Well, that one hurt

I just ... I mean ... um.  Wow.  That kind of hurt. 

They kicked to Westbrook.  How can you kick to Westbrook? 

The only way the Eagles were going to be able to move down the field was if Westbrook ran the ball back.  And he did.  All the way to the 14-yard line.

Of course, the only way the Eagles were going to win is if he took it all the way in for a touchdown.  Or at least took it down to the one yard line and fell down, to allow the Eagles to score a touchdown while taking more time off the clock so that the Seahawks couldn't drive all the way down the field.

Although, given that the Eagles couldn't punch it in from the one at the end of the first half, that might not have worked either.

Now, the story everywhere else tomorrow morning is going to be the piss-poor performance of A.J. Feeley ... as it should be, since he played like a drunk blind man who owed Donovan McNabb $50,000 from a plane-ride poker game.  How can a guy who played his college ball in Oregon be that incapable of throwing a spiral in wet weather?

I'm pretty sure this is the worst loss for the Eagles since the infamous Cowboys game two years ago when Donovan McNabb threw the killer Roy Williams interception, followed by the attempted tackle and final rip of the groin.  I'm willing to hear arguments that this was the worst since Tampa Bay, but I don't think I'd go that far.

There's a lot -- a LOT -- to discuss about this game, but, well, the season just ended and I feel like crap. 

[string of unprintable obscenities]

Comments

[benz]

is it just me, or is the Linc the lousiest home field advantage in the history of home field advantages? Hard for me to say watching in CA, but it seems like it's a quiet, flat crowd. And I can't imagine Philly being that.

And yeah, it did hurt. I think it's like Green Bay-- they beat themselves. It'd be easier to be a fan of the Dolphins right now, who are just a bad team. This is a good team that's a bunch of losers. The contradictions and lack of consistent problems to point at is enough to drive you nuts. (When was the last time you had a game where the Eagles had no penalties, but threw four INT's? Just bizarre.)

One thing's for sure: We have one more year of Westbrook magic. Because of the constant danger of injury in this league, we cannot continue to count on him being around. And that's what scares me the most.

[Lib4]

All the AJ Feeley fans can crawl back in their holes now.

There is a reason he is a backup ....he is just not that good....last week's performance was an aberration. Now that teams have film on him it is only going to get worse.

While McNabb is no Tom Brady he has never thrown back to back 3 INT games. Heck he had 6 picks in 10 Games this year while AJ has 7 in 2 games.

This loss has Andy Reid stubby little fingerprints all over it. After two successful runs you get a 3rd and 1 early in the 4th quarter and you let your thrice picked backup QB put up a ball to your tight end in the rain!!!!! Puh leeze...then on top of that you let your backup QB put the ball up 40 times in the rain....WTF...

For a coach to be so willingly blinded by the "system" that he puts his teams playoff hopes on the shoulders of a perennial backup QB rather than his All Pro/All World RB is truly beyond me....

Reid has now got to be on a short leash with Lurie...he should be counting his blessings that he will be able to keep his coaching job in 2008 but he can certainly kiss that GM tag goodbye at the end of this year as his last 3 drafts have been atrocious.

Personally I would like to see him step down at the end of the year as his stubborn arrogant approach to the game serves no purpose but to inflate his already bloated ego....thanks for the memories...but buh-bye

[Paul]

First, AJ is simply not that good. I don't know if he looks at his receiver too long and it's easy for smart players like Lofa Tatupu can easily read where he's throwing, or he simply doesn't see that big ass linebacker in the middle of his throwing lane. Regardless, he's a career backup...this we all should've known.

Second, is it me or does Andy just get into these really bad ruts of calling bad plays? It seems like our offense will be close to unstoppable and then just stall for series after series.

Third, Andy should've went to Kolb after that 3rd INT. I feel like the only reason why he didn't, is because he's petrified that if Kolb did well, his loverboy McNabb wouldn't have the backing of the fans this week, and Kolb would. If that's the case, it is more important to Andy to be right and McNabb start, than it is for this team to have a chance at the playoffs....of which we have zero now.

Fourth, so much for Jimmy Johnson being creative. How does a guy put that original/dynamic/exciting defensive package out there last week, and the most basic one you could think of this week. Does he just take weeks off during the season and only come up with defensive schemes 50% of the time?

Finally, two words stuck with me after the game...NO HEART. As much as they played with last week, they played with nothing this one. After going to every regular season game since the early 90's, for the first time I am considering not going to the final 2 home games. Even when we were a flat out bad team, I would look forward to the games because at least those mid 90's teams had heart. Every week you could hope for a Dallas 4th and 1 stop (twice) or a shootout with the Cincinatti Bengals. If the players aren't investing their own emotions into the game, why the hell should I? I simply cannot get into this team and it pains me to feel this way.

[slackerjoe]

You cannot rip Jim Johnson after this loss. His defense allowed 7 second half points. The defense was constantly getting the ball back to the offense. They even had 2 takeaways today. They didn't call a lot of sexy blitzes that resulted in sacks, but they didn't need to in order to get the job done.

I'll echo the comments of Lib4 above that playcalling was once again the main problem in this game. I'm totally fed up with Reid and if there is a coaching candidate available that can be brought in to turn around this mess, I'll be all for it.

I absolutely hate the fact that Eagles are squandering McNabb, Dawkins, and Westbrook's peak career years together and that the '04 Super Bowl is going to be the best this bunch will achieve. It makes me sad actually.

So is it time again to call for playing the young guys? It's not the season is over now. This season was over after the Bears debacle - the Seattle loss just comfirmed it.

[Me]

I kind of want to blast everyone too, but when your quarterback plays that badly ... how can you really evaluate anything else?

I mean, he just giftwrapped that one.

[benz]

I still don't think it's on AJ. He is what he is -- a backup. At times, good, at times, not so much. There are few backups in the league that you could be super confident about in this situation.

The problem lies with Reid. When AJ threw a horrible pass into double coverage early on, do you think he went over to him and chewed him out? I don't, because he did it again about 5 times. As he says all the time, "it's about putting people in the position to make plays". With Garcia, he did that well-- by running the ball into the ground and letting Garcia play to his strengths.

And, like I said earlier, Reid seems obliviousness to what's going on in the game. I've said it before and will say it again:

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THE EAGLES RUN THE BALL 3 TIMES IN A ROW AND NOT GOTTEN A FIRST DOWN?

It's right there for the taking. And you know what? When it's 3rd and 2 and you run it for the third time in a row and get stopped short, at least you took time off the clock. At least you tricked them into thinking you give a rat's tookis about jamming it down their throat.

[BrianS]

I've never disliked an Eagles team this much. Week after week they lose because of stupid mistakes.
They can't get to the QB.
They don't force turnovers.

I don't have enough expletives. I drove 3 hours to sit in the rain for that?

[BrianS]

Also, way too much shotgun.

[BFH]

You weren't saying "way too much shotgun" last week when Feeley was taking what the Patriots were giving him over the middle.

The problem was not the play-calling. This loss is not on Andy Reid.

There were open receivers and AJ repeatedly chose to stare down one guy and fire directly at Lofa Tatupu. And the "we should run in bad weather" argument is crap, too. Our receivers (and Tatupu) had no problems catching the ball when it was coming at them.

This is a game the Eagles win by two touchdowns with an average McNabb game. I hope Angelo and the rest of the McNabb bashing idiots feel as stupid as they truly are. But I'm sure they don't.