Reid staring at the end
Falcons 30, Eagles 17
Reid staring at the end
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
The operating theory, mostly because Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has said as much, is that Andy Reid awoke Sunday morning with 10 games to save his job. It was the clearest of imperatives. After all of the years, all of the great moments, all of the disappointments, it was to be a final sprint to the finish and then a clear decision.
Now, after a particularly timid abomination -- Falcons 30, Eagles 17 -- there are more questions than answers.
Can it really be?
Nine more weeks.
Nine more weeks?
Until Sunday, the Eagles had never lost the game immediately following the bye week under Reid. Given that, and given the decision to fire defensive coordinator Juan Castillo during the break, the widespread belief was that the Eagles would come back from their short vacation refreshed and re-focused, fully realizing what is at stake. Instead, they arrived in body only. Their hearts and minds were elsewhere. They did not turn over the ball and still got their backsides handed to them.
Defensively, they lacked both cohesion and fire under new coordinator Todd Bowles. Offensively, they got it blocked a little better but still couldn’t score points early, when it mattered. The special teams were the same, except for the punt return team. We don’t know about them because the Falcons never punted until there was 5:35 left in the fourth quarter.
The hearts-and-minds thing is what bears the closest watching. Reid has had exactly one team quit on him in his 14 seasons -- the 2005 team, after all of the Terrell Owens stuff and after quarterback Donovan McNabb got hurt. That team just curled up in the fetal position at the end -- but it was almost understandable, given the post-Super Bowl hangover and everything that happened.
This is different.
Nine more weeks.
Nine more weeks?
The Falcons’ opening drive of the game was the maiden voyage for Bowles: 16 plays and 80 yards; 8 minutes, 44 seconds of having the ball shoved down his defense’s throat. The touchdown pass to Drew Davis featured a blown coverage, just the biggest hint of a permeating confusion. Along the way, a holding penalty on Jason Babin extended the drive.
The Falcons were ahead by seven before a crowd that was two-thirds full had had a chance to be chilled by Hurricane Sandy’s first winds. And they booed. It would be the first time that happened but not the only time.
Did I already say that the Falcons never punted until 5:35 in the fourth quarter?
Along the way, Julio Jones scored Nnamdi Asomugha on a 63-yard touchdown pass, one in which safety Nate Allen made sure he was no possible help by taking a terrible angle on the play. Linebacker Mychael Kendricks did not start the game, reportedly as punishment for being late for a team meeting. A continuing lack of pressure on the quarterback -- despite the team’s first two sacks in about a month -- just opened up the defensive for carving by Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, and that is exactly what happened.
As the game ended, the wind whipped and the rain fell sideways onto nearly-emtpy stadium seats. Most everyone was rushing home to beat the storm; Andy Reid was not nearly so lucky.
What a sorry excuse for a professional football team.— Disco Dave- oops - bad spelling- meant catapult, not catapault. Of course they'll need an extra heavy duty one for Reid. And please tie some flaming Sterno pots on his ankles so we can watch him sail over the Schuykill at dusk.— NM Eagle fan
- Who will be your scrapegoat this week Andy ? This is a team playing for a lame duck coach, they brought in people who have no team character and just want to cash in a pay check. Lurie sell this team, you know what you can do with your gold standard, it's called fools gold. I've been off the Reid band wagon for a long time my love of the Eagles keeps me interrested. I would love to see them start new with a good football operation but with Lurie owning this team it will be more of the same but a different face running the show.— angrywhtguy
- I don't expect miracles, but seeing Laurie take some action would be something. I get tired of hearing announcers saying how the D-line is the strength of the team, yet they haven't gotten pressure for four weeks in a row now! The Wide 9 nonsense was a fluke last year and now offenses know how to defeat it. Going to be long season!— gdibig
- They have completely tuned out Reid. He is as lame duck as it gets right now.
— kjuggs77 - FIRE ANDY! FIRE ANDY! FIRE ANDY!— brizz33
They stunk so bad I could smell them up here in CT.— Boto- They stunk so bad I could smell them up here in CT.— Boto
- man this eagles team just sucks.
s-u-c-k-s.
— bloodymess - Lurie is here to win super bowlSSSSS???? LOL Try winning one.— hipdaddy
- How bout just before Halftime, they show Vick & Jackson yuckin it up, like it was fun getting their butts kicked. Ike Reese said it best, these guys don't care, and his best line "Asomugha stinks!!"Though he has a great agent!! Come on Birds show some fight!!— Chosen one
- LURIE SAVE US FROM THIS SIDESHOW— JIM IAQUINTO
- I tuned in today and saw passion. I saw fire. I saw conviction. Intensity. Preparation. I saw guys I root for and care about.
I'm referring, of course, to the post-game show on Comcast.— dasher - Great decision making again by genius Reid. Puts in Bowles who has no NFL Coordinator experience. No different than when he made the decision to put Juan in that position.— 4in5out7gone
- With the replacement of Eagles Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo all of the problems of the Eagles have clearly and decisively been solved. With new DC Todd Bowles at the helm, the defense put in their best performance of the year against the Falcons, holding that offense to just one punt in the first 55 minutes of play. The outstanding performance of the revamped and improved Eagles defense had a positive impact on the Eagles offense, an offense that has struggled to put up points in previous weeks, but succeeded to get within a single field goal of 20 points. The Eagles are riding high. Riding high, like really uncomfortable pants, pants with a too-tight inseam. After a wedgie.— HeelYes
