The Eagle Report Answers the Tough Questions Part 2

The Eagle Report Answers the Tough Questions

Part Two: November 27, 2006

Andy Reid is a firm believer in the idea that football games are won at the line. In every game the Eagles have lost their defensive line has been physically dominated and unable to get off and help the linebackers out with making plays. Since the secondary usually acts as a safety valve on running plays (making sure the runs don’t get too out of hand), the linebackers are responsible for stopping the run with the help of the DEs. The DEs have been getting stuffed rather frequently and their linebackers have proven themselves good at missing tackles and misreading plays. Another contributing factor has been the play of Jeremiah Trotter. Trotter used to be one of the most feared linebackers in all the game with people purposely avoiding his bone-crunching fits. Now, these quick running backs are running right towards the Ax-Man and Trotter is struggling especially since he isn’t getting much help on the ends with McCoy and Jones. These struggles will continue until the Eagles get some help for Trotter or their DEs start playing better.

What has contributed to the Eagles’ collapse after starting at a promising 4-1?

An all around poor team effort is the main reason combined with some bad luck and awful coaching have led to the Eagles going from 4-1 to 5-6. While the 62-yard FG was a matter of wind direction, a great kick, and bad luck, the games against the Saints, Jags, Titans, and Colts were all games that the Eagles did not show up and play the brand of football the fans of Philadelphia expect from this season. McNabb’s struggles ever since the Dallas game contributed largely to this record, but the most disturbing is their defense. This was supposed to be the strong point of their team. Instead, the Eagles consistently find themselves being dominated by scrambling QBs (David Garrard, Vince Young, Drew Brees) and above average RBs (Travis Henry, Duce McCallister, Reggie Bush, Cadillac Williams, and Fred Taylor). The offense has also been inconsistent with running the ball and the receivers have a tendency to drop passes. Everyone seems to know what it takes to beat the Eagles, and conversely the Eagles and Andy Reid can’t seem to figure out what it takes to beat other teams. It is very hard to win games when these things happen.

It seems almost inevitable at this point, as painful as that sounds. The Giants have gone into full-blown collapse mode, especially after their 24 point melt down in Week 12. The Redskins have been out of it since Week 1 and the Eagles appear to be dead in the water. That said, there is still a glimmer of hope for the Giants to win the division especially with some division games coming up, but right now Dallas and their new QB Tony Romo seem unstoppable.

The next five games the Eagles play are going to be very difficult. After a home game against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night, the Eagles play three straight away games against division rivals and end their season at home on New Years Eve vs. Atlanta. We believe the Eagles will end this season 7-9, winning the games against Washington and Atlanta while losing against New York, Dallas, and Carolina. All of those teams have playoff aspirations (Atlanta’s are fading rapidly) and will probably be playing with a lot more desire and intensity than we can expect the Eagles to play.

Definitely Jeff Garcia…for now. A lot of people forget that when AJ Feeley led the Eagles to a 4-1 record in 2002 in McNabb’s absence, those games were won largely because of their defense. Garcia is a crafty veteran who can get rid of the ball quickly and move around while Feeley is still rather young and stationary. Until he struggles mightily, Jeff Garcia should be the starter.

Absolutely. All four of these teams are mediocre to put it lightly. While Dallas has shown signs of life since making the switch at QB, they are still a team with a lousy offensive line and a questionable secondary. The Eagles have been beating themselves all year and squandered a golden opportunity to get a big lead in the division with their easy first half schedule. Washington spent big money in the off-season to try and build on their playoff run from last year and have been arguably the biggest disappointment of the year. The Giants are probably one of the biggest surprises as Eli Manning has completely fallen apart and the defense is torn apart by injuries. None of these teams are really hands-down better than the other (don’t forget, Dallas is 1-3 in the division and in 1^st place) and it is really a testament to how lousy the NFC is.

Just look at the Washington Redskins. Every time you sign a free agent, your team is taking a huge risk. Whenever your team signs a free agent, a question to be asked is, “If this guy is so good, why did his old team not want him anymore?” The Eagles, in particular GM Tom Heckert believe that signing a free agent is always a gamble. The Redskins brought in lots of high priced talent including Antwaan Randel El, Brandon Lloyd and Adam Archuleta and all three of those guys have not made that team any better. Even the free agents the Eagles have signed (Jevon Kearse, Darren Howard, Dhani Jones, etc) have not really done that great of a job. The Eagles are big on playing the draft instead of the free agent market, which is actually not a terrible idea. They just have to draft better.

Matt Schobel was brought into Philadelphia from the Bengals to help solidify the #2 TE spot and help block on the outside for guys like Westbrook and Buckhalter. For whatever reason, we haven’t seen too much of Schobel this year and when we have seen him he’s hardly done anything. The Eagles reluctance to use Schobel is puzzling and we at the Eagle Report are hoping to see more of Schobel in the future to give Garcia another weapon.

We think it was to send a wake up call to the kid. Bunkley is starting to get a pretty good amount of heat due to his inability to register a sack after being drafted #14 overall this past year. Hopefully the Eagles in the upcoming weeks will continue to be patient with Bunkley and give him more playing time in the upcoming weeks. An idea is to make Sam Rayburn inactive instead of Bunkley and give the rookie more chances to prove himself. There was a reason they drafted him, they should let Bunkley prove himself. Besides, Rayburn has been an Eagle for a while and he never did anything to begin with!