Eagles PR Staff Swings to the Rescue

I was going to include this story in the round-up below, but it really deserves its own piece.  Rich Hofmann -- with I'm guessing substantial assistance from the Eagles' PR staff -- has a long, stats-driven piece arguing that the Eagles' play-calling is well within the normal range.  Here's a short clip, but really this is one where you have to read the whole thing:

The playcalling has not changed between Garcia and this season. It is the same, and it is the same as the NFL average these days. The Eagles are not pass-happy. Coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg are not harebrained. Their offense is not lopsided by NFL standards.

They are not throwing too much. They are not underusing the great Brian Westbrook. This year has been about McNabb being inconsistent all season. Sunday was about A.J. Feeley being, uh, less than inconsistent. That's it.

...

What follows is a list of called passing plays in the first half of games, before the score begins to dictate strategy. The categories are pretty self-explanatory.

Garcia . . . 59.1 percent.
McNabb . . . 61.6 percent.
Feeley . . . 59.7 percent.

NFL Week 12 . . . 61.2 percent.
NFL Week 13 . . . 60.5 percent.

The numbers are plain. Reid has had some wacky playcalling seasons in the past, but this is not one of them.

...

And, no, the Eagles are not ignoring Westbrook. He leads the league in touches per game with 26. Repeat, underlined: leads the league. He had 29 touches on Sunday, and only two players in the NFL had more...

Sadly, I don't have time to respond to this right now.  Hopefully I can take a closer look at lunch time.