Bent, broken

A few thoughts about last night's predictable debacle:

Did anyone notice how profoundly and thoroughly confused Reid looked whenever the camera focused on him? It looked like he was perpetually in that hazy state when the telephone wakes you up out of a deep REM sleep, and you answer it even though you're barely conscious and can't process what's going on around you. At some level you are aware that you're talking to someone, but it's still feels like a few miles away, you have no idea what you're saying or who you're talking to, and don't remember much of anything in the morning. Well, that was the guy calling the plays last night.

And what would a losing season be without festering discontent in the locker room? Eskin has said that a lot of players have bristled at Trott's comments last week when he implied that other members of the D weren't really stepping up to play. He basically said something on WIP about how, at one point in the Titans game, he looked in the faces of the other members of the D and got blank stares back, and that he needed to see if they got any dawg left in them). And last night, when Trott was asked if he could fix what was wrong with the defense, he said that three weeks ago he would've said yes, but now he doesn't even know the answer. Apparently, some players think that's a hollier-than-thou approach, since Trott's not blameless for the defense's problems. I don't really know what to say about this, except that at this point, criticizing the guy criticizing them doesn't seem all that productive, especially when it seems like everyone has hung up their cleats for the season. Trott's show on WIP tonight will be fun...

I have to admit it, but Peter Pan played fairly well for us at QB, but I still am absolutely in favor of AJ -- as is every single person I have spoken with or heard from on talk radio. Everyone. I think Madden may have mentioned it last night -- that the possibility is that when Reid brought Peter Pan on, Reid promised that he'd be the #1 backup, no matter what. That would certainly jibe with Reid's Bush-like treatment of the media (saying after the Titans game that he hasn't decided who will start, but then mentioning that he knew it would be Garcia all along, but he just "didn't want to" tell the media that). Seems like Reid could have really wanted AJ, but then later remember his promise. But Madden said it best when he observed that we were running Westy because Westy could run a lot farther than Garcia could throw.

The giants lost to the Titans in glorious, embarassing style. At least something positive from this weekend. But here's an observation: After the game, Coughlin commented how that last pass thrown by Eli that was intercepted was a pass that never, ever should have been thrown in that situation. Now, that may seem like hanging Eli out to dry. But you know what? I think that's just a coach actually responding honestly to a question. Sometimes the answer isn't positive, but that's life. He's not calling Eli a bust or a horrible leader (as many have) but is just answering the media, who is part of the entire NFL machine that pays coaches' salaries. He just responded to the question truthfully and completely. And that's something that we'll never hear from Andy Reid.

Does anyone else think it's a little peculiar that we keep passing when we're ahead, and keep running when we're behind? That said, Westy did a great job yesterday. As we have all stated time and time again, he needs to get more touches like that. When he gets in a rhythm, he's really unbelievable. It's incredible the way he makes people miss, as if he's willing them to miss by using Jedi mind tricks or something.

Okay, most importantly, is there anyone who is still in favor of Reid as remaining as head coach and GM of this team? Even Ray Didinger, the authority IMO, mentioned that something is truly wrong with this team -- whether it's the communication between the players, or the players and the coach, or whatever -- and it needs to be addressed. If everything starts with him, and he is so responsible, why isn't he accountable? Claiming responsibility without any real accountability is meaningless, and frankly, insulting.

This leads into another point of mine: The Reid era is done -- not necessarily because it's just time for a change, but because Reid doesn't make any effort to change. When we were a novelty and were a little unpredictable, it was cool. We could come out in a weird set with Westy split wide, confuse defensive coverage schemes, and have some success. Now, as soon as we line up, defenses call out the plays we're going to run. Likewise on D -- when JJ's blitz packages were all new and never seen before, they were impossible to predict and counter. Now, it seems like there's enough film out on us, that everyone (not just Gruden) has our number. If Reid and his coaching staff had the ability to adapt even slightly, it would be another story. But like the old Model T that Reid still drives, we have become fixed in time and unadaptable. Reid is essentially a VCR -- he's good enough to squash betamax and look impressive doing it, but he has now been rendered obsolete because of DVDs, with no conceivable way to compete with the new technology. ...Um, okay, that was a horrible analogy, but you catch my drift.

So maybe we can at least get a solid draft pick out of this... I just hope that by then, someone else is in charge to select it.