I think the good news is that when losses like this keep piling up and Joe Banner is looking at the bill for these losses, changes will be made. Big changes. When they go out and sign all these high-profile, big-ticket free agents and see a team that looks like this, they aren’t going to be happy. Someone will have to pay for this. So, despite the fact that we don’t want to, let’s look at the game:
What I liked….
-I admit this every week and I’ll keep doing it. The one “big” move the Eagles made this offseason that didn’t thrill me at all, was the signing of Jason Babin. It looks like the difference between journeyman first-round bust and legit star is the Wide 9. He’s in the backfield on just about every single play. Right now, he’s the team’s most important and effective player on defense. And I don’t think it’s close.
-They finally found a use for King Dunlap!
…and not so much…
-There were other things I kinda sorta liked, but I just don’t have it in me to praise a team that has so much talent and is so absolutely awful right now.
-Did anyone notice that the o-line did a pretty nice job early on? Yep, and then the inept 49ers realized that they should rush more than three people. That was the end of that.
-I’m going to shock everyone and say that I don’t blame Juan Castillo one bit for the horrific play of this team’s defense. Not one bit. It’s not his fault at all. Andy Reid decided that it was a good idea to make an offensive line coach his defensive coordinator. You know why you never see people do that? Because it’s a terrible idea! You add all these defensive free agents and then let a guy with no experience whatsoever put them all together. How is that his fault? He works his behind off, but so what? He has no idea what he’s doing….and we’re supposed to sit and let him work through it? The move reminds me of a kid who acts out, knowing it will get his parents’ attention and he’ll get punished. Making Castillo his defensive coordinator just wreaks of Andy begging to get fired.
-Now, how about the idea of this regime bringing in players and then having them do things that they’ve A. never done before, and/or B. aren’t good at. Nnamdi Asomugha was one of the best – if not the best – corners in all of football for pretty much his entire career. Why is he sub par now? What changed? Ohhhh….you’re asking him to do things that he doesn’t do. He’s a legit, man-on-man cover corner. So let’s have him blitz and play zone! I am honestly tired of writing about this crap. I really am.
I’ve said all along that I’m an Andy Reid guy. He does some things very well, and be careful what you wish for when asking for change. But I think I’ve about had it. This is such a huge flaw in how he does things and I can’t stand it anymore. They bring in guys who have had success elsewhere doing something, and then want them to do different things and just can’t believe that it doesn’t work. Chris Gocong had 22 1/2 sacks as a senior at Cal Poly. Is it safe to assume that we all agree that that’s why you would draft a guy like that in the third round? Wouldn’t that be a safe assumption? You like that he was a terror on opposing quarterbacks? Am I wrong? So let’s make him stand up, play linebacker and ask him to cover tight ends. “Hey look, Marty, this guy kicked 84 field goals last year over 70 yards! He’d be a great quarterback!” I may be exaggerating, but I’m not far off. If Andy had me start at QB this week, should you be mad at me for sucking, or at him for putting me in there? Exactly. This is a fatal flaw in Andy’s thinking. I’ve had it.
-I think of Andy’s decision making when I think of Alex Henery’s two missed field goals yesterday that were a big reason they lost the game. You have your all-in, Super Bowl team, and you are trusting two rookie kickers. Oh, and you had one of the best in NFL history right on your roster. You decided he could go pound sand. You trusted a team with all these hopes and aspirations to a kid who never kicked in the NFL before. This is what you get. Believe me, I understand that he has to make those, but there are a lot of NFL teams who have kickers they don’t trust because there aren’t 32 reliable NFL kickers out there. They don’t exist. We were spoiled by David Akers and shielded from the horrors that come with having a kicker who you roll the dice with on every kick.
-A lot of this stuff I don’t even feel like typing, because I’m not offering any insight that the whole world doesn’t already know. What can I say about Ronnie Brown’s decision at the goal line? I watched the game just like you did and thought the exact same thing that you did. At the very least, that was another three points.
-I’d like to compliment DeSean Jackson on his big game, but all I can think of is the drops. And does anyone else feel like he has no interest in playing defender on poorly thrown deep balls? At least look like you’re trying. DeSean should absolutely hate the Red Zone channel. It allows Philadelphia fans to get a great look at what true studs like Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald do on a weekly basis.
-I go back to what I said before about not being able to add any insight to some of this nonsense. Was that ball ripped out of Jeremy Maclin’s hands? No, it wasn’t. It was a gentle poke. He wasn’t remotely securing that ball the way he should have been. You should be gripping that ball for dear life in the first quarter of a blowout, not to mention when you are driving to take the lead in the final minutes.
-After LeSean McCoy busts out for 24 carries last week and runs all over the Giants, you should…give him the ball nine times in a game where you had the lead the entire time?
-I’m so sick of having linebackers that we praise when they are able to just do the basic functions of their jobs at times. No difference makers. No impact players. Guys who are “just a guy” on their best days. Sometimes in sports you have players who just aren’t good enough. Doesn’t make them bad people or mean that they don’t work hard. Sometimes, your best just isn’t good enough. And that’s the Eagles linebackers.
-Oh, Trent Cole got hurt too? Awesome.
-I’m not blaming Michael Vick, he had great stats on Sunday. But, he’s not good enough right now. He had one interception and really should have thrown two. I do admit that it’s tough to really judge his play when he’s running for his life as soon as he says “hike.”
-Just in case you were wondering, Frank Gore was averaging less than three yards per carry this season coming into Sunday’s game. Joe Staley, one of the 49ers offensive linemen, said during the week that their o-line doesn’t “suck.” You know when you have to say things like that? When your o-line sucks. That’s when. Throw in the fact that the 49ers trailed the whole time, and it makes Gore’s 15 carries for 127 yards and a TD that much more damning to the Eagles defense. Kendall Hunter? Nine carries for another 38 yards. Oh, and Gore had a bum ankle and they weren’t even sure if he’d play all week. Disgraceful. And I’m not dog-piling on the Eagles defense. That is truly disgraceful.
-Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com says that this was a “signature” win for the 49ers. That’s how bad of a loss this was.
-Oh, and Jason Peters has a significant hamstring injury, so he’ll probably miss a few weeks at least. King Dunlap to replace him? This doesn’t mean we have to pull him off of the field goal block team does it?
-And Antonio Dixon – probably the team’s best defensive tackle from last year – is done for the year with a torn triceps. Are these areas of the team where the Eagles can afford injuries? The next thing you’re going to tell me is that linebacker injuries are racking up.
-How dumb am I? I told my friends before the game that this was the time when Andy Reid shines. Coming off a terrible loss to the New York Giants and facing what should be an easy opponent. Andy gets his guys ready to go and wins these games easily. Remember when I talked about Andy being so strong in some areas? This was supposed to be one of them. Now what?
I’m done. I’m spent. I’m honestly exhausted from going through all of this. And with all these injuries, why are we supposed to think that things will get better? Not trying to be doom and gloom or overreact, but I’m just not seeing a way that things get better right now. Could they? Sure, but I don’t know how right this second. Could/should be a loooong season. Hopefully, your fantasy team is doing well. Go Phils?
You can always follow me on Twitter: @OTRSportsonline
Or email me any thoughts you might have: OTRSports@Gmail.com
Micah this has been in general one of the craziest years in football I ever seen has it not? The Bills are winning the Lions are winning the NFC east is one of the worse conferences. Fred Jackson seems to be the best running back. Brady is throwing 1000 yards a game. Steelers look old. The Redskins are on top of the division. Are we now starting to see a shift in balance here?
G., We need to learn how to finish games. Its not how you start its how you finish. Thanks to Andy Reid we now are 1 and 3. I feel if we fired Andy today maybe we have a chance to make the playoffs. With all this talent the coaches are suppose to set up a plan for them to get better and improve every game. The Eagles are too predictable and we play with no heart. When was the last time we won a home game. With the halftime score being 20-3 I felt we were in good shape. Reid and MM play calling again was horrible and on the one drive in the 3rd quarter they play for the field goal rather than go for the first down which could probably lead to another touch down. When we need a first down for 10 yards I’m tired of seeing us throw it to a play for three yards then expect them to run for another 7 yards. This some crap has been going on for over ten years. Fired Andy Reid Today. Hire John Gruden as his replacement before this mess gets any worse!!!!!!
This thinking about replacing Reid is based on fear of the unknown and that’s insane.
No, we don’t know what we’ll be getting, but we certainly know what we have.
If a new coach doesn’t show something in 3 years, he’s out the door.
But to watch this steady decline is insane, especially when you review how we got here.
Reid’s teams have gotten increasingly worse as he lost more of Ray Rhodes’ holdovers. Now, with a team all his own, including the best high-priced free agents available, Reid’s defense gets mauled by the worse offense in the league. Worse yet, they were gouged by a one-legged running back and an less-than-average QB .
It gets worse Micah..
The Bills losing to the lowly Bengals is the worse thing that could have happen to them (besides losing the 49ers). Now the Bills will get off their high horse after starting 3-0 and will work doubly hard to get back to their winning ways. HC/Offensive guru Chan Gailey has a field day and a half creating more mis-matches with his headsy QB R Fitzpatrick, versatile RB F jackson and a very good young trio of Receivers names Steve Johnson, David Nelson, and Donald Jones and a young TE S Chandler…. I see the BIlls putting up 35-38-41 points on the Eagles
Guys……When you thought it couldn’t get any worse King Dunlap will start with our best offensive lineman ailing.
If he does hald decent If I was Reid, Peters would start on the blindside when he returns, slide Herremans back to Guard, Slide Kelce to right gaurd. and plug Jackson in at Center.
A stronger line with force.
Micah, you don’t blame Castillo one bit? Isn’t that a double standard?
For years blame has been placed on the QB, the linebackers, the offensive line, the draft picks, the defensive line, the safeties, the fullback, the tight ends, the kicker, the coordinators, the waterboy . . .
Hasn’t Reid been responsible for all that?
I never understood how anyone could blame the QB, year after year. Isn’t it the coach who makes the decision to continue to play him?
Besides, with his schemes and philosophy, we’ve won in spite of Reid, not because of him. It’s a wonder any QB could survive death under Reid. No wonder they all become guy shy.
Songs
When Reid is finally fired, I nominate you for his position.
Micah:
Besides the off-tackle road grade the Eagles endured on defense; I didn’t like the O-line in the second half yesterday most of all. Castillo has little time to improve or he’s gone. Good luck to him. To me he’s better off with a 4-4. Reduce the space LB’s have to cover by adding another LB. DO NOT scrap the “Wide-9”! Yeah, let’s scrap the only effective improvement from last year. Let the LB’s gang tackle and flow outside, in a reduced area, on the out patterns.
But the O-line needs an ass-kicking! If an assignment was missed what I was distinctly NOT seeing was knocking off equilibrium of the next guy. I miss a block I’ll hammer the wrong guy. The 49’ers NEVER slowed down yesterday, and were enjoying that particular party. That is what I am now hacking up as I type today and for the rest of the week. ROCK UP!
Micah:
As a follow-up, I just think that, except for a competent safety, the Eagles can cover the outside – or should be able to with the acquisitions (CB’s) they’ve engineered. Why not expose them? Expose the heck out of them and they will respond. Let’s flood the mid-level, hammer the TE before he comes out of his stance and cover.
Somebody HELP me, I can’t stop posting.
Why should any TE be able to even rise up out of his stance thinking of running a route? The Strong side MLB should STYMIE him at the LOS with a bolt to his shoulder pads down towards the center of the Earth. See if he wants to avail himself of a drag after that good news.
Micah…This article might get you a Pulitzer buddy.
Welcome to the party…I’ve been here every since noticing when Andy is in a position to makes the right decision…he usually does his own thng to prove everyone wrong.
Trading out of the 1st round in multiple years at the same time deplete the heart of the team by trading, or letting key influential veterans walk. (You think Dawk would have let his team lose that game yesterday?)
Everyone know we need a safety so you go outside the box to trade up for the wrong DE whle Earl Thomas is sitting right in your lap.
Our corner position suck last season but you ignore the position with a good corner on the board..refuse to move up and grab a 26 year old fireman.
We could have kept our old corners if the plan was to just sit them back in a cover 2.
Reid claimed he liked how Watkins was wired……
WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?
They sold us Howard Mudd and Washburn like two high draft picks. Two damn position coaches.
We got absolutely nothing out of 2 consecutive drafts,
and to top it off….
The weak offensive line coach was placed over the defense.
That’s too many “IF’S” to overcome an “ALL IN” year.
McDermott was thrown under the bus after the Eagles released Sheldon Brown with no adequate replacement on the roster.
This is exactly what I expected and those who believed any different are blind.
Yes, I felt the team would do well when Asmo was signed but after veiwing the preseason, I knew there were too many holes to overcome.
We were all screaming for a linebacker during preseason while some were out there to be signed….Red said we’d be fine with Matthews in the middle.
How did that pan out?
Hell…Stewart Bradley would look like the 2nd coming of Butkus in this line up.
Like Marshall Faulk said…..”The Eagles are dreaming of being a “DREAM TEAM”.
Thwe Eagles have now become the laughing stock on the NFL..
All Commentators/Analysts and NFL Observors are ripping this team for it’s poor play and a lack of urgency and heart that it now plays with..
Meanwhile the new darlings of the media and the NFL are the Detroit LIons,Buffalo BIlls and the Tampa Bay Bucs…
The Eagles Window are now shut closed, the Andy Reid era is coming to an abrupt end..their time has passed quietly into that good night and now begins a decade of mediocrity with no playoff appearances..
A couple of things that were doomed from the start
#1) Coach Mudd’s Zone blocking schemes don’t work for QB Vick is not a Classic Pocket QB..
#2) Coach Washburn’s Wide-9 scheme doesn’t work for the Eagles don’t have any legitimate NFL Starting Caliber LB on their Roster..
So the 2 biggest aquisitions on the Coaching Staff don’t have the right personnel on the team to make their schemes and the team better..
nsid – so you’re saying you rush the Sam at the TE everytime? What if he’s lined up on the weak side? What if he stays in to block – then you just wasted a player and the other team will know to run a RB right to the spot they’d be covering or a WR crossing route…etc.etc.etc. It’s just not THAT simple
Yea nsid- Schiller should know. He’s really smart.
FYI nsid the next time you want to form an opinion, you have to make sure to grovel and beg schiller for his infinite wisdom. If he’s not available you have to ask his second in command Navy.
just didn’t make sense….. got Nnamdi playing deep in the middle of the field when you got Crabtree and Vernon Davis of the other side of the line of scrimmage. Just stupid sometimes. Just lock him up on 1 receiver THE ENTIRE GAME and that’s it. He will shut off one side of the field the whole game. But instead you have him running around pre snap and playing zone coverage. Just pure stupidity.
No rush involved. Stymie him before he gets up with his hands. React thereafter.
And to think people were actually upset and felt snubbed that the world champion Green Bay Packers were ranked #1 in preseason rankings. Seems the only mistake that ranking had was to have us #2.
The true Andy Reid has fully blossomed and we now see him in all his majesty.
How is Juan Cheerleader going to improve. Is he taking a match book course in defensive coordinating over the internet. How are people who have reached the NFL as starters who can’t tackle worth a shit going to become good tacklers.
The Eagles supposedly geared up to beat the Packers and made the 49ers
look like a seasoned playoff caliber team. Now Shiller was waiting in the wings to pounce on someone who made a questionable comment just like Andy reid jumps on someone in the press for asking a question he thinks is unworthy. Reid’s press conferences morroi his opplay calling and coaching ability as they are predictable and lack substance.
Don’t forget Howie Dorkman and Joe “Red Sox” Banner for their excellent contributions which may have won them a fantasy league championship.
Schiller, many of us, most of us, you included, recognize the many problems with this team as constructed by the front office and Reid. Some of us, many of us, have pinpointed the reasons for the early failures, embarrassments of this team, and have also offered pinpointed recommendations for positive change, including the prevailing thought among posters here that Reid must go
You have been asked repeatedly by rev. Songs about what the problems are and what you would do to fix them. You never respond to the questions posed by songs. By your proclamation of your degree from Pittsburgh, you are either an educated derelict, as I have suggested previously, or just a schill for this coach, but you are not a Philly fan, you are a fan of this front office and reid
Big E – way to show you’re more the Reid hater than the Eagles fan. You’re saying that 4 games represents Reid better than 13 years? Wow, that makes no sense. how not surprised I am, that coming from you.
Dude, the Eagles sucked it up Sunday. That’s it.
jake thanks for the provocative post. First, I’m not a fan of this front office and Reid. I’ve stated that numerous time. I am an opposer of bullshit. And a lot of the Reid criticism is Bullshit. A lot of the front office criticism is bullshit. And I have answered Songs’s questions on many an occasion, don’t know where you’ve been. He however never phrased it like that, not even close.
If you want me to answer that question, well first I’d fire Marty Morningweig. I’ve said that since the first year he was here. I’d also put in Akeem Jordan. And I’d play DRC at free saftey all the time with Jarret in there as well. I would also use Smith and Avant a lot more. And I’d also – this is where I deviate greatly from most Philly fans, BE PATIENT. The Eagles sure looked horrible in that second half and it kills me just like all of you. But to make conclusions about the whole season, a man’s coaching ability in only four games, who’s a bum, who’s not, who will never improve etc etc etc etc is still brash and premature.
And I’d say for fans, why did you have such high expectations in the first place? Songs was on here posting 19-0 predictions the second they got Nnamdi. That was dumb. No team in the league had so many changes in coaching and free agents etc… and frankly our D sucked last year so to go from totally sucking to dominating with a f-d up/lack of preparation offseason was unrealistic. It’s still VERY early in the season and we’ll see what happens. And the ‘window’ on this current iteration of the team is by NO MEANS just one year. So those who said ‘all in’ were in fact incorrect (as I stated).
4 games out of a 16 week is 25% of the Season Schiller.. The Eagles do not have anymore time left to figure out and experiment on what players to play where.. It’s too late for that… Thay had a sucky Summer Camp and Preseason if you ask me and everyone was ga-ga over them after 1 Series against the Ravens in the 1st Pre-Season game and haven’t done much to impress me over the last 8-10 weeks.. as I have stated over the last 2 months.. .Call me a hater, that fine, call me a fake fan, that’s fine, but I do my know Football and I have a sensed a train wreck and a dysfunctional team with a Head Coach who is in a panic mode and a DC who is in way over his head… I will continue to call them as I see them whether it’s my home town and favorite team or not… We all knew the defeciencies going into this Preseason and Early Season and I see no progress or improvement in the LB/SAfety play, I see poor tackling by the entire Defense, I see average protection, but Vick not getting the ball out quick enough, I see lots of drop passes and WR giving up on routes and I still see a terrible game manager and play-caller in Coach AR & MM … Nothing has changed except for some of the names on the back of the Jersey’s, but a flawed and imbalanced system is still a flawed system and this is what Coach AR & MM run …
Schiller 13 years is history and you always point that out when someone else uses it to make a point you disagree with. The dope Reid in his press conference said that Juan is doing some good things. Since you are a mind reader as with Cullen Jenkins please tell me what good things Juan has done so far in this 1-3 season with the worst, if not one of the worst, defensive teams in football. Reid making Juan the DC makes no sense. Devaluing linebackers makes no sense. Salling stupid running and pass option plays in the redzone makes no sense. Inablility to gain one running yars makes no sense. Passin 46 times and running 20 which includes Vick running for his life makes no sense and your r starting to make no sense. Take your meds.
Ok schiller, now address paulman s analysis of why the eagles are the laughing stock of the nfl
Fans have been making the same complaints about Reid since 2005 and not ever valuaing linebackers has gone on since the 1999 season. So Schiller don’t pull this Banner trick to say people are premature. All the offensive plays per reid’s mouth must go thru Reid so he is agreeing with Marty and if marty need firing how is it that Reid hasn’t done this long ago. Because he is frigin clueless today as he was 13 years ago.
Reid wants a high flying offense so he has Macklin and desaun who after taking a couple of hits slow down, don’t continue patterns, are sloppy ballhandlers. He wan’t to run 30 yard patterns with an offensive line that can barely hold for 10 yard patterns and for the last three years he is still trying to figure it out. Running you boy from Pitt 9 times in the last game and wonders why a 20 point lead was lost. This bone head has clogged arteries from all the fat he has eaten and can’t think straight. It’s time to retire Andy.
…as much as it hurts to see this happen to our team…IT IS NOW A REALITY WE as EAGLE fans deserve better
I say keep ANDY!!!!! we now have the 23 ranked Defense. last yr was 21st. 2009 we were 19th. Funny how the last 2 of 3 SB winners had the best D. Steelers were #1 D in 2008 and last yr Packers were #2 ranked Defense….strange
Big, I agree about the lbs. And as far as running shady in this game, willis and bowman were shutting it down. It was f’d up execution on both sides of the ball that lost the game IMO, not playcalling
Jake, sure I will adress pauls dumb comment. 3 losses. Ok, um you are telling me that you need to be 13-3 or better to make the playoffs in todays NFL? That sounds very dumb because repeated evidence says otherwise. Window closed when 95% of key players are under contract and not aging next year? That is equally nonsensical. Remember who we are talking about. Paulman the pathetic precarious predicter
HOW HARD WOULD it be to find a head coach who can’t win a SB. Maybe me.
Andrew Walter Reid must go. His arrogance and incompetence has been exploited. Lurie must love investing all this money only to be conned by this FAST SLOB REIDdddddddddd.
Losers of their last 5 Home games in a row.. WTF is that…
4-5 At Home last Season and 0-2 at Home this Season..
These facts alone should get Coach AR fired if you ask me.. The “Linc” for all it’s bells and whistles is just not intimidating place to play.. It’s so open that a lot of the Crowd noise disspates into the air…
One last complaint I have and I am serious about this, is the Eagles Numerals on their Jersey’s look a bit weak and feminine, every since they went with these rounded,curvey #’s, the teams has underachieved. I think they should t go back to the square, strong numbers and leave these curvey girly #’s for the Cheerleaders.. They are vey weak looking..
haha paulman, girly jerseys to match a girly team, nice
PAULMAN- Probably Lourie’s wife helped design the players uniforms as she did the cheerleader costumes with the help of designer Vera Wang. You think the Eagles should go all the way and join the lingerie league?
I hear Rosie O’Donnell is the NT for the Lingerie Team and would probably stuff Vick,McCoy or Ronnie BRown at the 1 Yard line in the Red-Zone wither with her tenacious tackliing or just the appearance of her with a Victoria Secret’s outfit on… I know I would be stopped in my tracks looking at that up front and close..
Good Grief..
If the head coach is responsible for “everything” and”everyone” concerning the team, why is it always someone else’s responsibility?
If the “players” aren’t executing, isn’t it still the coach’s responsibility? After all, he chose them and puts them on the field each week. Does he need to put them “in a better position?”
Rosie O’Donnell is hot!! Gotta get me some of that! LMFBO!!! She’d be a better option at LB, than these bunch of stooges!!!