Raise your hand if you’re excited about the Eagles possibly clawing their way back to .500 Sunday with a win over the Redskins. Thought so.
Spare us any talk of salvaging the season. That went out the window about the time the Eagles started specializing in giving away fourth-quarter leads. That’s when this season was lost. That’s when the dream season turned into a nightmare.
Sure, the Eagles want to win four straight, climb to .500 and look ahead to next year. That’s easy for them. It’s not as easy for the fans. The season ended early in the fourth quarter last week when we learned the Jets had gone belly-up against the Giants, eliminating the Birds from any possible playoff contention.
I don’t care if LeSean McCoy breaks any more records. I don’t care if Michael Vick throws five touchdown passes. It was all those turnovers early in the year – as well as another three weeks when he was MIA because of bum ribs – that direly cost this team.
Andy Reid, Joe Banner and Jeff Lurie no doubt will start to trot out the issues of the lockout, not having mini-camps, all the new faces – both players and coaches – along with an abbreviated training camp, as the reasons for the team’s horrible start.
I’m not buying. They knew all about the lockout and the effect it might have. That didn't stop them from handing the keys to their defense to an untested offensive line coach.
The Eagles are not going to the playoffs. The dream season was a mess. End of story.
And even with all that, I still like them to take care of business against the ‘Skins.
Make it Eagles 34, Redskins 16. Time’s still yours, Andy. At least for another year. How ‘bout this time when we say ‘all in,’ we actually mean for the first five weeks as well.
Last Week: The Birds were impressive for the third straight week in taking care of their end of the bargain vs. the Cowboys. Unfortunately, the Jets came up lame in the early game, meaning the Eagles were eliminated just as their game was beginning. That and the injury to Cowboys QB Tony Romo in their first series means it’s hard what exactly to take out of the game. Give the Eagles credit, however, for showing up and playing hard even after they were eliminated.
Season Record: Can I make the same excuses as the Eagles? I’ve gotten on a bit of a roll, just as the Birds have, as the curtain comes down on the most disappointing season in memory. Last week’s win pushed my mark to 4-11. Of course the Eagles climbed to 7-8 and need a win over the Redskins to finish the season at .500, a less than dream season of 8-8.
And one final thought: If it was up to me, Reid would be out of here. It was his arrogance in promoting Castillo, then not realizing his defense was a mess in the first half of the season, that sunk this team. But it says here that Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner continue to drink the Koo-Aid, and Reid and Castillo are both back next year.
Which leads me to Reid’s first post-game press conference after the season opener.
“I have to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays.”
Bet the house on it.
Happy New Year!
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