Cheesesteak

Two turnovers, one that finished as a touchdown for Philadelphia, but a chance to at least force extra time against the reign champions. That adds a wrinkle to the conversation that might otherwise be brushed aside just because of the outcome. It's a results business so not putting much time into the overcoming of those self-induced problems is defensible decision but I think it's also too negative considering the totality of the game.

Now that that has been said, where to begin

Many, maybe most, will go to Carson Wentz as the problem today. If not for the turnovers that he was mostly responsible for, it may have gone differently at the Purple Palace. He has to wear that, no question.

Unlike some of the other turnovers that are on his ledger these were primarily on him - for example a tipped pass that gets taken away, that only technically is a quarterbacks fault. But as a veteran should, he rallied from those early errors to keep the game from getting out of hand.

It could have been even closer if O'Connell had been less cute with his play calling when the team had one yard to get after first down which would have give them first & goal at the five or closer. Calling one pass play, ok, maybe it could have paid off. But coming out of a timeout to try that twice was just stupid.

As much as any of the calls made by the offense, that pair of choices determined the eventual outcome. Nearly 3.5 years as a head coach, he still can't seem to bring himself to just make the simple play call.

The other glaring issue is a new one as Philadelphia's offense tore the secondary apart.

Or maybe, considering the lack of coverages, they tore themselves apart.

No real way to know from the outside which mistakes happened as DeVonta Smith & AJ Brown were repeatedly wide open.

Being that it was the first time this season that passing has been the kryptonite maybe it will prove to be an anomaly but it was clearly the third strike against the team this day.

So those are the negatives

What about the positives?

TJ Hockenson was a review away from having one of his best halves since coming to Minnesota while Justin Jefferson & Jordan Addison continued to be super friends.

None of it would have been possible without quality protection by the OL, with the exception of Blake Brandel who showed his level of inexperience going as the center. With Ryan Kelly on IR and possibly never to return because of all the concussions he's had in the last 15 months the middle of the OL remains a question mark - maybe they should have kept Bradbury as insurance after all.

Outside of that the group was as healthy as they have been this season and it showed as Wentz was only sacked twice even as the championship line continued to bring pressure. Perhaps the delay in getting McCarthy back on the field has something to do with wanting that five to get as much cohesion together as possible before he returns November second against Detroit. It's just a theory but why would they not want the best from the hand-picked quarterback for the stretch-run of the season? Would not surprise me one bit if it factored into the thinking with QB1.

Let's not forget the best draft pick that KA-M has made to date - Will Reichard. Five field goals is a loss many times but he continues to be nails whenever he's called upon!

Now maybe he can miss one in a game that's already decided just to avoid the Gary Anderson-ness.

C-

The second half saved it from the toilet but it was still below average in total

C

3-3

.500

Average

Onto Thursday night

What say you?