It’s like arriving at the Christmas or New Year’s Eve Party as everyone is filing out. The Philadelphia Eagles arrived to the NFL Playoff party too late and that’s why they won’t be able to get in it. Head coach Andy Reid knows this all too well, but he’s talking out of both sides of him mouth.
“You can’t do that,” Reid said. “You’ve got to take care of business early. We’re coming together as a team now. …We’re healthy obviously, and guys are playing good, aggressive football. As a head coach, I’ve got to make sure I get that part done sooner than later. The things I told you as we were going through this needed to happen sooner than the last three games there, from my standpoint.”
Reid went on to praise his defensive coordinator Juan Castillo after admitting that the team took too long to start playing good sound football. In truth, his admission that they didn’t start playing quality football until it was too late is a criticism of Castillo and the team’s defense. Praising Castillo while at the same time admitting they took too long to start playing well are totally opposite statements.
“They’re playing well as a unit,” Reid said after the win over the Cowboys. “Juan’s done a good with them, bringing them together. They’re playing their hearts out. You saw that today. They wanted the goose egg. We didn’t get it, but they were really shooting for that. They didn’t want them to get in the end zone.”
The truth of the matter is that Juan didn’t do a good job with them because they took too long to come together. Why couldn’t they have had a veteran defensive consultant on staff to quicken the development of the defense which added quite a few players in what was a strike-shortened off season under an inexperienced defensive coordinator?
They had so many chances. I can’t help but remember sitting up in the Lincoln Financial Field Press Box and watching John Skelton connect with Larry Fitzgerald time and time again at the end of the Cardinals comeback victory over the Eagles.
The Eagles defensive coordinator along with their young safeties and linebackers didn’t have enough sense or experience to tell cornerback Nmandi Asomugha to follow Fitzgerald wherever he went and cover him. On one of the Pro Bowler’s touchdown catches, nobody covered except one of the linebackers and he wasn’t focused on him very much.
The Birds playoff hopes were depending on the New York Jets to beat the New York Giants and Rex Ryan’s club let them down. I heard a number of Eagles fans expressing
“That’s a tough situation,” Reid said. “A couple lessons that can be learned. Number one, don’t put it in somebody else’s hands to get yourself into the playoffs. But number two, they focused in on the Dallas Cowboys, and that was the most important thing today, so I appreciate the effort.”
I said over the summer that the Detroit Lions were going to be in the Play-offs.
Now we have the former 0-16 Lions in the playoffs while the Eagles sit at home.
The Tampa Bay Bucs have won a Superbowl in the Andy Reid era…
The New Orleans Saints have won a Superbowl in the Andy Reid era…
Now the Detroit Lions have turned their francise around, in the Andy Reid era..
The worst organizations in NFL HISTORY HAVE PASSED THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES IN THE ANDY REID ERA…
How much more proof do you need that the Fat Man should be fired????
Lets get real here…. The last three games they beat very mediocre teams, at best. One with their third string QB and best running back on the bench. None of them had a winning record. They beat the Redskins next week and the sucker everyone into thinking they are on the path to the Superbowl again next year. They make their usual crappy talent evaluations next year and draft more mediocre players. They will get stomped by the better teams, split with the mediocre ones and once again we will be calling for Reid’s head…. It’s Groundhog day once again in Philadelphia!
The EAgles are what they are, a talented but mediocre team that will slow falshes of great potential, then fall back to head scratchign performances..
Guess what Fans, most of the NFL is like that anymore..
Yes, Congrats to the Lions for making it in as a Wild-Card..It definiely helped that the Bears lost their Starting QB & Top RB a month ago, pretty much giving the Lions an easier pather with all the other mediocre teams in the NFC like the Giants,Cowboys,Seahawks,Cardinals and Eagles who are all .500 Teams at best..
People, dont let these last 3 games fool you, this has been going on with AR since day one, think about this, in 2000 if only the Giants didn’t run the opening kickoff for a touchdown or Sehorn doesn’t make that amazing interception. In 2001, if only Donovan could have made a few more plays in St Louis. 2002, Rhonde Barber and Jurevicius stole our trophy. 2003 McNabb had a bad game. 2004 if only there was no Spygate. 2005 All Terrell Owens. 2006 Great Job with McNabb hurt, if only Reid doesn’t punt. 2007 Mcnabb was hurt. 2008, Kurt Warner was superhuman that’s all. 2009, McNabb was washed up, and Dallas got lucky. 2010 Vick got hurt against the Vikings and made one bad pass right into the hands of Tremon Williams. 2011 Lockout, no OTA’s. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. No more excuses. 13 years of hearing the same nonsense, lets hear it AR lovers, come on here and talk about how he’s the winninest coach in Eagles history so that justifies all this and gives him a pass. Wake Up !
if, If, coulda, woulda shoulda, which is what 31 teams and theri fans say every season…
As far as 2010, Vick didn’t get hurt vs the Vikings, he took a Sack at mid-field just before the half to a blitzing CB and then coughed up the ball allowing the Viking defender to pick the ball and go in for a TD which lost the game and put the Eagles out of potential #2 Seed down to a lower seed making tham hav to play the Packers.. What was the bad coaching there.. Vick lost that game
Next yr will be Andy’s 14th season as Eagle’s Head Coach. I truly believe if Lurie let’s him coach 6 more years which will be Andy’s 20th season, he will have players in the right position and we will finally celebrate a Super Bowl victory!! maybe year 21
Andy needs to be held accountable by Lurie and Banner….. you can’t accept mediocrity and let the fat man continue to ruin the team…. first of all, Roseman needs to be relieved of his GM duties and moved to a front office position….the Eagles need a true talent evaluator who can call the shots on draft day….this would remove Roseman, who has been awful in his only 2 seasons calling the draft picks and also remove authority from Reid……secondly, Juan Castillo needs to be removed as defensive coordinator….the Eagles would be lucky if Spags is fired in St. Louis…..he would bring a fire to the defense and possible succeed Reid after next season….he has a terrible team in St. Louis and injuries have decimated them. Finally, when all is said and done, Lurie probably will hide in his office with Banner under his desk avoiding the media, fans and not making any critical business decisions for this football team leaving the fans with another disappointing 2012 season to look forward to.. .
“I’m not sure we’re a team that people necessarily wanted to see get into the playoffs,” Reid said, implying that the likes of the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers were losing sleep over the 7-8 Eagles.
Reid’s quote is a direct insult to the fans’ intelligence.
Paulman, how bout the bad coaching the first 9 games this season? how bout that from a man whos been coaching the last 13yrs,and yet you have a rookie coach in San Fran who came right in and took his team right to the playoffs, same with the coach from the Titans. The defense is part of this team also in case you forgot and if the Coordinator isnt doing his job (which he wasnt, if they dont play motivated inspired football thats the coaches fault) then the head coach has to step in and right the ship, thats what a head coaches resposabilities are, and in case you didnt know were out of the playoffs! Thats where the bad coaching is.
You’ve got to take care of business early by running the ball Reid and getting a legit D-coordinator.
funny how everbody during the season sees the potential in running #25 except reid, and halfway through the season the light turns on to use him correctly. This is the most pathetic situation to be in as a birds fan and reid should be axed along with morninwheg and castillo.
bsm
Amen!
i say by next years end, extend andy’s to another 14 years!!! he has to win won for us atleast once in 28 years…….right?
by year 19 he will learn that balanced offense will produce less 3 and outs like last 10 SB winners even in the passing league phase where the winners average 30 rushing yds per game not 11
To Andrew,
I agree 100% that the Coaching was not very good the first half of the Season
But I also think the Players have a lot to do with that with the poor play from Vick and the WR’s in particular (Fumbles,Int’s) along the with entire Defense..
This 2011 Team from the get go was not deserving to be a playoff team.. I saw this since the PRe-Season thru the 1st 5-6 games, so I am not surprised or pissed that they didn’t make it, I am opnly surprised that it took until the 15th game to actualyl be eliminated for I wrote this team and season off after the Bears loss which at that time, me gave them 3 head to head losses versus the top competition in the NFC as far as wild-card teams (Falcons/49ers/Bears) so there was no coming back unless they ran the table which wasn’t going to happen.. Why be upset 2 months later when the Season was over by Halloween… I am just glad they finished strong and finally started to play with passion and energy and try to build on a strong finish for 2012.. Now if AR lost the team and they finished with more piss-poor play, then I would be for a Coaching Change, but to start over again with a new staff for 2012 with new schemes, and more new players is not going to bring a Championship to Philly in 2012.. Their is a blend of experiece,youth and talent for this Team to make a good run in 2012 and maybe they can look back at this underperforming season as fuel for the fire during the off-Season.. and if 2012 ends up short of a deep PLayoff run, then it’s time to clean house completely and start over for 2013, but not now.. this team is about 3-4 pieces away in my opinion and you just can’t bring in a new HC with a differenct philosophy (which this current Roster is built for) and expect to comepte the next 2 Season..
I do think O/C Marty M moves on…
Watch him get an offer from the SD Chargers and or Penn State and take one of them…
The biggest Off-Season mistake was not re-signing Safety Q Mikell who besides being a good leader/locker room player, could have really held this Secondary come together and expecially the new players in Asmo/DCR and would have helped their transition of playing good football in Philly.. Remember this Secondary was horrible the 1st half of the Season collectively and the SS position was a revolving door during this time from Coleman, J Page, back to Coleman and with Allen a little slow to return from Injury, then getting banged up again it was not very good until the last few weeks..
Get Reid out of town ASAP, Lurie and Banner. Every other team had no offseason practice and with areas of solid talent we should have finished higher, but this team is nowhere near winning a SB with this HC and DC.
We need an impact DT, DE, S and MLB plus a big WR. Get a QB in 2nd rd if possible. There are several OL on this team wasting roster spots… why keep them? Get some new big, quick guys in here that Mudd can mold quickly.
Paulman, If not resigning Mikell is one of our biggest mistakes this past offseason remember whos fault that is, your boy AR! He has final say on who stays an who goes, i also have to disagree with you on saying a coaching change would set us back, a perfect example of a team moving in the right direction after having a coach there for 12yrs is the Titans, it took them exactly ONE season to turn that around! Change is good and in this situation might be needed, i wouldnt have a problem if Reid stayed but if this front office is truly about upgrading the team then if Spags becomes available you HAVE to make that move and you would HAVE to let him have a say in the draft or FA on who or what position he feels that needs to be upgraded, the problem is AR isnt gonna demote his boy JC and will probly use these last 4 games as an example of how good they are, hopefully the front office will look at the WHOLE body of work which is a 16 season and remind Reid of that, and also we didnt make the playoffs.
Spags will get fired but still has 1 Year left on his Deal with the Rams, so he will take the next Season off and collect his “Buyout paycheck” from the Rams.. Remember, many times when a fired Coach takes a “Buyout Deal’ from his former team, it usually precludes that Coach from taking another job unless you unless he want to waive & lose that “Buyout” from his former Team… Spags is not an option for 2012..
Also, I think the Eagles severly underestimated the leadership and play of Mickell, while not really an All-Pro, was very consistent and an extension of the Coaches on the field..
Can anyone tell me who would be a good Head Coach for the Eagles that can utilize the WCO and QB Vick’s style of play… If MM & AR get fired, who is the type of Coach that would run this Offensive System with the players on this Roster… QB Vick does not suit the Style of traditional style of Offense..
Maybe a John Gruden type .. but look around, there’s is not many out there unless you went with a complete makeover .. If AR is gone, then so is MM & Mudd so now, you have an entirely new Offensive System to put in place from the O/line, to the WR’s to the QB.. Does this make sense with the Core group that the Eagles have….
The WEST COAST OFFENSE that Bill Walsh UTILIZED with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice ran the ball more than they passed. So i think alot of coaches, wives, dogs, cats could UTILIZE the WCO they would probally run it by mistake better than andy. For example, half the games we lost this year where mccoy rushed 10 times…..My son’s kindergarten teacher probally would call a closer game to Bill walshes WCO with more success than “wait till next yr reid”
Tonto, that’s odd, you seem to think that Reid calls the offensive plays. Why don’t you know that Marty does? And where did you get the stats on Bill Walsh’s WCO running more than passing? I’d like to see them. Thanks.
And Tonto, can you please explain how the offensive play calling fumbled and threw interceptions so much? To me, that lost the season – all the offensive turnovers. Please tell me how the run/pass ratio throws an interception or fumbles the ball? Thanks
Paulman, I would take Brian Billick right now if he wanted to come here, I seen him take a QB just like Vick in Randall Cunningham and make him a complete QB, i seen him win a SB with half a team in the Ravens, remember, their QB was Trent Dilfer that year, let me repeat that so it sinks in, TRENT DILFER! Dont bother trying to say their great D was enough, if you remember we also had one of the greatests Ds of all time in Gang Green and only won one playoff game, so if they decieded to make a change, Brian Billick would be my choice.
drummer ““I’m not sure we’re a team that people necessarily wanted to see get into the playoffs,” Reid said, implying that the likes of the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers were losing sleep over the 7-8 Eagles.
Reid’s quote is a direct insult to the fans’ intelligence.”
—— Really? That’s odd drummer. First, Reid made no reference to fans at all, so your use of the word ‘direct’ is 100% bullshit. Second, you’re saying that the intelligence of the fans has something to do with one coach’s guess of what some other teams would or would not like to do? That’s a major major stretch. You may disagree that the top playoff teams in the NFC would rather play some other teams than the Eagles, but to suggest that Reid is insulting anyone, let alone an entire fan base by his opinion varying from yours, is frankly ludicrous. You’re letting your well documented anger and hate toward Reid corrupt your expression to the point that you’re spewing bullshit.
Intelligence, insults, and fans had nothing to do with that statement Reid made. And frankly, the records of the teams involved in the situation support Reid’s opinion – look at Dallas and NY’s records or those of the other close teams – Seattle, Arizona, Chicago – the team that has objectively been playing the best football out of all of them in the past month is by far the Philadelphia Eagles.
Drummer, you’ve done a successful job of expressing your anger and hate toward Reid – we do all get your opinion there. But that doesn’t give you the license to make bullshit statements – granted, the 1rst amendment does – but I can still call you out on it.
Brian Billick could be a decent fit top run the Offense, but his teams were very undisciplined too (Vikings and Ravens) I think he’s been out of the game a litttle too long and not sure many of Todays younger players would see him as a great Leader/Communicator..
How about the young HC of Boise State or one of young up and comers from a winning orgainization like W Moss or O’Brien from the Patriots, I would rather the Eagles hire someone with fresh ideas then and old re-tread thats 2-3 HC .. Hire the next next Coach and will establish a great program for the next 8-10-12 Years
Schiller, go to football- reference and look up superbowl winners or 49ers and their SB 89,90 will show most of their playoff games craig and rathman ave. 32 yds per carry and Montana passed 22-24 times
i mean 32 Rushes / carry…………i just looked up last 5 sb winners for the “passing league” guys and they played in total of 18 games and 14 of those games the eventual SB winner ran 30 times or more………..interesting stat is Manning Colts in his SB winning yr, ran over 30 times in all 4 of his playoff games, and actually over 40 twice….so that yr i was impressed with him, he was Montana like by running more than he passed which he should have done against the Saints
Tonto is correct, the 49ers passed lot early in the games , but usually reverted to power football in the 4th quarters.. Walsh told me that “he loved to loosen up Defenses early on, and make them cover the entire field and then smack them in the mouth when he needed to” .. Remem ber the game is completely different now with all the sub-packages that occur on both sides of the ball so it’s not an apple to apple comparison .. back then the DL and LB were everydown defenders, so passing a lot warly and often would have a tendency to tire out the other teams Front 7, then he woould power rush against them when they were tired.. now teams play 7-8-9 DL and 5-6 LB’s throught the games based on their specialities whether they are run stuffers or pass rushers or pass coverage LBs like in todays game
run/pass ratio matters cause….for example i just looked up our season schedule and results…….let’s pick 2 teams …..bears and patriots…..pats crushed and bears won by a td……BEars cutler no INT Vick 1 int…..brady no int Vick 1 int…..Bears rushed 34 times to us mccoy 15, pats ran 36 times and mccoy 10
looking at that, common sense tells me that if Vick does not throw 48 times against pats and the rush/pass ratio is more even…he might not throw a pick, plus mcoy gets more carries and being arg. the best back in football that could mean more first downs, vick less int, less 3 and outs, so take away 20 from that lovely 48 so he passes 28 and mccoy runs 30 times that completely changes the game and i would think for the best…..now back to bears
bears rush 34 and mccoy runs wow not 10 but 15 still that’s half of bears but actually i see in that game bears fumble 3 times and eagles 1 but the int is costly but i think throwing less and runnning more helps qb, rb, and team in general…..so pass/run ratio is very important just ask SB winners
49ers yrs ago, manning or Packers SB wins…..they all rushed 30 times or more a game with the exception of packers SB win last year but they ran over Eagles, Falcons , and Bears the othr 3 playoff games i think they were 27 or more(more than half what we rush)
We’re the laughing stock of the league and it all begins with the FO and coaches. Non football minded cheap spending, non-drafting fools. I’m afraid this will continue until Reid leaves; he’ll be back to passing 80% of the time again at the beginning of next season.
Schiller u know us well as us if Marty calls the plays or Mickey Mouse, Reid has full responseabilty….do u think a good coach will have his Off or Def Coord to keep failing yr after yr without DOING SOMETHING
It’s only Football and doesn’t really matter, it’s only entertainment and has no sustaining value in anyone’s life, does it…
I KNOW 15 feet is a long distance for him to walk and whisper to Marty hey we have the best Running back i am asking u nicely marty can u run him 15 more times this game and don’t make it look obvious…..Marty, if we are using a WCO, which is suppose to be timing, why are their more slants or getting rid of the ball quicker, i kinda of took notice our QB getting hit a little bit…thnx marty
Exactly Tonto, we know Reid has full responsibility of the play calling and he didn’t, and let MM run the offense, then he needs to be fired just for that alone. Stop Co-signing for Reid so much schill, it’s time for a change ASAP wether this year or next.
Rocko – “Non football minded cheap spending…” – um, seriously? Dude, they’re not cheap – that’s only correct if you’re stupid enough to believe that 5+5 = -42.387! WHEN ARE THEY CHEAP? THEY JUST SPENT MONEY THAN ANY TEAM IN FOOTBALL LAST YEAR? Is it freakin opposite day?
And non-football minded? The ealges front office has been working in football for decades. Reid and Morningweig not football minded? Banner and Lurie have just as much football experience as most owners and team presidents. Howie? Sure, the guy didn’t play football, but football players don’t even have to pay attention and do work in schools. And Howie worked for NFL teams for years and years.
Rocko – again, like I always say – we get it if you have hate/anger, but please for the love of god, speak with some sort of logic and sense!
tonto ‘without doing something’ – they completely overhauled the offensive line – from scheme to 3 new players. That’s a hell of a lot of ‘something’ if you ask me. Dude you’re so obsessed with the west coast offense thing – that was what Reid installed early in his tenure here. But the Eagles haven’t proclaimed to use a pure WCO in years, and even the media agrees that using that label for the Eagles is outdated and misguided.
Dude just take a deep breath and try your hardest to move on with your life – the Eagles will play another season next year – not matter how much you or anyone else bitches and moans. In the meantime – get over it – Reid most likely isn’t going anywhere, and the team most likely is going to improve next year. But you’re obsession with the ratio and the myth that the Eagles just run a WCO all day long is OLD.
Ok I get it with you now Schill, Spending big money for “shock and awe” guys like T O, asante, and Nmandi is spending big money to you; paying steve smith and not desean is spending big money to you, signing Vick to a 6 year 100 mil contract is spending big money to you?! Guess what buddy, we’re 7-8 and sitting at home for the playoffs. You love Reid and the F O more than anyone on this site and Dave Spadaro. For the record Schill stop adding non sensical statements like hate and anger about what this team means to me, because my life goes on whether we win a superbowl or not, so adding immature statements like that just shows your level of maturity. Hate and anger is for those who waste time on non-important things in life. grow up man.
Schiller Schiller Schiller – between you and Vinnie – constantly trying to use stats, history, benchmarks, the rest of the NFL, and facts to refute the hate –
dude – its like being a cop in the middle of a riot – you just have to let them go and laugh – cheap – with the highest paid coaching staff and one of the highest salary in the NFL – ‘all about the dollar’ but too stupid to realize that even a guy that passes Junior College business 101 would know that hostin two more home games and winning the Sb would make them even more money –
just let them shout their cliches and pretend they actually know something –
remember – in their world being assholes, I’m sorry, passionate and knowledgable – is a birth right – you know – they were ASSURED of a SB this year – if we just spent more in FA, if we just did this that year or that this year – we would have won it all – those fools –
hopefully cooler heads will prevail, and the right decisions will be made. I look forward to a whole entire offseason of the same cats going ‘the definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over…. yada yada – while gues what – they do the same thing over and over! Groundhog day – you mean we get to read songs post about Dawkins and BSM give us a rehash of every mistake for 14 years………
As for us ‘educated derelicts’ – well, we just have to remember, its a game, a sport, something fun to gather with friends and cheer (key word cheer) for the Birds – not many Chinese philosophers in this group – •Patience is a tree with bitter roots that bears sweet fruits
our day will come – and with it the knowledge that through thick and thin – we never turned on the team –
Bring in Brian Billick …A guy that know the WCO and the vertical game, and he also value the run game……Brian Billick also knows how to call a game and hve witnessed good defense with the Ravens… or Jon Gruden who know how to win with a team on the brink. Fire Juan and bring in Spags….or Keep Marty with emphasis on the run game and hire Spags as an asst Head Coach/defensive Coordinator.
wow – Songs finally admitted the truth – the eagles are a team on the brink!
Brain Billick is the best color analyst in the game today and the only analyst worth listening to during a game – I would miss the fact he did was not calling games –
rocko – I think I get it hear – when you say ‘cheap’ – you mean, I don’t agree with what they spend their money on. Someone who spends 5 billion on two big macs isn’t cheap, but what they spend their money on is certainly up for criticism. Pardon me for interpreting the word you used ‘cheap’ as meaning ‘cheap’.
Dude they’re not cheap at all – you just admitted that they spend boatloads of money. Just say you disagree with how they spend their money. But keep in mind that they would not have gotten Nnamdi without spending that much. So when he makes a good play – don’t cheer if you don’t agree with them spending that money. We’ll see what happens with Shady and Djax – I hope they both are signed, though I’m way more for resigning Shady and I’d be ok with them letting mesean walk. And yeah, in hindsight, I agree that Ronnie Brown, Vince Young, and Steve Smith didn’t prove to be worth the money. But don’t call the team cheap if they’re not cheap.
And for the 1 billionth time – I don’t love Reid or the front office. If Reid (or anyone else on the staff) is fired – I’d be a bit disappointed for maybe a grand total of 1 hour. I’d be fine with a change – but what I’m not fine with is no change and many many fans BITCHING AND CRYING AND WHINING. I’m also not fine with bullshit statements that don’t make sense.
Navy – yep… is it 2012 yet?