Well, that’s a wrap. Rest in Peace 2011 Philadelphia Eagles season. For all intents and purposes, the Eagles season has been over for several weeks. But after last week’s gutsy win against the Giants, fans 
were given one last hope that maybe this team could still turn it around and win the division. After Sunday’s 38-20 debacle against the Patriots, it’s safe to say the end is here. The Eagles were outplayed and outcoached.
When they jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, it looked like last week’s win may have propelled this team to the great levels we were expecting most of the season. But Bill Belichick made the necessary adjustments to get out of the hole, while Andy Reid continued doing the same things that have driven the fans crazy this entire waste of a season. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around most of the Linc was empty, while those remaining were left wondering how this football team became so bad, so fast.
Early on, it looked like the Eagles were going to steamroll New England. A quick score that was highlighted by a long pass and catch from Vince Young to Riley Cooper set the tone. Young started out looking great. He completed four of his first five passes and was well over 100 yards by the end of the first quarter. This probably actually did more harm than good.
When Andy Reid’s quarterbacks go on a roll early, he tends to fall in love with the pass. Today was no different. After the Patriots fought back to take a 21-10 lead, the Eagles took the ensuing kickoff and drove the ball down the field. With a first and goal from the New England five yard line, the Eagles called a pass play. And then another pass play. And then another.
Five yards away from the end zone and not one play was called for LeSean McCoy. After the game Andy explained that most teams had success against the Patriots in the red zone by passing the ball. All well and good, but when you have a backup quarterback who wasn’t exactly the model of accuracy, maybe one call to your soon to be All-Pro running back would have been wise. Instead, the Eagles were forced to kick a field goal and the lead was only cut to 21-13.
The Swiss cheese of a defense then allowed the Patriots to walk down the field for a field goal of their own right before the half, and what could have been a one possession game, turned into an 11 point deficit against one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.
In the second half, another Andy play call had everyone scratching their heads, even if it was somewhat expected. With 11:27 left in the third quarter and the score 31-13, the Eagles started at their own 20 and proceeded to take the ball to the Patriots 2 yard line. On 3rd and 1 from the 2, McCoy was stopped for no gain.
Then, on fourth down, Young threw an incomplete pass on a fade throw to Brent Celek in the back of the end zone. Turnover on downs. After the game, Andy took the blame for that one, but didn’t really give a great explanation as to why that would be the play call on a critical play in which a touchdown gives the Eagles a shot of at least making the game respectable.
Sadly for the Eagles, the offense wasn’t the only unit that failed to produce today. The defense looked horrid, and once again Juan Castillo looked outmatched on the sidelines. I really don’t blame Castillo for this debacle. Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely out of his league and has no business being a defensive coordinator at this level.
But put yourselves in his shoes for a second. Imagine that you’re a mid level manager at a successful company. You’re making good money and you have a good reputation amongst your peers. Life is good. Then one day, your boss approaches you about the opportunity to be one his top assistants. The pay is better and the possible prestige is limitless. What are you going to do? Of course you’re taking the job.
In your mind, there’s no one better for the position. So you take it. That’s what Juan Castillo did. He was offered a job that was too good to refuse. Yes, he has a tremendous work ethic. And by all accounts, the players actually believe in him. But the bottom line is he’s outclassed. But it’s not his fault.
The fault in hiring Juan Castillo lies at the feet of the same man who didn’t make the necessary adjustments to put his team in a better position to win Sunday. Those feet belong to Andy Reid. After the Eagles stopped the Patriots on their first drive, Belichick made changes. New England went to a no huddle offense that left the Eagles looking lost and tired. They never recovered, and the rest is history.
The final result of today’s game saw two teams with two coaches going in two different directions. The Patriots are looking to wrap up yet another division title and maybe home field throughout the playoffs. Bill Belichick will try to lead his team to their fourth Super Bowl title in ten years. Meanwhile, the Eagles are hoping to hold off the Redskins for third place as chants of “Fire Andy” were finally heard at the Linc.
Thirteen years of the same old, same old, has finally caught up to the head coach. With a little more than a month left in this forgettable season, we could be down to the last two home games of this regime. Maybe then, a coaching staff will come in here and make the adjustments necessary to be successful.
Well DRUMMER,
I guess we got our answer to what we were talking about in that one post. It was the eagles defense that cause them to drop wide open passes. This is exactly what i was talking about. Guys litterally wide open with no one even close to them
Maybe at 9-7 and 5-1 in the NFC East we can still win the division on tiebreakers ? yes a wildly opptomistic Eagles fan, but what else do I have ?
To be honest, I gave up on this team a while ago..
I think I have mentioned a few teams that I have never been so disinterested in an Eagles Team as I have been with this 2011 Season’s Team.. From Coach AR & the Front Office and to many of it’s players.. I don’t plan my Sunday’s around this team and haven’t had the motivation to even really give a hoot … I guess I am just a bad fan anymore which is my problem, but this Franchise has driven me away from my favorite Team, the Eagle’s.. I am just fan-fatigued with this entire organization…
Well Andy was his predictable self on Sunday and looked at the Pats defense and went pass, pass, pass. Even Washburn thinks he and Marty are idiots at this point. Is there anyone out there who still thinks it is a good idea to bring Andy back next year?? Are there people who think it is a good idea to give Desean Jackson 8 million dollars a year or franchise him?? Reid, Marty, Castillo and D Jack all have to go.
I thought this was obvious going into preseason. This team looked exactly how they looked on paper. Overrated and unprepared. They made every wrong move, they stuck to their game plan on not running the ball. Enough said. This team is who I’ve known all along. Mediocrity is Jeff Luries best friend.
IMO I’m glad that this game happened. I’m sure Juan is a nice guy and all. He just should not be the DC! If we would have put together a winning streak and but still missed the playoffs. We would have heard all the BS out how this team just needs more time to gel! Look Reid hired this him he trusted this guy with HIS defense! Reid has an all pro running back that gets 10 carries! Reids team continues to have problems with turnovers and penaltys! Reid has to go! While people will speak to his record! We haven’t won a playoff game in a while! It’s time!
paulman….I hear you. I watched the first drive yesterday and then hung my Xmas lights. I saw it was 10-0 and said to myself, “that’s a famous Eagle lead.” I have seen them blow so many 10-0 leads in the last thirty years I was not the least bit moved by the good start. I knew it was a matter of time and that was confirmed when literally ten minutes of “real time” passed and it was 14-10. After the three straight passes inside the five, it was another wrap for Andy and his ineptitude.
I am just waiting to hear how they will try to sell another year of Reid when everyone knows the real reason is they don’t want to pay two coaches because they are cheap. They only spent all that free agent money because league rules mandated they had to and they had a ton from not spending the last three years. Andy will be here because they don’t have any intention of paying out some ten million dollars for head coaching next year. The team will require a total rebuilding project in 2013 after the last two drafts and then next year’s yield little to nothing, Trent Cole (good ridance) is gone and so is Assante. I don’t know how the new coach moves forward with that bad contract with Vick. You have Shady, Maclin, Celek and a couple decent O linemen and that’s about it. There will be nothing in the cupboard on defense. A bunch of mediocre players that this administration has drafted give you no foundation to build from. And anyone who wanted tough players would hate what he has here. Trent Cole pretty much personifies this defense. Over rated with no leadership ability and fade late in games. That’s Trent Cole and that’s this defense.
We had some satellite reception problems and I missed a chunk of the 3rdQ. FOr the first time in forever, I didn’t care.
By the time the 4thQ rolled around, I had switched to the fabulous Grey Cup!
Maybe we can trade Vick and Young for Travis Lulay!
Eagles win versus the Dolphins & Redskins and then lose the Seahawks,Jets,Cowboys and finish 6-10 for the Season
Who are the best MLBs in college right now? Kuechly at Boston College? Burfict at ASU? Hightower at Alabama or Te’o at Notre Dame?
about the run game- CALLED IT!!!
to do list..
1) Fire all coaches exept, washburn, Mudd.
2) Hire Fischer and his Dcord
3)Tag Djax
4) Draft WR, MLB,OLB in first 2 rounds.
5) Sign or trade for a nasty angry man at FS
im so tired of doing this every year. time for a fresh start.
Stevo, agree about who to fire and who to keep, but I don’t want Jeff Fischer, to me he’s another Reid who had a modicum of success in Tennessee, but lasted too long w/o winning. I also would not tag Djax. I would work out a realistic contract or let him go.
emoney- sorry- it was supposed to say- tag and trade.
vinnie. welcome back.. you were missed.
D-Jax will be gone,
WOrking out a “Tag and Trade” is very difficult to pull off.. Too many variables have to work – COntract Amount, Length of Terms, Bonus $$$ and then trade compensation in return.. I would say there is a 1 % Chance of this occuring..
The only way the Eagles are going to Franchise D-Jax is if they sincerely plan on offering a long-term deal that he and his Agent can accept.. If th eEagles feel this is not likely to happen, they will move on.. Teams have not been been succesful with the results of trying to “Franchise a player” to attempt to force their hand at a long deal.. I think in reality, the Eagles will make what they feel is a fair offer for D-Jax and most likely D-Jax/Agent will not like the deal enough to accept and then D-Jax will be free to test the market and become a true Free-Agent.. I believe there is less than a 10% Chance he will be back with the Eagles in 2012 and almost a 0% that he will be Franchised.. I think it’s pretty obvious how the Front-Office and even Coach AR fell about him as far as being a part of future plans and with his attitude and performance likely to get worse as the Season goes along, there is no way the Eagles Front Office will make him part of the future.. If the Front Office and Coach AR felt so strong about D-Jax and his role, then he would have signed a long-term deal last Season or back after the Lock-out.
Now combine this with the under-achievements of this 2011 Season & Team and the fact that QB VIck is having (after signing a big deal) a so-so Season and it ever becomes more unlikely that D-Jax remains an Eagle.. I could care less whther he stays or not and have never been a big fan of D-Jax on a personal note..Is he a good and very exciting player, Yes, Is he a good Teammate and Profesional, No, I don’t think he is..Is he a leader who can mentor and mold other teammates to be team players first, No I don’t think so… When you take the total package, I say it’s time for him to move on..
When coaches get fired is it because the players are playing well, but the coaches just aren’t coaching very well?
How do you know when a coach is not doing a very good job of coaching?
Coaches get fired because the players aren’t playing well. And the players often aren’t playing well because they aren’t being coached well.
That’s like blaming a car for being in a wreck. There was nothing wrong with the car. It was the driver.
There’s a saying in my line of work. “It’s a poor musician who blames his instrument.”
One day, some of you will come to understand that Reid is the problem.
Bring in a different coach and many of these same players (including Jackson) are right back in the pro bowl, where they’ve been their entire careers.
It is so short-sighted to forget all of the great stuff Jackson’s done and focus only the present, all the while ignoring the way he’s been treated and way he’s being used.
At least some of you have finally come to realize that Reid is a bum. Oh well, one thing at a time, I guess.
I simply must say it again. The Eagles won in spite of Reid, not because of him. With some of the players we’ve had over the years, the right coach would have won a couple of championships.
Stevo….you would like Djax back? Tag him and pay him top 5 WR $$???
So that he can…
drop every 3rd ball?
Flip the ball at oposing coaches?
Miss meetings?
Get benched?
Alligator arm passes?
Showboat without actually winning anything?
Do you know what he’s done over the past 18 games (since he was KO’d)??
4 100 yrd games. That’s right. 4
5 TDs. That’s right. 5 TDs. In 18 games.
67 catches…remember this is in 18 games. In his last full season its a whopping 58 catches
9 of his 18 games he was held to less than 50 yards. Under 50 yards in half the games he’s played in.
Oh and the #s would have been worse if I gave him zeros for the game he was benched.
Desean. He can take his mini-man ass along with his mini-man QB and roll on out of here. Eagles won’t miss him. They scored 13 points against the worst pass D in the entire league yesterday. Good times.
drummer , according to juan no one outworks andy and his staff . quoting andy works up to 22 hours a day . what exactly do they do during these long days?
Can we get Spagnuolo back on defense? Dude is bound to get canned in St. Louis.
If D-Jax was tagged in 2012 he would get 9.4 Mil next season.
Nev
So Belichick must work 26 hours a day.
Someone told me long ago, “Working is good, but working is smart is better,” and that’s something I found to be true.
Besides, I know guys who play instruments. They practice all the time, but it’s simply not their “life’s work.” Just because you work hard at something is no guarantee you’ll be any good at it. Reid’s a great coach in many ways, but in many other ways, he’s the worst. Reid is his own worst enemy, and he’ll never win a Superbowl.
Nev
I thought you were defending Reid. However, after re-reading your post, it occurred to me that you may “not” have been defending Reid. If that’s the case, please forgive my oversight. I’m a little riled up by Schiller’s unrepentant posts.
It’s not about how many hours a day one works, it’s about working smart and the quality of your work and in this department, Coach AR is lacking
Drummer man, I thought you were the one smiling, not riled up by me. Dude stop sweating me. Just because I’m more open minded than your “Reid is the worst thing since Hitler” obsession…. geeze