So Many Questions

The problem with the Eagles from here on out is that we can no longer trust them.  I've calmed down significantly in the 72 hours since the Bears game, so I'll take a wide berth on the friend's-skanky-tramp-cheating-girlfriend metaphors and just say that after the Chicago game, I've lost faith in this team.  No matter how well they play in the future, there's always going to be that nagging doubt in the back of my mind.  The one that says, "Yes, but we've seen stretches of good play before and where did that get you?"

That sounds far more melodramatic than I mean it to, but I'm struggling with my two-expletives-per-post limit these days and there's a fair amount of self-censoring taking place.  Messes with the flow.

But the fact remains that I don't believe in these guys any more.  Maybe I'm wrong not to, but that doesn't matter.  The Bears loss changed everything.

And yet... and yet, it shouldn't have.  The signs have been there awhile now.  It was just one year ago this week that I wrote this:

"Good teams find ways to win.  Bad teams find ways to lose.  Puzzlingly, this Eagles team does both.

This is clearly a talented team.  The offense looks awesome for long stretches.  The defense is adequate and improving.  And if they ever run out of foot-bullets they're going to be hard to beat. 

But all this is obvious to anyone who's been watching these guys all year.  The more interesting question is why.  Why does this team keep self-destructing?  And what can they do to stop it?

Unfortunately, I'm all out of answers right now."

Sound familiar?  And what did I blame last year?  "Youth," "lack of fire" and "poor situational coaching."

That sounds about right too. 

Stupid Jeff Garcia and his stupid catalytic effect he bestows just by playing for whatever stupid franchise he's currently a part of. 

Frankly, I'm a little surprised by how upset I've gotten about this team this week.  A couple of weeks ago -- after the crappy Giants loss, not to be confused with the Packers debacle, the anemic showing against the Redskins or the gutless fold-up job against the Bears -- I had actually convinced myself that my relative calm wasn't a delusional sense that things weren't that bad, but rather newfound perspective that came from impending fatherhood or general old age.

Yeah, not so much.  Delusional pretty much covers it. 

I don't even know what to think any more.  Is it poor talent (broadly)?  Lack of playmakers?  Scheme?  Coaching?  Experience?  Attitude?  Leadership?  Karma for the vats of beer and truckloads of snowballs dumped onto opposing fans?

Shit shit shit.

Oops, one too many.

Comments

[BrianS]

Trust?

I was never really able to trust the Eagles again after January 12, 2003.

But I digress.

I don't think the Eagles can save this season. The most I'm hoping for now is that they can get things together enough to mess things up for Dallas.

I think the fundamental question we (and the Eagles organization) have to is whether this season can be attributed to something temporary and fixable, or has the window closed and the Eagles have sunk back into a rebuilding phase of indeterminate length.

In 2005, it was easy to write the poor season off. Injuries to McNabb, Westbrook, Akers, as well as many others, plus the whole TO situation, Trotter getting thrown out before week 1 -- it really seemed like a perfect storm of bad luck.

2006's success validated this. However, if we look back at last season, we really see three different Eagles teams:

1. The high-scoring, big play, can't stop the run machine that dominated September and early October,

2. A team that lost close, error-filled games to the Saints, Bucs, Jags, and Titans, but did manage to gut out a blowout win over the skins in between gut-wrenching losses.

3. The Garcia-led team at the end of the season -- blown out by the Colts (I'm lumping that game here because of Garcia, perhaps it fits better in #2), but the won gut-check games against the panthers, skins, and giants, blew out the Cowboys, beat Atlanta with backups, and won 1 playoff game.

My overall impression of 2006 Eagles is that they were a good team that struggled in mid-season. However, I'm not sure if that's an accurate reflection of the 2007 team. So far, they remind me most of the Eagles who lost to the Saints, Bucs, and Jags -- not always losing because they weren't as good, but because they made the most mistakes. This looks a lot like the 2005 Eagles as well.

We've seen a lot more negative than positive from the post-superbowl Eagles, and that worries me. Is this a team that's somehow less than the sum of it's parts, which we hope will coalesce and return to prominence? Or is this a legitimately bad team that's on the decline?

We should know more by the end of the season, although we may not be able to tell until next year when a fully-recovered McNabb returns (or doesn't).

Cross your fingers, bird fans, it's going to be wild, nauseating ride.

[Louvee]

I hate to say it but I'm convinced that Andy Reid needs to leave or give up his General Managers position. It's clear that most coaches doesn't make you a good GM.

The Eagles also make the worst decisions on linebackers and receivers. They traded for James Trash. They drafted FredEx, Stinkston, Avant, Baskett, Brown etc. Everyone were mediocre at best. I won't talk about all of linebackers that have been cut through the years because they couldn't cut it.

The one year that the Eagles spent money on #1 guy like T.O., McNabb was amazing. Now people are questioning his talent. It's clear to see that his knee isn't totally healed. Reid drafted a QB before giving McNabb someone talented. Even when he had Stallworth, he played much better than he does now. Kurtis is a nice slot guy but to be honest he wasn't able to beat out a old man like Isaac Bruce. If you get him some talent outside of Westbrook, you'd know why he's a premier QB.

All in all, the Eagles really need to take the GM position away from Reid. He's brought winning back to Philly but need assistance in scouting to improve the talent in those areas.