These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls

Believe it or not, FakeWIPCaller did not write those immortal words.  They were penned in the fall of 1776 by Thomas Paine.  He was a friend of George Washington and saw how bad things were going.  Washington had made some military mistakes and his troops simply weren’t ready for war.  Morale was worse than that of a  3-5 football team on a 4-game losing streak. Washington lost the locker room, so to speak.  Soldiers were deserting a hopeless cause.

Then Paine wrote Common Sense.  It opened with these words:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

If only Andy Reid could get Paine to write inspirational words for the current Eagles.  Instead, he can only call upon Marcus Hayes, the master of the one-sentence paragraph.

Woe is us.

Maybe Reid could get Washington to come and deliver a fiery speech that would get the players fired up.  On second thought, that likely wouldn’t work.  Washington would probably die while riding his horse from Mt. Vernon to the NovaCare Complex.  I-95 traffic is insane and his lack of knowledge on how to deal with cars would overcome even our greatest president.

Washington saved the Revolutionary War in December of 1776 by attacking Trenton and Princeton.  He beat Hessian mercenaries in both battles.  Reid’s next two opponents are the Cowboys and Skins.  If any NFL teams are made up of mercenaries, I’d say it would be those two.  Can Andy Reid save his job and the season?  Is that a more difficult task than saving the nation?  Washington had untrained men and some even had to fight while barefoot.  Reid is missing 4 of 5 starting offensive linemen.  They do have shoes, but watching Dennis Kelly and Demetress Bell on Monday night would likely depress even George Washington.

Losing today…at home…to Dallas…would send Eagles Nation even closer to revolt.  Big Red needs to do everything in his power to win this game.  If that means running Shady McCoy 47 times, do it.  If it means playing Riley Cooper more at WR since he’s a better blocker, do it.  If it means running a quadruple reverse where Michael Vick throws a pass to himself, do it.  Don’t leave anything in the playbook or suggestion box.  This is the game to sellout to win.  Do whatever it takes.

Washington was bold and it paid off.  He wasn’t careless or stupid.  There is a big difference.  He attacked the Hessians at the right time and in the right way.  He leaned on trusted men like James Monroe and Alexander Hamilton to carry out key parts of the attack.  This wasn’t luck.  Washington had a good plan and his men executed it correctly.

It is up to Reid to come up with a good plan and then to get his players to execute it correctly.  Washington saved the nation.  All Reid has to do is save a season.

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Here is the game preview I wrote for PE.com.

This could be a very strange game.  One thing to watch for is tempo.  Tony Romo is at his best in the hurry-up attack.  If we somehow build a lead, that won’t bother Dallas.  They fell behind 23-0 to the Giants and then got red hot and almost won the game.  I wonder if Dallas will go hurry-up from the start.  Like us, they are a desperate team.

Dallas struggles to run the ball. They average 3.6 ypc.  They have only 3 runs all year of 20 or more yards.  Fran Duffy studied their OL and noticed that they do a terrible job of blocking on the 2nd level.  Dallas doesn’t have healthy RBs right now so they can’t create much on their own.  We need to take away the run and put the game all on Romo.  He’s thrown 13 picks this year.  Not all are his fault, but that’s okay.  We want the INT.  Doesn’t matter if Romo threw a bad pass or Dez Bryant failed to make the proper route adjustment.  Just give us the ball.

This isn’t a game where the Safeties should be selling out to stop the run.  The front seven should be able to handle that.  Should, being the key word. If Dallas does run on us, could be a long day.

Jimmy Bama says the RG Mackenzy Bernadeau is the weak link on the OL.  He’s given up 4 sacks this year, a lot for a G.  Jenkins and Cox need to attack him and win that battle.

Jay Ratliff is hurt.  Sounds like he’ll play, but if his quickness is limited, that makes him a significantly less dangerous player.  Dallas Reynolds might have gotten very lucky in that regard.

I am interested to see how many times Ernie Sims gets lost today.  If he has 2 sacks and an INT, I might just give up hope for humanity.  If we burn him a few times, I’ll know there is reason to carry on living…for at least another week.

I have no feeling for this game.  Let’s call it the Elimination Bowl.  The loser falls to 3-6 and while not officially out of it, is getting awfully close.  2 crappy teams enter Lincoln Financial Field…only one comes out.

Please be us…

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