There is an old expression in sports: character is only tested when the circumstances are dire. Today was the first time this season that the Philadelphia Eagles had their character tested as the team was blown out 42-19 against their conference rivals: the San Francisco 49ers. This will be the first chance this season to see how the younger players on this elite Philadelphia Eagles team respond to adversity as the Eagles will remember this loss well into the postseason.
Philadelphia Eagles players get emotional during Devastating Loss
Adversity is never a fun experience to deal with in sports whether than is a brutal injury or an embarrassing loss to a rival. Standout Eagles rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter clearly took his biggest loss as a professional hard as he was seen in tears on the side line toward the end of the big loss to the 49ers.
I guess they learn it from their head coach. We have Eagle players on the sideline CRYING because the 49ers are talking trash. This is absolutely insane #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Er9n9miWPM
— Ernie (@es3_09) December 3, 2023
JALEN CARTER IS IN TEARS LMAOOO
THIS REALLY WAS PHILADELPHIAS SUPER BOWL IM CRYING pic.twitter.com/AfVd96fEfz
— 🐺 (@rangebrothas) December 3, 2023
Jalen Carter was crying on the sideline…
Emotions are high this game for sure.
pic.twitter.com/6Z6KExT2Vj— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) December 4, 2023
Twitter reactions show fans’ ugly side
While it is easy to be critical over the internet, the above twitter comments show Carter’s tears in a negative light that is detrimental to men in sports. Everyone has played in a game at some level where you find the score humiliating and want to cry: people may not want to admit it but if you haven’t cared enough about the game to show an emotional reaction, it simply means that you don’t care.
Carter has had a tremendous season where he is the obvious favorite for the rookie of the year award as he has stepped into the starting defensive tackle role with the Eagles and flourished. As a 3-technique defensive tackle, Carter has managed to get three sacks and two forced fumbles on a defensive line where the talent is so exceptional that his game time is limited. Carter is clearly an emerging superstar and will be a force to be reckoned with for a long time coming.
Hard Feelings between the Eagles and 49ers
A lot of the animosity between the Eagles and the 49ers is attributed to a contentious conference championship last year in Philadelphia where the Eagles humiliated the 49ers. The 49ers were dealing with a long list of quarterback injuries as Brock Purdy went down with a substantial injury. There was an ensuing twitter battle including star receiver Deebo Samuel and former Eagles safety C.J. Gardner Johnson that established a lot of animosity between these two teams.
A big reason that fans might be so harsh of Jalen Carter in this situation is without a doubt the way that the 49ers felt after that game. The 49ers needed to validate their performance last year which established this game as a sort of revenge game for the 49ers. While Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce recently stated on his podcast that he doesn’t believe in revenge games, there are certainly games were players bruised egos cause them to treat a regular season game like the super bowl.
It might be a good idea for the 49ers to show a little more magnanimity after this big win because they will still most likely be playing the conference championship in Philadelphia. After this reaction by fans against Jalen Carter, the Eagles fans certainly won’t be pulling their punches afterward.