What Does 3-2 Mean?

I agree with the premise of your post, and if you take a look around the NFC only San Fran looks like a juggernaut. ATL looks very good but, like the Eagles, has played down to lesser opponents and won games they had no business winning.

In that light, there’s no reason to think this team can’t make a strong run in the conference.

On the quarterback, I’d almost like to Vick benched so Reid runs the “conservative” AR offense -which he did in Pittsburgh and against NY. Ball control with the occasional shot down field. Rely on the run and the pass game the defense gives you. Even though the defense didn’t hold on Sunday, they’re good enough to win close games and keep the other team off the field.

does asante not being here have anything to do with the defense getting turnovers?

People overreact to the first few games, those are usually a shakeout cruise.
And a fast start often leads to a bleeh finish, remember Kotite and 7-2, blowing out an elite SF team on the road?

AR has a proven track record of his teams playing better down the stretch, especially coming off a tough training camp. He breaks his teams down, then builds them back up. And the same with QBs:
2002: Wins down the stretch with Feeley
2003: McNabb has a horrible start with the bad thumb, fininshes strong despite a pitiful defense (allowed 5 ypc down the stretch, Eagles still went 9-1)
2006: McNabb struggles, 5-4, Garcia comes in and almost takes us to the NFCCG
2008: McNabb struggles, AR puts in a conservative game plan, one play from a SB.
2011: Gets Vick back and remakes the offense, a team that could have gone belly up wins its last 4 games.

Point is AR may be willing to live with Vick’s growing pains, if he’s seeing Vick make better decisions, throwing accurate passes, he figures he can coach the fumbles out of him and have a pretty good ball control QB to go with his young defense. And Mudd, given another month can turn some of his sow’s ears into silk purses. Fans panic, AR has been to this rodeo before.

Now, that’s no guarantee it’ll work, but this team doesn’t need a huge overhaul, they just need to improve execution, everything from Vick protecting the ball, better blitz pickup by the RBs, better coordination along the OL, improvement by young DL like Graham, Cox and Thornton, and players like Kendricks and Boykin. Mostly little things, like don’t let blitzes come free, get a hand on them and buy a second, play with better leverage and get more penetration, get comfortable and anticipate better on pass defense. No one has to work miracles, just do their job a tad better and more consistently.

The only unit where really drastic improvement is called for is STs. Yes, they’re not scoring a lot of points, but they’re moving the ball, and if they cut back on turnovers and block better they’ll score points. The defense is playing well, but they’ve yet to put it all together.

I also want to make sure when we score 24 or 18 points this week, I don’t here how we were playing a tough defense, or our offense is fixed…

The Detriot Lions defense is bad…maybe downright awful…Look at points allowed over the last 13 games:
2011
week 10 – 37
week 11 – 35
week 12 – 27
week 13 – 31
week 14 – 28
week 15 – 27
week 16 – 10
week 17 – 45
wildcare – 45
2012
week 1 – 23
week 2 – 27
week 3 – 44
week 4 – 20

30.69 PPG over the last 13 weeks. Should be no excuses this week, we can’t score on them, I don’t think we ccan score on anyone.

I agree with your premise that AR’s teams get better as the year goes on but i question the thing you said about this being a young team and maturing over the course of the year. I realize they are a young team, but I would argue that the offensive players (minus whoever LT is and now Reynolds) have been here for while. They know the scheme. They know how to execute it, but what’s going on? Why have there been glaring issues with picking up linemen on pass plays, I’m not even talking about blitzes here, just straight up four man rush. I realize Defenses are trying to confuse the line but it seems like it has been more of a problem the last 2 years than the first ten or so years Andy’s been in charge. I guess what I’m wondering is, is this a coaching issue or can our current OL not mentally handle the complexities of a defensive front 7? (and i mean that with zero disrespect to them, dissecting an NFL defense is no joke, but how come other teams seem to do it the majority of the time but we fail, seemingly, the majority of the time)

Tommy, regardless of how the Eagles are doing, your writing is always reasonable and thoughtful. You never rant. So, I’m here to ask: Dude, what the hell is your secret? A good therapist? A better bartender? Are you some ninja zen master? How can being an Eagles fan not drive a brother nuts sometimes?