State of the Team
It is week 13 in the NFL and our beloved Eagles are in the almost the same place as last year: Praying to the football gods that we make the playoffs and go deep into them. I am not some misguided fool that actually thinks we can go to the Super Bowl. No, the way The Saints and Vikes are playing right now yeah they are clearly better than we could have imagined being this season. That said why we find ourselves in this position so many times simply amazes me. We have one of the best quarterbacks the league has to offer along with one of the best running backs until last season yet again and again we are in a mad rush for the playoffs. The point I am getting at here is The Eagles aren’t playing hard. They are playing little games. You know the kind of games you used to play when you were 16 and you wanted to make sure your girl was being faithful. You know the ones I am talking about where you would make up an online profile and attempt to chat with her. Or you would get a homie of yours holler at her to see what she would do. They are playing those types of games during the game. That is why we see this Mike Vick Experiment. That is why we see all these different formations. The problem with these little games is by the time they are done it is too late to win the actual game. A perfect example is the Dallas game. Early in the game we did all these little tricks to get the ball out. Dallas was able to counter the tricks with good fundamental football and thwart the attempt s. By the time we came back to play some real football it was too late. We had lost the game. If you watch each week you can see it every time. Let me take that back since I don’t have access to NFL films I am unable to review game tape of the past ten years. What I can say with some semblance of confidence is we have been doing it for the past couple of years. The opening drive we come out and score. We drive down the field and put the ball in the end zone. Then coach decides to play. Sometimes it works and we score but when it doesn’t is when we get into trouble. Short of the Chargers loss all the games this season could have been won if coach just played ball. Yes I am including the Saints game. Kolb threw for 300 plus yards on their secondary which is supposed to be so great. That games should have been about who had the ball last. We played around with the Raiders thinking their secondary couldn’t be all that good. So we came into the game thinking we were going to pass all over them. Wrong!!!!! That game should have been about Shady McCoy, Eldra Buckley, and Leonard Weaver. (Personally I think Eldra is really under used.) Even the wide outs should have had rushing stats. Then if we had to pass the ball we should have passed it on slants for 3 to 5 yards gainers (West Coast anyone?). Now the Charges game we just got beat. They beat the crap out of us like we were the step children of a selfish mother who married a self absorbed man who doesn’t want us around.
Now I could say this is an anomaly but the fact is it isn’t. As a matter of fact you can look back at previous seasons and I would bet there is OJ evidence coach has done this before. Although last season I do believe we stopped playing the games down the stretch so we could make the playoffs. However the first part of the season we did. Yes McNabb’s troubles contributed to having a rough second half but the coaching games didn’t make it any easier. It is almost as if Coach is saying, “I am smarter than you and you can’t s stop what I want to do” He may be smarter than the opposing coach who knows. The problem with that thought process is: It doesn’t work all the time. This is Football, it isn’t all about intelligence. As a matter of fact it is more about brawn. It is about being a warrior. Then finally it is about intelligence. I am all for smart coaching; the greatest minds to have coached are brain trusts. But they never played with their opponents. They went out won the game and kept it moving. They knew at its most basic football is about attacking a weakness. If a team is good at pass defense and sucky on run then you run. If a team is good has great linebackers then you design plays that neutralize them. If a team has speedy wideouts then you put two safeties on top to neutralize them. If you don’t then you have situations like the one in Dallas where Miles Austin was shut down for the entire game until his touch down and you cannot answer the call.
As a fan I am simply asking coach to stop playing with opposing teams and go play ball. Win the game and get ready for next week’s opponent. Is that too hard to do? Don’t run a formation with Jeremy Maclin in the fullback position while Leonard Weaver is in the slot. I do not want to see Donovan in the slot while Brent Celek is calling signals. I want to see Donovan McNabb under center calling signals, three wide outs and Shady looking for the MIKE blitzing up the A gap. Call your play according to that. Time and time again it is proven this is the way you win games and championships. The dynasty that was the New England Patriots called plays in that manor (plus a little videotaping). San Francisco 49ers of the 80’s did it that way, and the Dallas Cowboys (GRRRRR!!!) did it that way in the 90’s. For the past 30 years it has been done that way so why are you attempting to re-invent the wheel? I understand you are attempting to innovate the game and that is all good. However evident from the win-losses each season it ain’t working. As good as Donovan is and has been (NFC championship games with Charles Johnson, Torrance Small, James Thrash, Todd Pinkston, Chad Lewis, and Duce Staley – not one of these guys can hold a candle to what we have now)let him win with the talent he has lying in wait.
Frustrated
Knis Lowery III
