By Michael Heilman

The Philadelphia Eagles, coming off a bye week, returned to action Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champions the New England Patriots at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles played without a lot of their starters, including Alshon Jeffery and Jordan Howard.

Unfortunately, the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots 17-10, dropping their record to 5-5 for the season. Carson Wentz went 20 for 40 with 214 passing yards and one touchdown. Eagles running back Miles Sanders rushed 11 times for 38 yards. Eagles tight end Zach Ertz led the team in receptions with nine catches for 94 yards. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert was the only person to score a touchdown. The one bright spot of this game was the Eagles defense. With Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby back and healthy, they made a difference out there as the defense kept the Eagles in the game. The defense did their part; the offense didn’t.

After the game, some Eagles players like Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz kept saying, “We need to play better.” We’re now heading to week 12 of the season, with six games remaining. Time is running out not just for the team, but for some players as well.

In my last post, I discussed that the Eagles needed to make changes during their bye week. They need to look to the future and not the past. Sunday, Eagles left tackle Jason Peters returned to the starting lineup. But like what has happened to him for quite some time now, he got injured, and rookie tackle Andre Dillard came in for a few snaps. Peters did return to the lineup later on. While Peters has done a great job over the years, he is consistently hurt and should not be in the starting lineup. Andre Dillard is the future left tackle of the Eagles. He can’t improve just sitting on the sidelines; he needs to be out there playing. He has done a great job protecting Wentz’s blindside when given a chance to play.

He isn’t the only one though, the Eagles during the bye week brought back Jordan Matthews for the second time. While Matthews is only 27 years old, he is not in the long-term plans for the Eagles. The Eagles have a wide receiver on the practice squad who deserves a chance to play, and that is Greg Ward. For those who don’t know Greg Ward, he played quarterback at Houston then transitioned into a wide receiver. During the Eagles game, the game-winning play came from Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman who threw a touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett. Edelman played quarterback at Kent State before becoming a wide receiver. Greg Ward can be that guy for the Eagles, and he is just sitting there waiting for his opportunity.

TEMPE, ARIZONA – MARCH 10: Greg Ward Jr. #84 of the San Antonio Commanders runs with the ball in the first quarter against the Arizona Hotshots during the Alliance of American Football game at Sun Devil Stadium on March 10, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/AAF/Getty Images)

Greg Ward spent time on the Eagles practice squad in 2017 and 2018 before he got to show what he could do when he played for the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football. He was targeted 40 times and had 22 catches for 214 yards. Plus, he also scored a touchdown on a punt return. He could be doing this for the Eagles right now instead of sitting on the bench watching Jordan Matthews get another chance.

It’s not only the play on the field or the injuries that have hurt the Eagles this year. It’s the fact that the front office and coach’s loyalty to veteran players has hurt this team the most. The coaching staff on this team will put aging players first before the future. Do you want to know why the Patriots are consistently good every year? They know when its time to say good-bye to older players. Their loyalty only seems to lie in Tom Brady who is a consistent performer. When he digresses and can no longer perform he will gracefully exit. The Patriots front office plans ahead every year and knows how to draft and sign free-agents. There is a reason why they are the six-time Super Bowl champions.

The Eagles are similar to the Patriots in many ways. They are very good at signing free-agents, and trading for players like Jordan Howard. They have hit on some draft picks like Carson Wentz, Miles Sanders, Fletcher Cox, etc. The Eagles front office knows how to put a winning product on the field. The difference between the Eagles and Patriots is the Eagles are too loyal to aging players, and the Patriots are not except Tom Brady.

If the Eagles want to get back to the Super Bowl, they must learn not to be loyal to aging players; after all, this is a business. They trust them too much and don’t look at what they have in front of them. They have great young players that can be the cornerstone of this franchise in the next decade. Andre Dillard, Greg Ward, JJ Arteaga-Whiteside, Carson Wentz, Miles Sanders, Jordan Howard, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, and the other young stars are the beginning of the nucleus. One that, if consistently played, could position the Eagles to be a contender in the next decade, heck maybe even becoming the Patriots of the NFC. Until they learn to let go of the past and say hello to the future, the Eagles will continue to be a mediocre team at best.