Welcome to my first ever "New Feature" Weekly entry. Starting this week, I will address at least one (1) Eagles topic. It may or may not be what you expect, but I will try to react to what I may have seen in a game, what I hear on a radio, a roster move, a thought about a certain player, whatever that may seem relevant in some way to the week that was for the Eagles.
So, in two weeks time we will all wake up to see that the universe imploded after the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys played to a 0-0 tie in the Wednesday night opener. That must mean we are halfway through the preseason. Fantasy drafts are running wild or perhaps have already been done. I have seen the majority of each Eagles' preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. It is tricky to gauge where this team is at. We in Philadelphia are spoiled in that we always get to read that our team is typically in the top 10 at the lowest to finish highly every year for several years now, over a decade actually. As resident of the Philadelphia area, like most of us, we are also tortured for 17 weeks with that feeling of "when will the season end."
This year is no different. So many so called experts (including myself) picked the Eagles to get to and possibly win the Super Bowl. That would be a dream come true of mine (I know, how could I have a dream that involves other people doing all the work?). Before the preseason, people would constantly call in on the radio and say how wild this season is going to be and the Eagles will go far. We got everything shored up, blah blah blah. Now it seems like probably half the fans have already found the panic button and are dusting it off after putting it away earlier this summer when the Phillies' season ended prematurely. The following pictures show why the city is ruffling their feathers at this team:
Andy Reid's son died at the age of 29...at his hotel room at training camp. He coached 4 days later.
Eagles' defenders stand around and/or enjoy a slip a slide without the slip'n-slide while a Steeler can't believe how free he is to run.
Vick is once again injured after having one of his linemen pushed back in the second series (which didn't occur until the second quarter).
I can almost feel a bruise develop on my ribs as well when I replay Vick taking this hit.
Now, I know it is only the preseason, and despite the hiccups above, the Eagles are undefeated in the preseason. Many great teams have won the preseason, and many have lost the preseason, only to become Super Bowl winning or Super Bowl caliber teams. I do not put much stock in the dreck the Eagles put out there during the starters' series, as why tip your hand of things to come in the season. Unfortunately, I don't think many of us here in the Philadelphia area have much hope for seeing something different. What I do have hope for, is the backup quarterback position.
Nick Foles, the Eagles' third round pick out of Arizona has taken every oppurtunity he has had to the fullest. There is another backup who was drafted last year, Mike Kafka, who is still learning how to lace up his cleats in the NFL. Foles came in during the first preseason game in the third quarter. He drove the Eagles half way down the field and then threw a bomb/broken play combination to score a nice exciting touchdown. The defense held back the Steelers again and Foles got the ball back a little further away than midfield. One play, one long pass, and one great piece of running/field management by his receiver and Foles had 2 touchdown passes in one quarter. Yeah yeah, it was against backups, but he too is a backup playing with backups.
The second game, Vick went down early and it looked really bad. Fortunately he only has bruised ribs, but as somebody who has had that before it is certainly no picnic. Foles came in, had an interception but it was almost acceptable as he went on to actually dominate the Patriots defense thereafter with the starters catching passes and taking handoffs from him. Yeah yeah, the Patriots were playing their third game in 20 days and their coach rested most of the starters, but he was still a backup, playing marvelously with the starters.
As I said in a post two months ago, having your starting quarterback abruptly go down in flames ruins a season. You get the backup in there to play with starters and the chemistry is gone. There are not many career back up quarterbacks like Charlie Batch anymore. However a guy like Charlie Batch is 5-2 in his starts and has also filled in admirably when given the chance mid-game. Foles came in looking like he was already a perfect fit for the system. Foles had such better poise and repoire with the starters than the awkwardly bald Mike Kafka ever had last year when he came in to fill in for Vince Young. Foles is a rookie and that may be a strike against him, and many websites still have him as the third QB on their depth charts.
Andy Reid himself stated earlier this week that he never had a backup quarterback like this in any of his years in the league. Keep in mind, he has had notorious backups Kevin Kolb, Vince Young, Bubby Brister, Ty and Coy Detmer, Mike MacMahon and decent backups who filled in admirable like A.J. Feely and Jeff Garcia.
I certainly hope that Foles wins the primary backup job. I think I see the future with this kid. And Reid has long been one to bring in backups and ship them out. In fact, most players who leave the Eagles go on to fail (minus some cornerbacks/safeties, and one or two veteran linebackers). Kevin Kolb, who some may say was never given the chance, failed miserably in Arizona. I know he is still in the quarterback competition in Arizona, but when you are touted so highly and are offered an extension without playing a snap you should not be battling the unknown John Skelton. I will never forget the first snap I ever saw Kolb take in a preseason game - he was looking to his right shouting orders and suddenly the ball is hiked up in the air and bounces off his chest. Andy Reid was a Kolb guy all the way.
And now we have Nick Foles, who needs to win the backup role now. Why? Because it will be easier to develop with the second team and tweener first team players to handle the speed and intensity. I am sure that there will be games he has to step in to complete (and hopefully not step in to start). I would rather he take the time to develop his skill set. I think stepping in mid-game is harder than starting. You should always be prepared to play as a good backup, and he knows he is bottom of the totem pole in the organization right now and hopefully he can and will be fighting for his right to be considered near the top.
People, after seeing less than one full game's worth of action from Foles, are already calling for the end of Vick. I don't quite think that yet. If Vick can take us all the way into the post-season, win a game, and/or something extra special, he deserves to stay. Fall short of that, and it's time Andy Reid rolls with Foles.
This one is for the birds.
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