IS GETTING ITS DRAFT BOARD READY
After the early trick plays and the punt return touchdown, the Eagles had nothing for the Washington Redskins, who dominated both lines of scrimmage in a 23-17 upset at the Linc.
Andy Reid added one little thing to his usual postgame refusal to engage in any sort of meaningful discussion of what went wrong: In the midst of repeating his mantra about needing to put players in better positions to make plays, Reid added: "and when (the players) are in those positions, we have to make sure that plays get made."
After starting out 1 for 4 on third down conversions, the Redskins converted 11 of their final 15. They took apart what had been the league's top rushing defense, running for 203 yards (to the Eagles' 58). They ended up with 75 offensive snaps, to the Birds' 47, 22 first downs to the Eagles' 14.
The Eagles' offense lost its ryhthm on the first drive of the second quarter and never really got it back. The Birds didn't throw the ball downfield and didn't run much -- instead, they found ways to screw ups screens and other short-yardage passes. Their defense got good pressure early, then was blasted back on its heels by the Redskins' offensive line.
The season isn't over at 2-3, but most fans' patience with ongoing confusion and inconsistency might be.
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
