Numb

Posted: October 9th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 155 Comments »

That’s the way I feel right now.

1-4 is utterly frustrating.  The thing that bothers me most is how dumb we play.  There is no situational awareness.  This isn’t about offense or defense, young guys or veterans, or stars or role players.  Everyone is making mistakes.

2 of the most reliable players are Juqua Parker and Jason Avant.  They are guys you trust.  Except today.  Avant had 2 balls taken away from him.  Critical turnovers.  Parker made the biggest idiot mistake of the year when he jumped offside on 4th/inches.  Fitzpatrick was baiting us with a hard count.  10 guys didn’t bite.  JP did.  Veterans can’t make that mistake.  Dumb, dumb, dumb…

I know the fire Reid crowd is going to be out for blood.  Venting is okay, but let’s keep things reasonable.  I don’t want to censor comments.  I want this to be a place where we can share different opinions and ideas.

No one is happy right now.  No one feels good about this team.  That includes Lurie, Banner, Roseman, Reid, and the players.  We just have to hope that this is rock bottom.

The one thing that gives me a glimmer of hope is the way we played in the last 20  minutes of the game.  The defense came alive.  The offense got better.  There was no quit or lack of effort.  If we could bottle up that effort and intensity for next week, I’d feel great about the WAS game.  If…

I was happy to see Jarrad Page benched.  Let’s hope Kurt Coleman keeps that job for now.  He struggled early in the year, but Page was dreadfully awful today.  He had to get benched.  I’d cut him and go get another street free agent or play Jarrett more.  Page has regressed each week.

* * * * *

Highlight moment of the day…seeing the Seahawks upset the Giants.  Gmen trailed 29-25 late.  They drove deep.  Eli was picked in the Red Zone and the ball run back for a long TD.  Final was 36-25.  Misery loves company, right?


155 Comments on “Numb”

  1. 1 Anonymous said at 9:05 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I would like to announce I just came to terms on a 1 year contract with Morton. Terms of the deal are unspecified, but I will be back with comments after I finish throwing up.

  2. 2 Anonymous said at 12:13 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I hope the contract wasn’t written in blood on a velum scroll and involve possession of your first born son.

  3. 3 Steve H said at 12:50 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    The only stipulation of the contract is all comments forthwith on Iggles Blitz must contain at least 75% unreasoning dislike and aggression towards Andy Reid and/or the Eagles front office.

  4. 4 Anonymous said at 2:42 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Only 75%? Pitmanite must have a good agent.

  5. 5 Anonymous said at 9:05 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Your ability to stay so optimistic is unbelievable. I’m genuinely impressed. It’s a nice counterbalance to the massive, massive amounts of negativity I’m used to from Philadelphia sports.

    That said, fire Reid, cut Parker, blow up the team, they’re gonna be 5-11.

  6. 6 Alex Karklins said at 9:14 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Blaming Parker for the loss is ridiculous. Cutting him would be scapegoating a player who was forced into the lineup before he was completely healthy. That will not motivate this team. This loss (and the other 3) is completely on the coaches. I’m solidly in the “Fire Castillo” camp right now while looking admiringly at the “Fire Andy” bandwagon for hiring that buffoon in the first place. Firing Castillo might be the only option at this point.

  7. 7 Anonymous said at 9:20 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    My last sentence was (mostly) tongue in cheek, set as a juxtaposition with Tommy’s admirable optimism. I’ve resisted the Fire Reid bandwagon for 12 years, although I’m getting close to it now.

    I’m fine with making an example of Parker. A mistake that stupid says you have no business playing in the NFL. When EVERYONE from the fans to the coaches to the broadcasters know that they are just trying to draw you offsides, to do so, in that critical of a situation, is inexcusable.

    On a team this undisciplined, someone needs to be made an example of to drive home to others on the team that if they don’t play more fundamentally sound, they’ll be heading to the UFL.

  8. 8 Alex Karklins said at 9:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Would you feel the same about cutting Avant? He had two extremely costly mistakes in this game to Parker’s one. I won’t deny that Parker’s gaffe was inexcusable and boneheaded, but if Avant hangs on to the ball, the Eagles are never in that position to begin with. I’m just not a big fan of scapegoating individual players for what was really a team loss.

  9. 9 Anonymous said at 9:34 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    No, Avant is a more useful player.

    Someone needs to be made an example of. I just watched Parker talk about how this defense keeps “rallying behind their coach.” Now, as Ray Didinger pointed out, that’s ridiculous. But it shows that these guys need a message to be sent to them, and it should either be their coach or one of the players. Start with Parker (and Page). See if that breaks their complacency.

  10. 10 Anonymous said at 10:29 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Entirely different, though. Avant’s mistakes were effort plays. The first one you could say he should have been smart enough to get to the ground, but the second he was just fighting to get the ball.

    Parker’s mistake was completely mental.

  11. 11 Anonymous said at 12:11 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Following your logic the person you really want fired is Maclin. The previous 2 games he lost it for us at the end. Last week he fumbled at the 30 when he should know to hold the ball securely and the week b4 anyone would have caught that nicely thrown pass at the 16 yard line where we could have won at the end. I don’t see the logic of witch hunting, but directly costing two games at the end is worse then someone going off sides to what might have been a punt and then if we did some how get a touchdown, there’s still overtime.

  12. 12 Anonymous said at 12:32 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    No, not at all.

    First, I don’t think putting this on any player is the way to go. I was responding to the comment that put Parker’s mistake on par with Avant’s.

    Maclin’s errors, like Avant’s, were a result of playing hard and trying to help the team win. I can live with those mistakes, although we are making too many of them.

    Parker’s mistake was a player not knowing the situation and preparing himself for what is about to happen. That is not excusable.

    Regardless, Parker, Avant, and Maclin did not lose us the games today or the last few weeks. They might have made the last mistakes, but all the mistakes before theirs created the situation where we were already losing when they happened. To do so is like blaming the last raindrop for the flood.

  13. 13 Anonymous said at 9:10 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The second half was much better, the defense played well then. I just don’t understand why the Eagles keep coming up short in crunch time. Atlanta, San Fran and of course today they made mistakes that cost the game.

  14. 14 Anonymous said at 12:47 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Don’t forget New York.

  15. 15 Anonymous said at 9:12 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Yeah, I’m just flat-out stunned. Honestly, it would’ve been a lot easier if they had just kept the 1st half pace they were on and allowed the Bills to blow them out. Then I wouldn’t have let my heart get back into it, only to be ripped out twice–by the Avant fumble and the Parker bonehead play. I could’ve then focused all of my energy into rabid angry hyperbole about firing Reid, shooting Castillo, castrating Parker or drowning puppies in gasoline.

    Instead I’m just… blank. Sad, dull, numb, blank.

  16. 16 the guy said at 9:12 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Biggest idiot mistake of the year? You sure? There’s a lot of competition for that title this year.

    Ronnie Brown’s pass/fumble at the goal line jumps to mind.

  17. 17 Anonymous said at 9:16 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    JP’s has to take the cake though. You knew that’s what they were trying to do you cannot fall for that. I’m sure Reid and Castillo told the guys 100 times not to bite.

  18. 18 Anonymous said at 9:18 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Relevant point. JP on defense, Ronnie on offense.

  19. 19 the guy said at 9:19 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Also, lest we forget, Coleman not only missing a tackle, but recovering and running downfield to not only miss ANOTHER tackle, but hit another Eagles player that was trying to make a tackle.

    Come to think of it, I seem to remember Page doing something similar in this game right before he got benched for Coleman.

  20. 20 Scott Buchanan said at 9:17 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    If Juan is still the DC 2morow I wont watch another game this year

  21. 21 Anonymous said at 9:19 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Making a change right now wouldn’t make sense. If they want to make a change, you do it during the bye week, which is right after the WAS game.

  22. 22 Scott Buchanan said at 9:23 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    OK I will watch until the bye week..

  23. 23 Aaron N. Smith said at 9:36 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I skipped today’s game, but I’ll watch next week. If they win, I’ll give them a shot – they lose, I’ll tune back in when serious changes have been implemented.

    On a side note, how much will fans love the organization when they trade out of the first round from a top 10 spot next April? They’ll definitely want to stockpile late round picks to rebuild the linebacker position. 🙂

  24. 24 Anonymous said at 11:46 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    That is such a scary thought because of how likely it is to happen.

  25. 25 Scott Buchanan said at 9:23 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    OK I will watch until the bye week..

  26. 26 the guy said at 9:22 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The offense turns the ball over 5 times, leading to 17 of 31 points, but this is still all on Castillo?

    Maybe you can blame him for the missed tackles, although even rookie players should already know how to do that, but this was clearly a team loss.

  27. 27 Anonymous said at 10:48 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Sure – and you can point out that the defense was working with a short field a lot. Those are fair arguments, but at some point, they have to be held accountable. They can whine and complain about not getting help from the offense (not that anyone’s been publicly saying this), but every time I see Asante work frantically to put himself out of the position to make a tackle, or every time I see Jarrod Page run into his teammate who’s making an actual tackle attempt on a WR/RB, it becomes apparent that this defense sucks. We’ve regressed from last year.

    I’m hoping they switch Juan out next week.

  28. 28 Morton said at 9:17 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The worst thing that can happen now is that they win some games and creep closer to .500 before the end of the season.

    Roseman and Reid are thoroughly incompetent and must not be given another chance to plunge this franchise further into the abyss.

    Lurie must hire a competent General Manager and Head Coach if he wishes the Eagles to remain relevant. He must avoid being blinded by any meaningless “progress” made later in the season. Regardless of any wins accumulated down the stretch, Reid must be ousted.

  29. 29 Anonymous said at 9:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    “The worst thing that can happen now is that they win some games and creep closer to .500 before the end of the season.”

    That is complete and utter bullshit, even coming from you. We need to win as many games as we can, fuck higher draft picks or fear of not firing everybody. What kind of idiotic fan wishes his team to NOT win games. I guess the answer is a person who is in fact not a fan

  30. 30 Anonymous said at 9:39 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    What does winning accomplish? Remember in 2005 when we won that meaningless game against the Rams? If we lose that, we have a shot at Haloti Ngata instead of taking Broderick Bustley. Not sure if the Eagles would’ve taken Ngata, but we would’ve had the chance.

    Rooting for the Eagles to win from here on out is irrational. They need to lose.

  31. 31 Anonymous said at 9:42 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    That idea is wrong though, why root for losing? It’s one thing if you are officially out of the playoffs and winning does nothing but the season is still young. So much for Tommy censoring boards though lol.0

  32. 32 Anonymous said at 9:51 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Logically, it makes more sense to root for them to lose individual games from here on out (or, if that’s not something people like, then to ignore them).

    My goal is to see the Eagles win a championship. That is likely going to require them to go 9-2 the rest of the season and then win 4 (likely) road games. Impossible? No. HIGHLY unlikely? Yes.

    The rational response is to hope they lose games while scoring high draft picks they can use to take quality players. Meanwhile, I’m going to hope to see individual players continue to grow and become excellent football players.

    Not really sure why an argument based on avoiding emotionalism to be a rational fan would need to be censored…

  33. 33 Anonymous said at 10:03 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I understand the logic in wanting the team to lose, but as irrational as it might be I just think it’s fundamentally, completely wrong to want your favorite team to lose, no matter what you gain by it. I can’t really give any arguments because as you said it’s an emotional thing. I don’t care if in game 16, we lose we get #1 pick, we win we get #2, I’m rooting for us to win.

  34. 34 Anonymous said at 10:08 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I agree completely, nicolaj. Thumbs up to you, sir.

  35. 35 Anonymous said at 10:17 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    That’s fine, but I don’t see any emotional satisfaction to making it LESS likely to win a championship. Different strokes for different folks and all, but I am not a fan of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles. I’m a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, and I care about what is best for them.

  36. 36 Anonymous said at 10:07 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I would rather see that though, if the Eagles end up 1-10 and in no contention at all then yeah screw the last 5 games. But until the Eagles are out of contention it is hard to root for them to lose.

  37. 37 Anonymous said at 10:20 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    It’s just mathematics. To be likely to snag a wild card berth or win the division, they need to play the rest of the season at the pace of a 13-3 team. If it takes 11-5 to get a WC (as it did last year) they need to play on the pace of a 15-1 team!

    Do you see this team as either a 13-3 or 15-1 team? Their flaws seem to systemic to be either of those.

    That said, I can certainly understand if you think they can go 10-6 and snag a wildcard or the division. But if they lose next week, the season IS over. It’s not early anymore.

  38. 38 Anonymous said at 10:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I agree that the Skins game could be the nail in the coffin so to speak. But I’ll hold out hope, yes they have flaws, but they have been in every game. They just need to play a complete game start to finish, there have been good stretches of play, just way too much inconsistency.

  39. 39 Anonymous said at 10:37 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Except losing begets more losing. It can take a long time to turn around an organization that has become accustom to losing, even worse one that accepts it.

    Besides, rational fan(atic) is an oxymoron.

  40. 40 Tom Gryn said at 10:58 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Agree. I remember something Stan Walters once said about the early Vermeil years along the lines of “sometimes you have to win, then you learn how to win.” The reverse also happens, with franchises like the Bengals for example, who’ve lost so regularly that it sets up a corrosive atmosphere that perpetuates across coaching changes. That’s why I don’t buy the “all we need to do is go 1-15 and we’ll turn it around” – no, more likely is you stay out in the desert for many seasons while trying to figure out how to get back to the playoffs again.

  41. 41 Eric Weaver said at 11:26 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The Bengals problem is the owner. Nothing more. He refuses to invest in the scouting department.

    The fact that he wanted to hold onto Carson Palmer and allow him to retire, rather than getting any pick at all, is proof in the pudding.

  42. 42 Anonymous said at 12:23 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Except that’s not true. I’d love to see some proof on that, but it’s simply not true.

    In 2009 12 teams had losing records. In 2010, only 7 of those same teams still had losing records. How did losing lead to more losing?

    Or you might remember the two losing teams of the Andy Reid Era which begat… playoff teams.

  43. 43 Anonymous said at 1:47 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I would content that none of those teams accepted or embraced losing. I can say with certainty that the Eagles teams did not.

    What was suggested was that we should lose out to get a good draft pick. When players give up and quit on a coach, the coach gets fired. I can’t think of a single occurrence where a coach was in favor of losing. If it worked, teams would take advantage of that tact on a regular basis.

    Players are human, with pride and habits and the culture of the organization is important. Abstract chess-piece or Madden ideas just aren’t realistic.

    On the converse, find me a single example of a team that lost on purpose, then turned it around when they chose.

  44. 44 Anonymous said at 3:59 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    The discussion was whether we should root for them to lose, not whether they should throw games like the 1919 White Sox.

    This team isn’t trying to lose now and they’re doing a good job at it because they aren’t good at playing football. If they just keep it up, we’ll be fine.

  45. 45 Anonymous said at 9:18 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Tommy, how did Watkins play today?

  46. 46 Anonymous said at 9:21 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Didn’t focus on him too much. Seemed to do okay.

  47. 47 Anonymous said at 9:22 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    TOMMY:

    On review, I think you’ll find:

    1. Watkins played very, very well — except for the untimely hands-to-the-face penalty. Otherwise, this was different guy from 5 weeks ago.

    2. Nate Allen had easily his best game. He actually looked explosive in the 2nd half. The Eagles defense really turned it around as Allen’s play improved in the 2nd half.

    3. The Eagles played much more 2 and 3 technique on the D-line. They looked a lot more like the Colts (pre-2011).

    4. Juan’s play calling seemed to improve in the 2nd half. Maybe it was because the players executed better. Maybe because Buffalo eased up a bit.

    5. The LBs still are struggling — including your son Brian (sorry). But, again, in the 2nd half, at least Chaney seemed to pick it up.

    Otherwise, I leave it to you.

  48. 48 Anonymous said at 9:27 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Nate Allen had a solid game. Not great, but did look like his best showing of the year. We need him to step up.

  49. 49 Anonymous said at 1:01 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Definitely seemed to me like Buffalo eased up when they hit 28

  50. 50 Anonymous said at 9:22 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Not looking for a scapegoat – you don’t have to look far – but the one no-brainer cut is Page. The whole point of having Page on the roster is as a veteran stopgap when you have young safeties. Now there’s no point to having him whatsoever. They have 5 safeties on the roster that they don’t want to put in now. Allen made a few good plays. Maybe give Anderson a shot and/or bring Jamar Adams back.

    Castillo’s D improved after halftime so he will probably get another week to prove himself.

  51. 51 Anonymous said at 9:26 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I didn’t even get far enough into your post to see your note on Page. I just turned my computer on to vent. That’s really a no-brainer.

  52. 52 Jack Wesson said at 9:27 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I would say I’m similar to numb, I’m kinda in that “let’s just stop talking about it” phase. Ok, we’re gonna be 5-11 or 4-12, let’s just watch the games, gnash our own respective teeth, and wonder what Mad Libs of testicle kicks the eagles are going to cook up this week. I don’t care who anybody else thinks we should fire mid-season, or what ridiculous roster move everyone wants to do, I just want to note the scores, be depressed until Tuesday and then go on with my week.

  53. 53 Anonymous said at 1:52 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    “Mad libs of testicle kicks”

    Great line!

  54. 54 Anonymous said at 9:27 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    There are a few problems with firing Castillo midseason, for one any replacement would have to be in house, I don’t know that you get much improvement there. Also it’s still not fair, as bad as they have looked you don’t fire a guy half way into his first season. Plus look at how the defense played in the second half, much better.

  55. 55 Anonymous said at 10:54 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I generally agree with not firing people mid-season, but Juan should never have had the job in the first place. He’s not the right guy for it and it’s insulting to fans that Andy Reid would trot him out as the DC for a team that came in to the season with super bowl aspirations.

    Look at what happened with Wade Philips last season. The Cowboys go from 1-7 (we could legitimately hit that this year) to 5-3 and get some measure of continuity going into the off season. Yea, we’d need to find the right guy to replace Juan, and until we do, there’s no point in just subbing in some JAG to run this D, even though I have a hard time imagining that being worse.

  56. 56 Gregory Post said at 9:30 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    TLaw a lot of people are calling for Reid’s firing but they only have half of a plan. The other half is who would be a suitable replacement, and would it even be worth it? Even though Gruden worked with the WCO it doesn’t mean he’s going to turn the team around with it. Dungy usually relies on his offensive coordinators and is more conservative in his approach. Maybe Reid is at fault but those who call for his job should have a better idea of who would be adequate to replace him and whether it would work 5 games into the season.

  57. 57 Anonymous said at 9:54 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I’m not on the Fire Reid train, but I think if you are going to fire him now would be the time. Assuming that is the decision, I’d like to see Marty take his turn at the helm for the rest of the season. I don’t necessarily think he’d be a good HC, but I’m intrigued enough that if the season is already lost I’d like to see what he can do.

  58. 58 Gregory Post said at 11:26 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Marty’s decision making scares the life out of me. I can remember what happened with him in Detroit and I would hate to see that here too. Obviously Castillo was a dumb choice but Reid didn’t want to fire somebody with longer tenure than he did to replace him with Mudd, a very well respected line coach. Its clear they’re not the answers. People too often forget how privileged we are to have a coach that consistently takes us deep into the playoffs. Look around the league and you would be hard pressed to find many coaches like that. But this team has hit a very solid wall and I think even Andy is stumped on how to fix it. It really just comes down to Mike Vick and the Defense, because lets face it, Mike isn’t the same and the talent on defense is there but its not being utilized. I’m all for keeping Reid but MAJOR changes need to be made elsewhere.

  59. 59 Anonymous said at 12:30 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I agree on your big picture points, but I think Marty gets criticized too much for his time in Detroit. I don’t think anyone short of Bill Walsh would’ve been able to succeed in that environment. And even the one decision that he’s roundly mocked for is one that was made from a sound process (just a dumb outcome).

    I’m not saying I think he will be a good coach, but if Andy were to ever leave midseason, I’d like to see what he can do.

  60. 60 Dewey said at 10:22 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    No way anyone is advocating Tony Dungy. That cannot be happening. And Gruden? Are people insane?

  61. 61 Gregory Post said at 11:21 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Remember that Dungy built two teams in Tampa and Indy that competed for Super Bowls and the Mike Vick connection is there. I don’t know why Dungy wouldn’t be plausible, but we don’t have the personell for Dungy’s conservative offense and Tampa 2 defense to fit here. Dave Toub makes some sense due to the Philadelphia connection working under John Harbaugh. Maybe Winston Moss. Nobody is getting fired until at least the bye week and unless the Eagles lay a massive egg against the Redskins, I doubt there will be any.

  62. 62 Anonymous said at 9:41 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Maybe I am way off but I honestly have disliked Parker for years now, and questioned why he kept making the team I don’t think he’s particularly good, and if I’m the coach he’d have been cut before the clock expired

  63. 63 Anonymous said at 9:47 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Screw the losing for a high draft pick and for the good of firing everyone notion. It’s 3 weeks until Halloween! We’ve played one division game! I am not ready to root for the redskins or the cowboys in the two of the next three weeks. I’ll wait until december to decide whether I’m ready to root for a high draft pick and a new coach.

  64. 64 Anonymous said at 9:48 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Plus I’m going to the Arizona and Jets game this year. I’m ready for us to make a nice comeback so we can be let down, but not until later.

  65. 65 Anonymous said at 9:51 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    You are right, way too early.

  66. 66 Anonymous said at 9:52 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    This game was lost early and often. Avant and Parker didn’t help matters, but they certainly didn’t lose the game. I’d like answers on…

    -The pick six. Did Vick get hit when he threw or just not see the linebacker?
    -3rd down defensive calls – they attempted 1(?) pass greater than 15 yards the whole game… why not press the slants and anticipate the screens?
    -2nd quarter, 3:22, 4th and 4 on the Buffalo 37, down 21-7. Punt? Why make a field position move when you desperately need points?
    -Onside kick to start the half. We lucked out because the refs weren’t ready, but unlike the previous scenario at the end of the half, giving the Bills the ball on our own 45 would have ended the game much more quickly.

  67. 67 Anonymous said at 10:17 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    You forgot the infamous field goal debacle at the end of the second quarter.

  68. 68 Anonymous said at 11:46 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Did Vick get hit?

    Wasn’t that the play where his helmet flew off from the (uncalled) helmet-to-helmet hit?

  69. 69 Anonymous said at 12:27 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    “Onside kick to start the half. We lucked out because the refs weren’t ready, but unlike the previous scenario at the end of the half, giving the Bills the ball on our own 45 would have ended the game much more quickly”

    Actually, the Bills scored a TD on the first drive of the second half anyway, so maybe giving them better filed position would have left us with more time at the end. 🙂

  70. 70 Jon Blank said at 9:55 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Nobody can defend Reid anymore. This team is poorly constructed. They come out unprepared and sloppy in a must win game. The Castillo decision continues to be embarrassingly terrible. The vets are making stupid plays. The terrible clock management and decisions surrounding it continue. All of these things stem directly from Andy.

    Andy is no longer a good football coach. That isn’t up for debate. The quicker the Eagles rid themselves of that fatheaded idiot, the sooner they might start to move towards a super bowl.

  71. 71 Anonymous said at 10:12 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Someone made the good point last week that maybe Jim Johnson was more responsible for Reid’s success than we had previously thought. He really does not know how to coach an actual game (vis a vis clock management, run/pass, challenges, etc.) and when you must win a tight game or play mistake-free in order to win (what this team must do) then those errors really come into focus. He’s been saying it for year: “It starts with me…” but I don’t see any improvement from him. Frustrating.

  72. 72 Anonymous said at 10:23 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I know he was “only” the ST and later DBacks coach, but I think losing John Harbaugh also hurt.

  73. 73 Jon Knowles said at 10:00 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    No, this is just disgusting. And even still, there is a dismissive tone even to reporting like this on just how terribly led this team is. No accountability at all. Not from the top, not on the field, not anywhere Every single point you just made is echoed by thousands of fans for the last ten years. Andy has routinely, every single year, had these problems and it’s only because old W’s are turning into L’s now and everything is being brought more into light. I LOVE your writing and you are my go to guy but you can’t think that the head coach would NOT have his job threatened. Andy Reid has been the elephant in the room for Eagles fans for some time now, so let’s not kid ourselves.

  74. 74 Anonymous said at 10:05 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    He won’t get fired midseason though, I’d be shocked if that happens. It isn’t really a realistic option right now.

  75. 75 Dewey said at 10:23 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Reid or Castillo?

  76. 76 Anonymous said at 11:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Both, but my comment was more directed towards Reid.

  77. 77 Jon Blank said at 10:13 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The Eagles play like a team that no longer believes in its coaching staff. Only one solution for that.

  78. 78 Anonymous said at 10:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Jon,

    You’ve been bashing Reid since Game 1. We get it. You don’t like him. Either post something constructive or interesting…or don’t post at all. Reid deserves all the scrutiny in the world, but simply calling him a fat idiot over and over isn’t what this blog is about. We want a good discussion, not hate, hate, hate. Waste of time. We know how you feel.

  79. 79 Jon Blank said at 10:43 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I haven’t called him a fat idiot in this thread. I have posted football and coaching mistakes that he has made, repeatedly. Not sure what else you expect to go over after another loss in which Reid himself as well as his team has performed so poorly.

    Tell how I am wrong with the original comment. Did the Eagles come out inspired today? Did they play like they believed Andy was going to lead them out of this? Sure didn’t look like it. And if that was the inspired, “we believe in the coach Eagles”, than the Eagles are in even more trouble than any of us believe. I’m sorry I can’t be positive right now, but its unreasonable to expect that after today’s performance.

    I respect your site Tommy and think you are a great football writer, but it is unreasonable for you to expect sunshine and rainbows right now. Besides, so far Reid has proven me correct on pretty much every complaint I had about him from week 1.

  80. 80 Anonymous said at 10:54 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Didn’t ask for sunshine and rainbows. I’m asking for a smart or interesting discussion.

    Stuff like this is worthless:

    “There are no positives until Andy is fired. Just more of the same crap week after week.”

    ” Nobody can defend Reid anymore.”

    We know you hate Reid. There’s no need to write stuff like that multiple times in each thread.

    I’m not asking for you to like the guy or cheer for him. Hate him all you want. Just don’t feel the need to share it over and over and over.

    The whole point in a discussion is a give and take of ideas and opinions. The comments above don’t reflect any give and take. That’s not what I want for this site.

    There are any number of Eagles sites to rant at. I want this to be a site where we can talk about the team. Screaming our opinions at each other, so to speak, is no good.

  81. 81 Jon Blank said at 11:01 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I’m not screaming at anyone. I’m not typing in all caps. Nor are my statements inaccurate. How was this week’s crap any different than last week’s? How can you defend Reid after today? you’ve said it yourself he did a poor job.

    I’ll try to keep it within a single post, but at the same time responding to others’ comments with my opinions is what discussion is. You don’t have to agree to with it, but that doesn’t make it invalid.

  82. 82 Anonymous said at 11:11 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I haven’t told you your opinions are wrong. That’s not the point of my comments. I want you to feel free to speak your mind. I can’t blame anyone right now for being furious with Reid.

    What I don’t want is the same stuff over and over. From you, that is anti-Reid comment after anti-Reid comment. It is a kind of spam that clogs up the discussion.

    Talk about other parts of the team. We all know how you feel about Reid. You hate him. Okay. How about the 53 players? The other coaches? Specific plays? Just share an interesting thought instead of bashing Reid over and over. Doesn’t have to be positive. Rip someone else.

  83. 83 Jon Blank said at 11:20 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Oh there is a ton of blame to go around, but the reality is that Andy is heavily involved in every football decision, meaning that most of the failures ultimately trace back to him.

    What about Castillo’s game today? How do you allow a QB sneak for 7 yards on a critical 3rd and 5? Strangely that is the one play that keeps playing over and over in my head. So embarrassing.

    Is it possible that Juan didn’t go over the “whatever you do don’t go offsides” mantra in that timeout before JP jumped offsides? Ordinarily I would scoff at the notion but JP is a vet and Juan has been so bad. I also wonder if the vets are not believing in Castillo anymore, which is why you see laziness and brain dead plays from them.

  84. 84 Anonymous said at 11:25 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Juan said the players were told to watch for the hard count.

    Laziness? There are plenty of issues with the D and team, but that isn’t one of them.

  85. 85 Jon Blank said at 11:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Asante has seemed pretty lazy and disgruntled the last two weeks.

  86. 86 Anonymous said at 11:41 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Asante lives in his own world. Drove Belichick crazy at times because of that. Has nothing do to w/ Castillo.

    And lazy isn’t a good word for him. Not sure exactly what does describe him.

  87. 87 the guy said at 11:54 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I saw a few plays by DRC I’d call lazy.

  88. 88 Anonymous said at 10:14 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Focus on the positive: The Giants lost!

  89. 89 Jon Blank said at 10:15 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    There are no positives until Andy is fired. Just more of the same crap week after week.

  90. 90 Anonymous said at 10:23 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    It won’t happen in season maybe if things don’t turn around, then it is possible in the offseason. But even at that point I don’t know if Lurie would do it. Keep things in perspective, there were a lot of changes in a short offseason.

  91. 91 Jon Blank said at 10:26 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I have. Andy makes the same mistakes over and over. He does a terrible job managing games. Jim Johnson covered up a ton of his coaching deficiencies, and now that JJ is gone the team is on an obvious downward spiral. Not a coincidence that Andy’s team’s have fallen apart at each season and can’t win a playoff game since JJ passed.

  92. 92 Andrew W. Cohen said at 10:42 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Yeah, if JJ had lived, he’d have kicked those two field goals that Akers missed during last year’s playoff game against the Super Bowl champs.

    I myself am bitter and depressed. I do think Reid should go if the slide continues. That goes double for Castillo.

    But I don’t expect that. The team is only -7 in points. They’ve lost because their takeaway-giveaway number is the worst in the conference, and we know that stat is mostly random. And finally, Andy always wins in Nov and Dec. I expect we’ll finish 8-8 or 9-7, just missing the playoffs.

  93. 93 Dewey said at 12:29 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I love the Reid bashers now claim it was JJ all along. Let’s go over the excuses for Reid’s success:

    1. Weakness of NFC East
    2. Rhodes’ players?!?!?!?
    3. Luck
    4. JJ

  94. 94 Jon Blank said at 2:05 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    How many Super bowl championships?

    After 13 years, that’s really what it comes down to.

  95. 95 Gregory Post said at 11:27 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    We’re trying to win the Super Bowl, not just the NFC East

  96. 96 Anonymous said at 12:08 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    When you’re 1-4 you can’t really claim to be playing for the Super Bowl.

  97. 97 Gregory Post said at 12:27 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Exactly. Its very difficult to stay positive about a team that has shown next to nothing on the football field. Doesn’t matter how well our division opponents are if we’re toast against other good teams in the NFL.

  98. 98 Anonymous said at 10:15 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Are we officially in the race for Andrew Luck now?

  99. 99 Anonymous said at 10:25 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    No. I’m not considering that kind of stuff until we’re 2-10 or something like that. I don’t expect the free fall to continue like that.

  100. 100 Ajay Verghese said at 10:15 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    So, about firing Andy Reid…I want that to happen. Here’s my reasonable question: Who would replace him? Call and beg Bill Cowher? Jeff Fisher? I’d love to hear your thoughts guys.

    P.S. I hope we still turn this season around!

  101. 101 Ajay Verghese said at 10:15 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    So, about firing Andy Reid…I want that to happen. Here’s my reasonable question: Who would replace him? Call and beg Bill Cowher? Jeff Fisher? I’d love to hear your thoughts guys.

    P.S. I hope we still turn this season around!

  102. 102 Anonymous said at 10:30 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Cowher doesn’t make sense. Team would have to be completely rebuilt.

    Fisher? That’s a more interesting name to me.

  103. 103 Ajay Verghese said at 10:38 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Is Fisher interested in coming back to the NFL?

  104. 104 Andrew W. Cohen said at 10:43 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    What about Gruden? And Spangnuolo for DC?

  105. 105 Anonymous said at 10:47 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    We all love Spags. Don’t know what his future is in STL. Gruden is a complicated subject. Let’s talk about him in depth if the season continues along at a disastrous pace. I don’t think it will so I hate to write several hundred words on the subject right now.

  106. 106 Andrew W. Cohen said at 10:49 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I agree. See my response to Blank above.

  107. 107 Gregory Post said at 11:29 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Why would Fisher make sense? Obviously VY would walk next year as a free agent anyway so he shouldn’t factor in.

  108. 108 Anonymous said at 10:47 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    If we part ways with Andy Reid, I’d prefer to see the Eagles go with a lower profile candidate. Either someone new like Russ Grimm or Dave Toub, or a retread like Gregg Williams. I feel like bringing in more big names is the last thing we want.

    But I like the idea. If we’re going to get rid of the HC, we might as well be constructive and come up with some new ideas!

  109. 109 Mac said at 2:18 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    The most interesting option in my opinion is Fisher. Simply because he is a tough defensive minded guy. I think he would be excited about the talent on offense and possibly let Marty continue to run that show while bringing some grit to the defense.

  110. 110 Anonymous said at 10:24 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Numb is a great adjective. I think we’ve all past anger a long time ago. I’m not sure what comes after numb, but we’re getting close.

  111. 111 Shawn Ennis said at 10:28 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Everyone just needs to take a deep breath. Fire Reid? And hire whom? Fire Castillo? Five games into his first season? And replace him with whom? Here are the facts: New DC. New OL coach. new DL coach. Two new CB’s. Two new safeties. Two rookie O linemen. Rookie or 2nd year linebackers. And couple those with this one: no offseason.

    Are they underperforming? Of course. Should we be angry? Surely. Should we scrap the whole thing and start over? That’s just silly. Look – maybe the Eagles will come back and make a season of it. Maybe they won’t. But even if they don’t, and they play well toward the end of the season, why would we get rid of the coaching staff?

    I hate losing as much as anyone, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

  112. 112 Jon Blank said at 10:34 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The bathwater is cold and the baby is dead.

  113. 113 Anonymous said at 10:34 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Any changes need to be made only if they will make us better. Firing Reid in October isn’t likely to do that. Plus, I think there is virtually no chance of that.

    Firing Castillo is possible, but there would need to be a good replacement and I just don’t know of one right now.

  114. 114 Shawn Ennis said at 10:44 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I think that’s the succinct way to say what I’m trying to say. I just don’t see any coaching changes that are going to be a magic solution for this season, and with that being the case, why not give them a season to figure it out?

  115. 115 Anonymous said at 10:56 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I have no doubt that Reid gets to finish the season but, barring a miracle (a la 2008), he’s as good as gone – and, at this point, good riddance.
    It’ll be his decision on Juan (unless they lose next week and Lurie steps in to demand it) and, given Andy’s stubborness, I think he’ll keep Juan there till the end when the “purge” will happen.

  116. 116 Anonymous said at 11:01 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    We need to see how the season unfolds. The fact we had the lockout and strange offseason will be taken into account. I think the only way Lurie fires Reid is if the team flat out quits or wins just 1 or 2 games. I don’t see either of those things happening. Doesn’t mean they won’t, but I think that’s unlikely.

  117. 117 Tom Gryn said at 10:37 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I’d add to the list: rookie LB and DB coaches who’ve never coached before. I have to wonder if that’s a big factor in all the missed tackles from those spots…

  118. 118 Anonymous said at 10:32 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    How can we stop making stupid mistakes? I don’t know how you can keep making these mental errors.

  119. 119 Anonymous said at 10:38 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    That’s the real mystery. If it was all young guys or rookies…that would make sense. Avant and JP??? Nuts.

  120. 120 Steve H said at 10:49 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I think the tackling is the worst part of it all. Weren’t we supposed to get back to fundamentals on defense? Instead we’re worse than ever.

    It’s kind of sad when you realize how many mistakes and bad plays were made, and that we were still in it up until the end.

    Vicks pick 6 and the botched FG situation at the end of the half really broke our backs in the end.

  121. 121 Anonymous said at 10:51 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Re: Firing Reid and Who Would Replace Him.

    Jeff Fisher:

    His hiring would be 20 years too late. He’s the guy Braman needed to hire after dumping Buddy in 1990, not Kotite. Anyway, Fisher’s won the same number of SB’s as Andy. And appeared in just as many.

    Bill Cowher:

    As noted earlier, the team would have to be rebuilt on both lines — back to the big Elephants on offense and into a 3-4 on defense. But the Redskins and Packers proved that, with good drafting and competent D.C., the change only takes one bad season and two off-seasons.

    Greg Williams (Saints DC) / Mike Mularky (Falcons OC) — both former HC’s of the Bills:

    Williams’ defense isn’t so great this year. Not much better than Juan’s. Mularky’s offense is pretty good. And he wasn’t half bad w/ the Bills. Actually, neither was Williams.

    SOME ONE FROM GREEN BAY’S STAFF. I don’t know any of them — except Dom Capers, who’s the Terry Murray of the NFL.

    College coaches:

    How ’bout Les Miles? If you want bad coaching with inexplicable decision making, this is your guy.

    Nick Saban . . . promote Juan. At least Juan won’t quit.

    BOTTOM LINE:

    Reid’s a proven winner. He’s won the same number of SBs as Bill “Genius” Belicheck since 2004.

    But Reid’s also proven to have made the wrong choice for D.C. the last two times he did that. (As for his drafting, I’ll leave that to Morton.)

    The front office — that’s Laurie, really — needs to get more directly involved in the next D.C. choice.

    I don’t think even a 3-13 record would get Reid ousted — only that his powers would be diminished.

    Then it would be Reid’s choice to stay or quit.

  122. 122 Eric Weaver said at 11:16 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Is it too early to rescind that contract to Vick and draft Andrew Luck?

  123. 123 N / A said at 11:18 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I don’t have an answer as far as a replacement for Castillo at the moment, and as previously stated (by Tommy, I think) no move would be made before the bye, but I can’t imagine he will be able to maintain the gameday playcalling much longer. The question that poses, then, is who calls the plays? Johnnie Lynn is the only defensive coach with such experience. If not him, would AR make the calls?

    I think the last 5 games have shown that Juan is in over his head. We can all blame AR for hiring him in the first place, but that doesn’t help us now. What is the next move?

  124. 124 Eric Weaver said at 11:20 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    The one good thing about all this losing is so is Arizona. So the Eagles will have a high 1st round and 2 high 2nd rounders. Get a good trade in back to the late 1st for some two quality starters. Linebacker and OT.

  125. 125 Anonymous said at 11:27 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    ARZ is helping us out with that pick.

    I hope we right the ship, but if not, we’ll have lots of draft ammo.

  126. 126 Anonymous said at 2:36 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    And by draft ammo, you mean so Howie Roseman can trade our two second rounders for 16 seventh round picks, spanning the next 5 draft years. Kind of like an annuity..

    Wait…are there any more Matthews boys that may be coming out?

  127. 127 Anonymous said at 11:21 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    We’re in a recession and just lost to the Giants, 49ers and Bills. 1988 just called your Swatch phone and wants its football back.

  128. 128 Anonymous said at 11:26 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I’m going back to high school then? Sorta cool, sorta not. Depends on if we’re having a keg party at Ricky’s house.

  129. 129 Anonymous said at 11:58 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I hear his folks are out of town…

  130. 130 Anonymous said at 11:24 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    DEFENSIVE PLAY-CALLING:

    Reid’s choice of coaches has, indeed, left the Eagles in a bind.

    If Juan’s duties were “scaled back” to game planning, that leaves . . .

    DL – Washburn. He has no interest in being a D.C.

    LBs – Mike Caldwell. Another rookie coach. And he has the poorest performing players.

    Safties – Mike Zordich. Also a rookie coach. Also, very poorly performing players.

    CBs – Johnny Lynn. Former D.C. — although whose idea has it been to play the CBs so soft?

    Lynn wins by default.

    But what’s obvious — at least based on performance — is the Eagles coaching staff is weak.

  131. 131 Rob Cabacungan said at 11:33 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    I saw something different with the Eagles before and after Vick’s 53-yard run. I am hopeful that that is “rock bottom” and the team will carry forward the momentum to the next game.

    I give up on the playoffs, but I’ll settle for some good football. If the Eagles can keep improving and at some point get to where we thought they’d be at the beginning of the year, at least I can keep watching.

    I’m not surprised the Eagles players defend Castillo — he seems like a player’s coach. He’s a positive, supportive guy. I wonder if he wields enough of a Big Stick to get it through to his defense that everybody needs to execute the fundamentals correctly in order for the defense to succeed. But poor tackling on the scale and with the consistency we have seen points to a coaching deficit. It’s not insoluble, lots of teams do it, why can’t we?

    Like the subtle hand checks Asomugha did to shut down Larry Fitzgerald (Sports Illustrated article), success in competitive arenas where the sides are roughly equal comes down to details. For some reason, both sides of the ball seem to suffer from a lack of precision and attention to detail in all facets of the game. I would never have thought Andy Reid, who seems to be very meticulous, would have such a team.

    I blame Castillo for the epidemic of poor tackling, and I hope Reid makes it clear his job is on the line if things don’t improve, and Castillo’s feel-good story shouldn’t make a bit of difference.

  132. 132 Corry Henry said at 11:47 PM on October 9th, 2011:

    Is it possible that we see someone hired in a defensive “consultant” role? Juan is in over his head and if we continue to wait for him to learn on the job, we’ll be 1-15 and wondering who to draft 1st overall. I don’t think a consultant will necessarily help, but it does give you another option for an in-house replacement when Juan is let go. (Yes WHEN Juan is let go).

  133. 133 Anonymous said at 2:42 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    This seems like the most likely of all options. Basically emasculate Juan by hiring a “consultant” to call the plays. Reid would never fire Castillo mid season, they have a history and are friends. The rest of the season would progress and at the end of it, Juan would be quickly and quietly let go.

  134. 134 Anonymous said at 12:00 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Until the Eagles finish the season 3-13ish, I expect Reid to return. It doesn’t matter what the fans want. Lurie isn’t like Jones and Snyder. Getting to the playoff almost every year for a decade has made him a lot of money. I think he wants to win a SB, but I don’t think he’ll roll the dice on a new coach because Reid had one really bad season. MAYBE he’d dump Reid if he knows he can bring in a known commodity like Cowher or Dungy. If the Eagles stink again next year, then it’s a possibility.

    With that in mind, I really hope Spagnoulo gets fired soon. He’ll need to move back to DC for a few years before he gets another shot at HC. If the Eagles can bring him in during the season, he can start phasing in his scheme right away. You can certainly bring in a DC in the offseason, but there will still be some kinks to work out early in the year. Getting him in now would help the players prep for next year and help in learn exactly what he has to work with prior to the draft and free agency.

  135. 135 Derek Campbell said at 12:16 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Numb is exactly right.

    F—!!!

  136. 136 Anonymous said at 12:34 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Thanks Tommy, hang in there buddy, I guess, or blog for a more desrving team. I don’t know…

    I guess this would be easier to take if we were supposed to be bad.

    My question: How on earth do we go forward without this becoming a complete cluster? New coaches/coordinators will take time to gell and get the right personnel, all of of the FAs for next year, salary cap issues ect. ect.

    Can we just assume they are out of it and start talking about next year? I am really not interested in going through this every week. Emotional coping mechanism = detachment, think about next year. So with that, we will need 3 Linebackers, OG, some depth on O-line…oh God this isn’t going to work for 11 months either….F%&#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  137. 137 Steve H said at 12:43 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    You know whats truly remarkable about this team? We’re playing so poorly that when we mess up an assignment or miss a tackle or fumble the ball or drop a pass or whatever, its not even like oh my god that was such a critical mistake I bet everyone is going to be on that guy this week… its more like wow thats like the 18th time something stupid and bad has happened, what else is new? The Eagles are so bad now that you don’t even remember all the terrible things they did during the game, theres almost too many to list.

  138. 138 Anonymous said at 12:43 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    My only comments are these: Anybody pointing the finger at one person/unit/possible adjustment we could make isn’t watching the games.

    Saying that falls on the head coach is valid, but I don’t think firing Reid is an option right now. Or prudent.

    Once you hit 6 losses you’re out of it. The Eagles have proven they can hang in with anybody, but when you have 1 win and you need to go 9 of the next 11, playoffs are a little much to dream of. Journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step. Let’s just beat Washington next week. 2-3 would actually potentially put us on the heels of the 3-2 division leader (assuming the Bills beat the Giants).

    But there’s just so much fundamentally wrong with this team that the end of today’s game was fitting. We fumble. We leave points on the field. We can’t tackle. We overrun well-schemed blitzes. We play players out of position. We call passes in obvious run situations. We suck in the red zone. We’re so bad we as fans can stop saying “we” and starting saying “they.”

    I’m gonna still root for them but they make themselves hard to like. I preferred the less-talented teams with discipline, grit and heart … and that’s hard to say because I thought having a ton of talent would be awesome.

  139. 139 Anonymous said at 2:06 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Wow. Fantastic comment.

  140. 140 Steve H said at 12:47 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    This is what we should have done this offseason? We should have traded Asante Samuel to St. Louis for Steve Spagnuolo, made him our DC and let Juan have some practice on the defensive side as an assistant. He could have been like defensive gatorade dispensiary assistant or something low key, you know where he could learn the ropes of this whole defense thing at the pro level.

  141. 141 Nick said at 12:49 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I’m gonna be a contrarian here. The defense played better in the second half than it has all season, they just couldn’t overcome all of the backbreaking turnovers. For once, they actually looked like a legitimate NFL defense. And the team didn’t quit, it kept on fighting until the very end – and almost pulled out a win despite turnovers that would kill any team, with two of our best players (Cole and Peters) sitting out with injury.

    Yes we lost. But if this wasn’t in the context of our losing streak, we would look at this as an acceptable fluke loss where the mistakes were mental and can be corrected. Our O-line played better, our running game looked dominant, we actually made positive defensive adjustments – there were positives here.

    The season is most definitely NOT over and we shouldn’t be panicking or throwing in the towel. Beat the Skins next week and we’re two games out of first, with a lot of football left to be played.

  142. 142 Anonymous said at 1:12 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    I will remain an optimist, it’s much more fun believe in the team than just giving up. If we beat the Skins next beat we are definitely still alive, the NFC East is uncharacteristically bad this year with Washington being the best so far, beating them would be reason to be optimistic.

  143. 143 Eric Weaver said at 1:03 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    What kills me is you see the talent there in some key positions and this team isn’t getting blown out despite how inept they are on the field.

    I’d probably be more comfortable with them just being horrible and losing games like the Rams lose. The reality is they are still very competitive, but that just makes it worse knowing it’s always a play or two away and they are 1-4

  144. 144 Anonymous said at 1:20 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    So Tommy what would you do over the next two or three weeks to improve the team.

    Cutting Page is one, but what else. Would you be willing to trade Samuel?
    I have been a huge supporter of his since his arrival. But he is gone after the season and I’ve just been so frustrated with him, though I’m not sure how well Rodgers-Cromatie has played.

    Speaking of Asante, where is all our turnovers? What do we have this season? 3 or something?

  145. 145 Eric Weaver said at 3:02 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Samuel is gone? I assume you mean in a trade because he’ll still be a free agent.

  146. 146 Christopher Miller said at 1:20 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Numb is the perfect adjective here. I just stared at the tv praying they did not do something really boneheaded. I don’t even wish for a big play any more, just one that does not end up on yet another highlight reel where the talking heads continue to mock us.

    Honest question here. If the coaching staff stays intact the whole year and the level of play continues to be this inconsistent, how will we properly evaluate this team’s needs? Asomugha has not lived up to expectations, but how much of that is scheme/coaching? Do you keep Samuel? Chaney? Is Allen good enough? You get the point. I am really frustrated that I don’t see consistent improvement in any area of the defense over the 5 weeks so far…I get the short off season and rookie DC stuff, but we should see something by now right? Better tackling? Not losing contain to the outside? Less confusion on who is responsible for covering a person or area? These are the fundamentals we were promised right? Ugh!

    Oh and NOT on board with losing games ever. #1 – guys came here (and in some cases at a discount) because we have a track record of winning not giving up 5 games into the season. #2 – real Eagle fans never want to lose in division EVER…I would rather drop 10 places in the draft than see Romo or Opie Manning or Shannahan or any other division opponent with a smug grin on their face because they got an easy win off of us. #3 – we should know by now that draft picks…even # 1 picks…are not sure things. You people rooting for us to lose every game are insane…I have no idea why you even follow sports. Maybe you would be better off scrap booking or watching Jerry Springer reruns.

  147. 147 Anonymous said at 1:47 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Let me put a similar level of hyperbole into the opposite argument:

    I don’t understand you people who want meaningless wins! You are definitely not true fans. Why do you not want to see the team do better? Maybe you should stop watching football and take up curling!

    Do you want an honest answer or are you just trying to mock the other side? If you want an honest answer, here it is:

    I don’t accept mediocrity. I want this franchise to win a championship and I’m willing to do whatever it takes, including rooting for losses, to see us win a championship. I’m not happy with first round playoff exits, I wasn’t happy in 2005 when we went 6-10 instead of 5-11, or that we went 8-8 in 2007. If you were, cool! I’m not, I want a championship, and whatever it takes to get there, so be it.

  148. 148 Christopher Miller said at 1:02 PM on October 10th, 2011:

    And what problem does losing every game solve? Better draft picks? Maybe Luck to replace what is certainly not the weakest link on this team? Getting Reid fired? Roseman? All of the above? This isn’t poker where we fold one hand and then are back on even footing for the next.

  149. 149 Jon Blank said at 1:26 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    The offense is playing like it has no confidence in the defense right now. Often trying to do too much knowing that they need to score a ton of points and its leading to turnovers.

  150. 150 Anonymous said at 1:43 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Tommy: always appreciate your work and ability to remain objective and level-headed through difficult and chaotic times for the Eagles…

    Anyway, a lot has been covered so I’ll try to focus on something different. As a former player (not at the NFL levl though, lol) and junior football coach, what baffles me most with this team is their inablility to execute the basic fundamentals – especially on defense. Is this simply bad coaching? I say that because it’s hard to imagine that these guys worked their way on to an NFL roster without being able to tackle and properly pursue ball carriers.

    Prime example. Several times today I watched Fred Jackson burn us for about 7,8,9 yards a clip on sweeps to the short side of the field. On a few occassions I saw Jarrad Page or someone else fly to the line of scrimmage only to overpursue and give up containment. They overpursue, then get in hitting position and their hips fail them because they break down too late. It’s so frustrating to watch. The guys have to know that you seal the edge, keep your containment, and hit with the correct shoulder.

    I did see one great tackle today and that was by Rolle…Anyway, I’m sure you’ll see this in film breakdown. Just wanted to hear you take on this.

  151. 151 Anonymous said at 2:05 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Did it seem to anyone else that the wide 9 formation wasn’t quite so wide? It looked to me that the ends were in tighter.

    Sorry if this was covered somewhere else but I didn’t see anyone mention it.

  152. 152 Anonymous said at 2:23 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Possible Head Coach candidate: Dave Toub, ST coordinator at Chicago. They’ve had the best STs since he got there and there’s a good history of STs coaches becoming good HCs.

  153. 153 Anonymous said at 2:54 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Several hours later, and I’m still speechless. I don’t even know who to blame at this point. It’s like we’ve angered the football Gods. Avant responsible for two turnovers? How? That’s not supposed to happen.

  154. 154 Anonymous said at 3:27 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Dysfunctional.

  155. 155 Anonymous said at 5:41 AM on October 10th, 2011:

    Tommy-

    I do not post much, but this is a question i have never seen really asked before.

    Why did we feel as though we needed to change our O-line scheme? The problems we had last year with our line were due to personnel, not scheme.

    For years we had a great line, with the same scheme(with the exception of last year). We went into this year with Peters, Herremans, Jamjax(if he could stay healthy), as really good players, who played great under the old scheme. We knew we needed upgrades at RT, and more importantly RG. We drafted Watkins who seems as though he could have played under the old scheme as well as the Mudd scheme.

    The Mudd scheme requires for the QB to get the ball out quickly, whereas the old scheme didnt require the ball to be out as fast. Vick is not a great QB when it comes to quick reads and throws. Plus he is a shorter QB, and as evidenced by last year benifits when he is able to drop farther back. Add to the fact that we have great deep threats which requires for the QB to hold the ball slightly longer.

    I just feel as though the QB, and receivers fit the old O-line scheme more then the new. Plus the old scheme is better in short yardage because it required larger linemen.

    Your thoughts as to why Reid felt as though the scheme and players needed to be changed, and not just RG/RT?

    Also, is it possible that alot of our turnovers are due to Vick not being as good behind this new scheme as opposed to the old one?