2010/01/04

Eagles Fall Flat to Cowboys


The Eagles lost their final game of the season on Sunday in disappointing fashion 24-0 to the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles were dominated in every facet of the game, and to be honest, the score could have been a lot worse.

The offensive line was terrible, the running game was non-existent because they didn't run the ball, McNabb was not very good, the receivers were bad, the defense was terrible, and the coaching was terrible. All of that combines for the disappointing loss. With the loss, the Eagles drop from what could have been the #2 seed and a first round bye to the #6 seed and a 2nd straight trip to Dallas to play the 3rd seeded and NFC East champion Cowboys.

I don't understand why the Eagles don't try to get the ball in their playmakers hands. I personally would like to see McCoy and Weaver touch the ball a lot more than they did this game. Running back is a position on the team where you usually have your most athletic, quickest players. These guys are weapons, and Reid did not use them on Sunday. Westbrook looked bad in my opinion, and they Eagles need to get back to what won games for them down the stretch - getting the ball in the hands of McCoy and Weaver a lot more.

Of course, it would also help if the Eagles weren't dominated up front on both sides of the football. The offensive line was bad from the start, and McNabb was under pressure most of the day. The Cowboys were getting pressure when they didn't even blitz. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles couldn't even get in the Cowboys backfield. Even on rushing plays, Marion Barber, and Felix Jones were getting past the line of scrimmage with ease. On passing plays, Tony Romo had all day, and he is too good to allow to sit back and throw all day with open lanes. The Eagles have been responsible for a lot of Romo's worst games of his career, so they know what happens when you get pressure on him. The Eagles did not blitz a lot, and that might have been because they did not want to show the Cowboys anything in the 2nd half, I'm not sure.

Costly mistakes also were key. McNabb missed DeSean Jackson on a fly route early in the game which would have made it a 7-7 game. Jeremy Maclin dropped a wide open pass that went through his hands on a 3rd down. McNabb fumbled a snap down at the Cowboys 10 yard line.

The Eagles will need to put that loss behind them, and get re-focused and come in with a different attitude if they do not want their offseason to start next weekend.

1 comment:

Summer of George said...

Great lead photo of Upchuck McPick. While we're unfortunately stuck with Reid's sorry fat ass for the next half decade, I believe it's time for #5 to head into the sunset (or, best for him, into the sunshine of Arizona to take over for a likely retiring Warner). No, this isn't the typical selective amnesia "McNabb can't win big games" rant. He obviously can, and has, though our ongoing frustration & disappointment tend to drive up the memories of failure. And, while he had a crappy game in Big D, McPick was hardly alone in contibuting to that debacle -- apparently the Birds' entire D was abducted by aliens and replaced with imposters. But the fact remains that Upchuck's movies always end with the same sorry scene: #5 and cohorts trudging off the field after another set of pratfalls involving untimely INTs, fumbles to end offensive drives, bumbling 2-minute drills which eat up 5 minutes, and yet another painful L with no ring and no Lombardi silverware in sight. Sometimes this scene happens early in the movie, sometimes later, but it always happens regardless of the level of competition, and there's nothing to suggest it won't continue. And one of the main contributants to this recurrent version of "Groundhog's Day" is McPick's utter lack of leadership skills. Nothing can illustrate this better than his disgraceful comments throwing his talented young players under the bus after the Dallas disaster while, once again, putting no responsibility on himself. Can you imagine P Manning or Brady making such comments, or even Brees, Rivers, or Favre? Wouldn't happen, because they get the key leadership and mentoring roles that go with the territory for a veteran QB. McPick, despite his incessant self-proclamation of being the team leader, doesn't get it, never has, and never will. This is a huge problem for a relatively young team with enormous talent, and is especially so with Dawk gone. This was really the season for #5 to step up and LEAD; instead, he's again pointed fingers everywhere but at himself. Time for Kolb to be the starter -- he's amply demonstrated that he's ready and, while he may turn out not to have quite the game of Upchuck (though he might also prove to have more), I suspect he'll show more on-field leadership in his first full year than #5 has demonstrated in his career. So while my first choice would be to see Reid hit the road, that ain't gonna happen, so I'm willing to settle for my 2nd choice: no hard feelings #5, but I wish you well in Arizona.