For the past decade, the Eagles faithful have come to expect at least one inexplicably horrible game every season. In 2009, that game came out a few weeks earlier than expected for Andy Reid and his flock of birds. The Eagles are 3-2 and have plenty of time to patch things up, so now is no time to panic. At least not until you look at what’s to come. Now he starts to panic.
The combined record of the Eagles’ future opponents is 37-21. That’s not comforting for a team that has yet to find its rhythm. Of their remaining 11 games, it’s unlikely only the Redskins will contend for a playoff spot. Playing in the NFC East doesn’t help either. Unlike the NFC North (Lions), South (Bucs) and West (Rams), the Eagles don’t have a “walk-over” team in the division that guarantees them two easy wins. Yes, the Redskins are flirting with that line, but they’re not there yet. (Keep in mind: nothing should be considered easy for the Eagles right now, especially after a loss to the Raiders.)
Due to the level of play in the NFC this year, it is very possible that a 10-6 team will miss the playoffs. The Eagles will battle the 49ers or Cardinals, Bears, Cowboys, Falcons and Packers for two wild card spots. The division champions are far from defined, but as they stand now, it’s them that will have to go. The Eagles will have every chance to make the playoffs as they will be playing all of the above mentioned teams except the Packers and Cardinals. Excluding the obvious importance of the division contests, the games in Chicago and Atlanta will be the two biggest games for the Eagles. If they lose both, they basically need to win the division to qualify for the playoffs because of the tiebreaker scenarios. Again, this is all in line with the conference landscape right now. There is a 99.9% chance that it will look significantly different in another six weeks. The Eagles’ offense had better look different in six weeks, too.
Raise your hand if you’ve heard this before, Andy Reid needs to balance his offense. Can someone explain to me why, when you average 4.8 yards per rush, you run the ball less than 25% of your total offensive plays? The following answers are not good enough: Andy is Reid is too dumb, Andy Reid needs to be fired, Brian Westbrook is old, Andy Reid wanted a cheeseburger. Yes, the Eagles trailed all day and yes, the cheeseburgers are delicious, but the Eagles were never behind by more than twenty, ever. Throwing the ball around the field 46 times was stupid. Add to that the “equal opportunity for our quarterback” pass protection scheme, and the decision to continue throwing made even less sense. When your offense is struggling, you shorten the game and move away from the opposing defense.
The Eagles have invested more money on the offensive line than at any other position. However, Reid continually asks them to lower the protection a million times a day. it’s absurd Reid should have established the run, worked the passing game out of the action game and been happy to win 16 to 13. My niece/nephew isn’t born yet and even she/he knows McNabb doesn’t respond well. to the constant pressure and punches from the defensive lineman. In fact, initial pressure, drops, sacks, etc., will affect the production of any NFL quarterback. Again, throw McNabb a bone, Reid. Run the ball! Loooooonnnnngggggg tangent here… I love Donovan McNabb. I hate that he complains about how he is portrayed and I hate that he responds to pressure by smiling and laughing. However, I don’t think he doesn’t care like a lot of people do. I’d like to see him respond like some of his teammates in game-changing situations; intense, focused, looking holes through the opposition a la Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant or Mariano Rivera.
Unfortunately, the Eagles can’t change who he is. Although, they can understand who/what he is and take advantage of his strengths. For example, McNabb isn’t going to drive a ball through a defense and surgically dissect them like Peyton Manning. McNabb’s accuracy is average at best. So why do the Eagles employ a group of small receivers who will never win a jump ball battle or navigate the middle for a missed pass? McNabb had this type of receiver for a year and he seemed untouchable. As we all know, the deal went wrong and the Eagles never replaced Mr. Owens with a similar weapon. McNabb knows he needs that kind of receiver. That’s why he continually lobbied management for more weapons. They’ve responded recently, but not with the big physical receiver McNabb needs. Andy Reid knows McNabb’s limitations and ignores them in his personal decisions. That’s not Donovan’s fault.
The Eagles are also struggling with a combination of defensive issues and poor game management. We’ll ignore game management because it hasn’t improved in ten years and it would be foolish to expect a change now. The defense, however, has been unusually poor in its tackling and secondary play. The Eagles’ defense numbers are decent; 4th in total yards/game, 6th in passing yards/game, and their points per game average isn’t too bad either considering they gave up 48 points in one week (51 points in their other four games combined). Anyway, I’m worried. The Eagles have played a legitimate offense and got whipped. They still can’t figure out a tight end and their tackling has suffered immensely without Stewart Bradley as the midfield anchor. Omar Gaither is solid, but he and Jeremiah Trotter are constantly exposed in coverage. With the athletic tight ends in the league today, defenses can’t hide a linebacker who is susceptible to pass coverage. Unfortunately, the Eagles have three (Gaither, Trotter and Chris Gocong).
Worst of all, the Eagles’ blitz has been wildly inconsistent with nervous quarterbacks, even JaMarcus Russell. We’ve only seen the secondary challenged once, and the result was ugly. Asante Samuel is, in my opinion, overrated. Unless the quarterback is under a lot of pressure, it’s not a tight corner. Samuel won’t cover an above-average receiver for more than a few seconds, which is a few seconds longer than Ellis Hobbs will cover anyone. Insurance is still trying to adjust to each other. Again, they haven’t been tested that often, but against the Saints and Kellen Winslow they were overwhelmed. Excluding the Redskins and 49ers, all of the Eagles’ remaining opponents have an offense that is capable of producing a lot of yards and a lot of points. Through five games, the Eagles’ defense doesn’t seem up to the challenge.
Remember, this is the NFL; the classification we see today will not be the same at the end of the season. If the Eagles hope to improve their place in that standings, they have a lot of work to do and only a few days to do it. Their season begins on Monday night. After the next five games we’ll know if we have a contender to root for, or if we should hibernate until the Phillies show up against Clearwater.
