Sep 16 2008
McNabb and Eagles come up short in Big D
Monday night was a microcosm of what it’s like to be an Eagles fan during the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb era. The Birds hung with the mighty Cowboys well into the fourth quarter. They actually had the lead and the ball with less than 10 minutes left and were driving for a score that would have sealed the win. Then, as always seems to happen in big games, the wheels came off. McNabb fumbled for the second time in under ten minutes. Only this time, the Eagles did not recover and Marion Barber scored the go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing possession. The loss was disappointing to say the least, especially with the Battle of Pennsylvania looming next week, which is almost certainly another defeat for the Iggles.
For the entire first half, the Eagles’ offense looked unstoppable and moved the ball down the field at will. However, much like last season, they stalled in the red zone and had to settle for field goals on too many possessions. The Eagles offense also came up small in the second half and was almost completely shutdown. With the injuries to Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown, the Birds do not have the playmakers necessary to drive down the field and score crucial touchdowns late in games, as was evident by their poor excuse for a two minute drill. The only way the Eagles are going to be able to beat good teams is by front-running and letting the defense try to hold the lead late, although I’m not so sure that would work out either after last night.
McNabb once again exhibited his poor big game decision-making and his uncanny ability to throw uncatchable balls and bounce passes in key situations. DeSean Jackson, what the hell were you thinking on that “touchdown?” You’re just lucky that nobody on Dallas picked up the ball or you would’ve been an Eagle about as long as Freddie Mitchell. The rest of the receiving corps also showed why they’re back-ups by not being able to catch easy passes in big spots. The offense should have been able to turn at least one of those field goals into a touchdown. Did anyone see L.J. Smith last night or should we report him missing to the Philadelphia Police Department? Brian Westbrook and the offensive line are probably the only members of the offense that I can’t really complain about. B-West was a total beast and should’ve gotten more looks in the passing game than he did. It’s inexcusable to not give your only consistent playmaker the ball more than twice on the final drive. Speaking of that, did Reid really call for a trick play on 4th and 17 instead of taking a legit shot down the field? His play-calling is absolutely awful in tough games.
Now, let’s get to the “defense,” which there didn’t seem to be much of last night. For all the hype about having three starting corners, Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and the rest of the Cowboys torched the Eagles’ secondary. It was embarrassing how easily they moved the ball through the air. Anytime they needed to pick up a large chunk of yards, there was always somebody open for Romo to find, especially once they got into Eagles territory when picking up huge chunks of yards in the air was the norm. Also, where was the pressure on Romo? They didn’t sack him once and he completely carved them up. Did they not get the memo that Romo will absolutely make mistakes when he’s pressured? He can totally be taken out of games with adequate pressure and the Eagles failed to put it on him, excluding the play where they forced him into an interception. Now I’m not a football coach, but if I see someone that doesn’t perform well under pressure, I’d make sure that he would be under pressure as much as humanly possible. However, going against conventional wisdom is the genius of Andy Reid. He finds ways to screw up seemingly fool proof plans. Wouldn’t you think he would implement the same type of game plan that he used the last two times the Eagles went down to Dallas and won? Of course not, that would work too well. I don’t think there was anyone on the defense that actually played well, with the exception of Asante Samuel and Quintin Mikell. Everyone else on the defense is dead to me until they actually start resembling a defense.
Here’s how I see the NFC East at this point: Dallas is head and shoulders above the rest of the division and possibly the rest of the NFL. The Giants are the clear #2 in the division and are at least as good as they were last year when they won the Super Bowl. The Eagles and the Redskins are pretty even, but the Eagles are probably a little better all-around. Right now, the Eagles cannot be considered anything more than a Wild Card contender that may be good enough to lose in the divisional round of the playoffs.
