Bowen: Eagles think key to success will be finishing what they start

EVERYBODY, including the Eagles, wants to see the offense take more shots downfield, but offensive coordinator Frank Reich made a really good point this week.

The bigger reason for the overtime loss Sunday night wasn't so much that the Eagles dinked and dunked - that was what Dallas' defense wasn't really set up to stop. The problem was that the Birds didn't dink and dunk efficiently enough to win a game they could and should have won, with just another field goal, even, before overtime. This touches on the familiar subject of drops, and on penalties, though the flags have fluttered at least a bit less over the past few weeks.

The Giants vary their defensive setup more than Dallas, but efficiency is still a relevant point heading into what might not be a high-scoring game Sunday. And, of course, we know that Carson Wentz's receiving corps hasn't magically become a group of deep-threat burners, even with the addition of Bryce Treggs for what Eagles coach Doug Pederson indicated would be a limited package of plays, following Josh Huff's dismissal from the team.

"We still talk about it each week - how do we get our matchups? How do we get the ball down the field?" Reich said. "In general, most offensive teams go in saying you want to take one shot per quarter . . . You want to at least call one of those, but you don't want to force it."

Reich said the Eagles wanted to control the ball last Sunday, at least in some degree to keep the Cowboys' potent offense off the field.

"For three quarters of that game, it was playing out. Not pefectly - we left a lot of plays on the field. We could have scored more points. It wasn't pretty, but we were controlling the time of possession. Our defense was playing good, and it was a pretty good formula," Reich said.

But in the end, the Eagles stopped grinding out first downs, and lost.

"That's where, at the end of the day, you're sick, and there's no answer. There's no answer that's going to make any of us feel any better, make our fans feel better. We just, as a team - as a team - have to finish those, whatever it takes," Reich said. "Whatever it takes, we have to keep fighting and scratching and clawing and finish these games, and win a close one."

Wentz agreed that Dallas' soft coverage led to all the underneath passing. "Yeah, it's kind of frustrating. You want to take those shots, but at the same time, I thought we were playing pretty efficient football. We just didn't finish."

Wentz added that the offense needs to find "that killer instinct."

"(Being unable to score) late in games is the biggest thing that's getting us," he said.

Shots down the field are "all about the flow of the game," Wentz said. "Obviously, it's important at times, but you want to take calculated risks. That's partially the offense we are - just kind of, stay on the field, move the chains, take the chances when they're there. Some games, they just haven't been there.

"It is important, but it's not something that's going to make or break us. I don't think we'd have these discussions if we'd just finished the game on Sunday."

Center Jason Kelce said he agrees that the focus coming out of the Dallas game should be on eliminating mistakes that killed drives, not so much on going up top.

Right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai said he expects to see both Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon, since the Giants move their defensive linemen around. Vaitai said he's feeling more and more confident each week, with three games' worth of replacing suspended Lane Johnson under his belt.

"After the first game (the disastrous loss at Washington, matched against Ryan Kerrigan), I talked to myself - 'This is not you, man. You're not going to be in the league if you keep playing like that.' It's either go hard or go home."

Stefen Wisniewski will start at left guard for the first time since joining the Eagles, with Allen Barbre out after having pulled a hamstring early in the Dallas game. Wisniewski did a solid job in relief.

"It's definitely a lot easier than going in the game cold, being able to practice all week," Wisniewski said. "Just getting more comfortable."

Linebacker/special teams cog Kamu Grugier-Hill again will not play because of his hamstring problem, Doug Pederson said. Defensive tackles Bennie Logan (groin) and Taylor Hart (ankle) will be game-time decisions, he said. The Eagles haven't filled Josh Huff's roster spot yet, and it could be that they are pondering using it this week for something other than a wideout - maybe, say, DT Aziz Shittu.

@LesBowen

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