NFL insider notes: Eagles' crushing loss will haunt them, big Texans changes on the way and more from Week 10
Carson Wentz's Eagles were supposed to be ready to take over the NFC Least, but the Giants whipped them

There was no loss more significant, and potentially more crushing, than what the Eagles absorbed Sunday. They had a chance to take a stranglehold on the NFC Least, and come off a bye to sweep a divisional opponent, get back to .500 and set up a very interesting set of circumstances in the second half in a wide-open NFC.
And they blew it. They got whipped by the Giants, who may suddenly be the team to beat in this atrocity of a division. Carson Wentz remained a problem. The Eagles defense came up small once more, with every level except the defensive line struggling too often this season. They once again were shaky to start a game, they could not recover and this loss, coupled with a tie earlier this season to the Washington Football Guys, has really made the landscape of this division incredibly murky.
Make no mistake, this 27-17 defeat could haunt them for quite some time.
Consider me among those who fully bought into the narrative that this was the most talented team in the division, with the best roster by far, and it was getting healthy out of the bye with a chance to make some power moves. I was all about it. The time away would be good for Wentz and he could rest his body and rest his mind and come back refreshed and calm ... yeah, not so much. It was more hyper, overly kinetic stuff from the former MVP candidate. It was inconsistent. Far too often it was, simply, bad.
It was a wild Week 10 Sunday, and there's a lot to go over. John Breech, Ryan Wilson and host Will Brinson break it all down on the Pick Six Podcast; listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness.
Wentz started slowly, the Eagles couldn't complete drives and their first touchdown, which came early in the third quarter was all Boston Scott. Wentz would not see the end zone with a pass or run, himself, and went just 21 for 37 for a paltry 208 yards and a sad rating of 72.8. Yes, this Giants defense is rapidly improving by the week, and, sure, the Giants have been looking much more competitive the past five weeks or so.
But you also have to wonder what the outcome might have been if the Eagles rode the run game more frequently. Miles Sanders has been a spark plug all season when healthy, and rushed 15 times for 85 yards against a Giants team that looked vulnerable in that regard. Scott had three runs for 63 yards. Thirty-seven attempts; 19 rushes by their running backs. They somehow managed to go 0 for 9 on third down. Hmm.
Meanwhile, the Giants rolled up 36 carries with Daniel Jones -- the sneaky-fastest guy in the NFL -- scoring on a long sprint and racking up 64 yards on his own (Jones is threatening to join Mike Vick as the only QB to average over eight yards per carry for a season in the modern era). Wayne Gallman wasn't super sexy, but got tough yards when they needed it, converting a huge leap at the goal line, and they stuck with him, feeding him 18 times. It was keep-it-simple-stupid stuff. Jones avoided a turnover -- his biggest bugaboo -- and now the Eagles have lost any cushion they built, and the scrutiny and angst will only intensify in a town that is famous for it.
Opportunity lost. The Least remains wide open.
Don't kid yourself: Big changes ahead for Texans
Romeo Crennel is not going to be the next head coach of the Texans. Jack Easterby is not going to be their general manager. That's not why they shelled out big bucks to a search firm and that's not even what either of those individuals would really be focused on at this stage of their career.
Not happening, Not being considered.
Crennel has been there, done that with taking over tear-downs and he is doing the organization a great service, again, by leading them through the remainder of this lost season, long ago doomed by outgoing coach/GM Bill O'Brien. But this is going to be a rebuild, there is an ongoing GM search, and that GM, along with ownership, will pick a coach. Anything else is pablum.
This isn't an inside job and this won't be an inside job. Easterby's role remains to be seen.
Crennel is one of the most beloved people in this game. Universally liked and respected. But that is a massive chore ahead for this floundering franchise and new ideas and fresh perspectives are badly in need. The defensive line needs a total overhaul, they are short of linebackers and the secondary is pretty bad, too. And they need a few starting offensive linemen and a running back and, by 2021, new receivers. Otherwise, yeah, just roll out the same team and keep the staff around and try to go 0-16 next year.
The Browns outmuscled them as most opponents do, churning them up on the ground. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both went over 100 yards and on a day when the wind negated anything sustained downfield, the Texans were overmatched. Don't let the final score fool you. This is a 2-7 team that was down 3-0 late in the first half and had a fourth-and-3 from the Cleveland 30 and opted to punt (long field goals were a non-starter in these conditions). Let that sink in. According to @SurrenderIndex, that was in the 99.9th percentile of all "cowardly punts" in the league this season and in the 99.8th percentile of all cowardly NFL punts since 2006.
Don't kid yourself. Big, big changes remain ahead. Promise.
Another heartbreaking loss for Washington
The WFT has won six of its last 32 games. Gulp. Good luck changing the culture and changing the scoreboard. Amazing second half from Alex Smith in his first start in over two years, with a monster second half nearly pulling off a comeback win from down 24-3. Smith got more comfortable as the game went on after a tough time early on, but it ends up another heartbreaking loss and a defense that looked like it might be turning the corner got exposed again.
More Week 10 insider notes
- Pretty big bounce back for Tom Brady and the Bucs. They outclassed the Panthers in the second half. You figured Brady wouldn't be bad two weeks in a row, and, well, 28 for 39 for 341 yards and three TDs ain't bad ...
- Teddy Bridgewater had a pretty awesome first half himself (14 of 17, 111 yards and two touchdowns) but this was all dink and dunk and YAC and Carolina still needs a lot of work on defense ...
- The Packers defense still gives me great pause. They are a suspect bunch. Jake Luton kept an overmatched Jags team in this thing til the very end despite brutal conditions. This isn't exactly a group that brings a whole lot of new wrinkles and ideas every week, and I really have a hard time identifying anybody as the team to beat in the NFC ...
- I still don't see the Drew Lock thing. Too many picks. Too many slow starts. Forces balls too often ...
- Another sluggish start from the Steelers offense. It's all fits and starts with them. Nothing particularly smooth or sustained. Not having Big Ben at practice due to COVID-19 is a factor, I guess, but he would be getting some veteran rest anyway. Yeah, they seem to be able to ramp it up when need be, but this is the third straight week the offense was stagnant in the first half, and this time against one of the worst defenses in the NFL ...
- Is it just me, or are there more truly awful teams this deep into the season than ever before? Wonder what the record is for teams with four wins or less in a season? It might be in jeopardy.
















