Eagles: "Dream Team" label dead, urgency to win
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles: "Dream Team" label dead, urgency to win
Jonathan Tamari
The most common word uttered by Eagles players today was "urgency."
"There's just a sense of urgency now. Guys really see the position that we're in. I think they understand what it's going to take to get back and how some things have to change," said quarterback Michael Vick. "I think the "Dream Team" -- that word is dead now. You can't talk "Dream Team" anymore. Maybe it put pressure on some players, maybe it didn't. But I think just the fact that it was around and people were talking about it creates a sense of pressure."
The 1-3 Eagles are in a precarious position, and veterans know it.
"There definitely is a sense of urgency among not just the offense, the defense, everybody around here that we need to win now and there’s not really another option," said tackle Todd Herremans. "So we just need to spend the week preparing for the game against the Bills and we can’t really look forward any further than that."
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, outspoken after Sunday's loss, was asked how the team prevents a series of ugly losses from spiraling into self-doubt and more losses.
"By winning. As simple as that," Jenkins said. "You go out there and you win and all of a sudden you've got a different type of momentum, a different type of confidence, you know winning cures everything."
As for the defense, he said, "we’re not panicking, but there’s a sence of urgency. We just need to tweak the little things."
Defensive players said they did not expect major scheme changes.
"Our only tweak is going 200 miles an hour instead of 120. There’s nothing that you're going to change on defense in one week that’s just going to cure people running the ball on you. It’s all the mentality," said linebacker Brian Rolle.
Andy Reid said he was encouraged by the fact that his players were in the building Tuesday, even though it was their off day.
"You've got to take care of the now, and you've got to learn from the past, so that's the approach you take. We are 1-3, that's reality. So now we get ourselves ready to play the Buffalo Bills," Reid said. "I was encouraged by the number of guys who were in here the last couple of days. They didn't have to be here, and they were here. I'm very fortunate as a head coach to have guys that want to change and coaches that want to change."
Comments (62)
Maybe they should just be the "Bad Dream Team"— Mr. Baseball
Comment removed.- It was never the Eagles label anyway. Vince Young blurted it out and the sports media slapped the label on the Eagles. So my question to you guys is this. Whne will you admit it was your lable and when will you procliam it "dead"? You want Reid and the gang to own up to things all the time. Try it yourself first before you expect someone else to do it. Think I'm tired of all of you drumming up the phrase "Dream Team"?— PhillyFanSouth
- 100% agree... Vince young prob shouldn't have said it but he was also set up w the question. If the Philly media wanted to actually help this team they would stop using that stupid phrase. Let it go.
And rolle.. You problem is angles and tacklin and missed assignments...not speed. In fact part of the problem is you run past people instead of tacklin... So the fact that he said that still worries me a bit - Reid needs to go.......Go Buffalo!!— klew
- Comment removed.
- more like "Wet Dream Team"— eaglelover1979
- Philly_Mike...no QB...you are a moron.— cous76
- Andy R. has 2 overpaid injury prone pee wee league QB's which is the same as having no QB-=Philly Mike is correct. — jwatson
- What? The "Dream Team" Lable is dead? Has President Eisenhower been notified?— 1980
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Love the revisionist history that says "Dream Team" was an off-hand comment blurted out by Vince Young at a press conference. Babin tweeted "I feel like we are the Miami Heat of the NFL." When Mike Vick was asked about the comparison he said, quote: "We'll take it." In a related story, Joe Banner said the Eagles were "all in." I hope you all had fun celebrating your 10th consecutive defense of the NFL's August Arrogance Bowl. The actual football season has started so the fun's over for Eagles fans.— jtj10
- If if if they beat the Bills, I will believe them ..again. But, I am not holding my breath.— Koons
- The Eagles are the DREAM TEAM...they can't change that now just because they are losing..the national media and TV announcers are all calling the Eagles the DREAM TEAM...Eagles have to live up to it, there is no backing out now....also Vick decided to stop doing his weekly radio show at Chickie and Pete's because he can't take the heat now that the Eagles are losing...Vick is a front runner, he only wants the credit when they are winning....but Vick quits when they are losing.— frank105
- The only thing the Eagles need to live up to is the expectation that they will compete for 4 quarters for 16 games....just like every other team in the NFL. The Dream Team label is a tool to get people talking....its done just that, but no more. If expectaions are too high we have ourselves as fans to blame as well as a few overly excited players - and the media who has demonized the eagles for it.
ESPN is following a model that kept people hooked to the TV sets waiting for the Heat to lose. Hate sells.— despy22nd - see, you stupid media people from Philly putting dream team in Vince young's mouth and you made our team 1-3. Good work on that, cause lord knows you can't write a good article to save your life.— azguz
- Which guy hijacked Babin's twitter account when he was tweeting the same thing? Who forced Banner to say they had more success than the Steelers and were like the Red Sox?? From top-to-bottom the whole crew is a bunch of wannabes. — jtj06
- The nightmare team is more like it.— Tired of Journos
- Bills have the worst defense in football...so the Eagles will beat them and people will say they are good again.....until Eagles lose the following week to the Redskins, and will be 2-4.— frank105
- Good theory, but the Bills are +7 in turnovers which is #3 in the NFL. The Eagles are -6 ranking #31 and defenders have been dropping one or two Vick passes each week so far. So if the Bills let the Eagles get in the red zone, they can just take the ball away from Vick or wait for Andy's next ingenious trick run, get tackled, and then pass play and take it away there. Then you have an even game and if the Bills stay after it for 4 quarters, they probably steal it. — jtj06
- frank105
I would rather see Vick focus on trying to get a win than worrying about a weekly radio show!— Phillycb21 - @jtj10 - Yes, the football fun is over for now but the Phillies are only 9 wins away from another title and the Flyers titlequest begins tomorrow. So don't feel tooooo bad for us ;) We'll be just fine.
— Grazman - Flyers? Heck we are in the same boat with them as we are with the Eagles. How many Cup Finals do we have to endure them choking? Phils have been great but how many years had it been before they figured out pitching goes a long way in baseball.
- To back off of the dreamteam assessment is to say we are not a very good team, and to lower the expectations of a Superbowl win.. Sounds like a big loss of confidence has occurred. The $100 million QB is saying we can't live up to that lofty assessment. How does that sit with Lurie who is "All in".— Kioto
- Lurie is an eccentric, deluded billionaire whose ways we can't understand. I don't think it matters to him if they actually win or not, he just declares them the gold standard and since he probably gets whatever else he declares, in his mind they are the 1960s Packers, the 1970s Steelers, and the 1990s Cowboys all rolled up in one. — jtj06
- Andy Reid: It was a good ride but it's over. You would do this team, city and yourself a tremendous service by retiring and starting again elsewhere.— kingsteak99
- It's over? Did I miss something? I didn't even know it began. Other than a win over the winless Rams, the Eagles haven't shown me any reason to get excited this year at all.
Too bad I sucked my kids into this mess and cursed them with their own 30 years of anger and misery. Wonder what'll happen first...a balanced federal budget or the Eagles win a Lombardi?— PinkstonsStrengthCoach - The "Dream" in Dream Team is that Andy will be gone and someone who can select talent ends up here as GM.....
oh, the crooked sleezy children n DC will never balance the budgets...so I guess a Trophy will be here first but then you and I will be dead by then and AReid will be long gone....— nuggett - No. I will continue to call this team the "Dream Team" until I feel like I'm ready to stop. Just because R. Mexico said they're no longer the "Dream Team" doesn't make it so.— Sam Crow
- Eagles are the DREAM TEAM.....Vick can not just change that now because they are losing...Vick needs to live up to the DREAM TEAM standard...like Jeffrey Lurie said it's "all in" this year for the Super Bowl.— frank105
- Comment removed.
- Frank105, you should go back to the zoo with the other animals and eat some mush, Mushmouf! All you haters make me sick with your dumb arse comments about the Eagles! Do you think the Eagles read what you are saying? NO! You mumble dumb stuff to cause a reaction from real fans! Philthy_Mike and jwackson, the same goes to you two too! Just STFU!! The Eagles and Mike Vick are not listening to you. Tell it to your cage buddies, you freaks!! GO MIKE VICK GO!— Panthro2011
- Comment removed.
- You guys want to complain about draft picks, Reid has drafted defensive and offensive linemen in the first rd for years, except when he drafted McNabb his first year. The choices were sound because the guys he drafted were studs in college. Goes to show that some guys don't adapt to the pro game as well. If you know anything about drafts at all, your team is built around guys taken between the 2nd and 4th rounds. Look at those picks because 1st rd guys haven't been that great over the past few years. You get some gems in the later rds of the draft too, it just depends on how those guys develop. We have a good team with talented guys. With all the FA signings this year anyone with sense knows this wasn't the year to realistically win a SB, but next year will be. The media got you guys hyped so just own up to the fact you are all media junkies feeding into the mess they put on the internet. The only team that was a dream was the Olympic Basketball Team.... get over yourselves.
- The Eagles rode Mike Vick's hot streak last year and expected that to be his normal level of production. He has improved a hell of a lot over what he was in Atlanta but he still reverts to running a bit too much. But he is not Joe Montana. It is not fair to expect that, expecially with the O-Line that Reid has assembled. If, after all these 12 years, you STILL have problems in the Red Zone, still have problems with clock management and STILL can't assemble a competent group of linebackers, you, ANDY REID, have to take the responsibility for this failure. Vick has played hurt and given his all. Can't blame him...........— Original #11
- LOL let Andy go and then you'll hire Jim Mora Jr. or some other coach that has never won in the post season or the regular season. Reid has to know that scheme changes need to be made on the defensive side of the ball he's just gotta know that. With that being said, if the Eagles fall to the Bills I say somebodies gotta get fired lol— I-am-a-realist
- I don't think Reid is very good and he has never been able to compete with the top teams and coaches. Even in 2004 he had an easy road to the Super Bowl with a playoff field consisting of two 8-8 teams and a 9-7 team, one of the weakest fields in history. That being said, even if he was good, you hear opposing coaches talking about the mountains of film that they have on Reid and that they have a pretty good idea what he is going to do. Heck, you probably can call his plays. Anyone else would at least make the opposition work a little bit trying to guess what will happen. — jtj06
- Best 3 quarter team in the NFL....— kelprod2
- No one took that seriously anyway. Vick was reverting to his historical average play at the end of last season. We all knew the D had major holes, and lack some players in key positions also. Is it too early to talk rebuilding year? It will be tough with Vick's huge contract...looks like we are stuck with him for a while.— 2ndNlong
- Nope. The one thing the Eagles are good at is writing up contracts. They can dump Vick after this year with marginal pain. They can dump him after 2012 with virtually no pain. His contract is essentially a two-year, $36 million deal unless the Eagles decide to keep him around after the second year. Look up the details. They don't really publicize this because they want Vick to feel like a $100 million man the same way the Redskins wanted McNabb to feel when they "locked him up" for 5 years @ $78 million last season. Same type of deal with slightly more commitment, but not beyond 2 years. — jtj06
- More like nightmare!— Ken B
- Put Fabio back in there at MLB.— Astro Jones
- Even if the Eagles beat the Bills (and like all of the other games they are favored to win), there will be no reason for excitement. They aren't going anywhere this year. Too small, too weak at too many major position, and too many bad coaches.— DallasEagle
- How about "Your Worst Nightmare"?— billy goat
- Go Buffalo. Anything to get rid of Reid.— imarealist
- Seriously, you can not build a team around scum like Vick. Team members are affected mentally by having to play with a guy like that. Huge mistake the Eagles have to live with for a long time. Personally, I have always been a fanatic Eagles fan who no longer care if they even play.— billy goat
I dont think Andy has ever had a nightmare in his life. This team is still a "dream team" for him. He probably still thinks they will win 10 games and win a superbowl. hes that delusional/insane. his one-track mind will not be stopped by 3 fourth quarter losses in a row. He knows what he is doing and the rest of the league is cheating. All the skinny coaches keep beating him because he cant take a food-break during the game so the loss of calories makes him slow mentally. If at least some of the other coaches were obese Andy would have a very good chance of beating them. Marty is on the right track.- I'm not a big Vick rooter; but how many tackles has he missed , or passes he hasn't covered when thrown to his area??? NONE. He helps the team get the lead, then watches the defense give it away late in the games. It's not the offense thatlooks putrid.— ninemcs
- Offense can't punch it in from the red zone and has done its part to garner the 31st best turnover ratio in a 32 team league. As Madden used to say, drive for show and putt for dough. The offense can't make its putts. — jtj06
- A terrible head coach is not a little tweak. Its something that nededs to be fixed before the start of next season.— NEPA birdman
- The should never have been called the "dream team" in the first place, not with the way they draft and with Andy at the helm.
— fanup - Vick would like the Dreamteam label to die, but it ain't happening. National media and other teams will use it for the rest of this dream year.— Lets Eat
- 12 games to go...don't give up now. True Fan— Showtime226
- DREAM TEAM....with Vick is 1-6 in the Eagles last seven games...pathetic.— frank105
- All in Dream Team!!! No escaping the label now. God I am loving every second of this season thus far. No team deserves this more.— Scope33
- This may be a Nightmare Season not a Dream Season. Actually I'm not sure why everyone was talking SuperBowl after all the off season changes in starters and coaches and the lack of time to work with all the new people before this season started. It may take another 2 years for them to jell, and maybe a new coach.— atp2007
- Hey losers.......We knew that before the season even started! Now the fans are just dreaming of that Super Bowl...which will never happen!— MRD
- This moniker was the dumbest thing on earth. Last season Vick got crushed because the Eagles O Line was etrocious. They went on to trade Kolb and sign Vick to a $40 million guaranteed contract, only to place him on the field behind an O line that may be worse than last years. That is like buying a Rolls and parking under a dilapidated car port during a hurricane. The O line was the Eagles number one problen and they did little to nothing to solve this problem. Instead they stacked up on CBs. The Eagles safeties and linebackers would not start for 75 % of the teams in the NFL. They solved their problem by bringing in a 27 y.o. has played football a grand total of 4 years. Without Vick the Eagles offense is stagnant. Without an O line Vick is a dead man walking! If this team is the Dream Team the dreams are nightmares!— BLUEBELLION
- Waddya mean? They fired their line coach, hired the great Peyton Manning- I mean Howard Mudd- and spent their first pick on a lineman. Added bonus he is an experienced fire fighter which should come in handy at this point of the season! It isn't neglect, it's ineptness. How are the Andrews bros. doing right now? — jtj06
- I don't think Birds are as bad as their record, but it is what it is. Two wins are possible so we can be 500 at the break....then who knows from there. If Maclin catches the ball in Atlanta and doesn't fumble last week....who knows. Fine line between winning and losing.— DelcoDiva
- hahahahahaha.
mike vic to all other nfl teams: ok plz dont call us the dream team anymore. ok? we are soo sorry. no more dream team ok?— bloodymess
1
Popular Posts
About this blog
Birds' Eye View is the Inquirer's blog covering all things Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.
Jeff McLane
Inquirer Staff Writer
Zach Berman
Inquirer Staff Writer
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
