defenders’ hands. That’s almost like going the whole season without a pick. Then, on the 16th day, Darius Slay snagged one and returned the pass 30 yards.
What a quarterback!
Where do I buy Super Bowl tickets?
Sadly, I must now end the fantasy portion of this blog post and insert some basic honesty into the insultingly positive coverage of the Eagles this entire summer. Does anyone in the media care about objectivity anymore? Is everyone aspiring to a career in public relations?
I was mulling this odd Hurts interception streak during the unwatchable third (and final) preseason game last weekend when reality smacked me right in the face. As pass after pass by Minnesota’s scrub QBs nestled into the hands of unattended Vikings receivers, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe the Eagles pass defense is the real story here.
Maybe it still stinks.
Need I remind you that the Birds ranked 32nd in covering the pass over the final seven games, six of them losses? Need I point out that no team – not even the bottom-feeders – were as bad at slowing down opposition passing than the Eagles?
Well, someone in the media has to do it, don’t they? (Even if he is retired.) When you report how fabulous the Eagles offense looks in training camp, isn’t it logical to mention that this brilliance came against the team’s own defense?
In that final preseason game, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens – the third and fourth-string Viking QBs – completed 21 of 31 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles recorded zero interceptions.
The problem with the Eagles media coverage this entire summer is the one-sidedness of it all. Saquon Barkley looks unstoppable – yeah, against the Eagles defense. The addition of third receiver, Jahan Dotson, gives the Birds their best WR corps ever – before they have taken a single snap together? The new kids all look great. The old guys look rejuvenated. Even James Bradberry is doing OK now.
If they had their way, most of the lapdogs covering the team right now would end their articles or broadcast reports with a hearty Eagles cheer.
E-A-G-L-E-S!!!
At several points during that final preseason game last week, the broadcasters went down to their intrepid sideline reporter, Dave Spadaro, who conducted his usual upbeat, awkward interviews to kill time between yawns. Dave has done a spectacular job extolling the many virtues – and ignoring all of the foibles – of the Eagles for decades now. He should. He’s a paid employee of the team.
What’s the excuse for the rest of these shameless homers?
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I just looked up the term consumer fraud on Google, fully expecting to see a photo of a ticket from last Saturday’s game between the Vikings and Eagles. It was billed as a football contest. If you watched it, you know otherwise.
As expected, the Scarecrow (Eagles coach Nick Sirianni) kept all of his starters on the sideline for a third straight preseason game. The Vikings mixed in a few of their better players, but they were using scrubs most of the time, too.
- I’m on the record not agreeing at all with the idea of never playing starters in the preseason, but here’s the part that is annoying me the most: In what way is this a product the season-ticket holders should be paying $100 or more per ticket to see?
I know, I know. This is a complaint that goes back at least a generation, how the Eagles (and the rest of the NFL) have gouged their best fans by charging so much for a lame-ass event featuring lots of players about to face their final cut in the NFL.
But the consumer fraud has deepened in the past five years, as fewer and fewer of the stars have ever stepped foot onto the field in the preseason games. Was anyone other than Kenny Pickett’s immediate family hungering to see more of his lousy quarterbacking? Cooper DeJean was the focal point of an entire game on Saturday. Who?
If given a real choice, how many fans would shell out a nickel to see three hours of this dreck?
Jeffrey Lurie, 30 years the owner of the Eagles this season, has led a charmed life in Philadelphia, often portrayed as a benevolent soul locked in on community support and environmental preservation. Most people see him as a good guy, especially because most billionaires are egomaniacal jerks.
But would someone who cares so much about people keep bilking his most loyal fans every year to make himself richer and richer?
As the headline says, there are two sides to every story.