The Eagles bye week could not have come at a better time for a team that isn’t ailing significantly from injury, but from inability to finish opponents in the fourth quarter. Where does that responsibility lie? Andy Reid is notoriously a martyr in his press conferences. When he was asked about turning the ball over 3 times during the game he replied “We have to get better. We have to get better at it. I don’t know what else to tell you there, other than we have to get better.”
Reid is running out of time and patience to continue on the current course. He had the option of taking the lion share of the blame regarding turnovers but opted to leave it open ended.
The Eagles under Reid have always done well following the bye week. My feeling is that the reason the Eagles perform well after a bye week is not around just rest. Andy Reid can draw up game plans that result in quick scores and keeping a defense off balance, the more time he has to focus on that the more successful he is. He has excelled in bye week preparation, in retrospect he has undoubtedly struggled throughout the years has been with making changes on the fly. Maybe some of it is nerves and going with your philosophy over what makes sense. If Andy Reid had 75% of Belichick strategic ability,Andy Reid would have won 2 Super Bowls and Jeffrey Lurie would have one of the top 3 franchises in the NFL.
After all of his time in the league I challenge fans to think about the number of games they have had where the Eagles not only won the game but won convincingly enough that they weren’t worried in the 4th quarter. It is an ongoing epidemic for this team.
The Eagles have leaders on both sides of the ball. DeMeco Ryans has quickly established his role on the defense and on the other side of the ball there are a number of veterans that are looked to for motivation.
This week the Eagles had the odds stacked against them. Coming into the game the Lions were averaging 25 points a game without Matt Stafford turning in 3 touchdowns performances and a Megatron that only ended up in the end zone one time this season. The defense once again kept the score within an acceptable threshold.
The offense flat out cannot score points consistently. Going into this game the Eagles ranked 31 out of 32 teams averaging only 16 points per game. This season has reached that critical point where it can get better or become the last year of Andy Reids career with the Eagles. The defense is playing up to its expectations, conversely it is time for Andy Reid to step up to the plate and make some serious changes to the offense. What that consists of and if that will actually happen remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, the Eagles and Reid are in trouble if they cannot get their arms around these ongoing issues with no end in sight.
I’ve got it! Drop Vick back even further and don’t call another run play the rest of the season! that will fool them !!!!
Eureka! Its a win, win! Have Vick set deep like a punter and replace Reynolds with Dorenbos, the long snapper. Vick will finally be able to see the field and no worries about batted balls at the line. Andy & Marty are in love with the deep pass and even short crossing routes will seem deep satisfying their deep ball itch. That’s friggin insane enough the Reid will probably try it as one his infamous gadget plays.
Supposedly Reid and Wighead planned for the opener with the Browns for a couple of months to no avail. The Eagles are done for the season regarding the playoffs. This team has lost confidence in the coaching staff and their own ability to perform as players. Two weeks is not enough time to cure the ills of this team. Give me some Xanax so I can get through this last eight years of ineptitude and frustration.