If the Team Doesn't Care, then Why Should the Fans?
For the third week in a row, the Birds got manhandled by a horrible team...this time at home. You would think that coming off 2 games that they "shouldn't have lost", the entire Eagles organization would be pumped up to tear the Jags apart. Yes, that would be the case in other cities, but we're talking about the Philadelphia Eagles here, a team that has trouble staying motivated for NFC Championship Games.
It was evident from the kickoff that the Birds, especially the O and D lines, were more interested in getting to their Bye Week than playing today. They only have to play once a week - motivation shouldn't be a problem. In my opinion, this Bye Week is coming at the worst possible time.
Anyway, my conclusion is simple and a reiteration of what I've been saying for a while: ANDY REID'S TIME AS HEAD COACH IS OVER.
It's evident that Big Red's formula and coaching style don't produce championships. As I've been saying, he's a very good GM and gameplanner, but sucks as a leader, as a field general. He's never going to lead this team to a Super Bowl.
This loss was the most embarassing, but also the easiest to explain. The same problems plagued us this week as other weeks:
Motivation - The coaches did not prepare the team to play this week. The players lacked any kind of spark or drive, and the coaches stood there and watched it happen, not caring much either. I've never seen a team literally not care if they won or lost. Today I saw that for the first time.
The Running Game, on both sides of the ball - We can't stop the run on Defense and we can't run the ball on Offense. The Jags racked up 209 running yards; the Birds had 85 running yards, and many of those 85 yards were broken plays where McNabb scrambled. When you can't run the ball, you lose the Time of Possession battle too -like every other team has done against us this season, they destroyed us on Time of Possession. The Jags held the ball for 36 mins to our 23 mins. As everyone knows, that wears out the Defense. On the offensive side of things, Big Red has made it clear over the years that he doesn't value a potent running game. Well, on days like today where you can't pass the ball because of the elements, you lose every time. We never seem to learn from our mistakes. Just Sad.
A final note on the coaching - in the 4th Quarter, there was 7:36 left on the clock, the Birds drove a little and had a big 4th down on the Jags 45 YL....they punted. Why punt at this point? They still needed 2 scores to tie the game, so why not just go for it and then play defense from there if you don't make it? The game was over right after they punted it. On the flip side, the Jags managed to convert a couple key 4th downs during the game and in the process, made the Birds look stupid in their own house. Complete lack of aggressiveness.
Again, Andy Reid needs to go. He had his time, and he's failed to make this thing work. There is no point in having a man lead a team who doesn't care about winning and has absolutely no sense of urgency. Football is a game of urgency and emotion. You can't win if you don't have it. Move Andy to GM if stays, but in any case, we need a leader out there on the field, showing these players what it takes to win it all.
It was evident from the kickoff that the Birds, especially the O and D lines, were more interested in getting to their Bye Week than playing today. They only have to play once a week - motivation shouldn't be a problem. In my opinion, this Bye Week is coming at the worst possible time.
Anyway, my conclusion is simple and a reiteration of what I've been saying for a while: ANDY REID'S TIME AS HEAD COACH IS OVER.
It's evident that Big Red's formula and coaching style don't produce championships. As I've been saying, he's a very good GM and gameplanner, but sucks as a leader, as a field general. He's never going to lead this team to a Super Bowl.
This loss was the most embarassing, but also the easiest to explain. The same problems plagued us this week as other weeks:
Motivation - The coaches did not prepare the team to play this week. The players lacked any kind of spark or drive, and the coaches stood there and watched it happen, not caring much either. I've never seen a team literally not care if they won or lost. Today I saw that for the first time.
The Running Game, on both sides of the ball - We can't stop the run on Defense and we can't run the ball on Offense. The Jags racked up 209 running yards; the Birds had 85 running yards, and many of those 85 yards were broken plays where McNabb scrambled. When you can't run the ball, you lose the Time of Possession battle too -like every other team has done against us this season, they destroyed us on Time of Possession. The Jags held the ball for 36 mins to our 23 mins. As everyone knows, that wears out the Defense. On the offensive side of things, Big Red has made it clear over the years that he doesn't value a potent running game. Well, on days like today where you can't pass the ball because of the elements, you lose every time. We never seem to learn from our mistakes. Just Sad.
A final note on the coaching - in the 4th Quarter, there was 7:36 left on the clock, the Birds drove a little and had a big 4th down on the Jags 45 YL....they punted. Why punt at this point? They still needed 2 scores to tie the game, so why not just go for it and then play defense from there if you don't make it? The game was over right after they punted it. On the flip side, the Jags managed to convert a couple key 4th downs during the game and in the process, made the Birds look stupid in their own house. Complete lack of aggressiveness.
Again, Andy Reid needs to go. He had his time, and he's failed to make this thing work. There is no point in having a man lead a team who doesn't care about winning and has absolutely no sense of urgency. Football is a game of urgency and emotion. You can't win if you don't have it. Move Andy to GM if stays, but in any case, we need a leader out there on the field, showing these players what it takes to win it all.
posted by Paulomon Grundy at 5:59 PM
1 Comments:
Agree with you 100% about Reid.
He needs to go and why not do it now? Seriously, the man is just not coaching and why go through the rest of the season watching it fall apart even more?
They need a change, he needs to go. It was on my mind last week and I am convinced of it this week.
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