IS ON THE TRADE RUMOR TRAIL
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.
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.
