The Football Diner Big Top 5
Eagles Shake Up
by Jody Jamieson
19/11/2008
This weekend made me pretty angry and frustrated. Sure, there were some really good games. The Jets beating New England was a wild one. Sunday Night Football was an enjoyable defensive struggle. Tennessee proved they could come back from a deficit as they scored 21 unanswered points to win 21-14. And Monday Night Football was very enjoyable and dramatic yet again. Why the frustration you ask? Well while all the fun was going on, I, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, had to sit through a painful tie with the previously 1-8 Cincinnati Bengals. This game was as mind numbing as it was amusing. And as frustrating as it was pathetic. I have claimed here not to be an Andy Reid basher, but this week on Top Fives I have a bit of a rant and give the biggest reasons why this team has to have a major shake up before things get out of control.
Now I know no-one has a divine right to beat anyone, especially in the NFL, but my frustration would have been controlled had the Bengals been flying around the field and played a very good game. But truth be told they were decent at best and the Eagles yet again missed a great opportunity. The Bengals should really have won the game, but the ever reliable Shane Graham missed a 44 yarder at the end of OT. However the Eagles offense wasted a fabulous defensive performance, in which they sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick 8 times and allowed 58 yards rushing to the tune of less than 2 yards per carry.
5. The Arrogance of the Front Office
The Eagles front office complained during the Phillies run to the World Series that the Eagles weren't getting enough coverage in the media. What they seem to forget was that while Jimmy Rollins was making the play to clinch the NLDS over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Redskins were killing the clock on a 7 minute drive to end the game at precisely the same time. They forget the day after the Phils took a 2-0 NLCS lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, they were toiling to victory against a poor San Francisco team. And on the day the Phillies won Game 3 AND 4 of the World Series the Eagles were beating a good Falcons team, but a Falcons team who were hosed by the officials of a chance to win the game on a blown call. And of course, 2 months before the Phillies won it all in the world of baseball, the Eagles Front Office were coming out with such great lines as "We are the Gold Standard" and "We're going for it."
Now I can't put a huge amount of the blame on the Front Office who haven't been terrible, and have put their money where their mouth is at times. The problem is that they've not stepped in made the key decisions when it really mattered. Whether they like it or not, if they finish 4th in the Division again, it'll be the 3rd time in 4th years. And the one time they didn't it was a fabulous end to the season from Jeff Garcia, stepping in for an injured McNabb, that saved the season. Unfortunately, they've not addressed the problem in Andy Reid pretty much doing everything. Instead of getting in a real General Manager, they've allowed Reid to make pretty much all the football decisions over the past few years, and have sat by as the team slips further and further down the pecking order in the NFC. The whole strategy of the football side (i.e. the important side) of the administration has been flawed for a few years now, but as the Linc is sold out every home game, there is no urgency for change. Instead, lines such as "The Gold Standard" and "We're going for it" are replaced by "There's a lot of football still to be played" and "We're a better team that we're currently showing". There comes a time when talk is cheap and that time has come. This team clearly isn't a better football team than it's currently showing as they are still making the same elementary mistakes they were making last year. The sheer arrogant belief that things will get better on their own are holding this team back.
4. The window is closing.... fast.
There is no denying that. While the Eagles have some young talent shining through, such as DeSean Jackson at wide receiver, and Stewart Bradley who's had a great second year at middle linebacker, the core of this team is closing in on their decline, if they haven't already reached that point. I'll get to Donovan McNabb later, but on offense the main worries for the future are at running back and on the offensive line. Westbrook will be 30 very soon, and we all know what can happen to running backs when they reach that point. That being said injuries (which is also a worry with Number 36) are limiting him at the moment as he's clearly not 100% and is definitely lacking the burst that makes him so special. What is also limiting him is the poor play of the offensive line. With William Thomas and Jon Runyan at the two tackle positions possibly in their final year as Eagles, it certainly doesn't bode well for the future. It especially doesn't bode well when Thomas and Runyan have been the two best offensive linemen for the team. The interior line has failed miserably in the absence of All-Pro Guard Shawn Andrews.
Defensively the Eagles are pretty sound and pretty young. But they haven't anything in place for the eventual replacement of Brian Dawkins, other than Quentin Demps and Sean Considine. Demps we really don't know as a safety yet. Considine we do. As a special teamer he's very good. As a safety he's wholly unreliable. Defensively there are no really issues with age. But then defensively the Eagles don't have a huge amount of issues anyway.
3. Finding a way to lose
Last season was an incredibly frustrating season as an Eagles fan. The team sat 5-8 with 3 games to go, before rustling up a .500 season. That being said You can point to games like when Brian Griese took the Bears 97 yards with no timeouts and less than 2 minutes to go as one that got away. You can point to the great performance in New England as another. You can point to the Seattle home game when A.J. Feeley got the ball with 14 yards to go to win the game, but then threw his third pick of the game to the seemingly invisible Lofa Tatupu as another. And then you sit and wonder what might have been if they had won those 3 games and gone 11-5 as the Giants had an improbable run to win it all.
Fast forward a year later and the same type of thing is happening again. The Eagles find a way to let a lot of opportunities go in Soldier Field as they lose to the Bears. Then they take a 14-0 lead on Washington before they stop playing and Washington come storming back to win easily. Then when the offense has a really good game against a tough defense, they get gashed on the ground by the Giants. And the theme here was the same thing happened again and again. Eagles has 1st and goal on the 1 at Chicago and turn it over on downs to lose the game. They have 2nd and goal on the 2 against Washington and go backwards and have to settle for a field goal. They have 3rd and 2 at midfield and turn it over on downs against the Giants. It's just inexcusable how they can't make the adjustments when it really counts and that's what it comes down to. They couldn't adjust against the Bears when offensively they couldn't run the ball, and they couldn't adjust defensively when the Giants ran it down their throats. But when Washington found themselves 14 points behind and Campbell under pressure they started pounding the ball and throwing from 2 step drops and took complete control. Once the Redskins snuffed out the gameplan of the Eagles it was game over.
2. Donovan McNabb
I think it's safe to say that McNabb is nearing the end in Philadelphia. Most of it is not his fault right now, as the playcalling has been poor for the most part, but it's gotten to the stage now that it is simply time for change, and dare I say it, it's probably time for him to go somewhere that might appreciate him a little more than the fans in Philadelphia do. Philly fans get a bad rap for the most part in my eyes, but a lot of the blame for the recent performances have been placed on his shoulders, and at times it's been justified. However McNabb got a lot of heat after the Giants game when despite another slow start, he actually had a very good game. The problem people are having is that he's been struggling late in games, and frankly looks out of shape. He was blowing hard last week after a 7 yard run against the Giants which is a major concern for a guy who used to run for fun. He obviously doesn't have the speed he used to, but recently it appears he doesn't have the fitness either.
Another concern is it seems that every week since the Redskins game in Week 5 he's started really slowly in games, and the first quarter almost becomes a non event due to woeful accuracy. So much so that the Eagles have been held scoreless in the first quarter in 3 of their last 4 games, with only the turnover giving the Eagles starting position on the Giants 10 last week giving them first quarter points since October 12th. On Sunday McNabb failed to convert on the first two third downs he faced, over-throwing a wide open Kevin Curtis, and then throwing behind an open Jason Avant. However Sunday was a different story from the frosty start to the hot middles. McNabb threw 58 passes, and only got into a rhythm once, and abruptly ended said rhythm by throwing to a double covered L.J. Smith and the pass was easily picked off.
I'd love for the McNabb era in Philadelphia to end with a Championship for his sake as much as anyone elses, and it would be sad for it to end on a disappointing season marred by inconsistent quarterback play. But I think it's time to move on and go in a different direction, for the Eagles and McNabb himself. If anyone in the NFL would probably benefit from a change of scenery it's McNabb. Not only would he likely be more appreciated in cities like Chicago or Minnesota, where quarterback has always been an issue, but I think he'd appreciate it more too. I get the impression he wouldn't be too sad to leave Philadelphia for pastures new, and right now, who could blame him?
1. Andy Reid
 If there is one guy getting more of the flak in Philadelphia among the fans and the media than Donovan McNabb it's the Head Coach. While I think some of the criticism of McNabb can be over the top, In Andy Reid's case, I think some of it has been fairly kind. Now I appreciate all that Andy Reid did in the first 5 or 6 years as the Head Coach of the Philadelpia Eagles, but again a lot of it goes back to Issue number 3. Despite the fact the Eagles had homefield advantage and were resounding favourites, they kept finding ways to lose in the NFC Championship Game. The one time they did win, and made it to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, a bizarrely slow drive down by 10 left little time on the clock after the resultant touchdown to have a chance to get the ball back and tie the game. The ugly head of that drive and the poor clock management has floated around Andy Reid ever since and he hasn't learned his lesson.
Reid just hasn't put this team in the best position to win football games this year. His blind faith earlier in the season against the Bears in David Akers and then the horrendously predictable playcalling on the goalline cost the team that day. Throw in the failure to challenge a dreadful first down spot the Bears got that led to a touchdown and you get the anti masterclass. Then despite going 14-0 up on Washington, Reid got horrendously outcoached by Jim Zorn and the Redskins. Then the strange use of his challenges against the Giants a couple of weeks ago left his team without the ability to stop the clock when they turned the ball over on downs. I can forgive the second challenge when Jacobs fumbled at the goalline as it was close enough and important enough. What I can't accept is the challenge on the play before when Jacobs had been down by contact, rolled over and then the ball came loose. A complete waste. Then of course it was the return of power football on 3rd and 4th down late in the game. Reid loves to go back to power football whenever it's a key play.
The problem? Reid is the one coach in the NFC East who has built a team who is simply not capable of playing power football, as has been evidenced many times this year. Any team that plays power football is as much about their full back as their offensive line. But the failure to address the full back position again - this year it's defensive tackle Dan Klecko in at full back - has cost the Eagles on short yardage plays. If you see the 4th down run against the Giants again you'll see Klecko get absolutely manhandled behind the line of scrimmage, leaving Westbrook as an absolute sitting duck as any one of 3 or 4 defensive players had a clean shot at him before he even reached the line.
The Bengals game was a great opportunity for Reid and the Eagles to get back on track, but yet again the gameplan left a lot to be desired. When you face a defense that is 10th against the pass, and 22nd against the run, then a lot of your gameplan is written for you. Unless you are Andy Reid and decide to call 59 passing plays against 17 rushing plays. McNabb struggled for most of the day, and in the second half the Eagles rushing game was very effective. But still Reid continued to be stubborn and call pass after pass after pass, then the odd run here and there if only to not make it 100% obvious what was coming next. In a game that neither team deserved to win it was fitting that it ended in the NFL's first tie in 6 years since Pittsburgh and Atlanta couldn't score in overtime back in 2002.
Simply put, the time has come for the Eagles to make a change at the Head Coaching position.
And Finally...
So I know they ended up winning the game and that is all that's important, but I still want to question Romeo Crennel's playcalling at the end of the Monday Night Football showdown with the Bills. Down by 1 with 2 minutes left and the ball on the Buffalo 40 with all 3 timeouts left is hardly the time to be throwing 3 passes from the shotgun. They had masses of time left to run the football, gain positive yardage, and perhaps end the game with the field goal attempt, as Buffalo only had one timeout to stop the clock with. Instead Crennel yet again failed to grasp the situation properly, and ended up very fortunate to win the game as Ryan Lindell missed from 47 to save his blushes. Crennel was lucky in the first place that Brady Quinn didn't throw an interception on the drive to Leodis McKelvin and was also fortunate that Phil Dawson nailed one from 56 yards. All he achieved was giving Buffalo enough time to drive on a defense who can't stop anyone in an effort to win the game.
Crennel is the AFC's Andy Reid in some respects as a lot of the complaints about Reid's game management can be equally accredited to the Browns Head Coach. Crennel had a disaster at the end of the first half against Pittsburgh early in the season and was lucky to get away with it on Monday. Crennel signed a big extension in the off-season but a series of questionable calls have landed him under pressure in Cleveland. The team isn't completely out of the play-off race, but it's not looking particularly promising at 4-6. If the Browns don't pick it up over the last 6 games, while I don't think the organisation would let him go, I wouldn't be surprised to see major calls for change in Cleveland.
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