Philadelphia Eagles' Season Done in by Self-Inflicted Wounds

The Philadelphia Eagles have nobody to blame but themselves for missing the playoffs this season. They weren't necessarily an inferior team; they simply shot themselves in the foot one too many times.

The Week 16 elimination game against the Washington Redskins was emblematic of the Eagles' whole year. It's not that they got outplayed or outcoached the way one might assume of a 38-24 defeat.

The difference was two completely avoidable turnovers. It was numerous dropped passes. It was constant pre-snap penalties that killed drives.

It was all individual mistakes, the type that seemingly has more to do with focus than talent—the type of plays that plagued the Eagles all season long, from Week 1 all the way up until the bitter end.

As a result of their two fumbles lost, the Eagles are now tied for the league lead in giveaways this season with 29. Both were completely avoidable. Tight end Zach Ertz didn't have the ball secured while fighting for extra yards. Running back DeMarco Murray didn't look a pitch all the way into his hands and left the ball on the carpet, which Washington scooped up and returned for a touchdown.

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

While there is no official count for dropped passes, Pro Football Focus had the Eagles down for eight against Washington, the most notable of which was by rookie receiver Nelson Agholor in the end zone. Again, this is not a new problem. PFF has this team's skill players down for a total of 45 drops for the season, or three per game—which may even be a conservative count.

Penalties often tend to get lost in the shuffle compared to some of these more damaging plays, but they're right up there. The Eagles had eight total for 45 yards in the loss to Washington, several of which erased gains or put the offense in unmanageable down-and-distance situations. The pre-snap variety has been the most consistent, as the club is tied for the fifth-most pre-snap penalties with 43, according to NFLPenalties.com.

All of these types of plays are avoidable, yet they happened to the Eagles constantly. Head coach Chip Kelly had no answers for why these blunders popped up continuously throughout the course of the season.

"I wish I had the answer to that, then we would stop it," Kelly said of the miscues. "Obviously, we're not doing a good enough job coaching them."

There's one more specific area of self-inflicted wounds that hurt the Eagles this season, and that is special teams, specifically as it relates to the kicking game. How many outcomes were decided because of a missed field goal or extra point? How many games were affected by a blocked punt?

There was a 23-20 Week 4 loss to Washington in which there was a missed 30-yard field goal and a missed extra point that would've been the difference. There was a 20-19 defeat at the hands of the Miami Dolphins that featured a missed 37-yarder and a blocked punt. The Eagles had a chance to take a late fourth-quarter lead over the Atlanta Falcons on opening night, but the 44-yard field goal went wide.

The list goes on. Call it the random bounce of the ball, call it luck, but however you want to look at it, the Eagles haven't caught many breaks.

Of course, that is not necessarily to suggest the team deserved those breaks, either. The Eagles were fundamentally flawed from the beginning. The quarterback needed a year to learn the system. The offense lacked a vertical receiving threat on the outside. The offensive line was a patchwork crew anchored by an aging left tackle. The defense was a complete and utter mess.

Yet despite all of their flaws, the Eagles had every opportunity to enjoy a winning season and reach the playoffs. They have nobody to blame but themselves, because most of the mistakes that cost them games were self-inflicted.

Quotes obtained by the author.