Eagles coach Doug Pederson spent most of his day-after news conference fending off questions about whether he was guaranteeing a win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the failed trick play he tried just before halftime that featured kicker Jake Elliott as the passer or how his team can’t find the end zone in the first quarter of games regardless of the opponent.
Doug Pederson said at his news conference on Monday that he did not guarantee a win over the Cowboys Sunday in Dallas. Photo by Al Thompson
This was the subject matter that dominated a press gathering that was supposed to go over the Birds’ (3-3) brutal 38-20 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Pederson made it clear that his statement on a radio show Monday morning was not him guaranteeing a win over the reeling Cowboys, who are riding a three-game losing streak as they head to the key NFC East showdown on Sunday Night Football (NBC, 8:20 p.m.).
“Never said that. I never said that,” Pederson said. “Never said guarantee a win. I’d never do that. No.”
When directly asked the guarantee question about what was it about his team that makes him so confident his team can go to Dallas and win, the fourth-year head coach talked about the feedback he’s getting from fans and observers around Eagles Nation.
“I also said that people on the outside of this building think the sky is falling and everything is just crumbling,” Pederson said. “We’re tied for first place in the NFC East. We have a great opportunity against a great football team on Sunday night to go down and attempt to win a football game. Our goals don’t change, to try to go 1-0, and you put the tape on this morning and you watch it, and we’re just missing on a couple little detail things and obviously it starts with the coaches and it starts with me.”
Pederson continued. “We have to make sure that there’s great communication in the meetings, in the walk-through and how we practice and what we do in practice to make sure that we don’t make these mistakes in games. For instance, the coverage that we talked about, the blown coverage in the secondary, or the communication up front on run plays or pass protection, things of that nature.
“There’s enough good and positive that came out of this game from that standpoint to get better and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to continue to improve. Again, Dallas is a great football team. They are reeling like we are and they are going to come out and play hard. They always have.”
Pederson reminded everyone how the Eagles fared against the Cowboys in 2018.
“They beat us twice last year,” he said. “We have a lot of things stacked against us going down there, but as the head football coach, I’m going to stand here and show confidence in my football team because that’s what I have. I have confidence in my football team, the guys that are on the football field, and it’s our job as coaches to prepare them, get them ready to play and we go play.”
Pederson said he was just trying to show confidence in his players. He said he was not going to walk back anything he said that morning on radio.
“No, because again, that shows confidence in our football team and I promise you Jason Garrett (Dallas coach) is going to say the same thing with his team that they are going to win the football game as well.
“I’m not going to stand up here and go on record and say, “We’re going to go down there and try to win a game. Man, hopefully we can go win this one. It just doesn’t show confidence and I want to show confidence in our players. We have a ton of confidence in them. We are going to put a good week of preparation in and go play.”
Pederson was asked a number of questions – actually seven – about a fake field goal at the end of the first half that was supposed to be a pass from Elliott to tight end Dallas Goedert. The play was a bust. At one point, Pederson simply butted in on all the questions…”It didn’t work. Bottom line, it didn’t work. Great play by the Vikings. Enough.” OK.
The serious question was about how badly the Eagles’ starts have been this season.
It was suggested that if the Eagles win the toss next week, they take the ball to start the game, instead of deferring, and see if they can get on the board first.
Pederson seemed miffed at the question. When asked if he has thought about taking the ball first, he said, “Yeah.”
When asked to elaborate, he did give an answer.
“Well, it was a yes-or-no question (jokingly),” Pederson said. “Yeah, that’s something I’m going to look at. I think it might behoove us to make a change and then take the ball. Put our offense out there and try to generate points early in the game and not fall behind. I think that’s all part of trying to start fast.”
Pederson was asked again how his team just can’t get started early in games. Was it the preparation?
“So you’re accusing me of not having my team prepared?” Pederson quipped.
The coach was told that it is just a question. Pederson responded by saying there were breakdowns in execution that had nothing to do with being prepared or winning a coin toss.
“Defensively, there was a false start by the Vikings that wasn’t called,” he said. “Those are things that are out of our control. We got caught with 10 on the field. That is in our control. So those are things that we can fix and those are things that we can correct. Those are things that are keeping us from scoring points besides taking the ball to start the game.”
These are the conversations that go on with teams that are not winning. The Eagles have lost three games this year. Injuries in the secondary have been tough, real tough. But a lot of the reasons for losing are self inflicted.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they are playing a team doing worse. The Cowboys have lost three in a row after starting the season 3-0.
Dallas lost to the Jets last week 24-22 at MetLife Stadium. The Cowboys had the misfortune of playing New York the first week having their starting quarterback back. Sam Darnold shredded the visitors for 338 yards and two touchdown passes.
Dallas was also missing three big pieces of its offense: starting tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins, plus standout receiver Randall Cobb.
The Jets defense had a big day as the Cowboys offensive line gave up a sack, eight quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss.
Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick talked about the impact of having those guys miss the game.
“Honestly, it’s hard to say,” Frederick said at his locker after the game. “Obviously, I haven’t seen the film yet. As far as I know, both tackles did a pretty good job on the outside as backup guys stepping in there. It’s admirable. But when you’re missing the starters on both sides, it’s tough. It’s a hard situation to be in. Those guys are clearly starters for a reason. We’re looking forward to getting them back.”
Eagles fans can only hope they don’t. ••
Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii
