Eagles hit rock bottom
Seahawks 31, Eagles 14
Eagles hit rock bottom
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
SEATTLE --The Eagles have crawled up into a ball now, their position both fetal and futile. They can only hope that this was the worst.
To watch them blow lead after lead in the fourth quarter of games this season was maddening. To watch too many of them fail to complete against the Seattle Seahawks last night in a 31-14 loss was much different, and much worse.
It is such a jarring sight -- not only to see an Andy Reid team so ridiculously underperforming, but to see them spanked by a team such as this. But as a wise man once said, you are what your record says you are. And at 4-8, after this mess, the Eagles’ record says they stink.
In the absence of starting quarterback Michael Vick and his broken ribs, the Eagles stole a game against the Giants and then completely rolled over in the next two. To get pounded by the New England Patriots is one thing. To get dismantled by the Seahawks is something completely different.
Yes, Vince Young was terrible at quarterback as Vick’s replacement. (Working definition of terrible: four interceptions.) But the real story of this game was a defense that rolled over early and forced Young into a position of having to play from behind.
The most unforgettable video from this entirely forgettable season might just be that of the Seahawks’ first touchdown, the one in which running back Marshawn Lynch appeared to be buried in a crowd of Eagles and Seahawks, only to emerge on his feet and untackled and prance into the end zone with a 15-yard touchdown. That, right there, is the story of 2011.
They are just so soft on defense. Safety Nate Allen had a really rough night again, and was in and out of the lineup. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha is a worse tackler than Asante Samuel, which is saying something -- and, to make his inaugural season even worse, he left the game with a neck injury.
Watching them this season, watching them blow all of those late leads, it led most people to conclude that they had talent but lacked something, and that maybe time would provide the answers. After the blowout win over the Cowboys, and again after they beat the Giants, it was easy enough to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they had discovered what had been missing.
Instead, they have collapsed. Last night was an embarrassment. It is true that they are without starting quarterback Vick and his broken ribs, and that Young is limited, and that he does not appear to have the arm strength on the long ones, or the accuracy on the short ones, or the ability to get the ball out quickly on any of them. This will never be a high-scoring offense when he is running it -- at least, not this year.
Young threw four interceptions against the Seahawks, two of them particularly brutal. The first was a horribly underthrown pass. The third, with 4:24 remaining, was a ridiculous throw to LeSean McCoy in the late that linebacker David Hawthorne plucked with embarrassing ease and returned 77 yards for a touchdown.
They were never going to win the game with that kind of quarterback play. But they never had a chance when the defense rolled over early.
Report Card: Grade the Eagles' performance Photos: Seahawks 31, Eagles 14
Buy Eagles tickets - Dear Bogus,
As you have an insight into what Eagles' fans are thinking, read my mind right now. Got it? That's right. You and everybody you know.— carnivor52 - Vince Young stinks. Dream Team! Ha Ha HA
- RIP— gob1234
- Tonight the Eagles made Tavaris Jackson look like a Pro Bowl QB, the Eagles just suck, I'm admitting it right now I'm so tired of this season. I wish the season would end so we don't have to hear Andy say, It's my fault we have to do a better job getting guys into position to make plays. Please Andy stop saying that, just admit it you have a bad team, a Defense that is soft and a offensive and defensive coordinators that should be fired!!!..Its time for a change!!!— MountAiry1303
- Next year, we'll see Andy Reid in a beer commercial, saying to someone who got a warm beer can that he should have put the beer in a better position to taste good.— rhawnhurster
- is it too late to suck for Luck? How many games are they behind Indy?— thefadd
- Indy can "clinch" this weekend, I believe. — ekw555
- Gold Standard.— Bruce in NM
- Feel sorry for D line, those behind are awful. D-staff, you're a 4-7 team - attack the backfield. Safeties cannot cover anyway so why are they in coverage? Not that it affects the result but how was Chris Clemons' celebration in Reid's face not a taunting penalty ala DesSean vs Giants? And Lynch's second TD run, no flag for holding on Jordan?? Garbage— GHem
- I've always been in the "Andy is a great coach" camp, pointing to his history here. And maybe he is. But his time with the Eagles has to be done. This isn't a team of rookies he has here. it supposed to be a team of Pro Bowlers— ZenLunatic
- The horror. The horror.— NM Eagle fan
- Its mostly Reid's fault for his terrible decisions about the defense and some of Howie Roseman's fault for terrible talent evaluation.— Bobby257
- why is Vince Young in the NFL ? oh yeah cause ANdy thought he could play— warbiscuit
- How Bout Them Cowboys!— bobnj2009
