Eagles blow the bye
Vikings 24, Eagles 14
Eagles blow the bye
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
What junk.
What a blown opportunity.
And what a sobering revelation.
To play a game like the Eagles played last night against the going-nowhere/Joe Webb-quarterbacked Minnesota Vikings was to disparage everything they had accomplished so far in winning the NFC East. It was the kind of game that Andy Reid-coach teams have not tended to play over the years. It was, like many things this season, new ground.
That the 24-14 loss killed their chances of getting a bye in the first round of the playoffs is obvious. That Michael Vick continues to take a physical beating, and has gone through another stretch of subpar play as a result of that beating, is also plain. Those will be the main topics of conversation as the Eagles begin to ponder their post-season fate.
But the defense is the real issue.
No one would say this out loud, to be sure. There is a chance that none of them even thought it. But the task seemed obvious. The Eagles had 2 weeks to prove to us, and maybe to themselves, that their’s can be a championship defense. Two weeks.
Before last night’s trip to the tightrope -- now a weekly occurrence for the Eagles, whatever day is game day -- that was the subtext of Eagles-Vikings at Lincoln Financial Field. It was buried in snow and conversation about the postponement of the game but, beneath everything that had been piled so high and deep, there was this defense and there were the questions that have surrounded it all season, and there was Joe Webb quarterbacking last night and Stephen McGee likely quarterbacking on Sunday for Dallas.
Webb and McGee are lower-echelon quarterbacks. They are the kinds of players who should have been able to give this defense an opportunity to establish something on the eve of the post-season, to build a foundation. They had Jamar Chaney playing well at middle linebacker in place of the injured Stewart Bradley, and they had the just-signed Derrick Burgess dressed for the first time in an attempt to inject some life into the four-man pass rush.
They had options. They had a chance to improve upon a record of allowing more than 24 points per game. And, well, that’s gone.
It’s worse than that, though. There was still a chance to salvage something and give the team a chance to recover from three atrocious quarters -- but that didn’t happen, either.
With 8:23 left in the fourth quarter, with the Vikings holding a 17-14 lead, here was the situation: Vikings ball, third-and-11 on the Eagles’ 47-yard line. This was one of those moments that you underline in your notebook. This is one of the places where you wondered, if the Eagles really hoped to make some kind of noise in January, didn’t their defense have to get a stop.
Webb called signals. The Eagles’ moved frantically on their side of the ball, then called timeout in an obvious attempt to get settled. Coming out of the timeout, with Webb in the shotgun, the Eagles’ strategy became clear: a corner blitz from Webb’s right side, with Joselio Hanson bearing down on the young, unpolished quarterback.
But he didn’t get there. Instead, Webb completed a 19-yard pass over the middle to Percy Harvin, with Chaney not quite there in coverage.
And we all continue to wonder, as we have all season.
On the next play, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson broke a run for 27 yards. On the next play, the Eagles’ defense was penalized for having 12 men on the field. On the next play, the Vikings scored the touchdown that made it 24-14 on a 1-yard run by Peterson.
Underlined in the notebook, then.
Failure, underlined.
And now, the Eagles find themselves in the oddest position. Logic suggests they should rest everybody they can rest on Sunday -- and they probably will do just that. But how can they go into the playoffs with this being the last picture of real football from their starters?
Because, yes, it was that bad.
- And your family would not even know you were gone. So you go first little man.
— JonKap - I hate the build of this team no wr's that can attack the ball no defense of pass rush i think we got a better chance of just running an option on every down man we just waisting time in the playoffs I hate I waited til we lost to say it but we suk seriously how can u win with this team— shaad
- I would like to take FULL responsibility for this loss. I didnt do a good enough job sitting on my couch, drinking beer and watching this pathetic game.— Potstirrer
Comment removed.- Great game plan Andy. Do you have any idea of how to design a plan to mitigate the blitzes that come so frequently?
That was rhetorical because it's obvious you don't.— txflyer - Before you know it.......these losers will be calling McDumb from Washington to take over for Dog killer because dog killer will mess up for you fans and you'll want dog killer off the team! Its a one game Playoff and then your done. No Super Bowl losers!— MRD
We'll see what changes happen with the wildcard round.- The defense has been suspect all year. And the Eagles never had full control of the bye anyway. Rest guys now and concentrate on the playoffs. They were bound to come up flat in one of these last two games. It doesn't necessarily mean anything for what happens in two weeks.— s
- This team is going no where again! Reed keeps saying it's my fault that the team is not ready. How can you not be ready for a team that's 5-9 with a playoff bye on the line? How many more years are we ging to listen to this from this coach? We'll never win a Super Bowl with this guy but everyone is content to have an OK team. Not me! Let's have a new beginning. Fire Reed!— dynobear
- Michael who? Great game Joe Webb. Tom Brady is the MVP! Edan Aharony— EdanAharony
- yep im dumbfounded by andy reids lack of perception in regards to making adjustments to the constant blitz by the vikings, same friggin play calling all night.— illuminati_86
- Bahahahahahahahaahahahaha...The house of cards that was presented to all of you Beagle fans with smoke & mirrors is tilting...jump off the puppy-killer / imbecile-coached bandwagon now - I'll catch you!— PhillySteve21
-
- MRD-- We didn't see any posts from you last week after " your " Giants pulled one of the great choke jobs of all time. Now, this week you're a Vikings fan. Take your medication and go back down to mommy's basement and get a good night's rest, LOSER !— Bud Dry
- Gotta Love Karma!!! Philly officials knew they could pressure the NFL into postponing the game "for the sake of fan safety". Everyone knows the real reason Mayor Nutter was out in his Office of Emergency Management cap at 9:30am saying "it was up to the NFL", was because Nutter and the Eagles coaches feared their playoff team members might get hurt on the snow. Looks like a few are hurt tonight.
BTW, Peterson most likely would not have played Sunday. Priceless!!— puzzled2
