Phil Sheridan | Eagles' coaches messed game up, too

GREEN BAY, Wis. - It's the little things that get you every time.

Ignore that tiny leak long enough and the roof will cave in. Put off checking your engine and the car will die when you're miles from the nearest help.

Waste a summer watching Jeremy Bloom return punts, and then watch Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed muff away a football game.

That's what Andy Reid and his new special-teams coach, Rory Seagrest, did here yesterday. Their summer romance with the speedy Bloom went sour, and they rushed Lewis into an unfamiliar and high-risk role. When Lewis, to the surprise of no one, dropped a punt to give Green Bay its only touchdown, he was replaced by Reed.

Inevitably, the ball found Reed at the worst possible time. With about a minute left and the score tied, Reed inexplicably sprinted forward, diving to try to catch a punt he should have let go.

The Packers recovered in range for the winning field goal. Two punt returners gave Green Bay 10 of its 16 points, and the Eagles gave away what should have been a victory.

An NFL team can't score 13 points and expect to win. A poor offensive performance puts too much stress on the rest of the team, and sooner or later the weaker spots give way.

For the Eagles right now, they are the special teams.

You had to feel for Seagrest, the man who took over the kicking game when John Harbaugh moved over to the defensive offices. Every special-teams coach has to make do with the guys allotted him when the final roster is set. Unlike the first-team offense and defense, the special teams are thrown together in the final week before the season opens.

Until now, Reid has always gone for security on special teams. Mike Bartrum was the consummate long snapper. Sean Landeta, Brian Mitchell and Koy Detmer gave the Eagles steady veterans to handle punting, returning and holding duties until age forced Reid to find replacements. David Akers has been a Pro Bowl kicker.

Safe. Secure. With the exception of the mercurial Brian Westbrook, Reid's returners have been chosen for their reliability rather than their excitability.

Reno Mahe suddenly makes a lot more sense, doesn't he?

This year, Reid broke from his pattern. He went with Sav Rocca, the booming punter from Down Under, instead of solid Dirk Johnson. He had drafted Bloom, a world-class skier, in 2006 with the idea of adding big-play potential to the return game.

Rocca's debut was a disappointment, although he won't get much attention. No one notices the guy with the flat-tire punts when there's a 17-car pileup right over there in the return game.

Jason Avant committed what he called a "bonehead" penalty that could have cost the Eagles the game. He was penalized 15 yards, for unsportsmanlike conduct, after covering a Rocca punt. An official saw Avant make a motion as if he were kicking the man who was blocking him.

"I didn't really kick him," Avant said, "but the official doesn't know that. He had to call it."

Avant's penalty, which gave the Packers the ball at midfield, was erased when Trent Cole forced Brett Favre to fumble. There was no erasing the two muffs, though.

Lewis' came early, with plenty of time for the Eagles to overcome the resulting touchdown. But that mistake and a subsequent decision to field a bouncing punt led Reid and Seagrest to switch to Reed, who was claimed off the waiver wire last week.

Reed, who normally returns kickoffs, ran and dived to field a short punt.

"I should have stayed away," a disconsolate Reed said. "I tried to be aggressive."

"I feel like I let my team down," Lewis said.

It is each player's fault that he used poor judgment. But the really poor judgment came from the coaches who put inexperienced players in unfamiliar roles with a game on the line.

"We're going to get back on the field and work hard to get better," Seagrest said.

It would be a bigger challenge to get any worse.