November 30th, 2011, Wednesday
TALKIN FOOTBALL
The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles: How the Dream Died
Before the 2011 NFL Season was officially underway, they were unofficially tagged “the Dream Team”, but what exactly has gone wrong with the 4-7 Eagles may not be all that too difficult to explain; at least from my perspective, the unofficial “NFL Couch Potato.” Now how’s that for a title and a well earned one?
For the past 12 weeks I have had the privilege to be able to tune in every Sunday and catch nearly every game on six (dedicated for football) televisions; you should really stop by sometime to check out our set-up; it’s awesome! Throughout the season I have managed to catch quite a bit of the Eagles in action; I drafted running back LeSean McCoy as my number one, so I have a vested interest.
When I see all the talent this team possesses, I am quite surprised to see them struggling at 4-7 and hanging onto a thread to make the post season (yes, I believe they have a shot at the sixth spot). After watching them lay egg after egg, it comes as no surprise to see this team go from dream to nightmare. The funny thing, they have been their own worst nightmare with constantly shooting themselves in the foot with way too many turnovers. If you read the stat lines or box scores, sure you could lay all the blame or most of it anyway at the feet of quarterback Mike Vick (14 turnovers this season), but I believe that would be inaccurate.
The players take the field and are asked to execute the game plan and plays that are called, and if you ask me, there is where most of the blame lies. Maybe some of the players were quoted as calling the Eagles the dream team, but if you ask me I think they were not the only ones listening or believing it. It could be head coach Andy Reid himself may have gotten a little caught up in the hype and believed he had an unstoppable cast that he could unleash.
I am far from a professional analyst, but if you told me that the Eagles coaching staff became so arrogant as a result of the media hype that they believed they could come out of the gate with guns blazing I would have to agree. Stepping away from the defense for a moment and looking strictly at the offense; Vick is an incredible talent and gifted athlete, but the Eagles offense would appear to have quite a few of those gifted and talented athletes. As I watched some of the action in the first part of the season, I could not understand the early focus and dependency on the passing game. It seemed the Eagles were content with leaving the games solely in the hands and feet of Vick that he quickly became dependent himself on relying mostly on his mobility and athleticism.
In the teams’ first five games McCoy, one of the leagues’ most dynamic ball carriers only topped 18 carries once, while the Eagles offense struggled severely with Vick trying to carry most of the load; Vick carried the ball 38 times and turned it over 10 times (seven picks, three fumbles). It was quite evident this team abandoned any sense of balance and Reid was going to right this ship his way or sink; at 4-7 they are close to sinking.
The Eagles may have put together some nice names on defense, but when your offense starts to sputter and repeatedly turns the ball over it puts too much pressure on any defense to dominate and dictate tempo. Perhaps this dream defense and dream team is built more for playing from in front, rather than having to scramble and salvage. With an important matchup coming up this Thursday, the Eagles are facing a one and done situation. The reality is their hopes of making the playoffs are slim at best with a 4-7 record, but with the Giants beginning to slide, the Lions not playing as well as they did earlier this season, and the Bears losing Cutler, the doors has not closed yet.
At 9-7, the Eagles could still possibly slide into the post season and with the talent they do have, this dream team could quickly become someone’s nightmare matchup for Wildcard weekend. First things first though, the Eagles must win and keep winning, something they have yet to do through 12 weeks. Apparently as easy as it is to find reasons for failure or lack of success, the Eagles had better hope Reid can find some answers soon or this will be one dream Philadelphia will hope to soon forget.
By David Ortega
Before the 2011 NFL Season was officially underway, they were unofficially tagged “the Dream Team”, but what exactly has gone wrong with the 4-7 Eagles may not be all that too difficult to explain; at least from my perspective, the unofficial “NFL Couch Potato.” Now how’s that for a title and a well earned one?
For the past 12 weeks I have had the privilege to be able to tune in every Sunday and catch nearly every game on six (dedicated for football) televisions; you should really stop by sometime to check out our set-up; it’s awesome! Throughout the season I have managed to catch quite a bit of the Eagles in action; I drafted running back LeSean McCoy as my number one, so I have a vested interest.
When I see all the talent this team possesses, I am quite surprised to see them struggling at 4-7 and hanging onto a thread to make the post season (yes, I believe they have a shot at the sixth spot). After watching them lay egg after egg, it comes as no surprise to see this team go from dream to nightmare. The funny thing, they have been their own worst nightmare with constantly shooting themselves in the foot with way too many turnovers. If you read the stat lines or box scores, sure you could lay all the blame or most of it anyway at the feet of quarterback Mike Vick (14 turnovers this season), but I believe that would be inaccurate.
The players take the field and are asked to execute the game plan and plays that are called, and if you ask me, there is where most of the blame lies. Maybe some of the players were quoted as calling the Eagles the dream team, but if you ask me I think they were not the only ones listening or believing it. It could be head coach Andy Reid himself may have gotten a little caught up in the hype and believed he had an unstoppable cast that he could unleash.
I am far from a professional analyst, but if you told me that the Eagles coaching staff became so arrogant as a result of the media hype that they believed they could come out of the gate with guns blazing I would have to agree. Stepping away from the defense for a moment and looking strictly at the offense; Vick is an incredible talent and gifted athlete, but the Eagles offense would appear to have quite a few of those gifted and talented athletes. As I watched some of the action in the first part of the season, I could not understand the early focus and dependency on the passing game. It seemed the Eagles were content with leaving the games solely in the hands and feet of Vick that he quickly became dependent himself on relying mostly on his mobility and athleticism.
In the teams’ first five games McCoy, one of the leagues’ most dynamic ball carriers only topped 18 carries once, while the Eagles offense struggled severely with Vick trying to carry most of the load; Vick carried the ball 38 times and turned it over 10 times (seven picks, three fumbles). It was quite evident this team abandoned any sense of balance and Reid was going to right this ship his way or sink; at 4-7 they are close to sinking.
The Eagles may have put together some nice names on defense, but when your offense starts to sputter and repeatedly turns the ball over it puts too much pressure on any defense to dominate and dictate tempo. Perhaps this dream defense and dream team is built more for playing from in front, rather than having to scramble and salvage. With an important matchup coming up this Thursday, the Eagles are facing a one and done situation. The reality is their hopes of making the playoffs are slim at best with a 4-7 record, but with the Giants beginning to slide, the Lions not playing as well as they did earlier this season, and the Bears losing Cutler, the doors has not closed yet.
At 9-7, the Eagles could still possibly slide into the post season and with the talent they do have, this dream team could quickly become someone’s nightmare matchup for Wildcard weekend. First things first though, the Eagles must win and keep winning, something they have yet to do through 12 weeks. Apparently as easy as it is to find reasons for failure or lack of success, the Eagles had better hope Reid can find some answers soon or this will be one dream Philadelphia will hope to soon forget.
By David Ortega
