Sunday, January 3, 2010

It Must Be Easter...

***

We laid a major egg today.

Losing 24-0 in a critical game is about as bad as it gets. The good news is that the players and coaches all chipped in to the disaster. We had bad plans and worse execution.

The easy thing to do is fall into the "we suck" trap and rant and rave about how awful the team is. That's BS. We went 11-5. That's a good year. We had a bad day, unfortunately at the worst possible time. You can't dismiss a good year for one game. Well, you can, but don't expect to be taken rationally.

I'm not telling you not to be mad. Vent for a night. Get it out of your system. I was furious during the game. I finally turned off the volume and just yelled at the TV for the 3rd Qtr. That actually cleared my head and I'm okay now.

I don't want to get too analytical right now. No one wants to hear that stuff anyway. We'll save that for Monday.

I was encouraged by the play of the defense in the 2nd half. We showed some spirit and played aggressive football. It was too little, too late, but that was a good sign. Now the trick is taking that and carrying it over to next week.

Dallas beat us today. We didn't help matters with a sloppy day. We dropped passes, missed blocks, and had some costly penalties. The conservative gameplan failed miserably in the 1st half. They'll be the favorites next week, but we'll see what happens.


UPDATE

Eagles at Dallas has been confirmed for Saturday night at 8pm.
_

26 comments:

Dr. Ogrodnick said...

Blew the season today. Best they can hope for is revenge next week, but no bye and a 6 seed pretty much kills all legitimate super bowl hopes. People will talk about last years playoffs, but huge difference between winning the 6 seed on the last day of the season and pissing away the 2 seed on the last day.

Pitmanite said...

it was a frustrating and sloppy game, but i honestly don't feel any differently now than i did about our chances yesterday. we as fans always overreact after wins and losses. for instance, look at minnesota. the last few weeks there have been all sorts of questions about them (i.e. their offensive line, their defense giving up points, not running the ball etc). now after they stomped the giants i bet you the atmosphere in minnesota is all roses. do we really know which viking team is going to show up in the playoffs? i'm not.

ultimately, pretty much everything that could go wrong in this game today went wrong. donnie missed a couple of open guys early, our WRs dropped a bunch of balls, we fumbled in the RZ, dumb penalties, etc. on the other hand, dallas played great. i don't think it's going to go down that way next week, and i actually think we'll win.

a major reason i'm not going crazy about this game is that ultimately i have never really felt like we've had a real shot at winning the SB. i like our team and i love our youth, but there are 2 big reasons i haven't felt like the SB is a reality. the first is that i just don't think we have a championship defense. we can't get pressure without blitzing because nobody besides trent cole is worth a damn at rushing the passer and our LBs are not very good as a whole. we're not a bad defense, but i just don't think we have the horses on defense to consistently beat good offenses in the playoffs.

the second reason i haven't felt good is related to andy's decision making in tight/big games. he just always seems to make bad decisions in close games whether it's with the clock or a play call. a few of those today are wasting the time out on the punt when we didn't have enough guys (i'll give a slight pass here bc there was prob some panic), having akers kick a 53 yd FG down 17, and the hurry up offense at the end of the first half where we let time run down and then called a timeout (is there a reason they often look lost in the hurry up?). on the FG that should've been 4 down territory and on 3rd and 2 you run the ball to try and get the 1st down and go for it on 4th if you don't get it. andy just seems to come up small in these pressure situations too often. the crazy thing is that i still wouldn't trade him for any coaches on the market, but he's just so frustrating.

i'll still try my best to keep my fan hat on and hope things work out for us, but i just see a few too many holes to win it all.

p.s. when will the dumb a** penalties stop?!

Tommy Lawlor said...

Reasonable comments, Pitmanite.

Myron said...

This is easily the worst loss of the season, and in the running for top 5 worst losses of the past decade.

Shut out? By the Cowboys? In their new Jerry World stadium? With a #2 seed and bye week at stake?

Shut out? Damn, I mean, at least the last time we played them we kept it competitive up until the last quarter. The Cowboys just dominated this game.

One and done in the playoffs for this Eagles team. Just like I said months ago, there are simply too many rookies, and too many injuries.

Let's just pray the Cowboys don't make it past the divisional round. If they somehow win the Super Bowl this year, it will be impossible to be an Eagles fan anymore.

mally mal said...

It Must Be Easter...we got killed and we need to be resurrected!

Tommy Lawlor said...

I like the thinking, mally mal.

mally mal said...

@Pitmanite, why'd you have to bust my bubble? I was hoping we could make a SB run this year even with the young cats. You touched on my secret fear that I've had all season: this defense is just not good enough...Show up at least next week...please?

channa02 said...

Was it just me, or did our guys throw in the towel about midway through the 3rd quarter. Our body language really sucked considering we were only down 17. Especially the guys on offense. They all seemed to be pointing fingers at each other more than firing each other up to do better. They all looked so defeated, long before it was over. WTF? I'm used to being upset with our playcalling, lack of clutch performances, etc,...but not our lack of character. Not used to that feeling at all since AR took over. Am I alone in being left with this impression?

Tommy Lawlor said...

The offense did mentally check out.

The defense never did. There was one series where guys were coming off after a 3rd down stop and McDermott was cheering them on. That made me happy. Moments like that can carry over.

McNabb and the offense just seemed out of it after either the missed FG or the next drive.

Myron said...

Tommy, how much of the offense's struggles can be pinned on the absence of Jamaal Jackson? Would McNabb & co have been in a better rhythm if they had him in there taking snaps?

Pitmanite said...

@mally mal
i've become a cynic lately, so don't let my negativity influence you. my sources tell me that abiamiri has just been lulling the competition to sleep this year and he's waiting until the games really count to unleash the beast. i predict 6 sacks for him next week!

i think the reason i'm optimistic about next week is that andy and his teams have always seemed to be pretty resilient when things have looked bleak. i think they'll regroup next week and come out and play much better next week on our way to a win.

Joe said...

The bright side is this...we don't have to wait long at all for revenge. We can get rid of the stench of this game by winning next week...Teams don't usually have an opportunity like that.

Between tonight and the playoff game, our D has to find some nastiness and our Offense has to find its swagger that it lost in the 2nd half of the broncos game.

Prem Prakash said...

It would have been interesting to have one of those home blood pressure machines handy because my buddies and I were boiling after this game.

Trying to be rational, though, I'll offer this. Football is a game of inches, and a couple inches on offense could have made this a different game early on. McNabb hits Jackson and Maclin, and he recovers the fumble in the RedZone. There's points on the board and it's a different ballgame.

I'm puzzled at McDermott's defensive game plan of a 4 man rush with zone coverage. Against a team with the Cowboys weapons? I believe we blitzed only five times in the first half. I give him credit for making changes in the 2nd half and hope we'll see more the more aggressive Eagles D next week.

My friend, Pete, said, "I'll trade a loss this week for a win next week." This is about as good as being rational got us tonight.

Oh yea, Dallas still sucks.

AaronStampler (a.k.a. Michael Erler) said...

I know it's a poor excuse but I just think we've had too many injuries this year.

Losing Stew was a killer blow for our defense. Outside of Trent, he was our most indispensable player. We see without him how terrible the linebacking corps looks.

On offense, losing Jamaal, especially this late in the year, was a fatal blow. You realize now we're using our 6th, 7th, and 8th OL? You can't stretch your depth that severely.

I still think Justice is just average, at best, as a starting RT and MJG is below average as a starting RG.

The drops and McNabb's constant inaccuracy killed the team. Maclin's drop was a catchable ball, but if he him in stride, it's a 20-yard gain.

arby said...

I agree with Pitmanite re: SB comments as I've commented in the last couple of weeks. And I agree with Tommy that we've had a fantastic season so far. Sure, losing to Dallas twice totally sucks. I'm just hoping we have 1 more great game in us this year and we take them out next week. We've got to play our best game though.

Ben Hessel said...

My hopes for next week are at an all time low. That means either things go as expected, or I'm super excited that we pull off a win. I think that's a good spin?

If we fix little things (hit djax wide open for the long TD, don't fumble the snap, etc.), then we'll be able to compete.

Dallas just seems to have our number now. DeSean struggles, they're Maclin's kryptonite, and Jason Peters shows up on crack.

Our D this year has been notably bad in several games... Saints (didn't blitz much), Dallas (didn't blitz much), and Dallas (See previous). Pressure Romo!

Unknown said...

I was shocked we weren't blitzing. What a stupid gameplan. We live and die by the blitz, there is no other way to run our D.

Its taken a while for this loss to really sink in, and man it tastes bad. I'd love to be able to believe that we will be competitive next week but this was just embarassing. After a loss like that the next game should be an automatic forfeit, we don't deserve another shot.

Also, Westbrook is clearly on the tail end of his career, we need to give his snaps to Mccoy.

Unknown said...

Sean McDermot has been terrified by high powered offences all season. If he doesn't finally man up this week and come up with an aggressive gameplan, i.e. one that suits our D, then we may have to reconsider our D coordinator of the future.

Unknown said...

In other distracting news, Jamaal Charles has quitely turned into a stupendously good back. 5.9 yds per carry with 190 carries. Over 1100 yards. Could be a new star in the making!

ZackISM said...

I'm going to say this and I know most will disagree. Andy Reid is the blame.

Yeah, the players stunk, and maybe we could have made a game of it with 2 or 3 plays go different....but some things standout to me....in what should have been considered a must win game.

I believe it was 4th & 8 at the Cowboys 39. I know we're only down 7 here, but the Cowboys have twice driven down the field, and we should have counted ourselves lucky to be down only 7. So 4th and 8, he chooses to punt. Obviously it's not a 100% decision either way, but odds are you are only going to gain 19-25 yards. Great punt and the decision looks great, bad punt and it's awful.

Well then I figured we got saved. We would have a penalty, back us up 5 yards, make it a less managable 4th down. Add a bit more room for the punter - wait - no Timeout....

Okay now I'm thinking to myself, we'll send the offense out there. Reid will realize punting here is stupid, almost nothing the gain. NOPE. Punt - Dallas gets the ball @ the 20 - if not for a 10 yard penalty. So in the end we gained 29 yard of field position against a team that had gained 142 yards on it's two previous drives....What happens - Dallas adds another 90 yard drive, and scores again.

This is Andy Reid - a scared, played it safe football coach.

Next up - 3rd and 2 @ the Dallas 35. Down 17. Andy Reid decides to try and get it through the air, knowing we're boarderline FG range at best. Incomplete. I don't like the pass in this siatuion, but we are a passing team. 4th and 2. No longer a running play - but for sure a offensive snap? Nope - 53 Yard FG attempt. I don't care if you are down 3 or 50 - a 53 yard FG is no gimmie. Picking up 2 yards on 4th down - probably has a higher % then nailing a 53 yard FG. I believe this was the lower percentage play and I believe this was aagin a pussy football coach, who is coaching scared.

My last complaint goes with not pulling the starters. At 14 nothing, I felt I had seen enough. Reid has been here 10 years, he should know when his team doesn't have it. These Eagles over the years, have these flat games quite a bit. Why continue to play your starters - risk injury and give the Cowboys even more film and a larger feeling of dominace. I would have pulled them in the 1st half - I know most don't agree. Then we miss the FG - down 17, I'm sure we'll pull our starters. Nope. 4th Quarter, nothing really to play for...we'll pull em now? Nope.

Reid plays them. As a Eagles fan, I'd hate to see McNabb or anyone get hurt, but I deep down kind of wish something had happened, because this is the type of stupid football cocah we have.

Anyway - enough for my rant, I know Tommy disagrees with me on Reid. I've typed it a few times. I know Reid is a above average coach, but I also know he is lacking in some significant areas that will cost the Eagles, and keep them from winning it all as long as he's the head coach. Obviously no guarantees we'd improve on him, but it's clear in my mind, we're playing for a top 4 finish at best as long as he's here.

T_S_O_P said...

Last year after a good W streak, we laid that egg against Washington. We then rubbed the Cowboy's faces in the dirt, beat Minny in Minny and My in NY. A similar 3 game W streak would send us to the SB.

From this I draw hope. And to maintain it, I'll ignore Dallas if you don't mind.

T_S_O_P said...

That should read NY in NY

Joe said...

zackism...
I disagree with your entire post. 4th and 8 was a no-brainer punt situation...even w/out the penalty you make dallas go 20 more yards...You have to give your D an opportunity to wake up and make a play.
Pull the starters down 14-0???
forgive me for saying this, but I think you are letting your understandable anger from a terrible performance influence you here.

Ben Hessel said...

Tommy-

Last year we had a lot of success protecting Donovan vs. the Giants' nasty pass rush with a lot of chips and max protect schemes. 0 sacks in 3 games, right? Is there a chance we do something similar on Saturday to give 5 time to feel comfortable and get in a rhythm?

Also, I know BWest is our best in pass pro and the only one who we can really send on intermediate/deep routes (like when Dawk held him the other week), but I think he's just killing our backfield rhythm. I love Westbrook but he's clearly a little slower now and I think we'd be better off feeding Weaver a few more carries and actually sticking to the run. 36 gives them an excuse to throw it more.

ZackISM said...

Joe,

I don't think it was a obvious punt situation. It was maybe 60-40. But in a game where you're lucky not to be down 14, it becomes time to take chances. Assuming you'll hold them after giving up over 140 yards on two drives is foolhardy.

As for pulling the starters. I believe I stated I had seen enough. I know they weren't going to pull them then, but 24-0? Come on. I'd be willing to guess you've watched this team under Reid, just like me. You've seen games like this before. @ 14 nothing - after the McNabb fumble, did you think we were still in this game? Wht about after the missed FG. Reid had oppertunties to protect & rest players, and did not. Down 24 with 10 minutes or so left, with nothing to gain, that idiot had them out there, risking ACL's. You want us to have a Wes Welker ish injury? If we did, you'd be screaming just like me.

Joe said...

Zack,
I can see a case for pulling the starters in the 4th...but I also thing there was logic in leaving them out there. I think the coaches were trying to get some kind of swagger back going into the playoffs. The offense had been pretty cold since halftime of week 16. Of course they were taking a chance of having a fluke injury, but it would have been worth the risk to have a good drive down the field. Of course, it didn't work out that way.