Rock bottom? The Eagles can only hope
LANDOVER, Md. -- And so, as they say at the moment the ripcord is being pulled, "Look out beloooooooow."
Rock bottom? The Eagles can only hope
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
LANDOVER, Md. -- And so, as they say at the moment the ripcord is being pulled, “Look out beloooooooow.”
You would like to think that the Eagles have hit bottom, but there is no reason to believe that is true. That is how bad things have gotten. They just got walloped by a bad Washington Redskins team, 31-6, and there still are six games left to play. There is no telling what depths they might still reach.
The Eagles are 3-7. They have lost six in a row. You have to go back to the mid-1990s, to the days of Rich Kotite before the fall, to recall such a stretch of uninterrupted ineptitude. Think about that for a second. On second thought, don’t.
You forget what it feels like, the pointlessness of it all when two bad teams enter the arena and two bad teams leave the arena, the only difference being that one leaves with a meaningless victory and the other with a loss that validates every terrible thing you have thought about them. Because that is where the Eagles are. Sunday was epic validation.
They could not overcome a myriad of mistakes on offense, some the responsibility of rookie quarterback Nick Foles but many more that could be assigned to others. Foles threw two interceptions, one a bad throw and the other that clanged off of the hands of tight end Brent Celek, who is officially having an awful season. But the bigger problems came along the again-reconstituted offensive line, where every manner of drive-killing penalty was committed along the way.
I mean, who would have guessed that right guard Jake Scott, signed off the street only 6 days before starting the game, would have trouble with the snap count?
On defense, they made a couple of laughingly bad plays in pass coverage that led to two embarrassing touchdowns thrown by Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III. The first, a 49-yard touchdown to a wide open Adrick Robinson -- wide like the width of Tennessee -- came on a play where Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was expecting safety help that never materialized. The second, a 61-yarder to the venerable Santana Moss, came on a play where safety Kurt Coleman was in position to intercept the pass but monumentally bollixed up the attempt. Then, for good measure, Brandon Boykin failed to make the tackle short of the end zone.
But the piece of the play that might speak most to how bad things have become is this: a flag was down on the play in the backfield, and Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins was mocking Griffin’s touchdown celebration because he assumed the penalty was on the Redskins. Alas, it was illegal hands to the face on the Eagles instead.
Alas.
With 1:45 remaining in the game, running back LeSean McCoy was tackled helmet-to-helmet on a running play and did not get up. He took off his helmet and sat up, but they brought a cart out onto the field to bring him to the locker room. It was an awful bit of punctuation.
Finally, people will ask if Andy Reid should be fired immediately. After a game such as this one, there is only one way to look at it. If Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie fires Reid now, it will only be because he likes him so much that he wants to put him out of his misery.
"Hail to the Redskins! Hail victory! Braves on the warpath, fight to fire Reid!!!"— power808- Yes, about that draft pick... There's an awful lot of misery (and house cleaning) between now and then.— Mr. Magee
- The Eagles hit bottom when they had that horrible 2nd half against Detroit. That was the unofficial end of their season.— p-diddy
- DON'T FIRE REID UNTIL THE SEASON'S OVER! (No significant coaching change can be made now anyway - who are they going to get, Morninhweg?)
Andy's weekly public humiliation is his long-deserved comeuppance, and I'm enjoying it immensely.— jman - It's ABSOLUTELY fair to criticize Vick. But when you completely ignore the deficiencies in the OFFENSIVE offensive line, arguably the worst in football. And you ignore Steve Young, Trent Dilpher, and Ron Jaworski's critical analysis of the Offensive Line. And when you IGNORE the holes on the Defensive line and make a straight B line to making Vick the scapegoat, you not only lose credibility but you sound like an Idiot.— Minnesota VICKings
- Vick LOST FIVE GAMES IN A ROW..Vick would absolutely have lost today also, so don't even think about blaming the kid Foles in his first ever start....Troy Aikman was 0-16 with Cowboys in his FIRST SEASON..0-16...now Aikman won THREE SUPERBOWLS and is the hall-of Fame.....so give the kid Foles more at least a full season before judging him..— jim35
- The Eagles are bad, but the brain-dead WIP listenership is worse.— p-diddy
- Vick still stinks, Vick was 11-17 and lost FIVE GAMES IN A ROW...this was Foles FIRST START EVER in the NFL, so don't compare Vick's $100 million failure, to Foles who is a raw rookie in his FIRST GAME EVER....Troy Aikman was 0-16 in his rookie season, so you can't judge a rookie by until he has at least a full season.— jim35
- Firing Andy Reid now gives the Eagles a head start on their coaching search before the end of the season when other teams will also be getting rid of their coaches. If they do so now, they can have Marty as an interim until the end of the season while the team openly starts making inquiries to fill their coaching vacancy ahead of anyone else. That will give them a head start to talk to Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher or any other available candidates before someone else does.— PhillyFanInLA
- Please Mr. Lurie. Fire the coaching staff. I'm not sure these wouldn't be better off playing without all of this great leadership.— truthfirst
- This is the most overrated collection of Bums I have ever watched play Pro Football. There is no talent to speak of and the few that do have talent have quit giving 100% effort along with the others. They are currently the laughing stock of the NFL. Even the Halftime Show's crew was laughing at the pathetic play by the Eagles today. The future does not look bright, even with Reid and his Clown Coaches removed. You are still left with Howie Doody selecting more Busts for the next 5 years because the Owner looks at $$$ instead of Wins. They did win the Salary Cap Bowl again and thats the bottom line with Lurie! Any prospective Head Coach will report to a GM that doesn't know Football Talent and inherit about 40 of his failed picks! Fly Eagles Fly, on the road to Misery!— cooperhawk
- cooperhawk, THERE IS ONLY 1 THING I CAN SAY - YOU ARE 100% CORRECT. GREAT POST. — bedpan
- This is almost a flashback to the mid-sixties. I keep thinking I need to turn on Jim Leaming tomorrow evening at seven on KYW and watch Eagles Contact.
Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, King Dunlap, Clay Harbor...where do they find these guys?— dasher - To all you idiots that comment that Foles sucks,..Foles=Bobby Hoying,..etc,..all I can say is you people epitomize the wretchedness of Philly sports fans and you are so predictably STUPID. Would you want to play behind this almost college worthy offensive line? And that's what it is, OFFENSIVE. Any rookie QB needs several games to get into game speed,..learn the nuances of a real NFL game, to read blitzes and start to get a feel to the speed of the game at this level. But to try to do so behind a team as pathetic and inept as this squad is,..makes that task even more daunting. So DO NOT blame this kid for making what are typical rookie mistakes. Stop being typical NEGADELPHIA fans and understand what is happening. This team is disintegrating before our eyes but it's not Foles' fault in any way. This ineptitude starts with Reid and ends with the lack of heart from the players. Foles is thrown into this pathetic mix and you expect miracles out of him with this line and play calling. GET REAL.— DCDiver
- The offensive line is the biggest problem, without a doubt. Even with all the guys back though the Birds wouldn't be winning the Super Bowl this year and people need to stop kidding themselves. Vick fan's need to stop kidding themselves. They have been waiting 11 years for the elite QB to become elite. The kid is tough, I will give you that and exciting, but not elite. The Birds D is not even close to being good enough to carry this team anywhere even if the offensive line was healthy. Well I hope Coach Reid is happy in San Diego because Birds fans are going to be happy he is their next year.— golson@florida
