After watching the Philadelphia Eagles game on Monday Night Football (11/5) against the New Orleans Saints, I have finally decided I needed to share my thoughts on what is going wrong. The answer is simple- Andy Reid.
With all due respect to Andy, I am appreciative of what he has accomplished as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach, tenured for 13 years, and 6 division titles. With 5 trips to the NFC Championship, there is no question he is a good football coach. Andy is 2nd amongst active NFL coaches in winning percentage, only behind Bill Belichick. He has done a great job in the past and there is no question about that. But I’m living in the present day, and to my knowledge he has yet to help the talented team get over the hump and win the big one. One trip to the Super Bowl, and a devastating loss that some will blame on Donovan’s toughness, some will blame on clock management. Regardless, the Philadelphia Eagles were unable to win the Superbowl under Andy Reid. And currently with the way this season has went thus far, it is safe to say that will not happen again.
Now, we need to address the issue of what is wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles. As a die-hard fan, I am like most Philadelphians that always have ‘high-hopes’ for a season and feel confident that the team has what it takes to make a SuperBowl run (usually regardless of whether or not we REALISTICALLY have a shot, we ALWAYS are SuperBowl contenders in my eyes). I felt this way before last years disappointing season, I felt that way up until the outcome of the Detroit Lions overtime loss a few weeks ago. It is clear that there is no shot that the Eagles can win with Andy Reid. The issues with the Philadelphia Eagles may be numerous, but I want to concentrate on the two most evident- the Offensive Line, and the Offensive Coordination.
Yes, it is true that Jason Peters who is arguably the best OT in the entire league has been out all season. And Yes, starting Center Jason Kelce is out for the season, as well as recent injuries to Todd Herremans and King Dunlap. There is no question about it that if you have watched the Philadelphia Eagles this season that the biggest issue is the Offensive Line. Through the first 3 games of the season, Michael Vick was hit more times than any Quarterback in a 3 game span in NFL HISTORY! In fact, it is impressive that Michael Vick is still in one piece. Game after game, the Quarterback gets annihilated play after play. This makes me very mad on two accounts:
1- I am sick and tired of Michael Vick taking ALL the criticism and blame for the offensive woes of the Philadelphia Eagles. Are you kidding me? How can you talk about replacing Michael Vick with a rookie (who may look great and have potential) in a season in which the Eagles are predicted to fare well mostly based on the fact that you have so many star players on the team surrounding an explosive player like Vick? Have you seen the Offensive Line of this team? It is like a High School O-Line playing in the NFL. The man has 2 seconds before the pocket collapses every play. So why put the blame on Vick when it is the offensive line not giving one of the leagues top playmakers the change to make a big play? Say what you want about Vick, but the dude can clearly still make plays given time. Look what he did last season when he had time in the pocket. Did anyone see the Washington Redskins game last season? But more importantly….
2- This brings me to my second point. So if the Offensive Line is THAT bad, and Michael Vick does not have any time in the pocket, why the hell is the Offensive Coordinator not making adjustments? They need to realize that this West Coast Offense and pocket passing that Vick continues to attempt is just not working. Remember, you have a STAR in LeSean McCoy who is averaging 4.3 yards per carry and is often compared to Barry Sanders. You have DeSean Jackson who is arguably the most explosive big-play WR in the game. You have an athletic TE in Brent Celek, and WR in Jermey Maclin. And you have Michael Vick, infamous for using his legs, not just his arm. Why have we not looked into a different overall Offensive scheme? I’m not saying change to Wildcat or something of the sort, but get outside the pocket more often. Run some quick slants with speedy Jackson. Run some screens with Shady McCoy. Do something that shakes up the defense. McCoy should get 30 touches a game whether straight run plays or screens, whatever. So why no adjustment?
The reason for this is because it is clear that Marty Mornhinweg, Eagles Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach and Andy Reid are just not getting it. So as our high-powered offense continues to struggle and their potential becomes irrelevant, what does Andy Reid do in desperation? He fires Juan Castillo, his own hire for Defensive Coordinator. Juan didn’t even do a bad job during the beginning of the season if you ask me. It is clear there were improvements from last season as they tried to pull together newly acquired stars to have some chemistry in Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, DeMeco Ryan, etc. So Andy makes a desperation move of firing his defensive coordinator when the offense is the biggest problem to shun away any attention that could be put on Mornhinweg and himself on the offensive side. Andy isn’t going to fire Marty Mornhinweg, his assistant head coach and play-caller because he has been Andy’s right hand man since 2006. When one goes down, the other will to. So let’s just fire Todd Bowles now, or re-hire Juan and then fire him again. Or we can just sit here wondering- when will they let Andy go?
Let’s look into Andy Reid a little more. Andy has been criticized to ‘change’ a quarterback’s natural chemistry back in the Donovan McNabb days. Donovan McNabb was a great Quarterback that could run the ball effectively and it seems that Andy would never let him leave the pocket. You could see Andy get mad when Donovan would do this in certain games. Well is there any difference now with Mike Vick? There was at one point when there were a few plays actually designed for Vick. But in most cases, Reid keeps Vick in the pocket looking for a big play downfield. That is a recipe for disaster with the current state of the offensive line. Stop trying to change the Quarterback, and let him do what he can naturally do- make big plays with his feet. More so than anything, how about a Run/Pass balance. Remember, you have LeSean McCoy on your team, one of the BEST Running Backs in the game. In my opinion, McCoy doesn’t’ even get CLOSE to enough touches. McCoy should be running screens, there should be bootlegs to our speedy receivers, option plays involving LeSean and Vick (tell me that doesn’t sound lethal). I just don’t get it. I really don’t, and I sit here wondering- when will they let Andy go?
Let me touch on one more subject. The Eagles players love Andy Reid constantly praising him in interview with the media, and he IS a likeable guy. Hell I have even liked him until the past few years. Andy seems to be a great personnel coach and does well with connecting to his players. But when it comes to game day, this is a whole different story. I question his use of key timeouts (as he seems to waste a few per game that come back to haunt the team). I question his play calling (as he seems to LOVE to throw the ball every single 3rd and short play when you have LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick in your backfield). The team takes stupid penalties all the time (and it seems he doesn’t have his team disciplined well enough on game day). When it comes to Andy on the sideline, I don’t think he has what it takes anymore. It as almost as if he is ordering McDonald’s on his headset during the game instead of helping the Eagles win (sorry Andy, but that thought did actually cross my mind). So again, I ask the Eagles front office, I ask my fellow Philadelphians, I ask myself, and I ask YOU- WHEN WILL THEY LET ANDY GO?
