In a Word, Frustrating

December 11, 2007

By Mike Santa Barbara

Another week, another frustrating loss for the Philadelphia Eagles this time against the New York Giants. The 16-13 loss puts the Eagles in a 5-8 hole with little hope of crawling out. That concludes a season sweep for the G-men having beaten the Eagles 16-3 in New York in their first meeting. 

Donovan McNabb returned this week going 20-30 for a busty 179 yards, one touchdown and no picks. McNabb much like the first meeting with the Giants was running for his life from the snap. McNabb was given almost no time at all to set and throw and when he was given time receivers could not get open. Even though the Giants had an obvious weakness in their secondary Sunday having to start two rookie safeties, Michael Johnson and Craig Dahl, the Eagles hardly challenged them. One of the few times the Birds did try to test the two rookies was a deep throw into triple coverage by you guessed it Greg Lewis.

The Birds defense played as well as they could, again being put in bad positions by the offense. However, this week it wasn’t turnovers that hurt the Birds, it was the inconsistency of the offense. After a very successful and dare I say methodical opening drive the Birds offense disappeared with the exception of you guessed it again Brian Westbrook.  Besides the Super Bowl year the Birds problems have never changed. They have always lacked a playmaker that can make the plays when it really matters. Donovan is no longer that player and Brian Westbrook cannot do it alone. Reggie Brown, Greg Lewis, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, and L.J Smith are serviceable but none have big play ability. None of those players strike fear in the opponent’s defense; no days are set aside preparing for any of these guys.

For the millionth time during Andy Reid’s tenure as Head Coach of the Eagles the play calling has come into question.  From day one the inconsistency has been there and the “I know more then you” attitude from Reid and his coaching staff has worn thin. There is no debating that Andy Reid is a good coach, you don’t do the things he’s done by accident or luck. However, what Reid is doing now cannot be ignored. Has everyone caught up to Reid? Are his much-publicized family issues finally weighing on him? Does he have too much on his plate (no pun intended) with coaching duties along with general manager decisions? Unfortunately, the “in house” style of the Philadelphia Eagles organization may prevent us from ever knowing the answers to these questions, which are becoming just as frustrating as the play of the team on the field lately.

Contact Mike Santa Barbara at MikeSBPhillyPurge@yahoo.com