Don't blame youth for Eagles' flop

First, it was because they were new. Now, it’s because they’re young up the middle. What’s going to be Andy Reid’s next excuse for the disappointing way his team has played this season? The dog ate my playbook?

Reid usually offers little in the way of an explanation after defeats beyond his two usual go-to lines, “I gotta do a better job,” and “I gotta put my players in better position to make plays.” But he has grabbed on to this youth excuse with real gusto this past week.

It’s almost as if some spin doctor in the organization came to him and said, “OK, if you want to keep your job, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to blame it all on youth from here on in. Anybody asks you about anything, play the youth card. A busted coverage that results in a touchdown? ‘We’re young.’ A half-dozen missed tackles on a 40-yard run? ‘We’re young.’ Doughnuts missing from the cupboard? ‘We’re young.’ That’ll be your story and you need to stick to it.”

“That’s the way the NFL works today,” Reid said the other day. “You’re going to have changeover ... I understood that we were going to be young up the middle, and our primary concern is to ensure that we’re going to continue to get better. So that’s what we’re working on doing.”

The only problem with the we’re-too-young excuse is that it’s a bunch of bull. Youth doesn’t seem to be a problem for his offensive line, which has two rookie starters and yet has given up just 21 sacks and is helping LeSean McCoy make a serious run for the NFL rushing title. The two quarterbacks that have combined for the Eagles’ league-high 22 interceptions have a total of 17 years of NFL experience. Too young? How about too careless.

Look around the league. Lots of teams have young players in critical roles. The question that needs to be asked is whether the young players the Eagles have at linebacker and safety are good enough.

They are young up the middle by the team’s own choosing. They could have brought in a veteran middle linebacker this summer. The Titans’ Stephen Tulloch was there for the picking. But they passed on him, thinking they’d be just fine with an improved pass-rush and their super-duper trio of cornerbacks. They were wrong.

Meanwhile, Tulloch signed with Detroit, where he has helped a Lions defense that finished 21st in the league last year improve to 13th.

The Broncos are leading the AFC West with ex-Eagle Joe Mays as their starting middle linebacker and ex-Eagle Brian Dawkins at safety.

The Browns can’t score to save their lives, but their defense, which is run by former Eagles secondary coach Dick Jauron, is ranked eighth overall and first against the pass with ex-Eagle Chris Gocong as their starting SAM linebacker and Sheldon Brown as their starting right corner.

The 9-3 Ravens, who are third in the league in defense, have starting safety Bernard Pollard, whom the Eagles could have claimed off the waiver wire 3 years ago or signed as a free agent this summer for a fraction of what they paid Vince Young.

Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo simplified the defense after replacing Sean McDermott during the off-season. That was supposed to reduce the learning curve for new and young players. Yet, 12 games into the season, they still are blowing coverages, still are looking bewildered before the snap. Hell, they had 12 men on the field on a kneel-down at the end of the Seattle loss last week. They may be young, but they should be old enough to count.

The Rice way

Three years ago, DeSean Jackson, Matt Forte and Ray Rice were taken in the second round of the 2008 draft — Forte with the 44th overall pick by the Bears, Jackson with the 49th pick by the Eagles and Rice with the 55th pick by the Ravens.

They all have turned out to be outstanding NFL players who have outperformed the modest rookie deals they signed. All of them would like hefty contract extensions. And all of them will be free agents after this season.

But while Forte and Jackson have whined about their inability to get new deals, Rice has kept his mouth shut and has put all of his focus on helping the Ravens get back to the playoffs.

Jackson has let his frustration over his contract situation affect his performance and his attitude, which in turn, will affect what he gets paid next year, by either the Eagles or someone else. He is having the poorest season of his career. Has just one touchdown catch and one 100-yard receiving game in his last 10 starts. Hasn’t had a reception in the red zone since Week 1.

Rice? Well, he rushed for a career-high 204 yards in the Ravens’ 24-10 win over the Browns last week, has 11 touchdowns and is second in the league in yards from scrimmage. And he is dealing just fine with his contract situation.

“I just live by the creed of, ‘If you take care of what you’ve got to take care of on the field, then you’ll be taken care of,’ ” the Rutgers product said. “I just think that’s the only way to go about it. Talking and complaining about it are not going to get you paid. Everybody knows that.

“I’m still under contract anyhow, so as the season nears an end, obviously you get more into that stuff. But [you have to] put the personal stuff aside. You’re winning and you’re on a winning team. Obviously, you’re playing for guys like Ray Lewis and the veterans, and you think about everything that they’ve been through. You’re trying to get those guys to the Promised Land. So I’m able to easily block that stuff out, put my ego aside and try to do everything I can for the team.”

Said Ravens coach John Harbaugh: “That’s exactly how he’s approached it. That’s what you hope all the guys would do. It’s going to work out the way it’s going to work out. There are a lot of things that go into it, but he understands that playing well, winning and being a leader and team player is not just the right thing to do, but it’s also the path that leads towards the most success financially as well.”

 McCoy by the numbers

LeSean McCoy is second in the league in rushing with 1,134 yards and 12 touchdowns. A breakdown of his season by quarter and by down:

                  Att.    Yds.  TD   Avg.
1st quarter  54     257    2     4.8
2nd quarter 58     248    4     4.3
3rd quarter  59     334    4     5.7
4th quarter  44     295    2     6.7
1st down    107    503    4     4.7
2nd down    84     537    7     6.4
3rd down    20      89     1      4.4
4th down     4        5      0     1.2

- McCoy is averaging 6.1 yards per carry in the second half and 4.5 in the first half.