Bryce Brown's Valiant Effort Couldn't Save the Eagles from Their Seventh Straight Loss

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Panthers 30, Eagles 22.

That's seven straight losses.

On the plus side: Bryce Brown. The rookie rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries for an average of 9.4 yards per attempt. He also fumbled twice, but considering everything else he did to keep the Eagles afloat and the scene in the stands from ever turning as ugly as expected, hats off to Brown on the debut. As for everything else ...

Nick Foles was a competent enough manager — going 16 of 21 for 119 — though he got lucky in the early stages on two passes thrown into coverage and wasn't really asked to do much of anything.

Although Brown was having a great deal of success, it was somewhat surprising to see Foles — or any Eagles quarterback — play such a limited role, as the run plays outnumbered the pass plays. Plenty of fans, writers and analysts are probably wondering where this sort of commitment to the run was when LeSean McCoy was actually available to carry the ball.

And the defense, they gave up 28 or more points for the fifth straight game.

See that guy soaring through the air and breaking the plane in the picture above? Cam Newton scored all four of the Panthers touchdowns Monday night, throwing for two painfully easy scores in the first quarter and rushing for two more later on in the evening. This is the same guy who's been having mini-meltdowns at the postgame podium as of late. Nice of the Eagles to give him a bit of a boost.

If there's anything that puts the night, the losing streak, the season in perspective, it's this nugget from Roob Frank. If you've been on "Jorrick Calvin watch" this year, you'll know the Eagles haven't had a kick return longer than 35 yards since Calvin did it during the 2010 season. Brandon Boykin broke one off late, with the Eagles trailing by eight, but...



That fumble gave the Panthers their final possession of the game, allowing them to run down the final 4:29.

Obviously, we'll have more in the morning — Kulp will get his say — but in the meantime, as far as immediate analysis goes, it's hard to really be upset anymore. That seems to have been the prevailing wisdom down at the Linc. The anger and the passion and the general will to even complain have subsided.

There were no doubt those who made their voices heard Monday night, but judging from the wide-angle shots toward the end of the broadcast, empty seats were doing most of the talking.

Three wins, eight losses, and five more games to go. The season has been long over. Now we just have to wait for it to end.

Until then, we'll keep trying to make heads or tails of this rookie quarterback from Arizona. There's always something, right?


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