There is no music in the locker room after the Eagles’ lackluster loss to the 49ers abruptly cut short their title defense on Wild-Card weekend.
Instead, the soundtrack goes like this: clap, CLAP; clap, CLAP; clap, CLAP. It’s confusing at first, there was little to applaud in the 23-19 upset. But it’s not the sound of congratulations, it’s the sound of goodbye. Over and over players approach one another grasp hands (clap) to pull each other in for a half hug and a slap on the back (CLAP).
“I was emotional coming in here, just knowing that the guys I came in with, it’s not going to be the same,” Reed Blankenship said.
Saquon Barkley, the Eagles star running back who finished the game with over 100 rushing yards but also a couple key missed catches, said he came into the day “super confident” the team would figure it out when it mattered most.
But in the end, after it became clear that the inconsistency that plagued the offense was the identity of the offense, he had to admit: “It’s been the same thing all year, we just didn’t do enough.”
Barkley defended the play calling, which seemed uncreative and even timid at times.
“I don’t think we were playing conservative,” he said. “I think it comes down to execution.”
And on Sunday, the execution fell frustratingly just short in a perfect encapsulation of the season-long middling malaise.
So how will the 2025 Eagles — a team with Super Bowl aspirations but a lack of explosive offense — be remembered?
“I think everyone will just remember this game,” Blakenship said.
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