For much of the Andy Reid era, it could be argued that the team over achieved with the talent it had. Donovan McNabb was forced to carry the offense by himself, with his “playmakers” consisting of James Thrash, Todd Pinkston, Torrence Small and Darnell Autry.
However, it was the strong defense and attitude of this team that carried it to 4 NFC championship games, 1 NFC Championship, and 5 NFC East crowns. It was a team that mirrored the city it represented- blue collar, fight in the trenches team.
Andy Reid and Joe Banner were forced to change their philosophy because of the lack of a ring. They started to sign and trade for players regardless of there checked past- Terrell Owens, Michael Vick, Jack Ikegwuono- because of there potential as playmakers. A team that used to draft offensive and defensive lineman with there top picks started using those picks on skill players.
In the past two years, it is clear that strategy has caused the Eagles to lose the mental edge and toughness it used to have. Watching them get rolled over by Dallas two weeks in a row was proof of that.
Our Eagles have become a soft, finesse team.
While the Eagles have added real weapons to there offense- Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy- they have done a poor job of adding players to this team that have a tough mental attitude.
An offensive line that was anchored by Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas, players who were true football warriors, were replaced with Shawn Andrews and Stacey Andrews.
In there time with the Eagles, Runyan and Thomas combined to miss a total of 10 games in 18 seasons played with the team. The Andrews brothers have missed 36 in only 7 seasons.
The secondary used to be on of the best, hard-hitting units in the league. Sheldon Brown, Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis punished wideouts that came into their area.
Now? Asante Samuel is the premier player in the secondary. He plays off of players and jump routes. He won’t play up on the line of scrimmage. He is one of the poorest tacklers on the team.
Brian Dawkins was replaced with Quinten Demps, Macho Harris, and Sean Jones. Needless to say, none of them have the same leadership and toughness Dawkins brought to the Eagles.
Sheldon Brown could be gone next year. Anyone excited to have Brown replaced with Joselio Hanson? Think Hanson will make Reggie Bush think twice about going into the flat the way Brown did?
This team used to play with the attitude of its leaders- Dawkins, Runyan, Duce Staley, Sheldon Brown.
The Eagles now play with the same attitude of their biggest players on each side of the ball- Desean Jackson and Asante Samuel. They are a soft, finesse team that occasionally makes the big play.
This off season, as the Eagles try once again try to pick up the pieces from a disappointing playoff loss, they need to put an emphasis on changing the mental attitude of this team and adding players that will bring toughness back to the Eagles.
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