Andy Reid's final defeat
Giants 42, Eagles 7
Andy Reid's final defeat
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For years, I had this vision of how Andy Reid would walk away. I carried it until pretty recently, until about 2010. The way I figured it, the final camera shot would go like this: Reid finishing the press conference after the Super Bowl, finding his wife, Tammy, in the crowd of reporters -- she always goes to his post-game press conferences -- and walking away with one arm around her and the Lombardi Trophy in the other.
It was cinematic and Hollywood, yes -- but didn’t the law of averages have to work for Reid at some point? Didn’t it? That was the theory, anyway. In the last 2 years, though, the vision changed. We all know the reasons -- Michael Vick, a couple of bad drafts, a failure to replace Jim Johnson at defensive coordinator despite repeated attempts. And while it was easy to see it ending badly, it was hard to predict the last day.
Sunday was the last day.
It was cold and miserable and buffeted by a bitter wind. It was sloppy and inept. And when it was over -- historians will record the final final score for Reid as the Eagles’ coach was Giants 42, Eagles 7 -- the black-clad coach left the sidelines for the last time. All that remains is the press conference where he will be fired, presumably on Monday.
He will be known for how much he won, and how much his quarterbacks threw the ball. He will be known for “time’s yours” and taking responsibility and needing to put his players in a better position and looking forward to the privilege of playing everyone. He will be remembered for being the best coach the Eagles ever had at the same time he is remembered for failing to win the the Super Bowl.
The final indignities of the final Sunday -- the bad tackling, the terrible secondary play, the erratic quarterbacking of Vick, the deserved fourth-quarter benching of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha -- will not linger, mostly because almost nobody was paying attention. But the answer to the trivia question will be this: Reid’s first quarterback was Doug Pederson and his last quarterback was Trent Edwards, who mopped up Sunday.
There was no spotlight on the players, not on this day. All eyes were on Reid, with the rolled-up play chart in his left hand and the red challenge flag in his back pocket and 14 years of memories locked inside. As he walked off, for the last time, that is where those memories remained.
I watched the game with a bag over my head and the sound off. I also like to slow down and stare at car accidents.— schlippg- I'll start it off now, Shaw as HC, Singletary as DC, Gruden as OC.— realtruth
- A fitting obituary for a coach who not only won more games in team history but also lost the most games in team history. The irony of the biggest guy in the clubhouse choosing smaller players with "high motors" and we saw how that worked again today as the Giants oline threw our interior dline around like rag dolls . A guy who for years told us we didn't need a number 1 receiver, didn't need a running game and one year told us we didn't need a punt/kick returner. A guy who couldn't punch it in from the one yard line, a no nonsense guy who lived by gimmicks in the last five years. Time now for an owner, general manager and head coach to get back to basics, build us a winner and give us a Super Bowl before we die.— vaphillyfan1
- @The Truth Hurts- You know that's the scary part of it all but you are so right.— realtruth
- This wasn't all on Vick. That defense was horrible. People are so quick to blame the QB for everything.
Vick will shine again— elijah29 - "Time's yours" Now GTFO— poger67
- Be careful what you wish for— easy
- He's the best coach in Eagles history because he was here for 14 years and made it to 5 NFC Championship games. I think it's time for Reid to go, but don't revise history.— p-diddy
- Where are all the Vick lovers! The piece of s#!t sucked...as did Andy! Finally, it's over...fire 50 of 53!!!— Phillyfan666
- How many days till spring training?— harbo
- He's not gone yet. Just saying....— Hoofty
- How many days till spring training?— harbo
- How many days till spring training?— harbo
- This team is a complete embarassment. 95 % of these players hearts pumps kool-aid.— pflynn20
- It's going to be hard to get anything in return for conVick.— billy goat
