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10:05:00 AM EDT
Have the Eagles Come Undone?
McNabb is sacked on the first play from scrimmage and it was all downhill from there.
I can attribute our lackluster first-half performances over the past two weeks to a couple of undeniable factors…
1) Injuries to Key Players: Donovan has a sports hernia, a bruised sternum and a sore groin (more on this in a bit). Darwin Walker and Paul Grasmanis were both missing from the D-line that got their asses handed to them by an offense that, if you judged on this game alone, deserves to have 90% of their squad in Hawaii next year.
2) The Missing Piece of the D-line: Corey Simon, as you may well remember, now plays for the Indianapolis Colts. We miss his size and experience at this position and it was all too evident in this particular loss to the Cowgirls (I will always call them the Cowgirls, I don’t care if they beat us by 65 points). Our run defense is about as effective as the 49ers attempt at a Super Bowl run. Our pass rush was, well, non-existent. Drew Bledsoe is past his prime, people. He had enough time to take a nap, eat a hot dog and take a bathroom break back in the pocket. Hats off to the ‘Boys O line but you can’t convince me that we’re not missing our defensive lineman right about now. P.S. Have you seen the numbers the Colts D has been putting up this season? ‘Nuf said.
3) Poor Play Calling: I’m throwing this out there just for the sake of argument… Has Jim Johnson’s blitz package become predictable? We know he’s going to blitz on 3rd and long. Well, let’s be honest and say that we know he’s going to blitz the majority of the time. Dallas picked up the blitz to the tune of a touchdown and several first-down plays. Johnson seemed to abandon the blitz a bit about midway through the game but I’m concerned that our once most-powerful weapon could end up being our defensive demise.
4) Inability to Establish the Run: After the game, Donovan discussed the fact that he needs to do a better job of picking up yardage on first and second down. Indeed, third and long throws the majority of plays in the book straight out the proverbial window and forces you to drop back and pass. Granted, when you go down 17 points in the first quarter of the game, it relegates you to relying on the pass. But much like I said last week, Andy’s reliance on the pass has defensive coordinators around the league licking their chops. Clearly, the Cowboys were covering the pass. Donnie overthrew, underthrew and didn’t throw at all but most of the time, T.O., Lewis, Smith and Westbrook were well-covered on their routes. I don’t need to further explain why. It would be more an insult to your intelligence than anything else.
5) Poor Pass Protection: The Dallas D (which had been less-than-impressive over their first few games) made our offensive line look like a bunch of sissy girls. McNabb was sacked thrice, hurried and hit constantly. We need to protect the QB at this point in the game and quite simply, we did not.
These factors come together to produce six three-and-outs for the Eagle O and a score on five of their first six possessions for the Dallas Cowboys. Oh, and the one possession they didn’t score on was a defensive stop on 4th and goal at the Eagle 1-yd. line. Yeah, not great.
Listen, I may have buried the lead here. The simple fact is that Donovan should not be playing. He has looked like a minor leaguer in the first half of the last two games. In my humble opinion, his injuries are getting the best of him when he’s tight, before he has a chance to effectively loosen up. Following the Kansas City game, he declared that he would have to stretch more and more effectively before getting out on the field. Somehow, I don’t think stretching is the answer to this most troubling problem.
The answer is that he should have been pulled from the lineup as soon as he incurred the injury. Four to six weeks of rehab after surgery and he would have been right back behind center. In fact, if it only took four weeks, he would have been back after this week’s bye to face off against the Chargers. I just don’t see how you can expect a guy, even a Pro Bowl franchise player, to play an entire season at the most important position in the game of football with an injury that limits his mobility and ability to effectively step into his passes.
But ‘what ifs’ won’t do anything but make this Eagles fan lie awake at night (I’ll be popping downers like it’s going out of style tonight). I joke I joke, I kid I kid (Triumph reference for those of you pop-culturally challenged individuals out there). Seriously though, we have to accept at this point that it can’t even be blamed on Andy Reid. We live by McNabb and we die by McNabb, it’s the nature of the organization. On a good day, his undying resolve wins game after game after game for the Eagles squad. On a bad day, he stubbornly insists on playing out the season after suffering a serious injury against Atlanta in Game 1 (I still say that was a cheap hit, but I digress) and plays sub-par.
Say what you want about the defense not holding up their end of the bargain, but McNabb is the indisputable leader of this team and when your leader’s head hangs low, it’s hard to pump yourself up. Our leader is ailing and there is no end in sight. It’s too late to have the surgery. The decision has been made, for better or for worse. We have no choice but to see this team through to the end of the season.
Should Reid have pulled Donovan from the 33-10 ballgame in the fourth quarter, when it was blatantly clear that we weren’t going to make a run for it? Maybe. But again, that’s not McNabb’s style. You’d have to haul him out on a cart for him to miss a snap. Remember, this is the same QB who played on a broken leg against Arizona and threw for four touchdowns. Sigh.
We live by McNabb, we die by McNabb. This week we rolled over and took it in the tush. Thank god for bye weeks. Yours truly will be at the Linc for the Chargers game in two weeks. To quote McNabb, “It was a learning experience.” Personally, if I were Andy Reid, I wouldn’t even look at the tape. I would burn it and do a little voodoo dance. I guess that’s why my prospects for a coaching job in the NFL aren’t too promising.
Make your predictions. Will the Eagles fare better against the Chargers in two weeks?
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OK here's the skinny on the D. You just left the field, down 7 to 0 after holding Parcell's boys on 4th and 1 on the one yard line. You are higher than the entire Mount Everest of players in the NFL. You expect the vaunted Eagles offense to shake off their KC first half cobwebs (that somehow got inserted into the play book by master tactician Andy Reid) and move the ball 99 yards to tie the game. Right?.... WRONG! 4 and out and D. Johnson is kicking from the back line of the endzone. Great kick.
Then Bledsoe (this guy is better than Trent Green) proceeds to launch a beautiful 38 yard bomb to Glenn which Shepard might have broken up had he seen the ball and not Glenn's feet.
So you look up and the O is back on the field for another 4 and out. Mount Everest?... the vaunted Eagles D has sunk to the bottom of the Marriana Trench. And because the O could not get anything moving, the D drifted lower and lower.
HELP!! We need a special team's injection like a new Ike Reese and an healthy Donovan McNabb. The rest will take care of itself.
And, why was T.O. wearing a Michael Irvin jersey when he left the statium???
With the Bye week we get a healthy Darwin Walker, a healthier, hopefully, McNabb and some running plays that work.
Good job on the BLOG! -
I, like you, didn't sleep much last night after that painful display. Through blood shot eyes while watching ESPN's coverage into the morning hours , and being subjected, ad nauseum, to highlights of the 18 inning Braves LOSS (although, some things do still make me smile a little on Sundays after a L) I tried to put in perspective all the things the Birds did to mess this one up. As usual, you did it for me and I think you are right on about all of it. Thanks for putting it into words cuz at 2am last night mine were pretty simple. We sucked. That about covered it for me. I predict a bye will do them some good but I am starting to think I better stock up on Sominex or some sh*t for the remainder of the season....it's gonna be a long one.
See you Nov 14 for the cowgirls rematch, sis..... at least we'll be together with our posse no matter what the outcome.
10/11/05 6:07 PM
BIG ED