More On Reid Playing Mr. Fix-It

Posted: October 29th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 82 Comments »

Andy Reid said “This is fixable.”

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Many of you said…great, why isn’t it fixed already?  If you know the problems…if you know the solutions…why the friggin delay?  Do your thing, Big Red, and fix it.

If only it were that easy.  There are times when a team has an obvious problem.  Back in 1993 there were some DL injuries and the Eagles could not stop the run.  Guys like Lewis Tillman were running up the gut for 150 yards.  So the Eagles went and signed Refrigerator Perry.  The run D got instantly better.

The 2012 Eagles don’t have holes quite like that.  The problems here are about performance and execution.  Solving them is much trickier.  I don’t know what the solution is, in terms of specifics.

I can tell you that the team is missing “it”.  Back in 2003 the defense suffered a lot of injuries.  I remember a game vs the Skins where UDFA rookie Rod Hood was covering Lavernaeous Coles 1-on-1 on several plays.  Complete mismatch.  And yet…Hood found a way to get it done.  Had nothing to do with talent.  Had everything to do with “it”.  The Eagles were winners back then.  Players were expected to play to a certain level.  When someone got hurt, the next guy stepped in and usually delivered.  The players believed in the system.  They believed in the coaches.  They believed in each other.  The Eagles did things a certain way and it showed, even when the players changed.

Jason Williams was a freshman point guard for Duke in 2000.  The team was coming off a 37-2 season where they lost the title game.  Most of the talent left, but a junior named Shane Battier was still around.  Duke started the 2000 season in a tourney in Madison Square Garden.  They lost both games and were 0-2, the same amount of losses as the previous year.  Williams was getting on the team bus after the second game and laughed at a joke someone made.  Battier got up and went nuts.  He let Williams know that this was Duke and losing was unacceptable and not something to be taken lightly.  Battier knew the Duke way.  It was his job to teach it to his young teammates.  They had tons of talent, but didn’t know what it took to live up to the Duke standard.  The Blue Devils won the national title the following season, in large part due to the play of Battier and Williams.

Who has been teaching the Eagle Way to young players?  Does it still exist?

As recently as 2008, the Eagles had leaders like Jon Runyan, Tra Thomas, Brian Dawkins, Donovan McNabb, Sheldon Brown, Brian Westbrook, Quintin Mikell and David Akers.  All are gone.  Some of their replacements are darn good players, some even better.  I just don’t know that the new guys get the Eagle Way.

This isn’t about fiery leadership.  That stuff is overrated.  This isn’t about heart or effort.  The Eagles have played hard this year.  This is about getting the job done.  Players held each other to a standard back then.  New guy in the lineup?  So what.  He’ll find a way to get it done.

2000 – Duce Staley was the offense early on.  He got hurt and was replaced by Darnell Autry.  Big drop-off.  Autry didn’t post good numbers, but he was good enough that the team went 8-2 in games he played.

2002 – Donovan got hurt in the 10th game.  Koy Detmer won his only start.  Then AJ Feeley took over and went 4-1 (with overtime loss).

2003 – We had OL injuries.  Artis Hicks started at LT vs the Dolphins on MNF and kept Jason Taylor under control.  Eagles won 34-27.  Hicks played a lot of LG as well and had some good games.  Bobbie Williams was pressed into duty at RG.  He was a very good run blocker.  He wasn’t a good pass blocker, but was good enough.

The great secondary had all kinds of injuries.  Clinton Hart started at FS vs the Packers on MNF and we held them to 14 points.  Hart was the FS for 9 games, Dawk for just 7.  Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent combined for just 20 starts.  The defense struggled, finishing just 20th in yards allowed.  However, Jim Johnson and his players found a way to turn lemons into lemonade and finished 7th in points allowed.  They got the job done.

2004 – There was a game in December vs the Packers when the starting OGs were Steve Sciullo and Alonzo Eephraim.  The Eagles won 47-17 and put up 542 yards of offense.

2006 – McNabb got hurt and Jeff Garcia had to take over.  Jeff went 5-1 as a starter and even won a playoff game.  Jevon Kearse was hurt in Week 2.  Juqua Parker took a lot of his snaps and had 6 sacks.

These are just a few examples of the Eagle Way.  Good players went down.  Backups stepped up and did the job.  They did it well.  It wasn’t all about the backups, though.  The starters who were healthy raised their level of play.  Playing well mattered.  Winning mattered.  Guys totally bought in.

Some of that seems to be missing these past couple of years.  Did the previous generation not do a good job of teaching these players?  Is this because there are so many new coaches that they’re not doing their part?

I don’t know the answer.  Big Red doesn’t know the answer.  If he did, as pointed out by many, he’d have done it by now.

What Reid will do is keep trying to push buttons to see if he can find the right one.  This could involve any number of things.  He could change the lineup.  He could yell more.  He could beg and plead.  He could bring in a motivational speaker.  He could try some gimmicky stunt.  He could make schematic adjustments.

Reid normally does a good job of figuring out what to do.  The problem is that he’s up against it, time wise.  He needs results now.  Last year Reid got things solved in December.  That won’t work this year.  3-4 doesn’t sound bad, but 1-3 in the NFC means the team has very little wiggle room if they want to have a realistic shot at a Wildcard berth.

Do I have confidence in Reid fixing things?  After Sunday’s showing, confidence isn’t exactly the word I would use.

* * * * *

Jimmy Bama and I did a lengthy podcast (1:20).  We covered the Falcons game.  We also talked about a variety of subjects.  One of the topics was possible coaches who could take over if Reid is fired.  That came in the final 25 minutes or so.  The show isn’t depressing.  It is a mixture of rants, analysis, and bad jokes.

* * * * *

Howard Eskin reported that the Eagles could be making a QB change.  I’ll put some thoughts on that later.  Just a rumor at this point.

_

  • P_P_K

    I just watched the Asante post-game interview where he comments on Andy Reid. Samuels really is a low-class prima-donna. Now I hope Reid gets his troops fired up enough to make the playoffs and punk Samuels and the Falcons on their home turf.

  • Mark823

    Let’s keep in mind the last 9 games aren’t daunting, 5 of them are division games and the Eagles went 5-1 there last year. Matching that record would give the Eagles 7 wins alone. Then the only team they play that has a winning record is the Giants. The three remaining NFC South teams have struggled. So the season is not over, but there is very little wiggle room. I think we are to the point where games are becoming must wins, they can’t lose to the Saints next week, atleast in my mind. Losing that game really makes things tight in terms of the playoffs.

    • Julescat

      Washington is improved from last year and Dallas came close to sweeping the Giants. Brees will pick the eagles defense apart if our D line continues to play bad.

      • Mark823

        The Redskins are the most improved but they are still just 3-5, I don’t think the Cowboys are anything to write home about though. And we have seen how good the Eagles are against the Giants. The hardest part of the schedule is behind the Eagles, but that doesn’t mean they’ll go on a great run. I’m just remaining cautiously optimistic, given that the schedule left shouldn’t be too hard.

  • Julescat

    your examples of the “it” factor all involved players stepping up after injuries. Those examples may mean something regarding the eagles O line but what about the D line?

    It’s either the scheme or the talent that’s wrong there.

    • TommyLawlor

      I’ve only re-watched the 1st Qtr. Need to see more before I can talk about the DL yesterday.

      They are underachieving. I wish I knew why.

  • JRO91

    Something needs to change. The saints have a terrible pass rush and terrible secondary. If you are going to make the change and let Foles go, this is the week to do it.

    • JRO91

      that probably means the saints will have 7 sacks this week!!

    • Mark823

      The time to do it should have been during the bye, I don’t think you can justify benching Vick when he wasn’t the problem against the Falcons. If he had an awful game I would support the move, but at this point I’m not sure. Then again, Reid did fire Castillo when the defense wasn’t the problem.

  • GermanEagle

    Tommy

    I admire your optimism, but if anonymous players tell the press that there was no pride, no passion and no urgency, then it’s the sign of a fractured team with AR losing its locker room.

    This season has 7-9 written all over.

    • http://www.facebook.com/michael.w.cho Michael Winter Cho

      Well, Lurie said 8-8 was unacceptable, he didn’t say anything about 7-9…. :)

      • P_P_K

        Ouch.

    • Ark87

      I don’t know where you people keep reading optimism into the pieces. The guy is clearly stating there’s something wrong an he’s not sure that the team can fix it. He just talked about this team not having “it”. In sports talk that is pretty damning. He stopped short of forsaking the team, but that’s a looong way from optimistic.

    • TommyLawlor

      Players say all kinds of crazy things. Yesterday Jeremiah Trotter was on Eagles Live and mentioned that Jim Johnson didn’t do much zone blitzing. Huh? That’s the key reason Andy brought him to Philly…he loved JJ’s ability to design “fire zones” (aka zone blitzes).

      Players play. When they start talking, you don’t know what to think. Mychal Kendricks said optimistic things about the defense.

      Last year Antrel Rolle was on the radio publicly questioning his coaches. How did that end up?

  • nopain23

    I’m sorry but how does a QB change fix this team. Is Foles gonna sack the QB or play OL?.. Unless he’s coming in to score 40 points a game a QB change will not fix this team. We bet on alot of guys and lost. Nnamdi, Trent, Babin, Todd, Nate.. to name a few. We paid guys and drafted well and the results are obvious.

    If coughlin were coaching this team would the results be better?..If Eli were our QB would we be leading the NFC East?…The talent is there but for some reason we can’t put it together.What’s the point if we win a few games, miss the playoffs and we’re picking in the lower tier come playoffs.?
    We need change…New HC, new QB, and new defense. Maybe it’s time to switch to the 3-4……Someone suggested Wade Philips as HC/DC and Norv TYurner as as offensive co-ordinator and though many may scoff at the idea..could it be worse than what we have now? Wade can coach defense , that’s for sure and i think with a good offensive coach, with him ,Wade, only focusing on defense it could work.

    • TommyLawlor

      I’ll get into the QB change later.

  • http://twitter.com/ProtoTyler Ty-Philly

    plenty of rumors leaking that they are going with foles

    • http://twitter.com/ProtoTyler Ty-Philly

      i continue to think its unlikely that Foles makes 1st start in NOLA tho

  • myartz04

    Andy Reid needs to coach angry. It’s that simple.

    • TommyLawlor

      Donovan?

      • myartz04

        Exactly. Of course I’m poking fun. However, I want to see Foles play because in the preseason he showed the ability to throw receivers open and anticipate routes before the receivers broke them off (kind of like a real NFL QB). Vick misses to many reads and bails on too many good pockets.

  • Septhinox

    “I remember a game vs the Skins where UDFA rookie Rod Hood was covering Lavernaeous Coles 1-on-1 on several plays. Complete mismatch. And yet…Coles found a way to get it done.”

    You mean Hood found a way to get it done.

    • TommyLawlor

      Thanks. Fixed it.

  • mhrinda

    Vick is not a good thinking “smart” QB (I personally dont care how many “hits” he takes each week lets win some football games).
    We the fans have to stop settling for second best. As I have said before “being partly good doesnt mean you are good” We need to get guys in here that “get the job done”
    Honestly Vick should be benched this week along with Babin and some other non performers… Reid should probably be fired at the end of this season and he can take mudd and the rest of his over hyped and over rated coaches with him and Lurie should hire a true FOOTBALL background GM… from a winning program that can evaluate talent on some side of the ball at least….
    Im fustrated too! But im tired of some of the fans making excuses for these bunch of losers …. we are not winners folks accept it and lets agree changes have to be made. No more hype no more wishful thinking no more well he could be better or with another season he .. etc. Players are drafted and come to play.. it happens for other franchises let it start here.
    Hopefully the bad times we experience now will bring us championship football later.

    • laeagle

      Good thing you’re not settling for second best. That’s going to make a real difference down the stretch. Kudos to brave fans like you who know what winning is all about.

      • mhrinda

        “Down the stretch” is actually putting a team on the field thats fun to watch and actually wins a Super Bowl(s). Steelers do it time and time again with new personnel.. so do the Giants New England Green Bay San Francisco etc.. They find ways to get a good to great team on the field time and time again that can win big games. That should be our goal. Im always going to “stick” with my team the Eagles but it doesnt mean I have to like us being dysfunctional season after season after season and hearing people defend players and coaches who keep this mess going year after year giving with a bunch of hype that ends up with another wasted season (and for Eagles fans Groundhogs Day — here we go again)

  • Cal Setar

    When you have guys like Vick and Nnamdi as leaders on a team, the personality of the team is not going to be one that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the Reid era. Both players spent years being the star on bad to mediocre teams (I know Vick had some success and went to the NFC Championship game, but that team was built on running the ball and D, not an offense that was funneled through his arm and decision making).

    I think this point that Tommy is making is the really important one that people miss when having the “bench Vick vs. don’t bench Vick” argument (I’m not saying Tommy’s on my side in my assessment, I’m making the connection on my own here). But Vick’s personality as a leader, as is any QB’s in this league, is pervasive. We always hear about how players look up to him and and admire him so much because they grew up watching him make all these ridiculous highlight plays. But what of his track record shows that he’s willing to really be a leader? To be the Shane Battier to another players Jason Williams? I don’t see it. Like yesterday, going into the half Fox showed a moment where Vick and D-Jax are on the sideline laughing…down 24-7 and playing pretty horribly. To me that’s simply not a leader.

    And the sad part is that even if you make a QB change, it may well be too late to have any serious effect. Nick Foles is a rookie. He’s not going to come in and suddenly change the culture and vibe around the team. But at the very least he could get it headed in a different direction. Who knows? I sure don’t.

    But the bottomline is, I see a team being led by an uber talented athlete who probably isn’t the leader the players need. He may be the one they want, what with all the flash and gritty play. But the one they need? The one who will get in their face when they’re not getting the job done? That’s another story.

    • Anirudh Jangalapalli

      All this reminds me of The Dark Knight quote: “Because he’s the hero Philadelphia deserves, but not the one it needs right now.”

      Or was it Gotham in the movie?

      • Cal Setar

        So then that would make Reid Harvey Dent? Or Commissioner Gordon? I’m confused. Either way…yes. Every city in every movie is Philadelphia. At least that’s how I watch movies.

  • Ark87

    “It” has a lot to do with our Veterans…Who are our veterans? all guys we brought in through trade and F/A. We got a talented band of mercenaries who will all retire in another Jersey for one reason or another. The other ingredient we are missing is Jim. This team hasn’t been very convincing ever since we lost him. There was a vague hope that our O could be so dynamic and our D was opportunistic enough we could pull off what the Saints did….but we never had Drew Brees or Sean Payton.

    The defense WAS playing fast fundamentally sound football. I had this fear going back. The defense looks like it is in rough shape. I feared Reid would lose that defense when their unit was punished despite being the only functional unit and I’m wondering if that is what happened. We’ll see what happens. I’m going to take the “Verticle Limit” approach. This season is already dead. I’m going to stick around and watch because who knows what’s going to happen and I can enjoy a good game even if the it it comes in week 17 and we are 3-12 going into it….but I’m not going to let myself be devastated if this team goes belly up.

  • ceteris_paribus1776

    I think you’re down playing the fiery leadership factor too much. It isn’t everything, but it’s part of what “it” is. It’s not a sufficient condition for success, but it’s necessary. Those old eagles teams had attitude and passion. These new eagles teams don’t. They get angry when they are getting their assess handed to them as anyone would, but anger isn’t passion. I think its much rarer to see passive leadership than active.

    This team has gotten used to questioning itself. The early Reid teams didn’t. They knew they would have the answer and the leadership made sure everyone knew it. This team doesn’t appear to believe in what it’s doing. It didn’t when Juan was the defensive coordinator and that isn’t going to change overnight. Who on defense is deeply entrenched in system that has been proven effective? No one because the team is relatively newly put together and hasn’t been successful. These guys have no reason to believe at this point. Just one series of disappointments after another.

    On offense, you can see Vick’s befuddlement and frustration. He isn’t confident. I know Vick cares, but how much leading is he doing in the locker room with guys when you can see his disappointment through the television? Why is anyone going to think, “this guy is going to pull us through” when he himself doesn’t appear to believe that? Celek is really the only guy on that offense you can count on to bring the “it” factor into each and every game. Shady goes about his business, but he’s not a leader.

    This team is bereft of leadership and passion and it starts at the top. The coaches have given the guys no reason to believe in anything because they don’t even know who they are as a team.

    I will truly be impressed if they can turn this season around.

    • TommyLawlor

      I’ve written about fiery speeches plenty of times over the years. Completely overrated. They work now and then. People focus on when they do, ignore when they don’t.

      Ray Rhodes would have 3 or 4 SB titles if fiery speeches worked. The Ravens would have at least 10 with Ray Ray.

      Execution > emotion

      • ceteris_paribus1776

        “They work now and then. People focus on when they do, ignore when they don’t.”

        hence why they are necessary, but not sufficient. You need more than fire. Fire doesn’t work without players and confidence. Fire without other ingredients is Singletary in SF; just ranting. Success doesn’t come from passive execution either. You’ll never see a successful team just execute going through the motions.

        The Ravens do actually have a SB ya know, and had one of the best defenses in the league for a decade. Lack of talent on the offensive end is why they didn’t end up with more, i.e. necessary, but not sufficient. Peyton, fire. Brady, fire, Coughlin, fire, Payton, fire. Cower, fire, Tomlin, fire…the list goes on and on.

        It’s not about the speeches. The speeches are a bi-product of attitude and passion the leader has. The fiery speeches come from the “it” factor; they don’t generate it.

        • TommyLawlor

          I do agree that you need to have a huge competitive streak…a desire for greatness. I think some Eagles players have that.

          The problem with speeches is that they are momentary. They are emotion. A true internal drive isn’t necessarily loud. Jerry Rice might be the most driven player ever. He also smiled more than anything else.

          And yes I know the Ravens won a SB. That’s why I said “10″. They didn’t win because of Ray’s emotion. They won because of great team defense. Ray is just intense now as he was then. Heck, maybe moreso. The overall D is nothing like that group.

          Drive…desire…competitive streak…those are all good things.

          Guys yelling and ranting…overrated moments. Don’t mistake one for the other. You say the speeches are a bi-product of the attitude. No, they’re not. And that’s part of my point. Speeches are speeches. That’s it. Emotion. Plenty of average players are vocal and fiery. Plenty of great players are quiet.

          • ceteris_paribus1776

            I guess you’re still missing my point. It’s not about speeches. If someone steps up and gives this team a speech will it change anything? probably not because it would likely be viewed as a desperate effort to motivate because that part of team has been absent for years. It’s about the attitude that precedes them. It’s about having a group of guys you are willing to give everything for. It’s about being around someone who’s passion and drive rubs off on others; someone you can count on going the extra mile for you and the team. That, more often than not, comes in the form of vocal leadership.

            I think the reason you view them as overrated is because you view them as isolated incidents, when in fact there is an underlying drive and culture that has already permeated those around the people who deliver them. Don’t under sell the human aspect of emotional leadership being motivating when coupled with a sense of loyalty to a revered player.

      • iskar36

        I think the point he made doesn’t negate your point here. His point is that the fiery leadership is an aspect of success, not a determinant of it. Your comments about Rhodes and Lewis are ignoring the other factors.

      • Ark87

        Cold blooded execution is great when you are a dominant football team. But when you are in a skid…some good old fashion give-a-damn is nice to see. Mike’s post-game interview…what was that… dude was defeated…defiant…compliant…?

  • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog

    You think after they won 35 to 7 people would be more upbeat

    • TommyLawlor

      Uh, yeah…about that from yesterday. I might have lied just a little bit.

  • Ark87

    It- hard to define but im going with Dawk: snot bubbles

    • TommyLawlor

      Nope. I had snot bubbles for 3 weeks and the Eagles went 0-2-bye in those weeks.

      • Ark87

        Ah, so thats what Dawk was talking about, he just wanted a cold. “Fatigue! Headache! Body Ache! Snot Bubbles! Whatever you got! GIVE ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!!”

  • ACViking

    Re: Eagles at 3-4 . . .

    Under Buddy Ryan, the Eagles were 3-4 in 1988 and 1990 — and made the playoffs both years. (1988 as division champs, when the Jets upset the Giants on a last-second pass to Al Toon. 1990 as a Wild Card team.)

    In 1991, the Eagles defense — winning the triple crown under Bud Carson — started 3-4 but finished 10-6. The Birds missed the playoffs because there was no offense after Bryce Paup ruined the season in the first minute or so of the 2nd quarter of opening day in Green Bay.

    _________________

    Since 1999, Andy Reid’s Eagles have started 3-4 three times: 2007, 2011, 2012.

    The Eagles missed the playoffs each of the first two years. 2012 ?

    • Kevin_aka_RC

      I’m a little young for the Buddy Ryan days…but did those teams show the “quit” that this Eagles team has shown?

      • laeagle

        Not until the playoffs.

        • sonofdman

          Ha Ha! So true.

      • TommyLawlor

        They were good for 1 or 2 inexplicable losses every year.

      • ChaosOnion

        Two playoff victories from 1981-1999.
        Zero playoff victories during the Buddy Ryan era.
        Ten playoff victories from 2000-present.

  • ACViking

    Re: The Missing “It” and B-Graham

    T-Law:

    Have the Eagles become a team of mercenaries?
    ____________

    Graham is fighting every time he’s on the field — 31 plays to Babins’ 33.

    Please, on your DGR, tell us if Graham is doing more than bull-rushing on passing plays.

    • TommyLawlor

      Will watch him.

  • Andrew Hope

    “Last year Reid got things solved in December.” Really? Reid was responsible for scheduling 4 teams without winning records to end the season?

    • TommyLawlor

      I knew someone would play that angle.

      Did the Eagles dominate in those games? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you play teams that are struggling?

      Did we dominate Cleveland in the opener this year?

      • Andrew Hope

        Historically, Reid has had success against lesser opponents. Last year was just more of the same. For his career, against sub-.500 teams, Reid is 73-15-1; against teams better than .500 teams: 48-61; against playoff teams: 24-40.

        Unfortunately for Reid, very few sub-.500 teams make the playoffs, otherwise he might have a Lombardi or two by now. As I’ve said before, Reid did a nice job turning a struggling franchise around. But he is long overdue for a change of scenery. For the record, I did think it was the right move to bring him back for 2012 with the understanding that there was enough talent in place to make a serious run.

        The worst thing that could happen is that Reid gets lucky like he did in 2006 and 2008 and somehow sneaks into the playoffs and Lurie looks at the fact that we get Peters and Kelce back next year and convinces himself that we’re “this close.” Fact is, we aren’t and we haven’t been in awhile.

        • TommyLawlor

          Didn’t get lucky in 2006. Earned that. 2008 team had some luck due to unexpected CHI and TB losses. Can’t dispute that. Record was just 9-6-1.

          I understand where you’re coming from. If things don’t change, then things will change. Is that bad writing or genius?

          • Andrew Hope

            When I said the team got lucky in 2006, I meant that McNabb getting injured was lucky, in that it forced the team to change its offensive philosophy. After that, the team did earn its way into the playoffs. But there is no way that team wins 6 in a row without McNabb going down. Otherwise, I think we’re on the same page.

      • BobSmith77

        Tommy you really care about those Dec. games including the games vs. Boys and Skins where those teams played a ton of second/third-string for large portions of the game?

        • TommyLawlor

          Care? When you play a lesser team, you need to win decisively. We almost shut Dallas out. That’s what you’re supposed to do. If we beat them 15-13, then I wouldn’t mention the game.

          • BobSmith77

            Dallas played 2 starters on offense and sat Romo. They treated it like a preseason game. Almost meaningless to draw any real conclusions from that game or the Skins game. Didn’t understand why people got to excited about the winning streak last year in Dec.

            When the Eagles had to win in Seattle and at home vs Pats to really keep their playoff hopes alive, the Eagles got crushed.

      • iskar36

        To steal a phrase you often use, the proof is in the pudding. Now that we have had nearly half a season to evaluate this team, it is clear the 2012 team is largely the same as the 2011 team. So more likely than not, those last 4 games were an anomaly and a situation where we took advantage of terrible teams and teams playing backups rather than Reid “solving” anything.

        • austinfan

          No, the difference is they went to a conservative offense those last four games, then chucked it to start this season, and continued to “play aggressive” even after Kelce went down and it became obvious that this will be Reynold’s only season to wear a NFL uniform.

          They finally go conservative after the bye, and if the defense could have posted a couple 1st half stops, they might have made a game of it. But MM waited until Vick was so shell shocked that his career is probably over, even if he plays out the string, I doubt anyone will add him as a starter, and what team wants him as a backup (see VY).

    • Matthew Butch

      No, he was responsible for getting his team to destroy those four teams. They beat teams that they couldn’t beat in the beginning of the season. Get your facts right, buddy.

      • Andrew Hope

        Actually, they had beaten Dallas AND Washington earlier in the season. And pretty much everyone beat Miami in the beginning of the season–they opened 0-7. But, yeah, you know, facts.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jfkemmerer Jay Kemmerer

    After Vick’s release from prison, we heard how it put the game in perspective. He seemed to understand that football isn’t the only thing in life. What if that is the problem? For most players in the league, football is more than just a game, they feel it is why they were put on this earth. What if Vick’s journey is causing a culture shift in the locker room, where the results of the games don’t matter as much as they do in the opposing teams locker room. If “win at all costs” isn’t the motto, and I feel it isn’t with this team, you won’t go far. In the grand scheme of things, its probably better for these guys to know that there are more important things in life, but that hurts the team and its obvious on the field.

  • http://twitter.com/theguyotc the guy

    I looked at the current roster for guys who were drafted by the Eagles in 2008 or earlier: Avant, Celek, Cole, Dunlap, Herremans, Jordan, D. Jackson, and Patterson.

    Out of nearly 60 players on the roster, only 8 were drafted (or signed as UDFA) by the Eagles and played 5 or more years.

    Maybe that’s not especially unusual, but if there was an “Eagles Way” it probably wasn’t handed down.

  • austinfan

    Eagles go out and get Ryans, a real leader. They have Jenkins, with his ring, and Cole. DeSean is playing his heart out, Celek runs over people. Maybe they don’t have as many leaders as past years, but McNabb certainly never inspired the troops the way Vick does with his courage under fire.

    So leadership is too easy, maybe part of the problem, but not the whole problem.

    I think it’s simple, Reid has checked out, not consciously, but his problems with his two boys have been a distraction for years, and then the death in TC, he’s going through the motions. MM can’t step in, you saw what a disaster he was as a HC, and Bowles is just too inexperienced. So there’s a lack of real leadership at the top, it was JJ’s defense, it was AR’s offense, the players knew what was expected, and the best player, not the best talent, dressed. Now authority is diluted, as much as Washburn and Mudd have accomplished, they’ve destroyed the chemistry because of their autonomy and the need to tailor everything else to their systems. The OC and DC have to defer to their schemes. That might have made sense if we hired Schwartz as DC (though he’s struggling to make the wide 9 work in Detroit) and signed Peyton to play QB.

    I don’t think anything AR does will salvage this season, there’s too much confusion, what is the offensive scheme? They’re not a WCO, they are not an explosive downfield offense, they are what? Same on defense. It’s a patchwork on both sides of the ball where the whole is far less than the sum of the parts – and while you can blame Howie for the 2010 and 2011 drafts (and credit him for 2012), he got the players his coaches wanted at good prices (i.e., he didn’t bury this franchise in dead money).

    The best reason to start Foles is to get him experience for next year, because Vick is obviously gone, and there is no QB in this year’s draft I’d take before #20 at this point. No slam dunk NFL starters. So might as well find out what you have for the new HC.

    A new HC could clear house and turn this team around in two years if Foles is for real – he doesn’t have to be great, say somewhere around Dalton or Kolb if he could stay healthy.

    • http://www.facebook.com/michael.w.cho Michael Winter Cho

      I agree with this analysis. Reid needs a break, sadly. We’d still probably be competitive if the OL hadn’t imploded, but that’s not what happened.

    • GermanEagle

      Geno Smith????

      • austinfan

        Smith played decently but not great against the better defensive teams in 2011, he’s actually regressed in 2012. Pads his stats against bad defensive teams, but I don’t care what he does against them, if you can’t play well against a good college defense, well . . .

        The next four games will determine his draft status.

  • Pingback: Is It Over Yet?

  • Baloophi

    Just want to wish Eagles nation in the path of the hurricane the best of luck and stay safe.

    • TommyLawlor

      Ditto that.

    • Mac

      never thought i’d have a shot to see the eye of a hurricane… might get to do it tomorrow morning…

  • Mac

    Weekly meditation from last week with the Northumbria Community.

    “The only mistake that remains a mistake is one from which you do not learn.” ~Thomas Merton

  • BobSmith77

    Waiting for one more game to throw in the towel with this team. It was really depressing though to see this team come out so flat & execute so poorly after a bye. Simply has been a Reid staple since he became the coach here where this team usually does perform better in several areas after a bye. Wasn’t the case yesterday.

    Everyone is getting on Reid and the coaching staff but this team simply isn’t as good as people think it is though including the secondary. OL is the worst as a unit the Eagles have had in the past 20-25 years. You could even have a Manning or Marino (my favorite QB to watch behind a shitty OL throwing darts on a 5 or 7-yard drop with great pocket presence) and they would still struggle considerably I bet.

    Biggest disappointment to me though has been the DL though. Cole looks like one of those guys that age just rapidly catches up with NFL players on the other side of 30. Been almost a complete non-factor this year in both the run/pass defense. I would say he has been the biggest disappointment so far this year for me.

    DT have been inconsistent and up-and-down including Cox. Lack of size has hurt them a bit too. Babin is one of those guys that if he isn’t getting sacks and pressure he’s next to useless. Not a guy who has the size or effort to be an asset in run defense. Also strikes me as a bit of a ‘selfish’ player too who is too concerned about his counting stats. I do hope the Eagles put Graham as the starter and give him more snaps than Babin this week. He’s earned it.

    For all of those who will be overjoyed to see Reid go (and he should get fired if they don’t make the playoffs), it means this team will be in full-on rebuilding mode this offseason for the first time since ’98. It means a new coach & coaching staff, whole sale changes on both sides of the ball, and almost certainly a team that struggles next year. Obviously have to see the personnel move they make but easy to see a 5-11 or 6-10 year in the first post-Reid team era with a younger team with an inexperienced QB.

  • BobSmith77

    Anyone under 25 either hasn’t really seen what a rebuilding team or a marginal stretch of Eagles’ football looks like either. Odd enough to remember some of the Buddy Ryan era teams but wasn’t really old enough to really understand the game in more detail to the Kotite-Rhodes eras.

    For all of the things that Reid drives me nuts on, I still like him a lot more both professionally and personally. Kotite was an easy guy to dislike and one of the few guys in Philly who actually deserved to be booed so lustily especially his final year here. Pretty close to being a genuine jerk who didn’t even have to be smeared by the media to come across in that manner.

    As for Rhodes, he was just a loud dumba$$. Fans ate up his schtick around here the 1st year because the Eagles went back to the playoffs and he was just a ‘fiery’ coach. People quickly realized though he was out of his depth as an NFL head coach & wasn’t a decent evaluator of talent either.

    • Mac

      Man I am so with you. I loved Buddy ball, and actually stopped being a rabid fan for a long time after the Kotite/Rhodes era. I just don’t know how we improve on Reid. If we can I’m for it obviously, but the fall off the cliff that could happen would really suck.

  • pkeagle

    The biggest problem of this team is reputation:

    Mudd has a reputation for turning O-Linemen into superstars

    Washburn has a reputation for getting to the QB with the wide-9

    MM has produced record-breaking offenses in yards and points scored

    AR has a reputation of molding average QBs into great passers

    AR has always turned things around in the second half of the season

    MV is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL

    The DL and CBs have the reputation of being two of the most talented units in the league

    ………and so on

    The thing is each season is different and every trend eventually comes to an end (see 13-0 after a bye-week for example)

    It’s time to put an end to buying into reputations and assessing what is in front of our eyes and the harsh reality is a team which is over-rated and lacks discipline and heart.

  • Mac

    45 yards on 16 carries… how many carries were in short yardage and goal line situations? Just curious and no nfl rewind here.

  • Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran

    “As recently as 2008, the Eagles had leaders like…”
    And 2008 was also the last season for JJ.
    Point being, it’s now going on 4 years removed from that last hurrah of 2008. It’s time to move on.
    Sunday’s game was the last gasp for Reid and Vick. We’re playing out the string from here on out.
    This is fixable – starting next year when the new coaches remove all the dead wood currently laying around.

  • Eagles4life

    My issues with this team is the fire or the passion with which they are playing with… After the terrible loss to DET before the bye, they should have played the game with ATL with smoke coming out of their noses but they played the most flat as I have ever seen them. Imagine if it was Patriots coming off a bye with a terrible loss before it, they would have ripped the team against it and showed the world what kind of team they are.
    Also, count me as the first to predict the loss but New Orleans is going to rip Eagles come Sunday to show kind kind of team they are

  • http://www.facebook.com/wayne.boyer.35 Wayne Boyer

    Replacing Andy at this time want work. Who’s the new coach Bowles? You should coach. There’s no fire, Everyone knows SB or bust. Everyone know’s Big Red won’t be back and no coaches either, So why play with heart, Just wait until next year to play with heart. Next years coach will go 13-3 with very few changes. The differents will be heart. Chuck did it before and he will do it again.

  • http://www.facebook.com/wayne.boyer.35 Wayne Boyer

    One more thing Chuck head coach Jet’s head coach as our DC?? Sounds like money to me??