Oh Come On

This is stupid:

In the fourth quarter, Kolb drove the Eagles 69 yards to the Baltimore 1-yard line. He failed to get into the end zone on a quarterback sneak, and then suffered from the same sketchy play-calling as McNabb did - a pass play from the goal line that Ed Reed picked off in the back of the end zone and returned 108 yards for a touchdown.

It's not sketchy play-calling to call for a QB boot on second-and-goal from the one.  Every coach in NFL history has made that call.  It's bread and butter down by the goal line, and when the sneak didn't work, it made perfect sense.

We're not in high school any more.  This is an NFL quarterback who supposedly beat out A.J. Feeley this summer for the #2 job.  You going to just call running plays, even though none of them work?

I know this is a small point, but I'm so friggin' tired of this "anything sticks" brand of criticism. 

Comments

[Dan]

You are a complete unadulterated idiot if you believe that was the proper call, especially against that defense and with a second year qb. You have three downs to get three inches. You hand the ball to the fullback there, sneak it, or westbrook. Even a direct snap to jackson is more intelligent. You save the boot for fourth down if you must. Seriously, I truly wonder if you know anything about football. This city has a lot of intelligent sports fans, you have got to stop blogging because you make us look like idiots. All you can right is reserve the proper domain name...

[Dan]

By the way, I just read the article you hyperlinked. Although I'm not generally a fan of Ashley Fox, it is a very good piece. The most telling part was the contrast between Kolb's leadership abilities and McNabb's deficiency in this regard. I have never once seen McNabb take responsibility. Even after the last two putrid games he took no responsibility and acted as if the media manufactured his troubles. He always throws his teamates, i.e receivers, under the bus. I have never seen him take responsibility for any interception he is thrown. He is always pointed at the receiver after the INT and telling him he ran the wrong route. Even if that's the case, you don't show up your temates on national TV. That's not to say that McNabb wasn't a very good QB in his heyday. He was simply never a leader.

The most telling part of the article is Sheldon Brown's quote about Kolb -

"He wants the guys to respect him, and that's how you get respect," Sheldon Brown said. "You don't point the finger anywhere else. You point it at yourself, and that was a perfect example of it."

Read between the lines, even Hugh Douglas says that McNabb isn't particularly well liked. Ask yourself how more than half the team sided with TO even though he's a complete ass. They know greatness and McNabb was never great.

[Dan]

It's a bit of a stretch to suggest it's a "bread and butter play."

Sure it's in the arsenal, but at the pro level....., it's not frequently resorted to, and only by those offenses that can't move the ball. But the birds had just moved the ball down the field.

That call was a confession that Reid has little confidence in his offense.

Reid has acted of late like he's lost in some offensive time warp.

I don't like McNabb, in fact, I never did, even after that stellar performance against the Bears in the playoffs. Even then, even after that, I always considered him a fraud.

But having said that, .................... I don't like how Reid handled this situation this afternoon.

The team was only down 3 measly points.

3 POINTS!

But Reid panicked.

What other term is there than that.

And Reid didn't panic over their playoffs chances. He panicked over his own job prospects.

I always said that Reid and McNabb rode together. Now it's time for them both to be ridden out of town.

[Dan2]

And the first comment wasn't mine.

Dan2

[Dan]

Nor the second.

[Yet ANOTHER Dan]

This isn't really related to the wheels coming off the Eagles, but can you PLEASE take "Eagles Chronicles" off of that blog links section on the side of the screen? It's lead story is still "Eagles March on the Saints" from last season, and it has been infuriating me all season. Punish a coach when he doesn't pay attention to the game, a QB when he can't make plays, and a blogger who's abandoned his blog!

[Eric]

Dan wrote, "You are a complete unadulterated idiot if you believe that was the proper call, especially against that defense and with a second year qb. You have three downs to get three inches. You hand the ball to the fullback there, sneak it, or westbrook."

He never said it was the proper call, but your touted "proper calls" have not worked all year. And I don't understand your "against the defense" comment. What defense? The one that was practically stopping the run all day? The defense that is one of the best against the run in the league?

While another QB sneak or a FB dive would be more appropriate, those things had not worked, and, yes, a professional QB shouldn't be throwing INTs down there.

[slackerjoe]

How can the media-types complain for weeks that we have to stop running into the line on short yardage plays because they never work (like the first down sneak) and then turn around and complain that we shouldn't throw the ball in those instances? Hypocritical much?

The problem in both cases - short yardage running AND passing - is execution. Pointing the finger at the playcalling is justified at times, but in this case it's way off base.

Kolb is a second year QB - not a rookie like Flacco - and he's been playing football all his life. The guy screwed up on the throw and took responsibility for it. Let's move on to next week. Or next season in the case of the Eagles playoff hopes.

[Paul]

Ok, ignoring stupid criticism like that aside, when does Andy ever get blamed for something? I know you're an AR fan Derek, but at what point to you recognize the need for a change. You said in your post before that you fire a coach when you feel he doesn't give you the best chance to win going forward. Can you honestly say that you believe he does?

This team has been painfully unprepared the past 3 weeks and that is 100% the head coaches job. This new unprepared trend along with his lifelong horrible game management skills and shotty play-calling all point to a need for change.

Aside from the stretch at the end of 06', the Eagles haven't been a good team in years. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe keeping AR is the best option. My biggest fear is continuing on in the Andy Reid era, only to wake up in another 2 years and be in the same boat, mediocre and with no hope in sight.

[Thorin]

To those of you crying about a playaction boot at the goal line not being a legit NFL call: bull. It is bread and butter, even for the running teams. It was a fine call and a rookie mistake. that had to be thrown out the endzone.

But if the Eagles ran 3 runs, your complaint would be uncreative play calling. If one of them was a reverse, then it's gimmicky.

I'm with Derek on this, and anyone, ANYONE, who knows anything about play calling to keep the other team off balance should be too. You use playaction passing to offset the run in running situations so the coverage has to respect it. That is pro football 101.

But scapegoating and whining and calling your team the idiots no matter what they do... Hey, that's Philly fandom 101.

And Ashley fox is just running the Cataldi playbook: Tell the raving mob fans they're right, especially when their wrong, and you become a media god in this town.

[whoismariowilliams]

It wasn't a bad play call because it would have been a touchdown if he'd thrown it high and to the outside. It was a crossing route that was thrown behind the receiver and very similar to the poor throw McNabb made on the OTHER Reed pick.

[Sudhir]

I agree. Playcalling is made better or worse by the way it is executed. Had Kold thrown a touchdown there, we might not be talking about it. But again, so many times this season the 1500 pound offensive line was given a chance to gain a yard on the ground which they failed to execute time and again. how then did it make sense to run or sneak a in that situation. It would have been a Brown TD, had Kolb hit him in stride and a little high.
However, can anybody answer this - Was Mcnabb celebrating when Kolb threw his first interception? or was it out of context?

[Sudhir]

Typo - Kolb (not Kold)

[quest4fire85]

I agree with the pass play call because there were no comfortable running options on hand. Westbrook is too beat up to punch it in and Klecko is too slow. Buck was hurt and Kolb didnt have any run room on the last play. The Ravens have a STOUT Run Defense and people are forgetting that.

Someone suggested a Wildcat to Jackson and that would've been a nice play call. But other than that, a pass play was the right call. If Kolb had zip on that pass it would've been a touchdown. He just threw it too slow and soft. A rookie mistake.

Watching Kolb I noticed that he throws a real nice spiral with nice accuracy. He threaded the needle on a couple passes that were dropped. McNabb really brings the heat and it takes the WR a little practice to get used to Kolb's passes.

I have noticed that McNabb's accuracy improves while he is rolling out. He is not a pocket passer. Kolb is the complete opposite.

[JD]

The Eagles problem starts with Andy Reid and goes downhill from there. Sure, McNaab is an "underperformer", at best, when it comes to leadership qualities. But Andy is coaching in denial. He's hoping that Westbrook will be able to play through injuries (he can't); that McNaab will play like the leader everyone hoped he would be (he isn't); and that the offensive play calling that proved successful a couple of year's back will work again and again (it won't). The Eagles have become predictably mediocre. It's time face reality and put in the new guys, including Kolb, and get new blood in at the Offensive Coordinator position.

[Thorin]

This reminds me so much of how Randall left town...

[BossHotSauce]

That call and this game are all about Andy Reid. The fact that the Eagles show no desire or ability to get physical is why the sneak didn't work. It's also why everyone knew to look out for play-action pass. The Eagle's offense is a finesse offense... and this year it's killing them.

[johnnyshaka]

Rotoworld reporting that McNabb will be starting this week.

[Eric]

Well, McNabb is the starter. PE.com didn't have Eagles Live! again for some reason. I'm guessing Andy said something about this season isn't over.

[Dan]

[Dan, I don't want to block you, but you're over the line at the end of this comment.]