Eagles collapse
It was a day that had trainwreck written all over it, almost from the beginning. It was Eagles and 49ers and dropped balls and gray skies and bizarre plays and bodies littering the road.
Eagles collapse
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
It was a day that had trainwreck written all over it, almost from the beginning. It was Eagles and 49ers and dropped balls and gray skies and bizarre plays and bodies littering the road.
And it was as bad a loss as many Eagles fans can rememeber. The Eagles blew a 20-point lead in the third quarter, wasted more than 500 yards of total offense and lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-23.
Even when the Eagles took a 20-3 lead at halftime, and led by 23-3 in the third quarter, they looked just so unimpressive in the process -- and they had collapsed so badly the previous two games -- that everybody in Lincoln Financial Field was looking up for the falling safe. Rapidly, it came into view.
Joshua Morgan caught a 30-yard touchdown pass. Vernon Davis caught a 9-yard touchdown pass. Alex Henery missed a 39-yard field goal and then he missed a 33-yard field goal, both wide right, both dismal. And as the fourth quarter began to wind down, the Eagles were hanging on, hanging on, hangng on to a 23-17 lead.
It is such an odd team right now. Michael Vick, wearing the Kevlar glove on his non-throwing hand, looked great -- running, throwing, the whole Vick experience. He set a career record for passing yards with 416. DeSean Jackson, after such a quiet start to the season, made several huge, long catches (while also dropping a couple of others). And on defense, as his fellow lineman have begun to drop from injury -- Trent Cole went off on a cart in the fourth quarter, and his loss would be devastating -- Jason Babin had three more sacks and conjured up all kinds of terror in the 49ers' backfield.
But the rest is still so messy. The red-zone offense, especially around the goal line, is an ongoing disaster -- with Ronnie Brown earning a spot in the bizzaro-world hall of fame by somehow trying to throw a ball to no one while being stopped near the goal line on a running play and losing a fumble. On the other side of the ball, the linebacker switch (from Casey Matthews to Brian Rolle) did not fix the problem. Neither did the safety switch (from Kurt Coleman to Nate Allen). And as for Nnamdi Asomugah, the big-money free-agent cornerback acquisition, he just doesn't look like that kind of a player right now. He doesn't look like nearly that kind of a player.
So, anyway, through all of that, it was 23-17 as the fourth quarter was winding down. With 3:00 left, Frank Gore scored on a 12-yard run. The play was reviewed, and it was determined that Gore was in. The extra point by former Eagles kicker David Akers -- who already had missed one field goal and had another one blocked -- gave the 49ers a 24-23 lead.
Three minutes left, then. With the Eagles driving, Jeremy Maclin and his sore hamstring caught a 17-yard pass, got caught from behind by defensive tackle Justin Smith and stripped of the ball. The 49ers recovered the fumble and the stands, already somewhat emptied, were the scene of fleeing. Except for the people who stayed behind and chanted, "Let's go Phillies...Let's go Phillies..."
Buy Eagles tickets - Consider this Mid......the Eagles were outscored 20 - 0 in the second half by a team that has the 32nd ranked offense in the league. The only change that Reid needs to do is resign and move to another city where he can abuse the writers and ignore the fans. Enough!!!!!
— djlen - If you really look at the history, when Reid was brought in out of nowhere he was surrounded by experienced coordinators (Dowhower and Johnson) and an experienced personnel man (Modrak), slowly after those guys left the team has deteriorated. People dog the Kotite era as dark days, but the Eagles won 56.3 percent of their games in four years under Kotite. Since they lost the Super Bowl in 2005 (100 regular season games), the Eagles have won 55 games- or 55%- worse than Kotite over a longer period of time. Without babysitters, Reid has been worse than Kotite.
— jtj06 - This is just so bad. I don't remember feeling worse about my team. Here's Andy Reid's idea of how to build a defense. First, make your offensive line coach the defensive coordinator. Then hire a guy who loves the wide gap defensive line and who's philosophy is charge the QB and the heck with everything else. These guys are backed up by undersized, inexperience linebackers, not suited or instructed to stop the run properly. You then bring in 2 of the best shut down DB's in the league and make them learn how to play zone which they are not suited to do. And backing up all this are safeties that are so inexperienced and possibly not talented enough to know how or when to get up in the box and stop the flood of running backs that are sure to come their way. Ofcourse it might help if the scheme they were in would help them/instruct them to read and re-act by moving up when they read the run. But this team has no leadership or direction and because of all of the above, there is nothing but chaos at every snap. When he says he needs to do a "better job", Andy Reid is exactly right. But he needs to do it elsewhere. Jimmy Johnson is gone and he is exposed. And it ain't pretty boys and girls.— djlen
- Woof. Terrible team right now. This is the new 2010 Cowboys, and hopefully results in Reid being fired in a few weeks. My only fear right now is this team coming together and making Andy Reid look good, only for him not to be fired so we get to go through the same song and dance next year.— ESFjellin
- The Eagles fans have made this franchise the seventh most valuable the NFL. It's time to start demanding accountability. How bout making the ultimate sacrifice and boycott a home game. And that includes the so-called sports journalists in the Delaware Valley. They need to stop sucking up to gain access and start holding his feet to the fire.— Banjoeyes
- The Eagles fans have made this franchise the seventh most valuable the NFL. It's time to start demanding accountability. How bout making the ultimate sacrifice and boycott a home game. And that includes the so-called sports journalists in the Delaware Valley. They need to stop sucking up to gain access and start holding his feet to the fire.— Banjoeyes
Comment removed.- Short of standing on his head, I do not know anything else MV could have done to win this game. There are so many issues it is difficult to just look at the one, but your sugggestion is a great start. — johnny eagle
- Big build up but all of the what if's are reality. 1. Juan Castillo, DC insanity, check. LBs too small, can't tackle,check. 3. Namdi, DRC, Asante one too many, check. Rookie kicker growing pains, check. 4. Ball security an issue, check. 6. Buffoon like coaching calls inside the 5, check. 7. AR stale, check. 8. Fabio Matthews a bad draft pick, check. 9. Vick injury prone, check. 10. Paying everyone except Jackson, will cause problems, check. 11. Defense quitters, something new. 12. RB pass at the goaline from waist level, something new. 13. Eagles lose 5 - 6 home games, something not see since Kotie daze, something ne 14. Blowing 4Q leads in 3 consecutive weeks, something new. Net from the all the bad that could happen in addition to the the new stuff, 6-10. Thanks AR for all you have done and could have done. Eagles stink.— oldBird
- Who cares? Loser franchise, always has been, always will be. Go Phils!— OldCityJoe
- Do you think mediocre OL coach at best who never coached an NFL defense MIGHT BE A PROBLEM ?— oldBird
- Maybe, but the fish rots from the head. How long are fans going to accept mediocrity from the team. Time for a change. For thirteen years, after every loss Reid takes responsibility, well if he meant it he WOULD RESIGN, that's taking responsibility. — Banjoeyes
- On a positive note, this Eagle team has got me excited about the Sixers season.— JoeArtistWriter
- It's like a broken record.....over+over+over......
And ya can't turn it off... :-(— JimiZero - so Vick passes of 406 or 416, runs for 70, and the Eagles score 23 points.
:scratches head:
defense blows the lead in the 2nd half, while the offense moves the ball everywhere but the endzone.
now, if I recall, this D is built so that when the Eagles jump out to a big lead, they won't be able to throw against the Eagles superhuman cornerbacks.
has anyone notified the rest of the league?
Eagles defense does indeed have a foul smell to it,
but the offense fails to impress as well.
how do you parlay 500+ yards of offense into 23 points?
3 field goals, two failed field goals, an interception & two fumbles.
ladies and gentlemen - your 2011 Eagles.
everyone all in with the Dream Team?— ekw555
