SCORES TWICE AFTER A PUCK TO THE FACE
You'll hear the Eagles declare in the coming days that they aren't done, at 5-4-1 going to Baltimore next Sunday.
They have to say that. You, obviously, don't have to believe it, and they probably would be shocked if you did.
Your Eagletarian has very few answers after the ugliest 13-13 tie ever recorded. The Eagles' offense has pretty much given up on trying to run the ball, and Donovan McNabb is doing bad things we've seen him do before (firing high and wide early), along with some we really haven't seen from him that often (forcing balls into coverage). Then there's the whole, "Oh, Gosh, you mean the game is over?" fiasco.
Andy Reid seems mystified by a great many things, including how to keep the opposition from knowing exactly what's coming next. Boy, the Bengals' D really got caught flatfooted on those three third-and-1 throws, didn't it? Not one was completed. Cincinnati was even all over the flea-flicker. Andy needs to do a better job of putting his playchart in a position to make plays.
Here's a shot at stating the obvious: Something is very, very wrong. The quarterback is part of it, more this week than ever before, perhaps, but there is more. Much more. This team has talent. It seems to lack leadership, playmaking ability, and bedrock confidence.
Maybe at this point, McNabb just assumes he's out of here at the end of the season, and isn't that invested in his performance. Hate to say that, or even think it, but does anybody have a better explanation?
Let me know.
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.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with 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 started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
Download our iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here for iPhone or here for Android.
 | Join on Facebook |
