Flipping the Bird - A Post-Mortem Recap of the Sinking Ship Philadelphia Eagles

Well, the Eagles free fall continued last night. Swept by the Dallas Cowboys for the first time in a long time that I can remember and on their worst losing streak since I think the 1960's. Obviously the players of today have nothing to do with the those players of yesteryear, but the fact remains the Eagles stink. It is a very painful admission for me. However, I was able to garner some joy out of last night's game as it was exciting and nice for Sunday Night Football to finally get a game that came down to the wire practically.

Let's first look at the attrition of the Eagles:

Vick - Concussed, still can't do basic math.

McCoy - Concussed, can do math but reading comprehension is down

Jason Babin - Cut. He had more success running with the bulls in the summer

Desean Jackson - Broke every single rib in his body

Jason Peters - Achilles ruptured. Was using a walker that he slipped in and ruptured it again. He may not be a senior citizen, but he needs Life Alert

Todd Herremans - Tore something crucial for him to finish the season

Danny Watkins - His pride hurts. Thinks being a football player is equal to being a fireman.

Jason Kelce - His giant beard should be even gianter next year when he returns

King Dunlap - He has been better, but he needs his body to be 100% healthy just to be okay at his size.

Asante Samuel - Traded in the off-season. Just helped his defense pick off Drew Brees 5 times

Juan Castillo - Had the 11th ranked defense and was fired. Ever since, opposing quarterbacks have had their best games of the season and posting near perfect QB rankings

Jim Washburn - Defensive line coach was fired this morning.

Howard Mudd - Offensive line coach who already committed to retiring at the end of the year, two years after he was coaxed out of retirement by the Eagles.

Andy Reid - Already has 9 losses, and the Eagles owner already stated that up to 8 losses is not acceptable. Oh and his son died.

This list is just compiled off the top of my head. I have seen that Colt Anderson on special teams has been in and out, and he is pretty much all I ever notice on that unit anyways. The team has had several second or third stringers step in and play like garbage but seem to be kind of jelling now. I think Demarcus Ware and some of the other obscenely large defensive linemen of the Cowboys should have had their way with Nick Foles and the run game of the Eagles, but they held up. King Dunlap let Ware around him in one crucial play where Foles fumbled the ball and came up holding his arm. The announcers noted that Dunlap (or Dunlop as the horrible Chris Collinsworth called him) had a bad knee. This is why Dunlap needs to be 100%. A weak King makes Foles at risk to get hit. And when he did get his arm whacked, the fumble was recovered, but Foles clearly had a disturbing pain in his arm. This is one of the bigger concerns to me.

Foles is much taller than Vick and I think that helps his downfield throwing capability as well as his patience in not running away as the pocket begins to collapse. I realize now that Vick HAD to run just to continue to see his plays. And defenses knew that. However, Foles is nowhere near as mobile as a 32 year old Vick but is gaining valuable experience. His play calling and decisions kept the team in that game all night. However, when his arm got hit and he came up holding it, I suddenly realized something about him - The dude is skin and bones. He has taken some massive hits in his time as the lead quarterback, but when one whole body is hit the pressure and pain is spread across his longer frame. The second his arm got whacked I feared he was hurt. I am sure many of you would wince whenever anybody got a hit on Vick, whether it be his whole body or one part. Perhaps that will help Foles prepare to get some muscle on to help absorb these kinds of blows.

And what to do with the running back situation? Andy Reid loves to pass, but the Eagles ran Bryce Brown down the throats of the Cowboys and Panthers. I know he fumbled, but Adrien Peterson used to that, too. Last night's fumble was certainly more painful to the game outcome, but he looked great. I felt like McCoy this year has had trouble getting up to the line of scrimmage, but when he could get there, he was good. Brown is finding every way to get past the line and get, as Andy Reid said, "every stinking yard." It almost felt like once Peters went down (insert erectile dysfunction joke here) McCoy's season expectations were tempered. There were many Lesean highlights last year that had Peters with him at the end of the play. Meanwhile, Bryce Brown gets in, and he almost can see 3 seconds into the future and knows how certain portions of his offensive line (all backups now) will react. It is only two games of production, but the skills he has showed have far outnumbered what McCoy has shown all year.

So, back to the game. My overall thoughts was that it was actually a fun game to watch. The fumble return for a touchdown made me feel like perhaps the game was still within reach. However, the Cowboys got another Dez Bryant touchdown (propelling YOUR FAVORITE blog's fantasy football team to a win) and the game seemed lost. I hung on, though, as I wanted to see what the reaction from this team would be. Rookies and imported free agent/trade personnel were in, and perhaps this newer lifeblood would react differently than the list of veterans who were now out. Foles had a lot of time to throw, and he made some great plays along with Brown. The Cowboys were playing foot to the throat, and I think they maintained themselves pretty well for what the offensive unit is right now and this season. The defense made some great stands. I never thought I would see the era when the Eagles secondary was weak though. However, all three parts of the defense held their own in the last half of the fourth quarter. Especially when the Cowboys were trying to run out the clock on their second to last possession. It was 3rd and something, and the clock had maybe hit the one minute mark. Murray up the middle, into a crowd of Eagles and Cowboys. The crowd opens up to reveal #95 Mychal Kendricks picking up Murray by the legs and delivering a Double A spinebuster that was felt throughout all of Arlington. Then, on the ensuing punt, Demarus Johnson returned the third longest punt in NFL history 98 yards to get the Eagles within a touchdown with 31 seconds left. A two point conversion failed, but at least there is enough tape on file from that play to help Foles see why he missed it. No matter, as the following on-side kick attempt was recovered by the Cowboys and the Eagles were done.

Coming up next week is the "no longer considered 'upstart'" Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I wrote back in April the following about this game:

Week 14: Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ah the Bucs. A team that thinks it is better than what they truly are. Last relevant when Jeff Garcia was their QB, in my opinion. Josh Freeman showed some potential 2 years ago, and the coaching philosophy changed to a more pass-happy offense thinking he could carry the burden. Hard for a second year guy to do that when he has garbage to throw to. Now the Bucs have gone on a spending spree and have a new coach. New coaches on any level combined with free-agent spending out the wazoo nets you an 8-8 record (see 2011, Eagles). I think the Bucs will spend the week discussing how they are tired of being disrespected by the media and will be looking to take down the charging Eagles. The Bucs will want to play spoiler by this point. I will probably have traded for Vincent Jackson well before this game, get mad at his (lack of) production, and sit him against the Eagles, where he will have his best game of the year. Still, I do not see this year's version of the Eagles losing two games in a row, ever. The Eagles bounce back and completely knock the snot out of Tampa Bay. Eagles 42, Buccaneers 13 (10-3)

Wow. How much of a loyally blind fan am I? The Eagles are 3-9, lost 8 in a row, and are looking at being 3-10. The Bucs meanhwile appear to be one of the potential playoff teams. They just got shut down by the Broncos, and will host the Eagles. The Eagles are now unfortunately one of those "just what the doctor ordered" kind of teams. The Eagles stand no chance, unless the passing game can be more productive. The secondary is supposed to be weak while their run defense is tops. This is where we will find out what Bryce Brown is really made of and what Nick Foles could really do. I just don't see the Eagles having enough experience as a whole with the younger players to overcome a probably more hostile environment in Tampa than they encountered in Dallas (i.e., Arlington). Let's say the Bucs struggle defending the Eagles passing game, good days from Riley Cooper and Maclin, but most likely better games from Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. Buccaneers 34, Eagles 24. (3-10).