Yeah, this poor excuse for a football team and possibly poorest played game of the season was the coach’s fault. The Eagles lost to the Cardinals 21-17. An embarrassing loss to say the least.
The Eagles blew their fifth 4th quarter lead this season and now sit at 3-6. The playoffs are still technically a possibility. But anyone who watched this game against the Cardinals knows this Eagles team will fail the rest of the season. The glimmer of hope that remained after two quality wins against the Redskins and the Cowboys has now disappeared.
The defense wasn’t as terrible as its been in past games, but there still is blame that lies with the group that couldn’t stop John Skelton and the Arizona Cardinals offense. But the Eagles offense was the story of the game because they were downright pathetic.
Let’s not point at the absence of DeSean Jackson playing a big role in the offensive struggles. Jackson has been less then good this season, something that many have blamed on his lack of a new contract. I tend to agree with that belief. Jackson has never been a good route runner, takes plays off, and only busts it when he sees fit. That is not a winning attitude, especially of an NFL player.
So let’s move to Michael Vick. Our $100 million quarterback played like a high school quarterback, with a 32.5 quarterback rating. 32.5! The 29th ranked Cardinals defense held Vick to 128 yards passing, two interceptions with a third negated by a penalty. He stepped back in the pocket and instead of waiting to let the play develop, would run right away, breaking down whatever play was called.
A leader and Pro Bowl quarterback can’t do those things and expect to win. Vick also took a brutal hit that took him out of the game momentarily, which many expect given his explosive running style. But not sliding head first will cost Vick and his team as it has in the past.
With Jackson out for the game, Jeremy Maclin was a non-factor, catching only two passes for six yards before leaving the game with a sprained ankle, according to Andy Reid. Brent Celek, who has made some noise the past few weeks by getting more involved in the offense, was Vick’s favorite target, catching four passes for 53 yards.
Steve Smith also got involved in the offense, catching five passes for 47 yards but Celek and Smith were not factors in the offense. Neither was DeSean Jackson’s starting replacement, Jason Avant, who had one catch for 2 yards. The wide receiving corps this game was nonexistant, which was not even the most egregious stat of the game.
Andy Reid blew this game with his playcalling again. He’s done it before, and he continued to do it today. Reid the past few weeks had come up with a good game plan to defeat the Redskins and Cowboys, along with a good game plan that the players failed him with last week against the Bears.
But today, Reid gave LeSean McCoy 14 times rushing and three times receiving. Seventeen plays LeSean McCoy had the ball. That is not nearly enough for the most explosive player on offense to have the ball. With Jackson out, Maclin leaving with injury, and the passing game just not working all afternoon, Andy Reid went back to his stubborn ways like he normally does, and like I thought he would not do this time around.
But LeSean McCoy needs to speak up and confront the coach if he wants to save this season going forward, or even save the future of this team in the next few years. Vick rushed eight times for 79 yards, but most of that was not by design. Vick took it upon himself to take the ball out of Shady’s hands and run for simply no reason whatsoever. It almost cost him an injury as he left the game but eventually returned.
Rookie Alex Henery hit a 36-yard field goal to give the Eagles the 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter, probably one of the best things he’s done all season. And those were the highlights of the offensive players in today’s game.
One of the touchdowns the Eagles scored was from their defense, on an interception return by Asante Samuel, his first interception return for a touchdown since 2008. It’s a shame LeSean McCoy wasn’t utilized more in this game. This is where we can directly point the finger not only at Andy Reid, but also Marty Mornhinweg for their awful playcalling this game.
The players could have played better, and they clearly were awful today, but the coaching didn’t help them or put them in good positions all game. It was a far cry from last Monday night against the Bears when the coaches had the right calls all game. In the last 12 games the Eagles have played, they’ve won three of them. They’ve won one of their last seven home games.
One! Meanwhile, the Cardinals got their first road win in their last 13 tries. Is it possibly Reid’s coaching philosophy has worn thin with his players? The Eagles have been a shell of their former self and it can point to the coaching overhaul in the past few years. They seem to have replaced open coaching positions with coaches that are not putting the players in the right positions. And that’s Big Red’s fault.
And Reid still won’t get fired. They will use this bullshit lockout excuse. Yes the lockout that every other team dealt with. The lockout that the Niners came back from with a rookie head coach and washed up QB and now sit at 8-1. Same lockout. Not that the D coordinator is out of his depth and has blown six fourth quarter leads. It was the lockout. Not that the QB has totally regressed because Andy and Marty fail to provide proper run support. It was the lockout. And the O line has played well by the way. Jason Peters may be AP this year. Mudd has done his job. Vick gets hit because he holds the ball. But its the lockout. This team bet their defensive future on a seventh round draft pick that played three solid games. But its the lockout. We committed tons of cash to an average QB that had seven good games when we had all year to assess. But its the lockout. Get ready for the lockout excuse because Reid will be back next year. And then when we jump out to a 5-2 start somehow. Oh they extended him for three more years. What was that definition of insanity again Mr. Banner?? I think you may be going insane!
we had better get reid out of here before he blows our high draft pick, he’d manage a way to f it up. i almost want to keep him around to watch him draft like a damn retard. he’s so great at blowing drafts its not even funny. how do you expect to win it all if you never have a full barn to work with? this guy is a joke. i swear he has a secret room in his house that his wife doesnt know about and he sits in a bathtub of peanut butter and watches tape of linemen
Nick, didn’t you absolve Reid just last week?
And now you blame him for this one?
Are you serious?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the blame for all loses go to Reid. It’s his job to win.
Run…the first thing he will do is beat the Skins on New Year’s Day to drop 4-5 spots in the draft from say 8 to 13. Meaningless game he will try desperately to win. Like what is the difference between 5-11 and 6-10??? Then he will greddily try to hold onto that top forty pick from Arizona instead of using it to get a top five pick and the best LB off the board. There is absolutely no reason to draft anything other than a LB in the first round unless we are going to draft Luck or a DT that has Suh potential. Other than that, LB is absolutely the pick. And I don’t want to hear they like Chaney and are sticking with him at MLB. He is a seventh round pick. There is no investment there and no reason to stay committed. An average MLB won’t get us to a SB.
Asomugha should have spent the Eagles’ shocking, 21-17 loss to the Cardinals in Larry Fitzgerald’s jock and put an “off-limits” sign on him like he did in Week 3 last year with the Raiders when he shadowed Fitzgerald all over the field and held him to two measly catches for 26 yards.
drummer….You do not understand the genius of Juan Castillo and Andy hiring him. You are just not as smart as Andy and his coaches. None of us are.
I agree that the only thing we should be drafting in round 1 is a LB! Maybe a safety. I don’t really see any DT with Suh potential yet. Knowing this team they’ll stick with the current coaches and draft some 27 year old rookie line man and try and sell to the fans that he is a road grader. If they draft anything on offense is should be Alshon Jeffrey from S.C. because Jackson might be heading out the door.
drummer, you’re absolutely right. I did absolve Reid last week because I honestly believe the players lost that game. Playcalling wasn’t the issue last week, players not making plays was the issue.
I’m not some Reid apologist. I think sometimes he gets unfairly criticized and sometimes he gets fairly criticized. He should be criticized for yesterday’s game.
I’m not like other media people who need to stick with their point, like Howard Eskin for example. I’ll call guys out when they should be called out and Reid definitely deserves to be called out this week. It’s called being real instead of being a puppet.
I forgot to say that if Nnamdi had been covering Fitz all day there is a pretty good chance we win that game! What is the point of signing one of the best corners in the league and not use him properly. I will never understand these coaches! DRC looked like crap so I guess the Eagles and Cards ripped themselves off.
This team and franchise has become so dysfuntionalbe that even I turned down the position as Assistant GM for Roster Managment to help them out.
Hey Nick,
Not to change the subject, but my next door neighbors growing up in Voorhees,NJ , their last name was “Piccone”.. You have any Relatives in the Voorhees/South Jersey area…
per Andy Reid, Mike Vick has a couple of broken ribs…
He’ll play through the broken ribs… if Romo played with what he did Vick will play. Andy Reid’s press conferences are brutal… Maybe the broken ribs are a blessing… Maybe Andy will run the ball more 🙂 NOT!!! he will throw it even more. Again I thank Andy for his Service to Philly, but HE MUST GO!!!
Reid is gone after the year…. whether he stays with the organization is another thing… Lurie would probably have him stay in the front office unless Andy still wants to coach in the NFL…
they need to clean house and bring in a fresh face with a defensive background…..WINSTON MOSS, current Green Bay Asst. head coach/ILB coach
I bet it went a little like this,
Owner Jeff Lurie & Pres Banner call Coach AR on the speaker phone and Lurie states,”Whose this Vince Young fella and Why am I paying him $4.5 Million Dollars to sit on the Bench.. Get his Longhorn black ass on the field and see what he can do”….and Andy, says Presd Banner “You better put his Black Longhorn Ass in better positions than the other Black Ass you had in their before” … Coach AR repsonds, “Yes Sir’s” ….
Dang I was done for the week, but i have to address this immediately… Paulman, careful with that “black” nonsense, what’s going on with the Eagles has nothing to do with race. You need to chill with that mess… Ok I’m gone again.
THIS TEAM THAT BANNER AND HOWIE PUT TOGETHER IS AN EMBARRESMENT TO THE BLEED GREEN NATION. YOU CANT EVEN BEAT A 2 WIN TEAM? I SAID IT BEFORE HOW CAN SOMEONE WHO NEVER PLAYED A VIOLENT SPORT IN THEIR LIFE LOOK A PLAYER IN THE EYE AND SEE IF HE HAS IT… MY POINT IS PROVEN ON THIS BECASUE WE HAVE A BUNCH OF DRUG STORE COTTON PLAYERS.. SOFT AS J-LO’S ASS, SOFT AS KARDASHIANS LIPS, SOFT AS BABIES SKIN. THEY HAVE SKILLS BUT IF YOU PUNCH THEM IM THE MOUTH THEY CRY INSTEAD OF FIGHTING BACK. THIS TEAM IS A REFLECTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO PUT IT TOGETHER. JUST PLAIN OL SOFT.
there are 2 things that need to be done to fix all the problems, and then they can work from there.
They signed the best cover corner in the NFL, and decide to use him to play zone. So week in and week out, he is learning how to play zone during games. That to me is like the phillies signing pujols, putting him at 3rd, and batting him leadoff.
Secondly (this is not the homer in me), they have the best RB in the league, and he got 30 touches in 2 big, and easy wins… and they give him 15-20 touches and they lose 2 games. What happened to the screens they used to be the best in the league at? What ever happened to the standard old play action, throw the ball deep? I called it the madden play. They do neither of those anymore.
They address these 2 issues, and they win the last 2 games… I dont know if that warrants people getting fired, but the fact that it is happening every week… perhaps it is time.
the eagles recievers have dropped more ball then any team in the league thus far .. dont blam vick for the recievers mishaps. there is zero continuity. desean works out on his own in the off season not getting reps with vick like the greats do.. maclin was sick.. desean wants a contract sees every body getting paid but him.. every thing is a mess..they added to many players in a season with no training camp.. also they need new plays as far as the apssing game is concerned desean wont even go over the middle maclin does a little bit …i mean how can you blame vick.. we should have got burress ..cooper looks like a deer in head lights at all times.. that will be the end of my rant
Mike Vick broke 2 ribs on the second play of the game… Man Buddy Ryans defenses would’ve scared this defense to death. We have to stop drafting the SAFE players and get some edge in here. This is not a movie Jeffrey Lurie, this is Football… I don’t care how much you like Andy Reid, FIRE HIM!!!
i was at that game yesterday and it was scary quiet. it was like attending a golf tournament. and i have to agree with you guys that i was beyond baffled as to why our “shut down corner” wasn’t assigned to (arguably) the best wide receiver in the league. only castillo could make skelton look like drew brees. the worst of it though was that the cards played like crap too. missing 2 chip shots and throwing 2 picks, one of which was for 6. AND WE STILL LOST! i wish i had it in me to be disappointed anymore but this season has left me kinda numb. i think thats how the fans at the linc felt yesterday. there was zero confidence in this team. hahaha! shoulda seen when vick threw that last pick. reminded me of that last king kong flick when kong breaks free in that opera theatre and people are desperately scrambling for the door. hahaha! you woulda thought the hindenburg just crash landed on the field. oh well, seasons a wash. fire reid, etc….etc. go birds
paulman, I do but they’re all from my mom’s side. My dad was an only child, so unless there’s something I don’t know, I’m fairly certain I don’t have relatives with the same last name around here.
@ChuckRob – agree with you man…. Eagles need to get some bad@sses in here who can hit and play football…enough of the chess players who are church goers..
Neato Nick,
My neighbors were Vince & Marge Piccone, super people with a large family of 6 kids and they still live in the old neighborhood that I grew up..
Vick was awful yesterday. Reid said that he broke 2 ribs on the 2nd pass of the game, but that is no excuse. 4.4% of his passes are being intercepted, extrapolate that number over a full season and your looking 25 picks. He’s also playing some bone-headed football. He took a sack yesterday near the sideline where all he had to do was toss it 5 feet out of bounds. The Eagle QB rating is near the bottom of the league. Vick leads the league in interceptions inside the red zone.
I’m not saying that Vick is the source of the issue, Reid and Castillo are the main culprits. But outside of the coaching woes, Vick has been the biggest culprit on offense.
And for larrywd, the Eagles appear to be 2nd in the league in dropped passes to the Texans, who are currently tied for the best record in the AFC.
Texans ALSO run the ball and are stout on defense. Schaub isn’t carrying them anywhere…..thats all Foster and Ben Tate.
@Birdo
Good point!
yeah the texans run the shit out of the ball.. its not the players .. everythign is too sloppy.. its the coaches job to eliminate mistakes.. if that means simplifying things thats what needs to be done.. i just feel are defense is a bunch of whimps.. look at the steelers and ravens giants defense.. even the thursday night game raiders defense was tough and a agressive.. we have zero toughness… ike tayor would have added toughness that we need … sheldon brown could at least hit .. and steward bradley was huge 6’5 260 .. we have no size no intimidation.. were the ones intimidated every game.. all the other teams have to worry aou tis vick they dont care about nobody else.. they let lesean run all over them and we still lose because andy reid forgets to run the ball when we have the lead.. yesterday we were up 17 14 and he call 4 straight pass plays .. and lesean was averaging over 5 yards per carry
the Texans linebackers are SICK!!!
E-money…. broken ribs are no excuse for poor play? Well about about combining that with your no 1 and 2 WRs out of the game and your coach not running the ball with one of the top RBs in the league? Maybe not an excuse but certainly doesn’t help.
Beanie wells avg under 3 yards a carry but they kept running the ball. And later in the game he was able to get some pretty nice game. They stuck with the and they won. Shocker.
More excuses for Vick, romo played with broken ribs, flack jacket next game, we will see what Vick does, but I think he has packed it in, this guy is a fraud, of the worst order, no heart, he got paid, that’s what he wanted, he has unbelievable talent, no brains and no heart, to think of the quarterback who paved his way, Randall Cunningham, Vick is a disgrace in comparison, as an athlete and person, Randall cared, still does, this guy , vick , you can’t touch him, people are afraid of telling the truth, he’s a thug, another overrated athlete, but never a top quarterback, never will be
I wonder…..
When Mike McCarthy dials up 44 passes and only 21 runs in a 45-7 blowout is he “setting up Rodgers to Fail!!”
Like Reid does with VIck??
Jake, Vinnie, I agree, Vick is an overrated entity, that was created my all of the early Madden games & ESPN. He has never been a good QB, & never will be. He is a fast runner, with an inconsistent cannon arm, with limited football smarts. But, the situation with this teams, present predicament, solely falls on square peg in round hole Reid. PERIOD! He is the one who puts together the roster, the coaching stiffs, I mean staff, the game plan, the in game non-adjustments, I mean adjustments. He is the stubborn, egotistical SOB, that refuses to properly use his players, properly run the ball, & use a balanced attack. He’s the one who, every year ignores & undervalues positions of dire need. HE IS AN OVERRATED COACH, A BAD PERSONNEL EVALUATOR, BLINDLY LOYAL TO A FAULT, STUBBORN, EGOTISTICAL, & A TERRIBLE GAME COACH!!! HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED!!!! END OF STORY!!!
I venture to say that you cannot compare the offense of the Packers to the offense of the Eagles. BIG difference across the board. Let’s see Big Fast TE who cna stretch the field opens up lanes, WRs (all with speed) who CAN go over the middle or anywhere else on the field to catch the ball. They don’t need a Shady McCoy type on that team, but just in case they CAN run the ball when necessary as they proved to us in the Playoffs last year. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB right now in the NFL no doubt. But again, don’t go blaming all the Eagles problems on Mike Vick. Coaching/Gameplanning and playmakers are what the Eagles are laking. You cannot run Desean across the middle, or Maclin in some instances. If you are going to have a shorter QB, then get taller receivers. Andy and Marty consistently get outcoached. It’s sickening. Andy is a stubborn mule that needs to be put out to pasture…
People are going to hate on Vick for reasons other than his play. We all saw and have seen what he can do when he gets time in the pocket and the playcalling is balanced. He’s an all-pro and throws darts.
Vick has been a professional on and off the field since he became our starting QB — I’ll give him the rest of this year and next year before I start clammoring for his departure.
Lets trade Asante for some draft picks and and move UP into the top 5 to select Vontaze next year.
We need the new Ray Lewis. We need the heart on defense.
Just the other week DCAR referred to Vick as a championship dart thrower…now Vick will never be a good QB….which one is it?…and the person he is agreeing with Jake, jumped all on Vick’s bandwagon last year, and even said Vick has shown he can manage a game….
LMAO @ you cats! Weww!
If any of you know the game of football and understand that different parts help win games, I can’t see how you can solely blame Vick with a straight face!
I’m used to it by now…things don’t go right, the grown men get upset and start kicking and screaming…throwing temper tantrums, gotta blame somebody right? No doubt Vick was wack on Sunday…but for anyone on here to think that DJAX absence, Maclin being out didn’t have an impact, you must be high on something…then compound that with playing with broken ribs…I mean come on, I get it…you gotta blame someone, you want to blame Vick for all shortcomings of this team, impossible for you to see that any QB in the league with those odds Vick played with on Sunday would have struggled…
Real, who didn’t jump on the bandwagon last year, we all did thinking and believing the media, the coaches that this is a new vick, well maybe he ain’t what he is jacked, his play since the minnesota game last year has been average to piss poor, bad decision giving him all that loot that last game was the real eye opener
Again, Vick is fine. The playcalling however is atrocious.
I didn’t!
I start with HC AR & Staff, and then GM Roseman and then the 53 Man Roseter.. To me it’s the entire damn team…
Coach AR is the same Coach he was 2 years aho, 8 years ago but this group of players cannot seem to rise above his inadequies as a game time coach.. What lack of Balance is he now calling that he hasn’t called in 10 years.. What’s worse about his clock and time out management, waht’s different about his gadget-calls down in the Red-Zone and i can go on and on..I don’t think Coach AR has changed much at all which is a big problem for he and his teams have become very predictiable in key situations (red Zone,2 Minute Drill, etc,etc,) what has changed is the lack of leadership and mental toughness and the amount of heart and self pride amongst this Current Roster… There are no more gladiators to pick-up the slack amongst the players, and say “depsite Coach AR, we are going to go out and kick some ass”, they just don’t have these type of players on their roster anymore.. The Team it’s coaching staff and Franchise have become “soft” plain and simple… HAve you ever heard a team’s Coaches and it’s players congratulate their opponenets for beating them.. every interview or press conference starts out with .. “I would like to congratulate the XXXX for beating our asses today…” what Champion does this garbage… I am tired of this Franchise and all their BS from the Top to the bottom (even the Cheerleaders..well maybe not the Cheerleaders)
plan
haha, paulman , classic, “I would like to thank the bears for beating our asses today”‘ what a joke, Mr softie
Vinnie, I got to hand it to you, you stick to your guns with your Vick opinions. No one can call you a hypocrite. LMAO! I tried to give him a chance, going against my better judgement, but boy was I wrong. Please stop with making Vick a martyr for playing with broken ribs. He didn’t break them until the end of the game. Give it a rest already. Reid lied to make his QB look better. 3 of his players, all but exposed that BS!
BTW, Real talk, I never called him a good QB. I said he throws one of the most pretty passes in the league, like a championship dart thrower. It’s ashame it is very inaccurate. I didn’t jump on his bandwagon last year, I have no choice but to route for the guy, he’s our starting QB. When they first signed him I wasn’t a member of this site. I never wanted him, & thought it was a bad move, because of his past issues & bad QB play. He has always been overrated, over-hyped & an ESPN/ Madden game sham-mockery. If anyone thinks otherwise, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. He is, was & always will be a gifted athlete, with a cannon arm, who can’t read defenses, & is inaccurate in high pressure situations. Plain & simple, end of story.