The Daily News got it wrong, the problem with the Eagles is not Andy Reid the head coach, the problem with the Eagles is Andy Reid the General Manager. I know Tom Heckert has that title but it’s Andy Reid who decides who comes and who goes on the football team.
Andy is a system coach who doesn’t believe talented players are vital to a championship team. This has proven to be a faulty philosophy because all you have to do is think back to 2004. How does Andy explain away the impact of having a number one receiver, Terrell Owens, on the football team? To make this point clearer, remember that the Eagles were going to let Brian Westbrook walk if Owens had forced them to release him. How could you have been thinking about letting Westbrook walk? The only way you do that is if you think your system doesn’t’ need a multi-talented back who is one of the most explosive players in the NFL.
There is precedent for this move. The Seattle Seahawks relieved then head coach and general manager Mike Holmgren of his duties as the team's general manager and a short while later, they took a trip to the Super Bowl. It's too difficult a job to manage the personnel of a team and be the head coach and many times defacto offensive coordinator as well. Right now a general manager should be focused on lining up possible player acquisitions which could help the team now and in upcoming draft. One man especially a man beseiged with family problems can't focus on being the head coach and the general manager.
I wouldn’t have a problem throwing the ball at rate Andy likes to if he had signed both Donte Stallworth and Kevin Curtis. He knows he can’t draft receivers, so the only other option is free agency. If Andy had decided to get rid of the two mistakes he made at defensive end, namely Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard, they would have plenty of money to invest in those wideouts. They didn’t want to resign Stallworth because he was injury-prone but they had no problem giving millions to Kearse and Howard who do very little on the defensive line. The Eagles should have been playing 2nd round pick Victor Abiamiri all year, rather than paying Kearse $7 million dollars to be mediocre. Howard is coming off the bench making $5 million dollars.
It was Andy Reid the general manager who passed on drafting Miami tight end Greg Olsen, who was sitting there for them to take late in the first round. He passed on Olsen even though he knew L.J. Smith was leaving after this year. A smart general manager who has a coach who believes in his passing game more than anything else would have made sure he had a tight end who could step in for Smith. Olsen is a star in the making and he’s the type of player who’s always going to create match up problems. He’s too big for a safety to cover, standing 6’5” and weighing 255. He’s too fast for a linebacker to cover, he runs a 4.5. Olsen is going to lethal in the red zone as he gets more experience.
It was the Andy Reid the General Manager who made the bone headed move of going into the first game with inexperienced guys returning punts. This was a colossal mistake and a sign of total incompetence. A powerful General Manager would have demanded that he sign an experienced punt returner.
If the Eagles had a better General Manager he would have been on the phone calling downstairs demanding that Andy give 2nd year offensive tackle Winston Justice some help when Osi Umenyiora was earning a trip to the Pro Bowl in one game.
Does anybody ever chastise Andy? Does anyone ever call him upstairs and question his football moves? Joe Banner is his boss but Joe doesn’t have the football acumen to question Andy on a football level. They need a powerful General Manager sitting in between Reid and Banner, who will go out and make sure the roster is stocked with playmakers.
There are certain positions he can’t draft well and one of them is at the wide receiver position. Andy couldn’t draft a Pro Bowl level wide receiver if one came up to his office and sat on his desk. Don’t get me wrong, Andy is a great game planner. He had a great game plan for the Bears on Sunday and the Eagles should have gone into the locker room with a comfortable lead. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
A strong General Manager might have salvaged the Terrell Owens debacle. He would might have fought with Joe Banner behind the scenes to get him some new money. If they had a stronger General Manager with a strong personality they wouldn't shy away from every player with a strong personality who becomes available. Andy has problems dealing with players who have strong personalities. A new powerful General Manager wouldn't have a problem dragging a player into his office and reading him the riot act.
I do think Andy could take this offense with the addition of some talented receivers and wreak havoc on the NFL. Remember how the offense in 2004 ran through the league. Regrettably, Andy has so much confidence in his game planning that he thinks he can do it without big time playmakers. If playmakers aren’t that important, then why is he always trying to get the ball to Brian Westbrook. Many times Westbrook takes a play which doesn’t look like much and turns it into a long touchdown. He does this because he has talent. Andy Reid doesn’t value talent the way a good General Manager would, so that’s why Andy Reid the General Manager should be fired.
