Once again, the Eagles come out of a game with a disappointing loss and fall to 4-8 on the season. This one perhaps the most disappointing one yet. With the Eagles in desperation – having to win out and get help from the Giants and Cowboys to make the playoffs – the same heartless, uninspired team that we’ve seen so much of this year showed up in Seattle.
Once again, the lone player that showed up to play was LeSean McCoy. He accounted for both of the Eagles touchdowns while essentially playing on one foot. Hampered by a toe injury all week long, McCoy was limited in practice and was officially listed as questionable for Thursday night’s game.
The Eagles quickly fell behind by two Marshawn Lynch touchdowns. Down 14-0 early in the second quarter, the Eagles were again forced to rely on Vince Young’s arm to come back. With just seven carries in the first half, McCoy was able to score the Eagles first touchdown to bring the Eagles within seven.
Shady finished the first half with just seven carries for 36 yards and the only Eagles score. A statistic that doesn’t show up on the stat line is McCoy’s blocking. On the majority of Vince Young’s pass plays, McCoy threw key blocks that allowed Young to have time in the pocket to deliver passes, which he failed to do on twelve of his pass attempts.
At halftime, something clicked in Andy Reid’s head. The Eagles came out with four of their first five second half plays going to the 23 year old running back. In those five plays, he accumulated 32 yards and set the tone for the second half. Shortly after the tone was set, Vince Young tossed his second interception of the day giving momentum back to Seattle.
Number 25 played an important role in the passing game besides just blocking. His 49 yards on four receptions was his highest receiving yardage total in a game this season. His second touchdown of the day, and fifteenth of the season, came on a goal line shovel pass from Vince Young. The 
Eagles had a great setup with McCoy and fullback Owen Schmitt in a split back formation. One of the many geniuses of Howard Mudd’s offensive line play was the reason Shady was able to punch it in for a somewhat easy touchdown.
The turning point of the game, and the final blow to the Eagles season came on a pass intended for McCoy. Seahawks linebacker David Hawthorne was draped on McCoy and Vince Young tried to force the pass to him. Hawthorne intercepted the pass and returned it 77 yards in the opposite direction for the interception. The team player that McCoy is, of course he took responsibility for the poor decision Young made to force the ball to him.
“That’s my fault. I need to be more aware at all times. You never know if he’s going to throw it or not,” said McCoy of the play. DeSean Jackson could take some notes on this after what is possibly the worst showing by him in his four years with the Eagles.
Still, with 49 yards through the air and 84 on the ground, the former Pitt Panther had his ninth game with at least 100 yards from scrimmage. McCoy had nine 100 yard games all of last season.
McCoy’s 84 rush yards on Thursday night gave his a new career high in rushing yards in a season, previously 1,080 which he accumulated last season. Sitting at 1,154, McCoy has four more games to continue to add to his breakout year, which is on pace to take home the rushing title. He would be the first Eagles running back to do so since Steve Van Buren did it in 1949, his third consecutive title. He also only needs two more touchdowns to tie Van Buren’s franchise record for touchdowns in a season.
McKoy IS actually “talented”, unlike the majority of the rest of the roster. I posted several weeks ago that I strongly disagree with the notion that this roster is supremely talented and the Eagles are losing because of execution etc. Coaching, execution, desire, injury, contract squabbles all play a part in this teams dismal performance this year. But so does talent. This team is NOT that talented and Reid/Roseman are responsible for that as well. The last several drafts, in particular those overseen by Roseman, have been dreadful. Complete misses at the top and undersized, square pegs in round holes the rest of the way. This team seems to believe that Superbowls are won and lost by having the most draft picks. But what good are draft picks if they can’t get on the field because they stink. Yes, they’ve been mildly successful with some late round picks that I’m sure the team would advertise as “starters”, but lets face it, they can’t play. Coleman, Fokou, Chaney, Kelce, Rolle, they may have a place in the league, but probably not consistanly starting and certainly not as difference makers. The whole Reid regime needs to go and the rest of this season should be spent evaluating this team and pinpointing areas of need (damn near everything) for next season. McKoy, Herremans, Peters, Celek, Jenkins and two of the three high $ corners should stay. As far as I’m concerned the rest of the players can be replaced, cut, traded to clear money, or brought back at the right $ amount. Find a young aggressive, defensive minded coach, draft a franchise QB that is over 6’0, can stay healthy, and has a better track record than 7 spectacular games against a league that hadn’t seen them in two years and load up on defense. I’ll suffer through the growing pains of a new regime, but I’m tired of the real “talents” like Mckoy being wasted under this coach/philosophy.
We should be happy atleast 1 guy shown some emotion and common sense this year. U always have respect and know your leaders know what’s best, but when u see something drastically wrong, u have to speak up. I glad Washburn yelled at Marty about mcCoy running just 10 times during Patriots loss, which caused tooo many 3 and outs and the Defense going back on field(happens the last 13 years under Andy) but he should have yelled at Andy. Andy also ran mcCoy just 5 times during 2010 Cowboys game when they slaughtered us 34-14…..by the way, Cowboys ran the ball 33 times…coaches gave their team the best chance to win.
Hope Reid gets atleast 9 wins next year , he started to have Rhodes,Buddy Ryan,Kotite, years
Actually have to give those other coaches credit Buddy ryan’s last 3 seasons with Eagles were all 10+wins, Kotite and Rhodes both had 2 10+wins out of 4 seasons here…..they had nice balanced philosophies but played in tough NFC div with Super bOWL winners twice a year…..Reid is lucky and overrated….he did not have to go up against 3 Super Bowl winning Champions twice a year, or 2 redskins SB TEAMS twice a year, or 2 Giant Sb teams twice a yr, i bellieve reid and these coaches switched……coaches would have nice success too in weak NFC LAST 13 years(1 giants Sb) Andy would with his pass happy philosophy have about 2 or 3 wins a season…..Remember, he would not just be playing SB winning Redskins twice a year he would be playing 2 good Giant games, and 2 great cowboy teams soon to be SB champions, or take another year,,,,, lawrence Taylor Giants with Belchick running the D and either skins or them winning Sb,,,,,,Andy Reid would have had no chance then
plus all those great 49er teams kotite,rhodes,buddy ryan had to play usually once a yr
Everz11
I agree that our roster has been decimated, but I also believe that we have talent. Every player on this team is under-achieving (except McCoy, because he can create, and a few others, i.e., Cullen Jenkins, Jason Peters).
I find it hard to believe that our perennial pro-bowlers have all, simultaneously, lost their skills. Jason Babin, obviously, is a case in point from bust-to pro bowl-back to bust (or at least average).
Nnamdi is a one-on-one cover guy, and he’s been the best for years. Every team wanted him when he became available. Of course, we decided to deploy him in all sorts of exotic coverages, and Nnamdi has failed. Not only that, he’s lost his confidence. We destroyed the guy by misusing him.
When Reid forced Tom Heckert out and caused the front office to promote a “yes man,” Howie Roseman, it was another huge mistake, along the lines of the Castillo blunder, and as a result, our drafts have been horrid.
It was not Coach Reid who wanted Tom Hecckert out..
It was Pred Joe Banner who pushed Heckert out so he could get his buddy Howie Roseman in as GM .. There is and never has been ,any love lost, between Coach AR and Banner & Roseman, which when you look back on it now and think about it, is about the time that AR starting to lose a little of his authority and the tension between the Front Office and Coach AR started to increase…. Is anyone surprised or even curious why there has been not a peep out of Banner & Roseman since about the 2nd week of the Season…
I believe that if Coach AR and Owner Lurie didn’t have a very close relationship, that AR would have left on his own a year or 2 ago..
Putz Roseman is no judge of talent. Plus he wears long sleeves in the summer at camp to hide his feeble stove pipe arms. Juan is no defensive coordinator and Reid has been outcoached by rookie coaches coming from the college ranks. Young and Vick are lousy quarterbacks and Reid is no developer of QB’s. It’s time for Reid to join Richard Simmons on his exercise program. This years performance is one for the record books for greatest chokes of all time.
I love how idiots want to try to call Babin a bust when he leads the league in sacks and is one of the league leaders in sacks.
*leads the team
Leads the team in Sacks, but gives up huge yardage on the ground in the RUn game… I have stated for a while and even about Trent COle in previous Seasons that is these players were brought in 30 plays a game in obvious passing situations, that their Sack totals would be about the same but that the Overall Defense (against the Run) would be strong with both of them on the sideline)
Babin will make the Pro-Bowl due to his Sack #’s, but he is not an overall good DE in my opinion… He creats hughe running lanes by going upfield too often on every snap and loses containment on his edge time and time again.
BoB – come on man – this week is officially ‘welcome to the hater nation’. In this weeks episodes of GCOBB.com – the name of the game will be to see who can hate and how much –
you see, it is not enough to state the obvious – that the eagles are having a bad year (hell, they suck) – you now MUST go back in history and point out how the sucking this year somehow relates to this year – facts, stats, history or accurate information is niether required nor is it desired – JUST HATE
rules are simple –
rule 1: who can come up with the absolute most exaggerated, nonsensical claims – typical ones include – Reid has always sucked in the red zone, Reid has always been pass happy, the use of Rhodes players for Reid to gain success – and my personal favorite – becuase this year is a bad year – this is the true indicator of Reids talents, not the previous years (you know caoches of the year, divisional championships
rule 2: hate on each and every coach and player, uless we like the player, then just hate on the coach – if the player happens to have the ball go through his arms, blame the coach, fumbles, blame the coach, if he gets burnedm blamne the coach, unless the player is a draft pick, then blame the player AND the coach – oh hell – JUST BLAME
rule 3: talk about the good old days and how ‘great’ they were – you know – Buddy Ryan – forget he ignored the offense, never won a playoff game, how about Dick Vermeil, there was a dude that probably had the most balanced, capable team in Eagle history and didn’t win the SB (for the eagles) – talk about old washed up players that had one or two plays like they were the God of War – which they were – 7 years ago –
then lastly – rule #4 – forget that you just spent the previous time bashing and hating on the eagles – quickly ‘rationalize’ that all your hate, vitrol, venom, spite anger and frustration, as being ‘passionate’ and really just wanting what is best for the eagles (boy, sounds like a wife beater doesn’t it) – and then frelly state that you will not in fact support this team if the team is not what you want, you will not support it –
but that really, despite all definitions – you are really a fan – and anyone who doesn’t hate with you really isn’t a fan – but an ass kisser/kool aid drinker
so let the christmas hating begin –
Paulman, you don’t understand the game or the Wide 9 scheme if you’re putting the run responsibility on Babin.
The wide 9 place the DE in the 9 gap outside which means the responsibility to fill for the run goes to the Linebacker or that side along with the read and react from the middle linebacker. Also, when the wide 9 is used correctly the runningback is turn inside giving the DE’s opportunity to make a play on the running back. Look at the Dallas game to see those Ends getting stops on the runningback from the wide 9 position. Sometimes in the wide 9 and other times tightening down. While I do agree we don’t have the linebackers to play the wide 9 successfully…babin is doing his job but Juan is not putting him in position to succeed.
i know what the Wide-9 Sxcheme is all about Songs, and I think their are times when is extremely produictive and wrecks havoc on teams QB’s but usually only in Passing Situations adn when your playing with a lead, but since the Eagles LB’s are green and inexpereienced and to be honest, just not very good, then going full bore with a Scheme that doesn’s fit your personnel is even more assanine than the scheme itself… I don;t think 1st & 10 versus Teams who like to run the ball is good time to employ the wide 9 and have your DE go hell-bent after the QB when 65% of the time, it’s going to be a running play..
Look at the Teams the Eagles have played this Season, here is a list of teams that would prefer to run 1st and pass 2nd
Rams,Falcons, 49ers,Giants,Redskins,Cowboys,Bears,Cardinals,Seattle
and soon to be the Dolphins,Jets,Redskins and COwboys again..
So that’s 13 of the Eagles 16 opponents who prefer to run first and the Eagles gave all these teams and easier path to run the ball, to allow most of their average QB’s and offenses to get in a rhtym and therefore establish control of the line of scrimmage and therefore the game ..
But even with this all said, the other component about runing the Wide 9 besides having good LB play is having a good tackling Defensive Secondary which the Eagles used to have year in and year out but no longer do..The Eagles probably have the weakest and less physical Secondary of any team in the NFL.. I repeat, The Eagles have the “Softest” Secondary in the NFL.
This entire Defense is flawed from it’s schemes, to its Coordiantor right down to the players in my opinion and until they stop teams scoring at almost a 100% clip in the Red-Zone, this Eagle Team is going nowhere..
Dolphins allow about 93 YArds per game on the Ground and will have 8 Defenders in the Box to stop McCoy.. Unless Eagles QB (Vick,VY,Kafka) make some nice pass plays early in the game or and down,then it will be a long afternoon for the Eagle Offense.. QB Vick or whoever will need to win this game and the fact that Vick hasn’t played in a month does not bode well for the EAgels.. can he play at game speed, deliver the ball timely and not taking part of too many practices the last few weeks, how does Vick respond after getting some hits to his rib area…This game gets ugly in a hurry as Dolphins QB Matt Morre has his way with this weak Eagle Secondary as he hits WR B Marshall, D Bess, B Hartline all day with crossing routes and big plays down the field and then utilizes TE A Fasano matched up with teh overmathced SAfeties of the Eagles… Also watch for RB R Bush on screeens,Draw plays, bubble routes and Delay handoff-offs… In case many of you are napping, RB R Bush has rebounded with a pretty nice Season with the Dolphins after a slow start and has approx 900 yards of Offense from Scrimmage….
Paulman agreed…You have a team running multiple schemes without perfecting one. That’s confusing and it started with Andy hiring Washburn forcing the wide 9 on the incoming defensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators didn’t want to touch that with a 10 foot pole leaving Juan Castillo lobbying for an oppportunity. Most defensive coordinators know how hard it is to get linebackers, let alone top linebackers who could take on all the responsibility in a wide 9 set. Some can argue that a team must have the right linebackers in place before even thinking about DE’s in that defense. On top of that Juan does not have the mental capacity to show wide 9 but have the defense change formation before the ball is snapped. After this season the defensive coordinator need to come in and bring his philosophy and Andy Reid should not have no say on the defensive side if he’s still around. If Washburn want to run his Wide 9 then promote him to coordinator so he’ll be responsible when the rest of the defense suffer from his scheme…instead of him getting rewarded for a line that rack up sacks at the expense of team losing games.
That’s been Washburn’s “MO” for years and part of the reason he feel out of favor in Tennessee.. His aggreessive style is good in certain situations versus certain teams but can get taken advantage of by good teams,smart QB and OC..
Washburn and Mudd were a 2 Part-Deal, getting 1 meant getting the other and then allowed Coach AR to elevate his star Pupil to the D/C Positon ..Little did Genius AR realize that running a TOp Defense is diffcult to do and can only occur when all the position coaches, players are all on the same page which is clearly obvious that this 2011 Eagle Defense has not been all year..
They basically have played very well in 2 games this Season (Redskins & Cowboys games) and played so-so versus the Giants. but they were shaky versus the Rams, and terrible vs the Falcons,BIlls,49ers,Bears,Cardinals,Patriots & Seahawks games
This Secondary Coach Johhny Lynne has become immune to criticism also,
He’s done a terrible job handed all the talent he has been given, 3 Pro-Bowl PLayers at one of the most crucial positions on the Football field.. What has he been teaching and doing all Season.. The Safeties went from promising players last year to average this year to down right pathetic here lately.. I have seen every players under him actually play worse than I saw on previous teams under previous coaches.. Fire this bums ass immediately
I think Lynne gets fired befor Castillo does
The DE’s in the Wide Nine are not SUPPOSE to play the run you moron!
So this is the excuse we will hear now..
that The DE aren’t worried about stopping the Run and that it’s really 9 Defensvie Players versus 11 Offensive Players….
This is about the stupidest,lamest excuse I’ve heard all Season about these Chumps Birdo…
Eagles final 4 Games
Dolphins 26- Eagles 13
Jets 30 – Eagles 16
Cowboys 27 – Eagles 23
Redksins 13 – Eagles 10 (in a snow storm)
@Paulman – I think the Eagles beat the Jets….Sanchez sucks!
I know our defense sucks, but he sucks just as bad…
Eagles 17 Dolphins 16
Eagles 24 Jets 17
Cowboys 34 Eagles 20
Redskins 24 Eagles 28
In past years I would agree with Jott ( I am no Sanchez fan)
But I am afraid this Eagles Defense sucks even more than him this year…