Let’s remove emotion, loyalty and just look at how the season began and ended. The team was flat and horrible in the opener against Green Bay. Michael Vick comes in and lifts the team. He begins to break down as a result of Andy Reid’s inability to properly mix his plays. He decides to go exclusively to the shotgun formation on every down. For the detail of his action see Ray Didinger’s article on CSNPhilly.
The playoff bound Philadelphia Eagles should have lost to the Giants. They then lost to a ROOKIE HEAD COACH with a ROOKIE QUARTERBACK with almost no starts who WAS drafted to be a WR. All of this was done at home with a BYE ON THE LINE. The year before they were twice HUMILIATED by DALLAS.
Andy Reid has a problem adjusting to Everything. His Fastballs are not working on defense. He refused to draft a center and relied on a TORN ACL GUY to be the starter.
There is something to be said about the Andy Reid and the Eagles constantly relying on a TORN ACL GUY.
Starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley was drafted by the Birds even though he had a torn ACL in 2005 at Nebraska. He gets to the Eagles becomes the starting middle linebacker and becomes TORN ACL GUY without being hit. He missed time this year because of an injured elbow.
Marlon Jackson – TORN ACL GUY
Cornelius Ingram – TORN ACL GUY
Stacy Andrews – TORN ACL GUY
Ricky Sapp – TORN ACL GUY
Jack Ikeqwuonu – TORN ACL GUY
Look at the draft picks and money wasted on TORN ACL GUY. Look at the production. One good season from Stewart Bradley. What’s even more illuminating about this habit of drafting and signing players with TORN ACL’s, nearly all of these guys suffered additional TORN ACL’s in injuries where they weren’t even hit.
TORN ACL GUY represents the Eagles Philosophy of budgeting.
THEY WANT TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP AS LONG AS THEY CAN DO IT ON THEIR CHOSEN BUDGET.
Andy Reid is the only head coach who comes into a season with NO KICK RETURNER. Or SLOW MOTION KICK RETURNER – AKA – Reno Mahe or his clone Chad Hall. The SEC ACC BIG TEN AND BIG 12 are full of track guys playing football who run back kicks. There is no way in Hades that an NFL team can’t have a speedster running back kicks.
Jeffery Lurie said he wanted the Eagles modeled after the championship teams of the 49ers. He has hired a couple of head coaches with ties to their system and organization. He needs to look at himself and ask does he have anywhere near the desire to WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP THAT
EDDIE DEBARTOLO HAD.
BSM is on fire!!!!!
Here’s the portion of Didinger’s article that stood out to me. It defines the difference between Reid’s kill-the-QB offense and winning football:
“I thought the Eagles would lean on LeSean McCoy in this game because if they were productive in the running game, it would have allowed the Eagles to work their passing game off play-action and thereby better protect Vick.
That is what Green Bay did. Coach Mike McCarthy called 29 running plays and kept Rodgers under center on 40 of 61 offensive snaps. By using so many I-formations and three-back sets, McCarthy kept the running game in play even when it was a pass. That made it hard for the Eagles to get pressure on Rodgers because they always had to play run first.
As good as Rodgers is – and he is very good, indeed – the Packers didn’t make their game plan all about him. They took a team approach. Even though their running game ranked 24th in the league, they were going to keep banging away with Sparks, Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.”
Also of note:
Aaron Rodgers made an interesting comment following Sunday’s 21-16 NFC Wild Card win over the Eagles.
“All the time I’ve been a football fan, I’ve never seen one player win a game all by himself,” the Green Bay quarterback said. “This is a good team win for us.”
Simply put, play-calling protects your QB from injury.
Passing 93% against a Giants defense gets your QB injured.
The CAPS in the piece are annoying.
STRAIGHT FROM THE HOSES’ MOUTH
This is a portion of Mike McCarthy’s Press Conference on January 10:
Clearly. It’s an unselfish offense that’s built around making the quarterback successful. You have to have a starting point, you have to have a focal point. Our offense is based on making the quarterback position as successful as possible. That’s why you start, with the game plan you start building the run game, because running the football is what needs to be done up front so the offensive line, the run-blocking unit can establish the line of scrimmage. From that, it gives you the variations in pass protections that’s definitely needed in today’s game with the amount of pressure and scheme diversity that these defenses in today’s NFL give you, and then off of that comes the passing game. It’s clearly about throwing the football to the right person. It’s about decision-making, accuracy, getting in rhythm, timing, and it’s all driven by making that quarterback successful.
LOL! Not the “hoses’ mouth,” but the “horse’s mouth” Sometimes I crack myself up.
Here’s the link to the press conference:
http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/Mike-McCarthy-Press-Conf-Transcript—Jan-10/25c3362a-994b-42da-8b58-2284bae789ed
BSM
I like the caps. It shows your emphasis.
Great points Brian,
I stated back during Summer Camp/Preseason that Coach AR made a huge mistake in rushing Center Jackson back to return at the Start by the season where he should have been PUP list and activated after week #6 so he could be healthier for the stretch run. Now, there is no way to tell if his still hobbling knee so recently after surgery, contributied to his current torn triceps muscle, but the point is, he was rushed to the field when he wasn’t close to being 100% or in Football shape at the time and the interior O/Line struggled for most of the Season
I even stated in Pre-season that FB L Weaver appeared to be laboring in the Summer Camp/Pre-Season and didn’t seem to have that explosion or quickness he had shown in 2009 and again, maybe he was still trying to round into football shape after the off-season (and maybe enjoyed
that big contract just a little too much) I have read where the Doctors who perfomed his surgery stated that his ligament/nerve damaged was about the worse he’s ever seen
The point is, once a player has a torn ACL and Knee Surgery, and especially if the player plays at a skill position where quickness,agility and speed are mandatory to play at a a high level in the NFL, that the player is just not the same for the next 12-18 months..
We can all look back at the players who have been injured and had surgeries and even the great ones like McNabb,Westbrook,Dawkins where they just lost that explosvenes they had before their injuries and surgeries.
We heard the Eagles last off-season counting on players like J Jackson, C Ingram, M Jackson, E Hobbs, S Bradley, all being major players and contributors to the 2010 Season and of course this didn’t happen. Now we fast forwardd t othis Off-Season and we will be told that players like B Graham, N Allen, Jackson, Weaver, Bradley,Ingram,Abiamri,Sapp will be back and contributing come 2011.. Then when you look at players with multiple surgeries like Bradley,Ingram,M Jackson,E Hobbs, it’s just wishful thinking that these players will emerge as good as they once were or even if they are able to pass a physical and play anymore..
I would not count on Graham/Allen/Weaver for the 1st half of the 2011 Season and would not be surprised to see them start the 2011 Season on PUP list so they need to address the positions that these players play thru Free-Agency and the Draft
Players like Hobbs,M Jackson,V Abiamri,Ingram realistically have very little chance or ever returning to the field ,so I would cut the chord and move forward with other players in their place
The Eagles have had their share of serious,season endning injuries the last few seasons, and this occures to many teams whether it’s bad luck, improper conditioning but teams have to adjust and account that players will get hurt.. The thing that gets everyone upset is when they bring in a players who already have a history of having a serious injuries and suregery.. best bet is just to stay away from these tyope of players.You want to take flyer and draft a kid in the 6th/7th Round coming off a surgery his last season in College (like a Jack Ike/C Ingram) that’s ok, but don’t draft them within
the first 5 Rounds or Trade for them or Sign them as Free-Agent
I see a couple of current players who haven’t had major injuries yet,but appear to get dinged up a little more each season as the get older, players like T Herremans, A Samuel, N Cole so maybe father time is catching up with them as it takes longer to recover or maybe again it’s bad luck, but this is no excuse for not to start acquiring quality depth at their positions now and not wait..
Paul
Samuel’s gotten hurt because he started tackling TEs and FBs, which he never did before.
I was cold, then hot, then cold, then hot again on Samuel. I’m sticking with hot. Turnovers win games and he gets turnovers.
Again, Asante’s a special talent and you have to somewhat cater to his style. Just as they allow him to play off the receiver (rather than bump and run), I think that he needs good tough tackling safeties to protect him, because he’s just not built to tackle.
That’s a lot to ask for, but I think he’s worth it.
DB: samuel – nnamdi – nate allen – eric weddle…could be amazing!!!
TO Drummer,
I like Samuel too,, but how many Int’s did he have in the stretch run of the Season,
He missed 3-4 games and wasn’t the same once he returned, All I am saying is that his body and his Knees in particular are not heeling as quaick as they used to and he probably has 1-2 years left being able to play at a high level. He’s not a big guy at all,and if is he loses a step, he’s becomes ineffective
For past few years I too have complained about Reid’s bringing in FA’s and draftees with previous serious injuries. Stupid decisions lead to teams by end of season with very little depth. Yes, there will always be injuries in football but why decrease your odds of having a healthy team come playoffs.
It’s definite that the Weaver, Hobbs, M. Jackson careers are done, and Allen, Sapp, Ingram and Graham will no longer be able to reach their potentials. Perhaps only Buckalter was ever able to overcome those knees.
Once again, please get Rory Segrest out of town and get some beef on both lines for a change, more guys who play with skill and an angry, aggressive attitude!! No more flyweights vs. heavyweights.
Only a sincere, carefully-planned/highly organized, non-emotional effort by a team of community fan representatives from Philly, ‘burbs and Jersey-Delaware should meet with Lurie. Nobody else matters other than the owner. You don’t need to bust on Reid, Banner, etc but telling Lurie what you demand of this organization.
We need a Bobby Bethard type GM who knows how to evaluate players and hire staff which made the Joe Gibbs years one of best I’ve ever seen, particularly in NFC East… Jerry Jones won’t keep unproductive people around, nor did Parcells. You folks living right there in Philly area need to start a grassroots campaign against the mediocrity and same-old, same-old approach that has not brought a SB winner to this city, no championship for 51 years.
Lurie and company could care less about radio 610’s or our rantings on here. The players have no voice in change at all. Fans can bring about changes in the status quo… you’re Lurie’s “stockholders” and can make a difference.
Speaking of torn ACL guys, what does everybody think of Rocky Mcintosh of the Redskins? He is a free agent 28 year old WILL who tore is ACL in ’07 but has recovered pretty nicely to be a beast at stopping the run and not a bad pass rusher either. He suffered with the redskins change to a 3-4 and isnt looking likely to be resigned so could full a hole and add some depth to the eagles LB corps.
And speaking of the eagles OLBs I found this on csnphilly:
The Eagles are one of only two NFL teams that hasn’t had an outside linebacker record four sacks in a season since 1999. The other one is the Rams, whose head coach – Steve Spagnuolo – was the Eagles’ linebackers coach from 1999 through 2007. Oddly enough.
McIntosh is a good player, I am surprised that he’s only 28 for it seems like he’s been playing for while.
The OLB positions has been so negelcted for the last 10 (ever since JJ took over the Defense) so it’s
no real surprise that they have been so ineffective in that Statistic ..
OLB schemes in JJ/and now McDermott’s schemes are to play out in space and run support and drop back in pass coverage.. It’s never been an emphasis to get after the QB from that position which is almost a joke when you think about it.. Todays game is about getting to the QB and protecting the QB and in these 2 critical areas, the Eagles are simply average and not good enough to compete with the top teams in the NFL..
You would think our LBs would notch up a decent number of sacks over the last 10 years with the way we played so blitz heavy, especially under JJ.. but after the stats in my previous post it just goes to show how null and void our OLBs have been when on the field.
and also on how overrated JJ really was as a DC in my opinion..
Eagles had that that Great Secondary behind them during most of his time with the Eagles,
but I have never been all that impressed with the Eagles Front 7 since the Buddy Ryan days to be honest …. JJ was a great guy and a good coach, and it was very unfortunate about his illness and his way to early passing in lefe,but to make him out into a HOF Defensive Coach I think is a stretch and a little bit of “Kennedyism” by the media and many fans if you ask me..
All of this speaks to the overall operating principle of the team: manage the salary cap and keep the Eagles profitable.
At the beginning of the season, Forbes Magazine had the Eagles ranked at #7 on the list of most valuable NFL teams. The Cowboys, Redskins, and Giants were all ranked ahead of us in the top 5. Keep in mind the other three NFC East teams have 11 Super Bowl wins between them. I’d say Lurie has done an excellent job in having this team financially strong without any championships to show for it. If the Super Bowl were based on financial mangement the Eagles probably would have won multiples times during Lurie’s ownership tenure.
Lurie is very comfortable with the state of the Eagles. They are competitive almost every year, have many nationally televised games, a great stadium, and have won the division more than any other team in the past 12 seasons. Would you be willing to roll the dice in firing Reid at this point? Keeping Reid and his staff in tact seems strictly like a business decision. It has nothing to do with football.
That is the problem for us fans. What may be best for the Eagles as a football team, may not be what is best for the Eagles as a business. The Patriots seemed to have figured out how to tackle both of these issues with success as they were ranked 3rd. I just wish the Eagles organization could do the same.
BSM – Excellent points
Iggles – You’re right that Lurie and company don’t care what is written here, said on 610 nor what the fans say. phillyatheart – BINGO! They are very successful at the business of football. I’ll add that they’re business isn’t Superbowls. Their business is selling their brand. If they win a SB along the way that’s the icing on the cake they’ve had every season sinf Reid got here. To Iggles, they’ll only listen to $ which, as you know, is only controlled through fan’s buying seats, merchandise and TV ratings.