Andy bashers take a holiday
Andy Reid's day in Minneapolis was typical.
Andy bashers take a holiday
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
At the point where Westbrook caught the 71-yard screen pass for a touchdown, the Eagles has called about 68 percent passes and 32 percent runs. When they are losing, these are the kinds of numbers that get Reid barbecued. It is only a few play calls away from the sainted concept of balance, but people here insist that those play calls are the holy grail. Well, he wasn't balanced yesterday. So why aren't the Balance Police out in force?
Because it was never about the play-calling, except in the most extreme cases. It is about the players. Most of all,this was about a defense that tightened up at halftime and smothered Minnesota. On the other side of the ball, it was about Eagles receivers holding on to the ball and, especially, it was about Donovan McNabb delivering the ball under pressure. He did turn it over twice, and that can get you beat against a better offensive team, but McNabb played a tough game and absorbed a lot of punishment and functioned well overall.
It is the players, not the play-calls.
Comments (101)
Comment removed.
He did a good job and the players did a good job of executing. The next opponent is going to be the real challenge for Ried's play calling/game prep ability. We just played them and they have a coach that knows our schemes better than anyone. I would have like to see buckhalter get more carries. I think he is playing the best of any eagle running back right now. He has something to prove and I hope he gets some touches next week. Also I likethe 3rd string big fullback like kid. I hope the eagels use him this week as well against the giants. Imagine the eagles having first and goal from the 4 and come out in double tight power eye with buckhalter at halfback, klecko and the big white guy as the power men. Reid will do the best he can I am sure. Hopefully he gets creative at least with the personnel packages. The Giants know us better than anyone and we should know them the same. I know the defence and Big Jim Johnson will be there. I know D-Mac is bringing his A-game as well. If Westy stays healthy this could be something special in the making. GO BIRDS.— Zues- We all knew going in that they weren't gonna run on the Vikes...they had to throw it and they did. The frustrating thing is that Andy passes 70% of the time against everybody...where is the game-planning there. And Westbrook gets 90% of those plays, so the opposition never really has to guess what's coming. This was a nice win and I'm gonna enjoy it, but unless we beat the Giants this week, it will be a fairly disappointing year. Hey, maybe we ARE spoiled.— mickeyb4boyle
- why are people saying that the TD was their first screen? There was one in the first quarter that he missed Westbrook on off his helmet. Why do people forget these stupid little details?— Bake McBride
- Rich, let me join the chorus of your longtime fans who think you're dead wrong on this one. The problem has not been that our WRs aren't talented enough to catch the ball when 65% of the plays are pass plays. The problem has been that (a) our QB can not consistently put the ball where it's supposed to go; and (b) YOU JUST DON'T WIN IN THE NFL WITH THAT KIND OF PLAY SELECTION!!!— PhightinPhan
- jwatson, you obviously were not watching yesterday. McNabb completed 68% of his passes with a strong pass rush in his face. He threw about 4 bad passes and I believe only 1 of them was a 'ground ball'. Agree that Buck needs more touches - I've been screaming all year for this and still am. Re McNabb, the answer is the same - he does not have enough WR/TE 'weapons' or red-zone players to go to. It's been this way his entire career with exception of T.O. (all due respect to Chad Lewis). PhilCali— PhilCali
- My only complaint yesterday was the lack of use of Buc..... Westbrook, is obviously not himself......so why not let Buc grind them down? He is a better power guy anyway. Buc could have softened them up for Bwest...— MrFunny
- It was a good win, and I don't think they should have ran more..except the THIRD AND SHORT PLAYS. I'm sick of us passing on 3rd and short, we need to either run or sneak on those plays. I mean really we are terrible on 3rd and short, one of the worst teams in the league. Thats really where we need to run more. And not those dumb late handoff runs, or draw plays. It needs to be a direct snap, or off tackle, or sneak!— nmr82
- It was a good win, and I don't think they should have ran more..except the THIRD AND SHORT PLAYS. I'm sick of us passing on 3rd and short, we need to either run or sneak on those plays. I mean really we are terrible on 3rd and short, one of the worst teams in the league. Thats really where we need to run more. And not those dumb late handoff runs, or draw plays. It needs to be a direct snap, or off tackle, or sneak!— nmr82
It's time to stop slamming Reid and McNabb and concentrate on beating the Giants next weekend and take one game at a time after that. We could end up in the SuperBowl. We could even win it--after everyone thought it was hopeless for them to get this far. Still I think some of you will find something to whine about even if the Eagles end up SuperBowl champions.— PattyJo- jwatson--deer in headlights, what f'n game were you watching?— phillyfanEugene
- The screen worked so well because they didn't run it until the big play. But needed to trap or screen at that Jared Allen, he was in the backfield all day. And yes, where was Buck?— boroughboy
- Rich, your premise is flawed in several regards. The problenm is not balance, per se, but playcalling was- and continues to be- a major issue. Yes, Rich, the Eagles passed considerably more than they ran yesterday, perhaps because the Vikings had the BEST RUN DEFENSE IN THE NFL, and packed the box time after time. However, unlike previous disatsters, MorningReid never completely abanndoned the run, as he/they did against, say, Washington, when they threw I believe 16 consecutive passes at one point (this despite the fact that the Redskins basically used nickel coverage as their base defense, daring the Eagles to run), leading to 3-and-out after 3-and-out, and exhausting the Birds' best weapon, the defense. Another aspect of playcalling regards getting the ball to players who can do something with it. Andy has stubbornly insisted, prior to last week, on including LJ Smith in the offense. Replacing him with someone marginally slower, but who can actually catach, and surprise, surprise, the Eagles have added another element to their offensive game, creating another problem for defenses to honor and easing the pressure/coverage on other receivers. Also in regards to playcalling, Andy has shown, for the second time in 3 weeks, a surprising lack of confidence in the offense by choosing to punt on a fourth and inches in a relatively neutral part of the field. Of course, one can point to their earlier failure to convert/score in numerous short-yardage situations at the goal line (though they too had much to do with terrible play-calls) but really, you can't EXPECT yuor road-grading o-line, or your fullback-sized QB to pick up a few inches, and create a huge momentum/ego boost at the same time? And, no we'll never know who decided to throw the ball forty yards downfield when the Vikings defense was completely out of place on a third and 1, but it, too was a horrible decision/call- there was an opening the size of Roosevelt Blvd in the middle of the field.
- But yesterday was yesterday, and we've already won in Jersey once this year, so bring on the Giants!
- this is the worst article in football. no one expected him to run the ball a lot. Your paper even advised that this was not the game to have "balance." MN has a much better run defense than ny and, o fcourse, we beat ny the last time out. it's not about having balance every game, it's about having the right game plan based on your opponent. many of the game plans this year sucked, everyone blames mcnabb for the slow starts, but it also has to do with the crappy scripted plays each game.— dreinterests
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
