Your Monday Afternoon Roundup
I was so confident yesterday when I tweeted, at around 4:22 p.m., “We know how this ends.”
I bring that up not to pat myself on the back (because I’d guess that 90% of you felt the same way), but to point out just how damn predictable and miserable Eagles fandom has become.
Like, we all knew the Lions were going to score when they got the ball down 10, right? We knew they were going to make it close.
We knew, too, that the Eagles would make perplexing play calls when they got the ball back, with a three-point lead, with 3:32 to play. The Lions had only two of their timeouts remaining, and even just one first down would have nearly sealed the deal for the Eagles. Instead: six-yard pass to LeSean McCoy… no-gain run by Bryce Brown… incomplete pass, with Vick in shotgun, on third down.
Think about that: with three and a half minutes to play and a three point lead, the Eagles didn’t once run the ball with one of the best running backs in the league. That’s mind-boggling. That’s something an idiot does in Madden. Andy Reid, too.
We knew the Lions were going to tie the game. And we knew that the Eagles would do something stupid in overtime (although not even the most hardened prick could have expected them to go backwards 21 yards and punt from their own end zone).
And we knew what would happen next.
We knew how it would end.
So then why, why do people still defend Andy Reid? This stuff has been happening for 14 years. Few Eagles losses are like the ones last week against the Steelers– an understandable road loss to a tough team. It seems like most are the result of either poor clock management, baffling play calls, or the team being woefully underprepared. Or combination of those things. Plus, there are all those times where an analyst points out how Eagles – defenders, specifically – screw up the most basic of fundamentals.
All of that is coaching, and it's nothing new for the Eagles.
If I sound like I’m mad– I’m not. I’m 100% apathetic. I’m just confused how after 14 years of the same bullshit, we’re still in this position. It’s like Groundhog Day, only Reid never learns from his mistakes, never learns to avoid Ned Ryerson, never learns to play the piano… never does anything different. He just sees the same set of stimuli and reacts the exact. same. way, seemingly unaware of the lousy results. I gotta do a better job, as coaches we have to learn from that. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?! [Now I’m mad.] How have you not learned from that by now?
This isn’t even fun anymore. For two years now, I’ve been watching the Eagles just to see how they fuck up. And that sucks.
Let’s hit it!
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The roundup:
– Did Marcus Hayes write a ridiculous sonnet about the Eagles game? He did: [Philly.com]
A little thing.
A big lost possession.
A huge lost home game.
"We're in a position where you're losing games at home," Avant said. "You want to win all your home games and be 50 percent on the road. That's 12-4."
Well, 12-4 seems out of the question.
That would mean a 9-1 finish.
That would almost certainly mean a win in 2 weeks against undefeated Atlanta and probably running the table in the final five games against the NFC East. They're 1-0 in the division, a two-point win over the Giants.
Their biggest win to date.
Chugging along averaging almost three turnovers a game, worst in the conference, another 8-8 finish seems more likely.
Five hundred, for a team with Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jason Babin, Trent Cole, Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Oh, and franchise coach Andy Reid.
Talk about embarrassing.
Yeah, talk about embarrassing.
– Is anyone else getting tired of Hunter Pence’s pre-game speeches? Last week we told you about his rousing speech before Game 3 that, apparently, spurred the Giants on to victory. Last night he was at it again, firing his teammates up in the dugout. Funny how he never gave speeches here.
– The Eagles went completely overboard with the pink thing yesterday, outlining the end zones and midfield logos. As we’ve talked about before on this site, the whole Pink thing is a sham. The NFL donates only 5% of proceeds to charity, but profits millions.
– Nnamdi Asomugha somewhat blamed Juan Castillo’s late-game playcalling for the Eagles’ loss.
– A caller to the WIP Morning Show with an epic rant.
– Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen tailgated at the Eagles game yesterday, according to reader Christian:
– And now, a drunk lady on the subway after the Birds game sings about the Flyers, courtesy of reader Daniel.