| Andrew Perna. 12th November, 2008 - 9:49 am
 The Eagles might be considered the best 5-4 team in the history of the NFL, but after yet another disappointing loss, there are no longer excuses for their shortcomings.
Instead of entering Week 11 with a 6-3 record, just a game behind the defending-champion Giants, the Eagles are now tied with the Cowboys for last-place in the league’s toughest division.
Donovan McNabb has played very well this season, with 2,372 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions through nine games. Separate those numbers in wins and losses, and you really can’t place blame on him for the team’s four defeats.
McNabb in Wins
287.8 yards, 1.6 TD passes and 0.6 INTs
McNabb in Losses
233.3 yards, 1.3 TD passes and 0.5 INTs
Brian Westbrook, like he always seems to, has missed a pair of games this season with a variety of injuries and appears to be hampered more by his lack of health than the team is letting on. He’s posting three-year lows in rushing yards per game (64) and yards per carry (4.1), and a five-year low in receiving yards per game (29.6).
Without Westbrook, the Eagles are 1-1.
Rookie receiver DeSean Jackson has given Philadelphia’s offense a shot in the arm, with 38 receptions for 586 yards and a touchdown. He’s on pace to finish his first NFL season with roughly 70 catches and over 1,000 yards.
Jackson has also rushed ten times for 77 yards and a score, providing coach Andy Reid with another dynamic player on offense. The rookie has also reached the end zone on a punt return. Only Eddie Royal (52 catches, 625 yards, and four touchdowns) has better numbers among rookie pass-catches this season.
The Eagles have a +6 takeaway ratio and have scored 71 more points than their opponents this season, so how on earth are they only 5-4?
He may be one of only seven active coaches with more than 100 victories, but Andy Reid’s fingerprints are all over the team’s losses. Sadly, all four of their defeats have been by less than a touchdown.
On Sept. 15 in Dallas, with the Eagles trailing 41-37, a fumbled handoff from McNabb to Westbrook cost Philadelphia the game, but Reid can be blamed for the remaining losses.
Two weeks later, in Chicago against the Bears, the Eagles had the ball down 24-20 with more than ten minutes left on the clock. Westbrook was not active.
At the 5:40 mark of the final period, Philadelphia was just four yards from the end zone on first down. They ran on four-straight plays, gaining three yards on the first try (Correll Buckhalter), and nothing on the remaining three (Tony Hunt and then Buckhalter twice).
After losing that Sunday night game to the Bears, pictures surfaced that showed Buckhalter breaking the plain on his final attempt, but by then it was too little, too late. The lost left an ugly taste in many mouths.
In actuality, Reid’s penchant for running the ball multiple times in short yardage situations was only beginning to rear its ugly head.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, and holding a 14-9 halftime advantage, the Eagles trailed 23-14 just a few seconds into the fourth quarter against the Redskins on Oct. 5.
It took more than seven minutes in total, but after a 9-yard completion from McNabb to Reggie Brown, the Eagles faced a second-and-1 at Washington’s 2-yard line. Reid called for back-to-back runs by Westbrook, which gained a grand total of negative three yards. Facing fourth-and-4, Reid opted to kick a field goal and trim the lead to six.
Washington would record three first downs on their next drive, never allowing the Eagles to get the ball back in their hands. Going for it on fourth down was a toss-up, but calling for consecutive runs by Westbrook near the goal line was a mistake.
On second-and-1, a simple quarterback sneak by McNabb could have, at the very least, earned the Eagles another set of downs just a few feet shy of the end zone.
Philadelphia also features a tough offensive-line. Why not roll McNabb out to either sling the ball to a myriad of targets or cradle the ball and charge in himself?
Instead, the Redskins stacked the line against Westbrook and kept him from gaining anything on a pair of predictable plays.
On Sunday against the Giants, at Lincoln Financial Field, Reid again called for a pair of running plays in a key short-yardage situation.
After a 7-yard scramble by McNabb, the Eagles faced third-and-3 at their own 43-yard line. New York led 36-31, and Andy Reid allowed the clock to run down to the two-minute warning (in another questionable time management call).
You can probably guess how the next two plays went.
Westbrook ran twice, gaining two yards on the first attempt and nothing on the second. Philadelphia turned the ball over on downs, and New York ran the clock out to improve to 8-1 on the season.
A number of things could have been done differently against the Giants although nothing would have guaranteed a victory like last-minute scores against the Bears and Redskins would have previously.
The Eagles could have run another play before the two-minute warning on third down. Doing so quickly could have caught the New York defense off guard, especially since they had just surrendered 7 yards on a run by McNabb. Maybe Westbrook finds an open lane, or perhaps McNabb connects with one of his receivers for a key first down.
Instead, the Giants regrouped and set their defense up for what they knew, based on history, was coming.
Let’s say Reid felt as though his offense needed a breather just as much as the Giants did. Okay, run the clock out to the two minute warning and come out of the huddle with something creative. Why do exactly what they expect?
Very few teams can get away with being predictable, and Philadelphia has rarely been able to do so on offense. Reid, who strangely has always leaned heavily towards the pass, has now run eight times in short-yardage situations at the end of his team’s last three losses.
That predictability has left many to forecast that the Eagles will be the only NFC East team to sit out the postseason for the second-straight year.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
