Skins / Eagles

[Reality]

They're killing me off with politics talk on the other side. 

Skins, fresh off knocking off Dallas is coming to Philly this Sunday.  Eagles take a hard fought loss to Chicago last night at the goaline.  Think Westbrook would have found a way to get that in?  Reid didn't want McNabb to sneak it in due to his chest injury.  Would a sub QB for the sole purpose of sneaking be too obvious a play call?

What are the keys vs Skins?

[jemagee]

Reids an idiot.

At some point they stopped using Donovans feet as a weapon, and it pisses me off, it pissed me off in the super bowl loss and it pisses me off still...you can RUN without being a running quarter back.

The keys vs the skins are that their secondary is over rated and their QB isn't that good - blitz that fracker until he snaps like a twig

and oh yeah, westbrook has to play or eagles lose

Desean jackson - learn to catch punts

Akers - don't miss

[rickortreat]

Not looking good for the Eagles, they basically could not function on offense against the Bears without Westbrook.

It may be McNabb's injuries, but I thought Reid's play-calling was pathetic.  I agree, you have to at least use the threat of McNabb running to give the offense an edge.

Also the Skins are better than a lot of people think.  They did outplay the Cowboys, and they could do the same to the Eagles.

I think it's McNabb.  If he can come back healthy the Eagles should get on track. The Defense is very good, as long as they don't have to stay on the field.

[Sub]

I've been wondering where the TE went in this offense for the past few years. It was so key when they were going up and down the field not too long ago. And I don't even know why they try Akers from 50 anymore.

[tk76-]

Eagles have talent at skill positions on both sides of the ball, but they have been soft.  You can't be good when you consistently lose battles at the line of scrimmage in key situations.  Two weeks in a row not converting short yardage downs killed them.

Not to mention Akers hasn't been good for 4 years and the defense can't seem to get off the field on 3rd down- despite having great DB's and Johnson's vaunted blitzes- you'd think this would be a great 3rd down defense...

[anklebreaker]

I don't know how Reid can be ridiculed so hard for his goal line play calls against Chicago and then screw up so badly in the same situation the next week.  Not to mention, he doesn't challenge obvious questionable plays against Chicago, but has no problem wasting a timeout to challenge a play that had no chance of being turned over.  The team looked sluggish on both sides of the ball, but the play calling as of late really makes you scratch your head. 

[carolina blue]

Replay is the only area where you can begin to defend Reid - he's getting word from above on what plays to challenge.

But ultimately, he's responsible for putting the moron who has been advising him in that position.

[jemagee]

Westbrook has cracked/fractured ribs

that can't be good

[bebopdeluxe]

I think that Reid has lost the team.

[jemagee]

I think that Reid has lost the team.

I think that there are things wrong with the Eagles, but this isn't one of them, it's a common refrain heard on sports radio though...when things go wrong.

[bebopdeluxe]

jem:

I could care less what they say on talk radio.  If Brian Billick (who won a Super Bowl) can lose a team, then why can't Reid?

Ten years is a long time...from George Hegamin and the "blocking sled" to "we don't renegotiate contracts, T.O....ummm...err....unless your name is McNabb or Westbrook, of course", I think that the "wicked witch" is melting.  Don't get me wrong, he has done a lot of good things here...but if yabos like me can sit in my seats at the Linc and wonder why the f*ck this team STILL can't manage a clock or make in-game adjustments, what do you think the guys on the sidelines think?

Virtually every professional coach has a shelf life....and I think we've hit Andy Reid's expiration date.

[anklebreaker]

I love how Reid won't call a qb sneak for McNabb against Chicago b/c he's got a bruised chest, but has no problem running plays for Westbrook with broken ribs.  I know it may have been unbeknown to him at the time that his ribs were actually fractured, but they were aware that he had absorbed an injury to that part of his body. 

[jemagee]

I could care less what they say on talk radio.  If Brian Billick (who won a Super Bowl) can lose a team, then why can't Reid?

That's great, but 'lost the club house' is such a cop out - you have no evidence, you have no insight to this whatsoever, there's a lot of reasonable strong arguments for what's wrong with the eagles, and reid, that this comment is just lazy thinking and cliched silliness.

[bebopdeluxe]

Not it's not, jem...it's called my OPINION.

It is an opinion formed from watching sports for over 35 years...seeing the arc of a team's performance under a coach/coaching staff...seeing the initial improvement...the period of stable performance...and the ultimate need (in most cases) to change the jockey.  How many times do you need to hear "I've gotta do a better job of putting players in a position to succeed...", only to see them repeatedly not succeed, before you start to wonder if the coach can no longer motivate/manipulate his roster to get the job done? 

Even if it is pure speculation on my part that guys who were around during the whole T.O. fiasco who were on his side in the debate (and there is enough public evidence from guys who were there to suggest that there were quite a few guys who were on his side in that debate) now see Reid and the FO renegotiate with Westbrook and question the double-standard, it is not an unreasonable position to take, in my opinion.

This is a sub.-500 team since 2004...that is the reality.  And while I acknowledge that McNabb has been hurt a lot of that time, the blame cannot simply be place there - the one year they went to the playoffs, they did it without McNabb.  Whether it is losing to teams that we should not lose to, or having teams make adjustments to us and kick our ass in the second half of games, there is a recurring problem here.  Whether it is poor personnel decisions, terrible coaching and playcalling or players beginning the small, almost imperceptible (but historically recurring) process of "tuning out" or not playing for a coach, this isa team that is just not getting it done.

Time to turn the page.

[jemagee]

There's a very interesting debate about this over at backshegoes.com and it's interesting to read the over reactors who don't remember their history (and are probably repeating what they said last year or the year before)

Should we bring jeff garcia back?  I mean he was awesome wasn't he?  Or maybe he wasn't, maybe the defense was awesome when he was here and that's why the eagles were winning when he was here.

Great you've watched sports for 35 years...how many professional locker rooms ahve you been in, when no media is there, to see what's really going on.

There are NUMEROUS things you can question Reid on, his playcalling, his fear of using Donovan McNabbs running ability (though based on interviews with McNabb that seems to be partly McNabbs fear of being known as a running, and we all know what that is code for, quarterback), the stale offense calling the same plays over and over, the inability or unwillingness to acknowledge the importance of the wide receiver, too much loyalty to guys like Akers and LJ Smith.  Call out Jim Johnson for his predictable defense that teams are learning because it's the same thing every time...call the steelers game an outlier because the stellers line is god awful.  Point to injuries to Westbrook and McNabb.

There are a lot more 'real' reasons I see than saying "Reid lost the team"...last year Tom Coughlin had 'lost the giants' - how many times did Bill Cowher 'lose the Steelers'.  It's a cop out excuse I find, in most sports, mainly from those who aren't willing to dig deeper into the real reasons.  It's easy to say, but it's usually bull

And here it's bull as well as far as I'm concerned, there's a lot of things wrong with the eagles...I don't think whether Reid has or hasn't 'lost' the team is relevant...