Well, we lost a close game to the defending Super Bowl Champs, who happen to be the undisputed best team in the NFC, and yet, it doesn’t quite feel like that, does it?
There was plenty of blame to go around in this game. Personally? I put the most on Andy Reid and Marty Morningweg. After the game, the NBC commentators said that Tiki Barber had immediately recognized the play that the Eagles were going to run on 3rd and 3 and 4th and 1 to end the game. If an retired, offensive player is calling our plays before we run them, I’m pretty sure the current Giants are as well. McNabb had just taken us on a long touchdown drive, and you take the ball out of his hands on the final two plays, to run the same plays that we haven’t been able to execute ALL year. You roll McNabb out and let him run or pass for it. And maybe we would have been able to get the ball back, had Andy Reid not challenged the Brandon Jacobs “fumble” on the worst challenge I have ever seen.
How can a man so smart, be so mind-numbing stupid at the same time, and all the while be completely and blissfully unaware of his stupidity? I don’t know, but his time management, play-calling and lack of fire is really starting to irke me.
McNabb played well enough to win, but needs to figure out how to not look like he’s in training camp to start the game, and he had his second straight game with a horrible interception. It was nice to see him finally make some plays with his feet again though. He’s very stubborn about being a pocket passer, but is at his best when the defense has to mind his feet as well.
In the end though, we scored 31 points against a good defense, and should have won if not for the run defense. I don’t think this was a matter of our DL playing poorly, I think it was a matter of the Giants having the best OL in football and proving it. Even though we almost won, there really wasn’t any point that I was thinking “we are the better team.”
I think people are so frustrated because this is the type of the game that makes you think it’s just not going to happen with Reid and McNabb. I don’t think we should fire Andy Reid, but if we end this season out of the playoffs, the Eagles will think long and hard about letting McNabb walk. I love the guy, but he doesn’t have any excuses this year. He’s healthy, Westbrook is healthy, he has a solid WR core. He’s not having a bad season, in fact, he’s having a pretty good season. He’s on pace to go over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, and has a QB rating over 90. I’m pretty sure 80% of NFL teams would take that. But if we want to be in the top 1%, we might have to take a chance.
All that being said, I still think this team goes 10-6 (with wins over Cincy, Arizona, Cleveland, Baltimore and Dallas) and gets in as a wild card. They are a couple plays away from being 7-2, and I think the luck will swing in our favor.
It was a tough loss, but not as crushing as it felt. We have a gimmie next week against the 1-8, Carson Palmer-less Bengals, and should be 6-4 going into tough games against Baltimore and the Giants.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
If the Eagles do miss the playoffs and decide to let Mcnabb walk as you said, Pete, I think that will be the end of the Reid era as well. Reid and Mcnabb have been joined at the hip for so long that I just can’t see one of them wanting to be here without the other.
Maybe it’s just me, but Reid and Mcnabb seem to be inextricably linked. Even though there have been many longtime, successful coach-qb pairings, like Holmgren and Favre for example, none of them seem to be connected to the same degree as Reid and McNabb are.
If the Eagles miss the playoffs I think McNabb will go and Reid will stay. Lurie seems tied to Reid for whatever reason.
It’s a shame because I think McNabb could be more successful with a new coach than Reid with a new QB. McNabb for all his faults is still one of the better QBs in a league where it is hard to find good ones.
Reid fails on two out of three of his main job duties. I think he motivates the team fairly well. But his work as a GM and gameday decision maker have been awful. This team didn’t have a punt returner last year and cost them a game or two that could have put them in the playoffs. Looks the same this year but with the FB. His predictable playcalling and TERRIBLE challenges are infuriating.
Get Reid out and Keep McNabb
As for our run Defense sometimes you have to give the opponent credit they are really good at running the ball. Our run D is better at containing the outside and can be vulnerable to strong “downhill” running games like the Giants and Skins. I thought the defense played ok but the Giants are just a really good team.
The team could go 10-6 but would that be a good thing? It may not even get us in the playoffs this year and we would be stuck with a team like last year that thinks they are better then what they are. The D is fine, thats not the problem. Tra, Jon, McNabb, Buck, Lewis and Brown should not be on this team by next year, they are just sucking away money and space. This team is not the team that won all those games years ago. They lack the drive that they had once and it shows every time we need short yards. It is not the play calling its the execution of the plays. Our O-line might be big and strong but they are do not have the drive anymore to get those short yards and we have lost 4 games because of it. By next season every player over 30 on the offense should be gone except B-West (who is an other guy that we love but lets face it, hes hurt all the time and we may have really scene the best from this guy and will be on the decline in his 30’s) and we should begin to rebuild the O. I would play McNabb to showcase he isn’t hurt and then replace him with Kolb for the last few games to see what we have. McNabb plays lost and goes 3 and out to many times. He jacks up his stats against bad teams and we think he is still a superstar. It is on him why our D stays on the field too long and gets tired. He is no longer a leader and he plays scared and it shows. We have all cheered for this guy but he is not the same. We will not be a great franchise as long as he is our QB.
how many times do we do this? really? every sunday its a “CLOSE” eagles loss. do i have to spell it out loud. the andy reid formula was quite successful initially, but now its old news, so what covered up for highly successful playoff teams earlier is now being exposed in the less talented team we have now. A very mediocre team whose talent level is restricted because of cheap ass front management or maybe they are just unlucky i dont know. point is our team is not elite so don’t dream of super bowl this year. Fact is; thisn game was not lost on the last play of the game for philly when they stopped #36 but every time jacobs, ward or bradshaw took the ball and they could not be stopped. every game we have come up short, great effort too u can see from guys like dawkins and the LBs. enough blame already! , we are just not that good enough. period.. we can see that the giants are NOT a fluke. so luck is not gonna happen this year. McNabb is overestimated in his ability, he is inconsistently very good but not Peyton Manning, Westbrook is human as was evidenced yesterday. philly wake up; the eagles might not get their act together for a while. go phillies!
Quaterback 0 for the first quarter the last three games, mind numbing play calling, stupid penalties (aka Lewis), poor clock management (yet again) by the coaching staff, a defensive line that is too undersized for the division and an O line that can’t seem to run block…need to make some serious changes with this team and its makeup.
if McNabb does walk – and i truly hope he doesn’t – Reid will stick around and try his hand at nurturing Kolb, like he did #5 – we’re consistently competitive – and one of these seasons we’ll get the breaks…and things will fall into place.
i wrote that post real quick, and I dont think i really made myself as clear as I wanted to.
if a change has to be made…it kind of HAS to be McNabb. As Katz said, we really would have to keep Reid around to bring along Kolb, because unlike time management, that’s something he’s good at.
in a perfect world, we lose Reid, keep McNabb and bring on Bill Cowher.
The other thing is that Lurie LOVES Reid and won’t fire him.
You’re all crazy. The Eagles are a great team and played the defending champs to within a few yards of victory.
Remember when the Giants nearly beat the 15-0 Pats at the end of last year? Everyone was saying oh, those Pats are just unbeatable, but the Giants very nearly tripped them up. Then they did in the SuperBowl.
The Eagles are a great team playing in an unreal division. Put them in any other division and they are a 13-3 team. That’s not Andy’s fault. He’s got a legit shot a making the playoffs and Donovan is still one of the very best QB’s in the game. Is he perfect? No, of course not. But when he’s gone and when Andy’s gone, you will all be very sorry.
So don’t chase them out of town! These 10 years have been fantastic. Name me another 10 years of Eagles history that’s been better.
You’ve got to take this game at home. Not make it close, not be competitive, you have to TAKE it. The playcalling has been atrocious all season long. While they won’t fire Reid, I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought in an offensive coordinator and gave him the playcalling duties (next year of course).
the giants didn’t take the game at home last year, but took it in Arizona vs. the Pats. I’ll take that trade off
The difference between the Eagles of now and 4 years ago is that great teams win close games. The Eagles have won zero games this year that were within a touchdown (DAL -4, CHI -4, WAS -6, NYG -5). This shows that they are not getting blown out by anyone, but also cannot pull the trigger on a close game against a tough opponent. This is most concerning, as if they do end up squeeking into a wild card spot, it is assumed that the playoff games will be a close contest, and their track record thus far is not good in that type of game.
The good news about Eagles ownership is that they don’t interfere in the football side of the team.
This is also the bad news.
Reid is going nowhere…..pretty much like our team under his supervision.
If this team was great they wouldn’t have lost to the Redskins or the Bears. They have 3 division games remaining. They haven’t won division games with consistency since ‘04. You can’t make the playoffs if you lose most of your games within the division. This team will fall short again and miss the playoffs by a game or so. Changes need to be made. The offensive line needs to be completely remade and we need a new coach. They should get 5 new offensive lineman none of them are any good except Andrews who can’t stay on the field. We also need a new pair of safetys.
bball –
disagree on the o-line needs to be blown up. they handled an elite giants d-line pretty well. They are missing Andrews, who is probably the top OG in football. I was amazed at how well Runyan is still playing, as he make Justin Tuck an almost non-factor. They do need to draft some OT prospects (who aren’t from USC) to take over for Runyan and Thomas.
I agree that safety needs to be improved, as well as TE. And on our front 7 on defense, we have a lot of above-average players, but no elite players.
Mike Donnely: Good point. You are right somewhat.
Kolb will NOT be better than McNabb. Yeah I called it! Quarterbacks that play at McNabb’s level are hard to find especially this season. That said to anyone who is having lofty aspirations, forget about it. Eagles are good enough to contend but not to win. They can still be lucky this year but i doubt it. The Giants RAN AT WILL. we knew they were going to run and there was nothing we could do about it. was like a video game. Ny is a top tier team, if the Eagles can’t stop them, then they can only go so far. I’m still routing for McNabb and I believe if karma has its way he will find his redemption in a SB ring; with this team or somewhere else. He may not be John elway but he’s the best we’ve ever had.
this is from last year — but still applies –
http://eagleschronicles.blogspot.com/2007/10/eagles-vs-numbers.html
Eagles get off to slow start and then win games in November and December.
There must be a reason we always have to make a run at the end to get in… what is it??
Reid is Mr. December – http://eagleschronicles.blogspot.com/2007/01/mr-december.html
My problem with the O-line is they get no push for the running game. I think much of their goaline/short yardage problems are due to this. They are forced to try tricks and gimmicks to get a yard instead of just running like the Giants. In pass protection I guess they’re all right. It probably is unfair of me to compare them to the Giants offensive line because they might be the best in football. It just seemed like McNabb had a lot more pressure up the middle than Eli. If McNabb had the luxury of playing on the Giants offense he could pick apart any defense. I still think the run blocking is a big problem and would like to see a new pair of tackles and at least one new guard by next year.
This team needs toget thier act together and as bad as I don’t want to say it it start with Donovan his lack of energy in the 2 minute drill had me upset and gave me flashbacks of the superbowl he had enough 3 and outs not to be tired at the end of the game. Yes Andy Reid called the dumbest plays ever in on 3rd and 4 and 4th and 1 I would even understood running a bigger back and where was the screen pass the whole game why didn’t we try to get westbrook out in open space where he is most effective. If we had a Coach and a Quaterback who played and coached like we are a good team instead of always saying it we would be good. ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS in this case get some freakin WINS
Mike-
Are you watching the same games that we all watched. Last year we gave McNabb some space because he was coming back from a bad injury and did what you would expect. This year he has no excuse. He will never be the player he used to be, he plays scared and misses wide open recievers. Kolb may not be the athlete McNabb once was, but he doesn’t have to be to win. He just has to be better at running Reids system and be able to game manage. Does any one else remember Jeff Garcia. He is not even close to McNabb in athletic skills but he went on to win four road games in a row, three against our division. McNabb has to go and a new Eagles era must begin by next year.
My dad, being a Giants fan, did point out that McNabb really wasn’t touched and the O-line did protect. But you have to be able to run the ball at the same time when we need it. Tra and Jon have been great tackles but they need to be out by next year. I feel that Todd, Andrews, Jackson and probably even Max just need to be infused with some other youth. King Dunlop is a monster that they have high hopes for, who could probably slide into right tackle. Allowing Max to go to left guard and putting Todd at left tackle. (Maybe, we are really just guessing). We also have two first round draft picks next year to fill this void. You know Andy is not going any where and he loves to draft big linemen.