Well, as I wrote earlier in the day, now former defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was the least of the problems for the struggling Eagles. The Atlanta Falcons proved that today. Until the late part of the game, when it was already decided, I can't remember a time when the Eagles' defense was able to stop the Falcons' offense. Atlanta's first drive of the game lasted almost 9 minutes and their second drive propelled them to a 14-0 lead when the Eagles' offense had only possessed the ball for three plays. Philly had to play catch-up seemingly from the first snap of the game on their way to a 30-17 defeat.
Rumor now has it that that head coach Andy Reid is thinking about benching Pro Bowl-quarterback Michael Vick in favor of rookie back-up Nick Foles. Reid must be on a choke collar if he's even thinking about doing that. The Eagles are 3-4, just fired their defensive coordinator a couple weeks ago scapegoating him as the central problem to the team. After a bye week, that defense had a new leader and allowed the Falcons to score on their first six possessions. The Eagles' defense didn't stop Atlanta's offense until the 4th quarter. So much for the Juan Castillo being the club's primary problem. Now it's Vick's turn. While his performance on Sunday against the Falcons wasn't Hall-of-Fame worthy, the guy had a decent game, completing 21 of 35 pass attempts (60.0%) for 191 yards and a touchdown for a quarterback rating of 84.3. He also ran the ball 7 times for 42 yards (6.0 per/). He didn't turn the ball over, which had been one of the team's Achilles heels this season. But I don't care how Andy Reid spins it, when his defense is unable to stop the opposing offense until midway in the 4th quarter, he can't place the blame on his quarterback or on the defensive coordinator he fired a couple weeks ago.
I wrote this following the Eagles loss two weeks ago to Detroit. The main problem with this team wasn't defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and it isn't starting quarterback Michael Vick. The problem is up front, on both the offensive and defensive lines. The Eagles defense had zero sacks in their three games leading up to the one today and if not for sacking Matt Ryan twice during garbage time in the 4th quarter today, would have gone four straight games without one. Ryan had more time to stand around in the pocket and find open receivers than it takes to read "War & Peace." The secondary allowed a number of big plays today, but when there's no pressure being exerted by the front seven on the quarterback, that makes the secondary's job all the more difficult. It honestly looked at times like Atlanta's offense was playing a high school defense.
On the offensive side of the ball, Vick has been pressured and hit more than any other quarterback in the league this year. Sure, some of those hits came at the expense of him holding onto the ball too long, but most of them were because of a young, inexperienced line not blocking well. It isn't just in the passing game that the big uglies aren't doing a sufficient job. Look at Pro-Bowl running back LeSean McCoy's numbers this year. In today's game, he ran the ball 16 times for only 45 yards (2.8 per/). He was initially hit behind the line of scrimmage on six of those sixteen carries (37.5%). This wasn't an aberration. For the year now, LeSean McCoy has rushed the ball 127 times for 504 yards, an average of just 3.97 per carry. Last year, McCoy rushed for 1,309 yards on 273 carries - an average of 4.8 per carry. The year before that, he rushed it 207 times for 1,080 yards - 5.2 per attempt. He's averaging about one yard less per carry this year than the past couple years. It's not like the guy's skills suddenly vanished. He's only 24 years old.
I've got news for Andy Reid. His defense is going to continue getting lit up if the front seven continues to not pressure opposing quarterbacks and his offense is going to continue struggling if the line can't protect the quarterback and/or open lanes for the tailbacks. The way things are going, Reid may have to look in the mirror and fire himself before too long.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=321028021
Rumor now has it that that head coach Andy Reid is thinking about benching Pro Bowl-quarterback Michael Vick in favor of rookie back-up Nick Foles. Reid must be on a choke collar if he's even thinking about doing that. The Eagles are 3-4, just fired their defensive coordinator a couple weeks ago scapegoating him as the central problem to the team. After a bye week, that defense had a new leader and allowed the Falcons to score on their first six possessions. The Eagles' defense didn't stop Atlanta's offense until the 4th quarter. So much for the Juan Castillo being the club's primary problem. Now it's Vick's turn. While his performance on Sunday against the Falcons wasn't Hall-of-Fame worthy, the guy had a decent game, completing 21 of 35 pass attempts (60.0%) for 191 yards and a touchdown for a quarterback rating of 84.3. He also ran the ball 7 times for 42 yards (6.0 per/). He didn't turn the ball over, which had been one of the team's Achilles heels this season. But I don't care how Andy Reid spins it, when his defense is unable to stop the opposing offense until midway in the 4th quarter, he can't place the blame on his quarterback or on the defensive coordinator he fired a couple weeks ago.
I wrote this following the Eagles loss two weeks ago to Detroit. The main problem with this team wasn't defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and it isn't starting quarterback Michael Vick. The problem is up front, on both the offensive and defensive lines. The Eagles defense had zero sacks in their three games leading up to the one today and if not for sacking Matt Ryan twice during garbage time in the 4th quarter today, would have gone four straight games without one. Ryan had more time to stand around in the pocket and find open receivers than it takes to read "War & Peace." The secondary allowed a number of big plays today, but when there's no pressure being exerted by the front seven on the quarterback, that makes the secondary's job all the more difficult. It honestly looked at times like Atlanta's offense was playing a high school defense.
On the offensive side of the ball, Vick has been pressured and hit more than any other quarterback in the league this year. Sure, some of those hits came at the expense of him holding onto the ball too long, but most of them were because of a young, inexperienced line not blocking well. It isn't just in the passing game that the big uglies aren't doing a sufficient job. Look at Pro-Bowl running back LeSean McCoy's numbers this year. In today's game, he ran the ball 16 times for only 45 yards (2.8 per/). He was initially hit behind the line of scrimmage on six of those sixteen carries (37.5%). This wasn't an aberration. For the year now, LeSean McCoy has rushed the ball 127 times for 504 yards, an average of just 3.97 per carry. Last year, McCoy rushed for 1,309 yards on 273 carries - an average of 4.8 per carry. The year before that, he rushed it 207 times for 1,080 yards - 5.2 per attempt. He's averaging about one yard less per carry this year than the past couple years. It's not like the guy's skills suddenly vanished. He's only 24 years old.
I've got news for Andy Reid. His defense is going to continue getting lit up if the front seven continues to not pressure opposing quarterbacks and his offense is going to continue struggling if the line can't protect the quarterback and/or open lanes for the tailbacks. The way things are going, Reid may have to look in the mirror and fire himself before too long.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=321028021
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