Day of miscues for Eagles
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Day of miscues for Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
What had been set up as another matchup between one of the NFL's haves and have-nots turned into something totally different Sunday afternoon in Oakland.
The Eagles were beat up by the Raiders, 13-9, for their second loss of the season.
The offense was atrocious. Donovan McNabb off-target. The receivers ineffective. And the offensive line outmatched.
This week's Man Up will be particularly fascinating. I'll watch the video tomorrow and break down just went wrong on offense and defense.
But here are initial thoughts:
** The result of Jason Peters' MRI tomorrow will have a massive effect on the season. It's really the one position on the offensive line where the Eagles don't have a lot of options. If Peters is out for any significant amount of time, the Eagles cannot afford to put King Dunlap out there. It looked like they were giving him a lot of help (kind of like they did with Winston Justice early in the season), and it didn't really seem to work. You would think that Todd Herremans could be an option to replace Peters if he's out. But then again, Herremans hasn't played all season. He has targeted next week's game against the 'Skins for quite some time, but would he be ready to start at left tackle? Not sure what the Birds' other options would be.
** McNabb did not play well, completing 47.8 percent of his passes. He was obviously under pressure all game, but even when he did have time, McNabb missed on throws, particularly a couple times downfield when the Eagles could have had some big plays. And calling timeout when the Eagles had none during the final drive of the first half is inexplicable.
** We're through six weeks, and the Michael Vick experiment has to be categorized as a failure. Isn't this the type of game we thought they might use Vick? The offense unable to get anything going drive after drive. If Vick were the weapon the Eagles envisioned when they signed him, wouldn't it be worth trying to run him and the Wildcat for a series or two? I have no clue where this aspect of the offense is going the rest of the season.
** The Eagles were 2-for-16 on third down. That should pretty much tell you all you need to know.
** Why did the refs have so much trouble reading the numbers on the Eagles' jerseys? From what they said, Jason Babin (No. 94; inactive) and Lorenzo Booker (No. 25; and no longer with the team) were each flagged on Sunday.
** Dear Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan, enough with the pigeon. Please. I'm begging you.
** I Tweeted that by my unofficial count, Asante Samuel missed 18 tackles. I thought this was a high enough number that everyone would realize I was exaggerating to make a point. The funny thing is some of you thought he actually did miss that many.
** I think JaMarcus Russell could have thrown for 400-plus yards had he hit a few more wide open receivers.
** I said it before, and I know I'm simplifying it, but how do you not try to match up a running back or tight end with Jeremiah Trotter in coverage every time he's in the game?
** One bright spot I can think of was Brian Westbrook. He showed good burst on a few different occasions, finishing with nine catches for 91 yards and six carries for 50 yards.
** Like I said, more detailed analysis after I get a chance to rewatch the game Monday. But feel free to voice your frustrations below.
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Eagles?????? ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha.......same old same old with Bid daddy Donovan and his crew.....what an embarrassment to the city.— Mark1npt- Agreed on the whole Vick fiasco. All he has managed to do is drive up the price of tickets for the Eagles-Falcons game on stub hub. (Seriously, check it out if you don't believe me, its crazy! Love Trotter but isn't this why Philly released him two years ago? He is rendered ineffective because nobody will run when he is placed in the game. Not even Tom Cable! The tight end thing is a problem and frankly, I don't know how you fix it with this personnel. Maybe give Tafopu some burn???— albertpa
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- All those weapons, and we get 9 points? The Phils are going to outscore you today!— DerbyBound
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- Incomprehensible demoralization.....
- Now i know where the eagles points are at. GO PHILS 11-0— philsfan417
- Andy Reid's refusal to run the ball bit him hard against the raiders. I wonder what needs to happen for AR to trust his HB's. Pass protection was non existent. Many of the problems in this game can be blame on lack of discipline from the players and lack of trust on the running game from the offensive coaches. The defense looked lost out there as well. To summarize, the whole team stunk!— Wilco
- The offensive playcalling was abysmal. You can't have a 50+pass to 12run ratio and expect to win a game. I love Trot but he cost us big in this game. He wasn't around the ball the entire game and gave up two of the biggest pass plays (Miller & FB pass w/2mins left). But this goes on the coaches. Absolutely awful— Axeman54
- At least the Phillies won!— dseidman
- Worst thing was the timeout with 2:02 left in the game. With the two-minute warning coming up, it gave the Raiders the option of throwing on 3 and 10 since the clock was going to stop afterwards anyway. The Raiders recognized that, but the Eagles didn't, leaving Trotter in to get burned on a pass play. Pathetic coaching display by AR.— CMI
- CMI - great point about the timeout with 2:02 left in the game, I didn't think of that. The Raiders could throw and it wouldn't hurt them because the clock would be stopped whether they ran or threw, and thus had a better chance to pick up the first down throwing with no consequences. Just one example of, first of all, a horrendously quarterbacked game (of course donovan doesn't take any of the blame, what a shock, with references to "the young guys"), and obviously a poorly coached game. THE QUARTERBACK NEEDS TO KNOW HOW MANY TIMEOUTS A TEAM HAS IN THE 2 MINUTE DRILL. I just think we look a lot better with Kolb in there along with a healthy dose of the Wildcat.— brmorgen81
- Sheil, Can you compare this game with the loss to the Redskins last year? If you remeber, the offense wasn't working in a tight game and they tried to pass their way out of it. The Redskins were quoted as saying, "That's what they do. They Throw." I find it hard to beleive that Andy/Marty cannot retain this lesson, but when the Offense is struggling they instinctlively become a pass only team. How many seasons do you have to learn the "Run/Pass Balance Lesson" before it sticks?— b_d_crowther
- Sheil, Come on, that pigeon stuff was hilarious! He followed the Raiders all the way down on the kickoff. That was by far the most enjoyable part of this otherwise horrid game.
Asante Samuel completely whiffed on the Raider TD to the TE. Apparently he prefers to hit people after the whistle. I don't have a problem with passing on 3rd and 3, but how about a short high% pass as opposed to a low % throw 30 yards down field? And if you are going to pass on 3rd and 3 why isn't Westbrook in to pick up the blitz that you should have figured out was coming. Instead rookie McCoy went the wrong way and just as McNabb's throwing to a wide open receiver, he gets drilled by a linebacker coming untouched. ARGGGHHH!— tornadoh- Brmorgan-say what you want about Donovan, but he rarely had time to even set his feet, b/c he had a Raider in his ear hole almost every down. Kolb wouldn't have been any better, at least Donovan can escape the pressure. The O-line and offensive play calling was horrible.— phigglesfan75
- i will sign off after this post and no more eagles until mcnabb is benched. he continues to show how stupid he is. he cannot get rid of the ball quick. he is inaccurate and no longer a team player. he never makes a mistake he'll admit to and anyone who wears fake tinted eye glasses looks and sounds like a buffoon (a gross and usu. ill-educated or stupid person).— JACK V
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