Last year the Green Bay Packers went on a long winning streak to make the playoffs, then played on the road throughout the NFC post season and represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in which they won.
The New York Giants had done the same thing a few years before that when they barely got into the playoffs, then went on a run by winning three away playoff games to get in the Super Bowl against undefeated New England Patriots.
Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins played for the Packers a year ago and know exactly about how important momentum is when you’re talking about the playoffs. It’s one of the reasons that many NFL experts and fans had their eyes on the Eagles with regular season headed into the final week.
“We feel like we’re a dangerous team,” Jenkins said following the game on Saturday . “Heck, I know from last year, all you’ve got to do is get on a roll. You get that confidence, you get that momentum going, and you can make a lot of things happen.
“Unfortunately for us, we got on our roll a little bit too late, but there are still a lot of positives that can come out of it. We approached (the Dallas game) with that in mind, and we’ve got to approach next week and put it in mind that we want to close out the season strong, finish up and go .500.”
The Birds have won three straight games and they were getting closer to a possible playoff appearance until the New York Giants beat the New York Jets and ended all of that.
“If we would have gotten into the playoffs, I feel we would have definitely done some damage,” Michael Vick said. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t, and that’s the game of football. If you make some mistakes early and you get behind in the count in the win-loss column, you sell yourself short in the end and you’re in the position that we are in.”
Vick hears all this talk about keeping Reid or letting him go. Reid brought him here and made him the team’s starting quarterback. He knows that statements like the one you just read will help to encourage Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner to bring
The team and still many of it’s Players are still in denial .. They are not a good team, they are average in so many areas.. QB vick had a very poor start to the Season as did the WR Corps which put them in the hole to begin with..
Look at early Season losses to the Falcons,49ers and even the Bears loss..If Offense was able to do anything in these games in the 2nd half like sustain drives, scores TD’s instead of settling for FG.s then maybe they win 2 more games.. We all know the Defense was a work in progress coming into this Season and it was going to be up to the Offense to put points on the board and they failed to do so, I guess the play-calling and Coaching staff made Vick,Maclin,Avant, D-Jax turn the ball over like they did in the 1st half of the Season, and throw bad passes, and drop very catchable passes.. This team didn’t work hard enough or play with the sense of urgency from Week #1 (which was evident during the Pre-Season) and now is crying afterwards about it … It’s like spilled milk.. you caused it, so clean it up and move on..
Vick has to realize, teams like the Rams, Redskins, and Dolphins arent gonna be in the playoffs, teams like the Packers and Saints are gonna be there, we all saw what happen when we played an elite team like them (the Patriots, who crushed us) as good as our D has been playing lately JC would of got outcoached and outclassed by anyone of those teams, lets not kid ourselves people, this guy doesnt belong coaching a D thats suppose to be very close to a SB team, and thats the one mistake AR shouldnt be forgive for.
Michael ‘If we…would’ve…could’ve’ Vick.
Hard to coach a D without great Linebackers, remember most SB winners have LB’s with alot of sacks
who also cover the TE
Stop the run
3 major things LB do that Andy never seemed to realize but SB winners do…..that’s why their D are rankd 1 or 2 and we are 22
Who keeps saying the Eagles are a SB Team outside of Philadelphia..
Eagles 4-1 versus a very poor inconsistent and weak NFC East and 3-7 versus the rest of the NFL.. The Rest of the NFL has not only caught up to the Eagles style of play, but have surpassed them…. Eagles are a middle of the road team plain and simple.. Exciting, big play capability, Yes, but can the play consistent hard tough-nosed football for 60 minutes week in and week out and against the better teams in the NFL , no they are not and just wait what happens with the 2012 Schedule which will be brutal..
Does anyone think this small, but fast team will compete playing the Steelers,Ravens,Bengals, Saints, Falcons,Panthers,Bears,Cardinals who they will all have on next season’s schedule… I don’t..
2012 will be the to get rid of all the Coaches but also many of it’s players as they have to completely get away from this small but fast Philosophy which will take 2-3 Seasons of changing over the roster no matter who the new Coaches may be…
I think many of us can agree that NFC East had a down Season (as has been for a few Seasons now) and look how the Eagles rank versus this Division which I consider now the weakest and comparable to the NFC West which are definitely a step below the South & North Divisions
Offensive Rankings
QB – Manning and Romo are better than Vick and protect the ball better
WR – Giants,Cowboys have deeper and better all around WR Corps than Eagles
RB – McCoy is the best RB in the Division, but Murray of the Cowboys looks like the real deal and the Giants Tandem of Jacobs/Bradshaw are alway tough
TE – Whitten, then Celek and then the others
OL – Eagles probably have the best ovreall OL in the Division which I am not so sure says that much since the Redskins,Giants OL are a mess
Defense
DL – Giants are a little better than Eagles versus the run
LB – Redskins,Cowboys & Giants all are better than the Eagles Corp
Secondary – Redskins best Secondary in the Division, while the Eagles,Giants and Cowobys are below average and pretty poor as the Stats indicate in giving up big plays,TD receptions, Red Zone Defense,etc,etc
Special Teams
Redskins have the best overall, followed by the Cowboys over the Giants & Eagles (did the Eagles have 1 decent Kick-Off return this Season.. All Punt returns are fair-catches since D-Jax was afraid of contact)
Does anyone think that Vick could have said instead..
” I as the leader of the this team needed to play better from the start, to help lead our Offense in putting more points on the baord as our new Defensive came together, I failed to perform and and took too many risks with the Football costing our team and putting our Defense behind the 8-ball.. this season was on me”….. Can anyone ever envision QB Vick to be humble and take a good part of the blame for this underperforming season..
Didn’t he blame refs that he was getting too hard too often,
Didn’t he say that a lot of Int’s were because of ‘freak” tipped balls…
Didn’t he say that no Defense or D/Coordinator could stop him or this Offense.. As long as Vick is the Face of the Franchise, the Leader of this Offense, this team will never be more than a .500 Team.. Once a “Me-first player who never looks at himself first, and is never accountable ” is always going to be loser and that’s what Vick has reverted back to… Unfortunately, the Eagles are stuck with his huge contract and with this chump as it’s leader….
Pman- 1,000,000 words to say what?
Simple-
DC needed.
2lb’s needed.
Vick and others need to protect ball$
Catching/tackling blows.
Keep andy and the other 2 away from the draft.
yeah and I could have won the lottery if I had known the powerball numbers for Saturday….f- Vick and the rest of the team…
Too little, too late and no one to blame but themselves. I agree with several posters on here recently that Reid and Castillo (unless Spags gets fired) are back next year in the same capacity. With that being the case, at the bare minimum, an expeirienced football mind must be brought in prior to the draft. This team has proven under Roseman especially, that they are unable to unearth quality defensive players during any round of the draft. This was the fear of most Eagles fans that cared this season. A late season run that puts the team at .500 and lulls the FO into status quo.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda. If’s, &’s, but’s! That’s all this team is ever good for. Sick of the lot of you.
Agree they are still in denial…..we heard the losers battle cry all year…..
“we have all this talent”
“we beat ourselves”
“we are better then our record”
and now That they are eliminated we hear..
“no team would want to play us in the playoffs”
And
“we would have done some damage in the playoffs”
You are what your record is….a very mediocre team with no leader….
Vick, stop embarrassing yourself.
Watch these clowns lose to Washington.
yeah, yeah, yeah. woulda, shoulda, coulda… They still think they’re better than they are which will not help them in the long run. They played well against two teams that are as bad or worse than they are and against a team that had no reason to do anything more than show up. Who knows, next season is a long way off and maybe, just maybe the weaknesses will be addressed and Reid will learn from his mistakes.
Stevo,
Maybe I got long-winded up above
But the #1 Need is to have your Leader and FAce of the Franchise stand up and be accountable and thus far during this disappointing season, I have not once heard QB Vick take any accountability and humbleness in his responses, he just keeps stating how they are better than everyone, that no one can stop them and that they should be a Playoff Team, well guess what Mr Leader, your not, your record says you are a mediocre team which is the reality… Vick needs to stand up and take a lot of the blame himself for that’s what leaders do.. Instead he shys away and looks for excuses like a real ” -ussy if you ask me.. .. That’s not leadership, that’s arrogance which is a big part of the problem of this entire Franchise from it’s President to it’s HC to many of it’s players….
I wish I could say the outcome of this season was a dissapointment or surprise but it wasn’t. I know that sounds like I wanted the worse for this team but that’s far from the case. I wasn’t dissapointed because, for me, dissapointment comes from not achieving an expectation and I had very little expectation of a good season so therefore, no dissapointment. That’s because I don’t see the Eagles HC learn from mistakes from seasons past. I’ll not go in to why, for me it’s obvious. If not for you then, obvioulsy your view of the HC is far different then mine and nothing I write will change that.
I don’t expect the HC to do any more next season than he’s done in the past either so, I’ll hope for the best, expect the least and watch the ride again next year.
Vick should have said “If i would have played like an 80 million dollar quarterback instead of a middle of the pack quarterback we could be in the playoffs.”This team is a bunch of losers trying to be the best 8-8 team in football.
paulman, you pretty much summed it up, arrogant owmership, coaches, players,, if eagles had a real quarterback instead of a self-absorbed, narcissist, who refuses to play the position, then they would be in the playoffs and making a super bowl run, bnut this is what every one wanted, mike vick, starship 7, ooh, aaah, well you got him and no playoffs, no super bowl, but ooh, aah, yeah right
Jake, Paul, good stuff. I can’t wait for the New Year, so we can stick a fork in these delusional, arrogant bums.
D – I’m confused – how will the coming of 2012 lead to the end of negative Philly fans? Oh, by delusional, arrogant bums you mean the coaches you dislike (although the people above were also referring to several players). Well still confused – nobody will be losing his job for the Eagles just because the calendar turns to a new year.
what makes me smile is that Dmac was always slammed for being too much of a company guy.. he always got up and said what his coaches said….. “i need to do a better job”… and he was slamed for that. People wanted him to call people out.
next…. he said “we need weapons”….. and people slammed him for calling people out.
next…… we get Vick in there and we loved his energy… hes “nothing like McNabb”!!!
next…. we slam Vick for not being a leader like McNabb. hahahaahaha……. only in philly!!!!!!
Stevo, if the Eagles draft a stud MLB with thier #1 pick next year, and he shines from day one – wins rookie of the year – breaks all sorts of rookie records and they win the superbowl, philly fans will find a way to STILL ‘slam’ the guy. Philly fans would hate on a stranger handing them a check for a billion dollars.
Schiller, moron, 2012, means the end of this abortion of a season, & hopes of better things for 2012. So if your still confused, bang your head against the wall, until all of the rocks come out of it. Dude, you are the biggest, stubborn, clueless, smacked @$$, that I’ve ever seen. If they make the necessary changes needed, like change the staff & personnel decision makers, to get better players, I wouldn’t be so negative. So stop with the hater $#!t. I’m no hater, I’m a realist & I’m not wrong too often. If I am, I’ll eat crow. But everything that I’ve stated on this team, was absolutely correct. So don’t be salty for being proven, stubbornly incorrect, time after time.
Everyone, have a Happy New Year!
Vick’s problem is that he takes no accountability for his poor play of his Offense’s poor play.. As the Leafer and FAce of the Franchise, he needs to man-up, be humble, eat crow from time to time for that’s part of being a Leader and so far to me, Vick has demonstrated very little leadership this Season after showing uite a bit last year after taking over for Kolb.. It’s seems that after he got his big contract and $$$, that he doesn’t really give a hoot, and is satisfied with the status quo instead of pushing the envelope, pushing his own level of play and now is simply collecting a big paycheck…
Michael Vick HT:6′ 1″ WT 215 LB
Drew Brees HT: 6′ WT 209 LB
What is the problem or difference here?…Is the Saints offensive line that much better?…Do the refs love Brees?…Does Brees never get any balls tipped?…One difference I can see: Brees is a great QB, Vick is average,
dcar – still waiting for a specific example
frank, first, no way in hell is Vick even 6 feet tall, second, he throws from a low 3/4 slot so gets a lot of balls batted, tipped, brees throws from a higher slot, big difference
I can’t believe you folks are blaming Vick for this lost season. I can’t believe that you are saying he didn’t stand up and take responsibility for his lost games, when in fact he has many times taken full blame for the lost. The defense on this team stunk up the place from day one, the offense in the beginning of the season wasn’t smelling much better. But the only one you folks can blame is Vick……….really.
So I guess you are holding Vick responsible for all the dropped balls, playcalls and penalties as well huh. I do believe that G.Cobb as well as Ike Reese and a few other of the reporters played for the Eagles as well, however they didn’t win Superbowls either. But yet they’re the first to complain about this group and other groups of players not winning the big one, I’m just wondering what their excuses were.
@Paulman, dude you sit and complain more than any other person that takes the time to write on these blogs. You are always the first to whine (and I do mean whine. If I remember correctly you are one of those who wanted to keep Kevin Kolb, and we all see how well he is working out in Arizona, hell he’s too scared to get on the field let alone play.
He’s making millions there just like he did with the Eagles, for doing nothing more than walking up and down the sidelines, drinking Gatorade and holding a clipboard. Talk about taking responsibility, Kolb threw his players under the bus day one. No problems there. If you are so knowledgeable why aren’t you submitting your resume for Reid, Castillo or Vick’s position?? Nothing worse than a big mouth know-it-all.
Fact is you folks in Philly are the biggest crybabies in all sports, you don’t deserve to win a Superbowl. Hey you don’t even deserve to win a game.
Vicks routine is old. Just look at his legacy in Atlants . The big Superman start where he’s going to redefine the Q’back position, then a steady decline in performance where it’s him on one side, and the team on another.
Vicks not a team guy. He’s a Vick guy.
Oh for Andy to stop this trading down in the draft plan and to start using our tops picks for top players – preferable like a QB in the tradition of any of the successful ones – Brees, brady, even Rodgers – in the pocket QBs with a solid line and backs around them – oh, and weapons. Spend the money on weapons and not on losers like Young to sit on the bench while ignoring top all-league weapons like DeShawn.
Well, I drifted a bit there, didn’t I!
Not going to argue or debate Michael Vick, wasn’t my point at all. But I will say this, Michael Vick was out of the league for three years, hasn’t had the opportunity to have complete offseason with ota’s and training camp in five years. I wonder if there other qb’s that could have played as well as he has without the opportunity of having of a full complete offseason. I’m not sure I know what is meant with the statement “Vick not a team guy. He’s a Vick guy”. Don’t worry about trying to trying to explain, its not that important.
Oh yes Chas, the only reason I mentioned Vick in my first comment is due to it being said that he (Vick) doesn’t take responsibility for his mistakes, when in fact he does take responsibility for his errors and others, at least that is what I have heard him say in his press conference. Bottom line just be truthful.
Brees definitely has an ‘arc’ on his passing motion from over the top which allows him to toss over the LOS effectively.. where as VIck drops 3/4 (almost side arm on same occasstion and throws a straight ball with little or no arc…
I would say both Brees & Vick are closer to 5’11” than their posted heights