Posted: Sunday, December 21, 2008, 7:19 PM | 154 comments |
 

Disaster strikes Eagles
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Disaster does not begin to describe this.

When have the Eagles ever come up so inept in a big spot?

And when has it ever been so agonizingly close? The Eagles' season effectively ended with Reggie Brown catching a pass that was less than a foot from the goal line as time expired. It would have tied the game. It didn't. Replay confirmed that it didn't. Eagles lose.

After the Tampa Bay Bucs lost at home to San Diego, the Eagles held their destiny in their hands. They held it for about 3 hours. Then they dropped it, stepped on it, smashed it completely and ground the pieces into dust. That is what they did in losing to the Washington Redskins, 10-3.

They forgot how to play, it seems, on offense. They forgot everything that happened in the past three weeks of victories. They forgot to convert on third down. They forgot to run the ball for a loooong stretch of the second half. The quarterback, Donovan McNabb, was ordinary at best. And then there were the big plays that were not made. Here are three: a midfield interception dropped by Asante Samuel that would have flipped the field in the fourth quarter, and then two loooong passes that DeSean Jackson dropped near the end, the second one -- admittedly a tough grab -- in the end zone with about a minute to go.

The truth is, the Eagles got what they deserved yesterday against a reeling Redskins team that would have rolled over and died if the Eagles had smacked them early. That's just the reality. But the Eagles let them hang around and then they couldn't generate any significant offense the rest of the way.

They could have been a contender.

They were, for about 3 hours.

Then they dropped their dream. And now only the mathematicians think the Eagles are still alive in the NFC wildcard playoff picture.
Posted by Rich Hofmann @ 7:19 PM  Permalink | 154 comments
154
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:24 PM, 12/21/2008
    There is always next year with a healthy Mcnabb
    — coach1456
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:25 PM, 12/21/2008
    Sickening
    — clobal
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:28 PM, 12/21/2008
    Who didnt have a flash back of the SuperBowl where we pretend its not a rush and run out of time? Why cant McNabb run the 2 min offense. We wasted from 3 to 2min on 2 plays?? WTF
    — CSpangler
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:29 PM, 12/21/2008
    3 Friggin Points! What a joke!
    — Phillynoles
  • Comment removed.
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:31 PM, 12/21/2008
    nevermind playoffs for a second. do we really deserve to be in there based off the lack of performance from tampa bay? this team has only won 3 division games in 2 years. any team that gets manhandled in their own division has no right being in the playoffs. let alone even talking about it.
    — jayfril
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:32 PM, 12/21/2008
    I'm gonna go watch the tape I made of the last three innings of the World Series. Maybe then I won't be able to taste this vomit in my mouth. Oh my god. If it weren't so familiar after 42 years, I'd be stunned. As it is, I'm just depressed.
    — Matt Weiss
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:32 PM, 12/21/2008
    Bye, bye playoffs. Incredible! Another #5, AR dissappointment. No heart. No fire. No grabbing the prize. Tampa loses in the early game. We win against the Skins and we're controling our destiny. NOT!!! We come out and score three points. Let that sink in - a field goal in a game we have to have. Party over. No heart. No fire. No sense of the position you're in. I hate this team. I don't like Donovan. I don't like Andy Reid. I don't like any of our receivers. It's over and as long as Lurie thinks the this team is okay, I'm ending my relationship with the Eagles. I just can't take it any longer. They, the entire organization, have constantly come up shore and leave the fans heartbroken. I've been an Eagle fan for over fifty years now and I'm just over it. Have fun playing the Cowboys. I'll be out of the house enjoying the rest of my life.
    — CR Mahler
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:32 PM, 12/21/2008
    They suck
    — joe$
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 PM, 12/21/2008
    7 dropped passes? Who needs good WRs right? I'd love to see McNabb with real WRs and GOOD coach. Fire Andy!!
    — ChekUrFax
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 PM, 12/21/2008
    What was it? 8 running plays in the entire 2nd half? Sorry dude, that is not how you win football games. You do not abandon the run game just because you're down by a touchdown.
    — foghelmut
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 PM, 12/21/2008
    Championship caliber defense....3-13-type offense....
    — mifunk
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 PM, 12/21/2008
    #5 is asked 2 do more than any QB in the league with at best a average supporting cast and when he plays bad which ALL QB's do, he hears more than anyone!! Reid needs 2 go, his play calling is brutal, BTW if #10 holds on 2 da ball we r singing a diff tune about #5....stop hating the man so much philly! He has good years left and I hope he is doing it in another uniform next year not the haters in this town!!
    — eagles2010


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About Rich Hofmann
Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com

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