Eagles Suffer Bitter Loss
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The Eagles suffered their first home defeat of the season in one of the most disgraceful losses in recent memory. The circumstances were very similar to one of the many disheartening losses the team suffered last season. With the erratic offense and a defense that is unable to hold a fourth-quarter lead, the team is in danger of being just as disappointing as was last season’s team.
For the second straight week, the Eagles went from leading in the fourth quarter to watching the opposition hit a game-winning field goal—but this was loss was much more egregious. It was at home, it was against a bad team and the lead surrendered was much more substantial.
When Jeremy Maclin crossed the goal line after catching a 70-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, the Eagles held a 10-point lead and the clock read 5:18. Then everything went awry. The Lions took about 90 seconds to shred the Eagles' suddenly porous defense to cut the lead to 3 on a 17-yard TD pass to Nate Burleson.
The Eagles offense got the ball back and promptly went three-and-out—just like last season. The defense suddenly began leaking oil in the fourth quarter and the offense did nothing to help matters by continually punting on four downs.
The Lions drove the ball down to the 1-yard line before the Eagles defense finally stiffened and the Lions were forced to kick the game-tying FG with 3 seconds left to force overtime.
The Eagles won the toss and got possession first, but inexplicably, Mike Vick took two deep drops and was sacked twice. The second sack, on third down, forced the Eagles to punt from their own end zone. A couple plays later, Jason Hanson kicked a 45-yard FG to win the game for the Lions.
This was a very bitter loss on a number of fronts. The Eagles defense had held the Lions to just two FGs for the first three quarters. Then the floodgates opened and they allowed 17 points in the final quarter and 14 in the final four minutes.
The defense blew it, but the offense did not help. Aside from not picking up even one first down to stem the tide, it is just not winning football to turn the ball over three times. Mike Vick had yet another fumble to go with his two interceptions.
Just as troubling for the Eagles as the ghosts of 2011 reappearing is that LeSean McCoy seems unable to run the ball effectively. The offensive line seems to be in disarray in both pass and run blocking. But all that being said, the Eagles did hold a 10-point lead with five minutes left in the game.
What happened in that final five minutes that allowed the Lions offense, which had been stifled all game, to suddenly come to life? Only the coaches know. Or maybe they do not even know and that is why they could do nothing to stop it.
Whatever the case, this was a critically important game going into the bye week and the Eagles collapsed. Fans, still haunted by nightmares of last season, are now going into the break stewing over two straight games in which the Eagles lost by a FG on the last play of the game.
Fans are always reactionary, usually detrimentally so. However, it does seem as though this team has reached a crossroads. Even at this relatively early point in the season, it seems something needs to change fundamentally.
It may be time to bench the starting QB. Andy Reid will be reluctant to do so because he can point to the fact that the Eagles offense gave the team leads in each of the last two games and they lost because the defense collapsed.
That is true, but the turnovers are just too glaring to ignore. He will elect to give Vick the bye week to recuperate and see if he can come out of the break re-energized and more able to reduce his turnovers.
That may be sound logic in a vacuum, but viewed against the backdrop of Mike Vick’s history, Andy Reid’s career and the stagnant state of this team, it just might be time to panic.
There are other things to consider such as whether another QB could survive behind this offensive line. There is only one way to find out and we may have reached that point.
The season is not over. The Mike Vick experiment may be. Fans have seen the Eagles rebound from the depths before, but not with this QB at the helm. Aside from his amazing run when he first became the starting QB in 2010, Mike Vick’s tenure here has so far been one of disappointment. The arc has been continuously sloping downward ever since the Eagles first round playoff loss after the 2010 season.
With Vick remaining as the starting QB, we know how this script ends. Maybe with another QB, it ends differently—if he can protect the ball. Reid will not want to make that change yet. Either way, if the end of the story does not change, Reid will no longer be in a position to change it. If this continues, Reid will be unemployed.
Reed Rothchild
10:43 am on Monday, October 15, 2012
Pass. The. Foleslaw.
Mike Diviney
2:14 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
May be time Reed.
Sean McCullen
11:28 am on Monday, October 15, 2012
Time for Reid to go. (Well, I've been saying that since 2005, but ...)
Mike Diviney
2:16 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
I'm a big Reid backer and he gets the rest of this year to try to turn it around- we've seen it before. But it seems like he backed the wrong horse in Vick and it may end up costing him.
Phil McConkey
12:35 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Sean is that you?!?!?!?! It's hard to hear you all the way up here in First place!!!
Mike Diviney
2:17 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
No one wants to hear from you today Phil. The Giants are only a game up, although I have to give them credit for dismantling the Niners. Your much more vocal than you were the day after the Eagles beat the Giants.
Phil McConkey
2:40 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
why would I talk after a loss. Eagles nation needs to chill. Like you said they are only a game back. Relax everyone. The NFC East still needs to beat up on each other. The Redskins are scary, not going anywhere but scary to play because of RG3 so they could beat the G-men.
Jack Walden
2:31 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Andy's stubborness will end up costing him his job. I hate to watch Vick play. I'm always waiting for him to turn over the ball, especially in the red zone. How much more does Andy have to see to realize the experiment is over? Vick is 32 years old and cannot improve.
Mike Diviney
3:34 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Might be right Jack. Like I wrote before, it's tough to really root for a team when you're looking over your shoulder for the next turnover. The numbers are now FOURTEEN for Vick alone in SIX games. And FORTY for Vick alone in his last 28 games. It's staggering.
Mike Diviney
3:32 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Phil, you talk after a win against a team no one cares about here so step up when you're squad loses to the team everyone does care about. We've seen teams rebound from bad losses before- happens all the time. But the leash is short for Eagles fans because of what happened last year and because this collapse was so reminiscent of it.
Bo
3:56 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
The only team I ever care about that is not my own, is the Cowboys, so let's take some solace in their 4th quarter collapse yesterday too. As a single loss and the fashion in which that win got snatched from us, this loss felt as bad as I can remember. The way that Lions offense, behind Stafford, awoke in the 4th quarter, made me think I was watching the Lions & their QB turn into the same Eagles team we saw for the prior weeks, in the 4th quarter. I'll try to hold this saying closer to my brain after this weeks loss, we're never as bad as we think nor are we as good as we believe we are. Heck it looks like the entire AFC is 3-3, so our ship is still very much afloat, but that iceberg could be approaching and we can't quite see it, but something feels like it is close by.
Mike Diviney
5:06 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Well said Bo and also very true. The loss was bad in and of itself. The fact that it was due a collapse like last year after we thought the Eagles had those problems behind them, makes it that much worse. Also, going into a bye week after losing 2 games in a row on a FG on the last play of the game really sucks.
Porterincollingswood
4:21 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
I was surprised they lost, but not surprised about the fashion in which they lost. Lousy play selection, brutal line play, and a late collapse. This was the worst offensive play selection I can ever recall, Kotite included.
We have too many sacred cows on this coaching staff. Not just Andy, although he's the poster boy. Howard Mudd and Jim Washburn...two guys who act like they invented football...direct units that are without question the most under-performing.
But he'll be back, he'll find a way to go 8-8 and come up with some excuse - Peters, Vick, Castillo, whatever. He'll skate as always, having found some scapegoat.
Bo
5:01 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
If Dusty Baker were a football coach, he'd be Andy Reid. I watched Dusty Baker have the same brainfart in mishandling a bullpen in a vital postseason game two days ago which I saw in the infamous bartman game. Andy has all these great attributes as a leader/head coach of an NFL team, but then comes up small when the moment needs him to come up big, and it happens far to often. I think these two both have some magic dust, that they use to hyptomize a part of the media and a decent size portion of the fan base. Dusty ruined Prior's and Woods's arms in that season, Big Red seems to be ruining our hope of winning a Lombardi trophy before the possible minor re-Bu&ld, with new coaches. I think Gruden may be that guy.
Mike Diviney
5:08 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Porter, the play-calling was down the list of culprits for this loss in my opinion. Vick's turnovers and a collapsed defense are the top 2 by a mile. I agree with you on Mudd and Washburn- answers please? Andy won't be allowed to escape blame by pointing at Castillo and Vick- he put them both in place.
Porterincollingswood
7:08 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Mike - here is what I am talking about. The deep passes down the field that required 5-7 step drop-backs by Vick. You have to, as a coach, be realistic about those plays. Fact is the Vick wasn't getting protection and he's turning over the ball at an alarming rate. So what good can come of calling those plays so often? The success rate isn't going to be there. And why 3 straight in overtime that cost us the game? That was a killer.
I'm amazed to be saying this, but if you can defend the run and take away Celek you've made it hard for the Eagles to sustain drives.
Wasn't exactly calling for more runs yesterday while the game was on (maybe some screens?), but then I saw what Bradshaw did and it proved that if you keep running, sooner or later it will pay dividends.
That wasn't a tough matchup, and the Eagles made it look like it was.
Mike Diviney
5:10 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
I know it's tempting but no need to get there yet Bo. I'm as skeptical as anyone, but there's 10 weeks of football to go. Plenty of time to do that dance if need be.
Mike Diviney
9:08 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Porter, I hear you but he only got sacke once in regulation and on that one deep ball he got intercepted, Jackson had a step, Vick just underthrew it. A Bradshaw had 10 yds on his 1st 7 carries. McCoy had like 2 yds in 1st half against Giants and over 120 in the 2nd so, yeah, you just gotta stick with it. So, you can't call a Vick run because he might fumble or a bomb because he might throw a pick or an intermediate route for the same reason? Does that tell you enough?
Porterincollingswood
9:18 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Vick certainly is turning into a liability.
Even if he isn't sacked, he rarely gets to step up in the pocket or even get his feet set. That's why he's been so inaccurate...not that he had pinpoint accuracy to begin with.
Larry O'Doyle
9:50 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Ok, so I have been trying to grasp the distinct advantages of this "Wide 9" scheme since it was installed last year and I finally realized why I was struggling. Because it is illogical and counterintuitive to everything I've ever learned about football . This explains why only two teams, the Birds and their dysfunctional twin brother, the Detroit Lions, run such a flawed scheme. I was always under the impression there were two main objectives of NFL franchises: 1) Winning a Lombardi Trophy 2) Minimizing similarities with the Detroit Lions. Allegedly, the Wide 9 is supposed to generate enough pressure with the front four thereby eliminating the burdensome necessity of blitzes. Doesn't every defense want to pressure the QB with their front four? Yes, but the Eagles defense is so reliant on the Wide 9 to generate pressure at the invaluable expense of BLITZING. I don't know about you but I like Hog Moss... I like Pig's feeeeeet.... and I like BLITZING! So does Dick Lebeau, Bud Carson, Buddy Ryan, Bill Belichik, the late Jim Johnson, Marv Lewis, Rex Ryan, Dan Reeves, etc. The reason Juan Castillo is the DC is clearly because no well-respected candidate would accept the position under the rigid constrictions of Jim Washburn and his cockamamie scheme. This version of the Philadelphia Eagles has the same identity and makeup of last years which is disappointment mixed with a boring brand of football. Pass the friggin' slawwwww!
Reed Rothchild
9:43 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
2nd that Larry. Castillo is just another scapegoat for Andy and the organization as a whole. It's time for CHANGE throughout the entire franchise...all the way from the GM, coaches and players down to bringing back the Kelly Green uni's. "Successfull mediocrity" has worn out it's welcome...5 years ago. GO BIRDS
Mike Diviney
1:33 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Great post Larry. I know getting pressure with the front 4 is best for the D because you don't have to dedicate players to blitzing and they can play coverage. They got 47 sacks from the d line last year. The league adjusted so the Eagles have to adjust to that. Apparently, Juan couldn't play chess with the big boys. Let's see how Bowles does.
Reed Rothchild
9:45 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
as I was typing that Castillo FIRED. should've happened in the offseason!! better late then never, but still a ridiculous decision to bring him back. BLEH
Porterincollingswood
11:49 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
So we fired our best offensive line coach...
Mike Diviney
1:31 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Bringing him back wasn't even as ridiculous as hiring him in the 1st place. Andy takes a BIG bullet on this one. Fortunately, he wasn't too stubborn to fire him- someone's gotta pay for that SLOP we saw in the 4th quarter Sunday.
Mike Diviney
1:27 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Porter, Vick doesn't step up in the pocket because once he gets in there he's too short to do anything. I know it's not all his fault, but the turnovers are so deflating and old. We should stick Juan back at his O-line post since Mudd won't be here much longer anyway.
Porterincollingswood
2:35 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
What I love about the move is that it weakened two units - the defense and the offensive line.
Promote your marketing guy to IT Director, and then replace him with a far weaker marketing pro. Then tell your new IT Director (who knows nothing about IT) that he needs to take direction from a subordinate with an extremely limited skill set and scope of knowledge.
See if you have a job when no computers work and suddenly your marketing efforts stink.
That's what Reid did.
Mike Diviney
3:41 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
I know Mudd's known as the best in the business and I they had a very good line last year. Seems losing Peters and Kelce is the problem there, not Juan's departure from coaching them so I don't have a problem with that. But I agree it was incredibly foolish to move an O line coach to D coordinator. Probably a good reason it's NEVER been done before, to my knowledge. We'd be better off if Bowles had been in place for a year and a half as opposed to now having to jump in on the fly. I do think they have talent on defense. Having Castillo coach them was a plain stupid decision by Andy.
Porterincollingswood
4:39 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Mudd's the best? Says who? Mudd. And Reid.
He's the Rex Ryan of the assistant coach set - a good quote but little else.
He was in Indy, no? You could have coached that line given Manning's release. Heck, you could have played LT and given up no sacks given Manning's release.
Mike Diviney
8:37 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
All I can go by for evaluating an O line coach is reputation and he's very highly regarded- all I'm saying.
Porterincollingswood
10:53 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
And I can show you a bevy of quotes, inclusive of Andy, extolling Juan Castillo as an "up and coming" young offensive line coach in this league.
I just look at it and say...I didn't used to complain about the offensive line like this.
Bo
7:45 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
This move to sack Juan is very lame, and just pretty dam lame to hook anything here on Juan. The guy most often worked his ass off, for the last decade plus here. Who would say he hasn't improved in the DC position, in his second season as such, along with what we've seen of this defense thus far.
Mike Diviney
8:41 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
I hear you Bo, but someone's got to pay for that collapse. Ultimately, it's on Andy since he hired him. He probably has improved, but some of the same defensive problems from last year still exist. They should have hired a guy with experience in the 1st place, then Juan would still be working his ass off as a line coach, but Juan did ask for the DC job.
Porterincollingswood
10:54 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Mike - do you think this was Andy's call 100%. Or did Lurie demand a scalp? I think the latter.
Bo
1:23 am on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Nope there is no denying now that big red put himself in a jam by placing juan in a challenging situation, on the other side of the ball, and then as a coordinator, and all this began with the labor stoppage which shorten training camp. Maybe it was a good thing?
Larry O'Doyle
3:57 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A lot of "experts" speculate about the termination of Juan and the lack if impact it will have on a defense composed of the same players. I couldn't disagree more. I can recall a somewhat similar situation when Ray Rhodes demoted Dana Bible and gave Bill Musgrave play calling duties toward the end of a season. I can vividly remember the offense shifting from a dink and dunk attack to taking more shots down the field. Now, that team was in dire straits with little talent but this team is not. I found the vanilla scheme being implemented very out of character for such a spicy Latino. Hopefully, Bowlesy brings some Durkee Red Hot to the party!
Porterincollingswood
4:04 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Greg parallel, because that year the offense was left shattered after the death of Doug Scovile, no?
Mike Diviney
4:29 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
No doubt it seemed VERY vanilla. After 50 sacks last year, can't understand what the problem is with getting pressure- to a ridiculous degree. Yeah, the D kept points down, but wasn't forcing enough TO's. Maybe more inventive D play-calling will accomplish that- we'll see.
Porterincollingswood
4:08 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
I also meant to post this when they retired #20 - probably many saw it but maybe not. It's worth the read. Since the team is imploding it's a nice reminder of what makes this city, team, and the figures surrounding it (Gary Papa, Dawkins) special.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/sports/pro/football&id=8828627
Mike Diviney
4:25 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Porter, I think it was Andy's call entirely. I think Lurie is of the attitude that Andy's in charge of football and to let him do what he wants. If it doesn't work, then Andy loses his job.
Mike Diviney
4:27 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
What do you mean Bo, that it might have been a good thing?
Mike Diviney
4:34 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Porter, that was earlier. Randall was only here for 1 year under Rhodes and Scovil was early in Randall's career. He was QB coach under Buddy and I think he passes away before Ray Rhodes became HC.
Porterincollingswood
9:16 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Mike - I think you are right. Who was it then? I remember Dana Bible came in at 11pm on a Wednesday and was out by 6pm the next Sunday. Some weird circumstance led to his hiring, but it was years ago.
Phil McConkey
9:39 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
so they fire Juan because the defense you guys said was not the problem and "one of the best in the NFC" and this is going to fix the issues. Has there been any teams that fired their cordinators besides the Ray Rhodes era that have done anything? Also listen to Bill Simmons podcast with Mike Lombardi (Bo in case your wondering Lobardi does live in the philly area but I'm sure you are well aware of this), Simmons says twice on the podcast that he doesn't want to talk Eagles because they are not a playoff team and he is smarter than i. Does a cordinator change the turnover problem. Do you fire a cordintator becaue the D isn't forcing enought turnovers? Why doesn't Andy just tell him to blitz more? Scapegoat?
Mike Diviney
10:27 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The defense looked great 1st 4 weeks. Protected 3 narrow leads to end the game. Suddenly, they reverted to 2011 and gave up leads in the 4th quarter. Can't have that. And the timing with the bye made it that much easier to make a move. A scapegoat to some degree but it's Andy's fault in the 1st place. Simmons is retarded, but right now, the Eagles haven't proven they're a playoff team so we'll just have to see, won't we?
Bo
4:25 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sometimes a change is done for its supposed affect on the players, and sometimes it is done because there might be someone in the wings, Todd Bowles, who is an up and comer. I see both these reasons as to why Juan was let go. What is a shame in a sense, is that Juan's heart and soul were an important part of this team and organization for a long time. This is why our owner somewhat came to his defense and felt compelled to say such to the media. Juan didn't deserve this firing, considering the circumstances which were unfavorable to his growth and success as DC. I hope Todd Bowles is at the beginning of a very promising career as a defensive play caller, and players on both sides of the ball got a clear message with the firing of Juan Castillo.
Mike, I love Simmons but he's too Boston, so whatever he says relative to a Philly team I take with a grain of salt. He is smart but this is Philadelphia and not Boston so per Philly sports you have him by a wide margin, and no matter how national he appears to becoming with his great site Grantland. Now mike tell me what or who grantland is and I'll give you a book relative to the question.
Phil McConkey
9:47 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Also new rankings are in
#1 Eagles Fans
#2 Yankee fans
#3 Patriot Fans the last 3 years
#4 New York Liberty fans
#5 Angelo Cataldi
These are the top 5 whiners of the last 4 years
Mike Diviney
10:29 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Are these your rankings? At least 2 of the 5 are NY-based, just like the "your" Giants. Whining= passion so we'll occupy the top spot with pride.
Phil McConkey
4:54 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2012
yeah they're mine, I was up all night putting that list together. I do think Yankees fans are worst but for the sake of this blog i put the EAgles first. And in full discolure i probably whine the most about the New York LIberty because I'm just not sure how/why the WNBA exists
Larry O'Doyle
4:24 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2012
Phil, you're the coolest...
Mike Diviney
4:32 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2012
This just in... Phil is NOT the coolest.
Mike Diviney
10:35 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Bo, don't know the site, but I imagine it refers to Grantland Rice who along with Damon Runyan is probably the greatest of the old school wordsmiths who covered sports back in the day.