Eagles-Saints Up-Down Drill
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles-Saints Up-Down Drill
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS -- The highs and many lows from the Eagles' 28-13 loss to the Saints on Monday night:
Andy Reid
↓ Reid has lost his team and he's eight games from losing his job, unless Lurie surprises and fires his coach mid-season.
Jeffrey Lurie
↓ Enough with the, "I don't speak about the team until after the season." Mr. Lurie, your team has become an embarrassment. You must answer questions about your decision to stick with Reid and his future.
Todd Bowles
↓ Repeat: Bowles was put into a difficult spot when Reid fired Juan Castillo. But he just doesn't have any answers for a defense that is fractured and uninspiring.
Michael Vick
↓ Vick deserves praised for surviving the barrage behind a leaky offensive line, but his pick six in the red zone was a just another errant pass from the mistake-prone quarterback.
DeSean Jackson
↑ If it weren’t for McCoy, Jackson would be the Eagles best player thus far. He hasn’t dropped a ball this season and finally delivered a vintage big-play with a 77-yard touchdown in the third that featured a nice stutter-step move before he ran into the end zone.
Marty Mornhinweg
↓ It says here the play-calling on offense has not been the Eagles biggest problem. But Mornhinweg did himself no favors by calling for too many passes when the Eagles got into the red zone. On their first three trips they netted only six points.
Eagles offensive line
↓ It’s hard to single out individual linemen when the majority of them were not expected to start this season. But the line has been the Eagles’ Achilles heel all season. Vick hasn’t help himself, but his protection – or lack thereof – has hindered his production.
LeSean McCoy
↑ Well, at least one Eagle came to play. McCoy has been giving maximum effort all season as far as one can tell, but he hasn’t gotten support from his offensive line. But the Eagles running back had room to run against the Saints and delivered. His teammates and coaches let him down.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha
↓ The Eagles cornerbacks were above average in the first six games, but for some reason, when Todd Bowles took over as defensive coordinator, they forgot how to tackle. Rodgers-Cromartie made a weak attempt on a run in the first quarter, and Asomugha couldn’t wrap up a rusher in the second.
Riley Cooper
↓ Cooper’s name was called once in the first half – when he called for a blindside block in the second quarter. The wide receiver’s personal foul came on second down and three and drove the Eagles back 15 yards. Cameras caught Cooper smiling as he walked off after the penalty.
Brandon Graham
↑ Per snap, Graham has been the Eagles best defensive end this season. It’s a shame it took half the season for Jim Washburn to figure out that Graham should be playing more. Graham’s forced fumble and recovery in the third quarter and slowed the Saints’ momentum.
Chris Polk
↑ The rookie running back has done virtually nothing on special teams all season, but he made the unit’s play of the season to that point when he forced a fumble in the third quarter. The Eagles offense couldn’t capitalize on Polk’s play, however, and had to settle for a field goal.
Show me a player that smiles at a mistake, and I will show you a team that is lacking something,..my first thought is coaching. I wonder Vince Lombardi would have done to this young man for makings mistake and smiling about it.— 5thstrretpast- Two points where I disagree:
- Way too easy to blame the interception on Vick. The window was tight, but this was more Celek than Vick.
- The penalty on Cooper was an absolute joke, a phantom call as bad or worse than the one called yesterday on Pittsburgh for legally hitting a Giant WR in the endzone (the alleged 'hit to the head'). Frankly, that smile by Cooper might as well be a cynical/wry one of disbelief rather than one where you laugh about your own mistakes.— Dutchbird - I saw Cooper's "smile". It wasn't a happy smile it was more like a grimace.— swinger18
- As fans we've got to do a better job in complaining. We've got to put ourselves in a better position to b...h. It starts with me, I've got to be more creative in my criticism.— harbo
- Get rid of Washburn and Mudd. Bowles is just plain clueless.— schlippg
- Cmon Jeff, that was a garbage call on Cooper from officials who were bad calling it both ways, that smile was all he could do, great crack back block.— PhillyRedHot
- Where is "Sign Man" when we need him? Time to hang the signs from every level: 1. Reid must go. 2. Hey, Jeffrey. Boo! 3. Jason Blabbin not playin. 4. Who hired these bums? It will be vitriolic against Dallas. The entire crowd will give it to these Beagles from the moment they come onto the field. Jeffrey Lurie, your team has become the fools' gold standard of the NFL and a national joke. You mean to tell us you are going to sit like a mute with your latte up on the owners' suite and allow us to suffer through 8 more games of this putrid, decaying corpse of a team??? You should be ashamed of yourself if you do that. Take a lesson from the new owner of the Jaguars. You need to clean house TODAY.— farside37
- No discipline. No accountability. No pride. But lots of chest thumping. Lord knows why....— Squizzy Magee
