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Les Bowen: Further Review: There's a method to Reid's madness

THE MYSTERY OF THE ANGRY Andy is unlikely to have a clear-cut solution. Eagles coach Andy Reid is never going to tell us exactly why he reacted so viscerally - uncharacteristically so - to Sunday's loss at Chicago. Even the guys he yelled at don't really know what made him so prickly.

Eagles coach Andy Reid had plenty of things to be angry about Sunday night. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Eagles coach Andy Reid had plenty of things to be angry about Sunday night. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

THE MYSTERY OF THE ANGRY Andy is unlikely to have a clear-cut solution.

Eagles coach Andy Reid is never going to tell us exactly why he reacted so viscerally - uncharacteristically so - to Sunday's loss at Chicago. Even the guys he yelled at don't really know what made him so prickly.

I'm willing to take a stab at that one, though.

Somewhere along the line, this became more than just a "learn and grow" season. The Eagles are a playoff-worthy team, in a league and conference where there are a whole bunch of those. Too many, in fact. Speculation holds that this will be one of those years when somebody goes 10-6 and misses the postseason, the way the Birds did in 1991.

Reid would prefer his team not be the one in that fix. I think he believes he has a lot of young talent and a quarterback he can win a Super Bowl with, right now, before labor Armageddon arrives in the offseason. What he doesn't have is a mature group that knows how to handle success.

The Eagles lost a game they could have won Sunday, and the deeper you get into the season, the less tolerable that becomes. Yes, the loss at Tennessee, which involved blowing a 19-10 lead into a 37-19 loss, was more egregious, but that was more than a month ago, before the bye, before the three-game winning streak. The bar is set higher now. Also, the Bears are an NFC team, likely to be part of that huge playoff traffic jam, and the Eagles just gave them a huge boost.

Partly because of the mind-numbing parity, and partly because Michael Vick is such a compelling story, the Eagles went from "nice little team" to "Super Bowl contender" just about as fast as Big Red can polish off his lunch. But they aren't in the playoffs yet. They certainly haven't won the NFC East. I think, more than rookie mistakes and an Asante Samuel-less secondary, Reid saw signs of complacency Sunday, of carelessness and "soft" play.

I think he really, really didn't like the way his defense responded to adversity, such as after Vick's first interception of the season, when a mistake became a catastrophe because the defenders couldn't get a stop.

There are times when this team could be harder-edged. Its red-zone numbers are troubling on both sides of the ball. The issue there doesn't seem to be talent, offensively or defensively.

I also continue to believe what I wrote after the game - Reid walked off Soldier Field knowing he had 4 days to get a tired, banged-up bunch ready to play again. He didn't think the way to do that was by patting shoulders in sympathy.

I think you'll see more consistent, solid play from the Eagles Thursday, and angry Andy will give way to the more familiar unflappable Andy.

DEVELOPING STORY LINES

* Playing the safeties as far back as the Bears did Sunday really ought to open up the other team's running game. If it doesn't, you might need some new offensive linemen. The Eagles might need some new offensive linemen.

* I really don't mean this as a deep dig at Chicago's media, but boy, those folks are not used to getting decent quarterbacking. The "gush" level was out of proportion to Jay Cutler's 14completion day, none of those passes traveling more than about 20 yards in the air. Granted, four of them went for touchdowns (against Joselio Hanson, Dimitri Patterson, Trevard Lindley and Co.). Cutler managed the game very effectively, bolstered by a very strong running attack. I'm not sure he reinvented the position.

* And along those lines, the best throw of the day was Michael Vick's late TD pass to Brent Celek. Wow.

* The last of the Eagles' four sacks Sunday came with 6:40 left in the second quarter.

* As the Fox TV crew noted, the first time Julius Peppers galloped through unblocked to Michael Vick, you figured it was a huge mistake by somebody. The second time, it looked like some sort of strategy. Not a real good strategy.

* Speaking of Peppers, it's a shame guys like that are never available for the Eagles to sign in free agency. What's that? Oh, never mind, then.

(On a less snarky level, if management had known last winter that 30-year-old Michael Vick would be the quarterback, that this wasn't going to be a rebuilding year with Kevin Kolb - would that have changed any free-agency thoughts?)

* As far as the Giants and Bears providing a blueprint to slow Vick, yeah, maybe. But if you're looking to copy it, it would help to have the Giants' and Bears' defensive lines, probably the two best in the league. The Bears also cover really well. That's a darned good blueprint, against any dominant quarterback - get pressure from your front four, and take away any route that isn't a dump-off. Good luck doing it.

OBSCURE STAT

The Eagles went to Chicago having outscored opponents in the first quarter, 86-28. Then they were outscored, 14-3, in the first quarter.

WHO KNEW?

That kick returners were allowed to surrender peacefully, without bloodshed?

EXTRA POINT

Nobody in the losing locker room Sunday wanted to make too big a deal about the Soldier Field surface, which made the game at times resemble beach volleyball with a lot more clothing. As several players and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott noted, the field conditions were the same for both teams.

Couple things about that, though. The Eagles' quarterback is Michael Vick, whose ability to dance and prance is a big part of his package. Vick seemed to be playing on roller skates Sunday. And as corner Joselio Hanson noted, the Eagles came out trying to play man coverage; the Bears most definitely did not. Sharp cuts were at a premium, as Hanson discovered when he slipped and fell trying to follow Johnny Knox on what became a 20-yard touchdown catch.

"I got pretty used to it after the first quarter," Hanson said. Of course, the first quarter ended with the Bears ahead, 14-3.