NFL: Philadelphia Has Some Soul Searching To Do
A mere three weeks ago the Philadelphia Eagles were being touted as the favorites to come out of the NFC and play in the Super Bowl. This weekend’s fiasco in Dallas leaves fans and the media wondering what now as it pertains to the Eagles. It is astounding how quickly fortunes can change in the NFL. The question is where do the Eagles go from here?
Of course, after another post season let down, quarterback Donovan McNabb is taking the brunt of criticism. Some is certainly justified, he did not play particularly well the past two games against Dallas. There is growing speculation as to whether it is time to cut bait with McNabb and go in a different direction.
While that may be a path worth exploring it will not fix all that ails the Philadelphia Eagles. McNabb did not play particularly well but neither did the Eagles as a whole. The loss against Dallas was a let down across the board in all phases of the game.
One of the reasons McNabb was struggling was receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin were struggling to get open on a consistent basis. When they were getting open McNabb was not getting enough protection from his offensive to sit in the pocket and make throws. McNabb was constantly having to move around in the pocket and buy time with his feet so he could unload the ball.
One begins to wonder how much the Eagles were missing starting center Jamaal Jackson. Prior to blowing his knee out against the Broncos Jackson had not missed a game in over four years. There were two or three instances of botched snaps between McNabb and center Nick Cole, who took over for Jackson, and Dallas seemed to be having some success pushing through the middle of the offensive line. Jackson is the glue that holds the line together and one wonders if his days in Philly are over.
Remember Jackson grabbed the starting gig when then starter Hank Fraley went down with an injury. I would not be surprised if the Eagles go out and find a veteran center to take Jackson’s place next season. Blown ACL injuries can be tricky to come back from, especially for lineman who need that stability and leg drive to be successful. Jackson’s injury is not the only issue with the line though.
The line play, in general, was a bit of a let down this season. Most of that can be attributed to injuries though. The offensive line never got a chance to come together and gel as a group during camp because of nagging injuries. Opening day was the first time the starting offensive line was seeing any live action as a collective whole. The talent is there for the Eagles to have a strong offensive line, they just need it to stay healthy next summer so it come together as unit.
The Eagles are still a relatively young team with a veteran quarterback who probably still has a couple of more good seasons left in him. In fact McNabb and Kevin Curtis are the only two offensive players who have reached the age of 30 on the roster. What the Eagles need to ask themselves is whether the offense needs new direction or is it simply a matter of needing another year for some of the younger players to mature. Players like Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Nick Cole, and Winston Justice were asked to play a lot more than anyone imagined they would coming out of camp.
Andy Reid has already gone on record saying McNabb is the team’s quarterback for next year. Whether or not McNabb ends up being the starter next season remains to be seen. Obviously Reid is not going to sit there and say McNabb is finished in Philly and then try and trade him. That clearly diminishes his trade value.
Around this time last year it was rumored that the Bears had tried to deal for McNabb and were told it would take multiple first round picks to get him. Obviously the Eagles had no interest in dealing him at the time, but, has that since changed? Would they be willing to part with him for a first round pick and some change?
The reticence to deal McNabb lies in the fact they are still not sure as to whether Kevin Kolb is ready to lead this team. Sure Kolb made a nice case for himself when he filled in for McNabb in weeks two and three. The thing is he got a bit overwhelmed against the Saints and threw some key interceptions when the Eagles still had a realistic shot at getting back into the game. He torched the Chiefs a week later, but, didn’t anyone who was halfway decent torch the Chiefs defense this season?
The thing is when I watch Kolb play I am not sure whether he can throw the ball down field or not. He comes from a college offense in Houston that is built around taking quick drops and unloading the ball to the first open receiver one sees. Kolb either does not have the arm or the confidence to throw the ball down the field. The long touchdown passes he threw came when Jackson beat his man off the ball and ran a good 50 yards after he caught the ball. Kolb has shown he can perform in certain situations, but, is he ready to start and lead a team to the playoffs? That is the real question.
If the Eagles decide to go with Kolb next season they need to do so with the expectation that they may only win seven to nine games at most next season. It is just not evident that if he gets backed into a corner that Kolb can come out and hit the big pass or two to get his team back into the game.
The one wild card in all of this is Michael Vick and what to do with him. The thought, all along, was the primary reason the Eagles signed him was so they could turn around and get a draft pick for him this off season. He did not do a ton to warrant a team sending a top pick the Eagles way to give him a chance to start next season. He did show that he can still make some plays with his feet and made some nice throws when called upon to do so. The Eagles can still probably get a mid-round pick for him if they decide to deal him.
However, with an uncapped year on the horizon the Eagles may very well hold onto him and pick up the $5 million option for next season given they will not have the salary cap to worry about for next season. Who knows the Eagles could decide to dump McNabb and have Vick and Kolb battle it out for the starting job this spring. Or, they very well may decide to open the job up to all three as wake up call to McNabb.
Maybe McNabb has gotten a bit too comfortable with his position within the franchise and needs another wake up call like the one he got in Baltimore last season when Reid yanked him at the half and threw Kolb under center. He responded well to that challenge leading the Eagles to a 4-1 finish throwing 9 touchdowns and just one interception as the Eagles clinched a playoff spot and made it all the way to the conference championship game.
The offense should be able to recover in time for next season, it is the defensive side of the ball where some real soul searching needs to occur. I like defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, he did as well as could be expected for his first year, but, I do think the Eagles missed Jim Johnson at times this season. Johnson was a defensive mastermind who knew how to confuse opposing quarterbacks and always knew the right time to blitz. McDermott is seen as a rising star in the league and will get it in due time.
The Achilles Heel of this defense has become its linebackers. The linebacker play this season was downright abysmal at times. Tight ends and running backs constantly run open across the middle of the defense and they lack any real dynamic play-makers at linebacker who force turnovers and help stuff the run. Aside from Will Witherspoon there is nobody worth keeping around that played linebacker for the Eagles this season.
Chris Gocong is awful and I have no idea why he is even still around. He is consistently out of position on running plays, takes bad angles to the ball carrier, and repeatedly gets beaten in pass coverage. It has been four years and Gocong has not been able to hold down a starting job with the team. It is simply time to cut him loose and move on.
Akeem Jordan has shown flashes of being a play maker at times but his play is still inconsistent. After Witherspoon he is probably the team’s best cover linebacker, but, his play against the run tends to be a bit spotty at times.
Omar Gaither was starting to settle in at middle linebacker when he went down with a foot injury. The problem with Gaither is he seems more suited to play in the middle and Stewart Bradley was an emerging star at the position prior to blowing his knee out during camp. Fortunately for the Eagles Bradley relies more on his smarts than his quickness to get to the ball carrier. Gaither just has not shown an ability to get the job done at outside linebacker.
I keep hearing the team likes Moise Fokou a lot, but, I have yet to see him do anything to impress me. Any time I have seen him play it just seems like he misses a lot of tackles. He gets to where he needs to be but he always seems to be unable to bring the guy down.
The next position on the list that needs to be addressed is at safety. Quintin Mikell is a quality player at strong safety, but, the free safety position really let them down this season.
Rookie Macho Harris simply cannot tackle any one. He showed why he played corner back in college. He simply is not a physical enough player to handle the free safety spot in the NFL.
Sean Jones seems like he would rather deliver the big knockout blow rather wrap someone up. Too many times I saw him simply drop a shoulder and try and knock a guy down rather than wrap him up only to see Jones fall to the ground while the ball carrier ran on for another ten or fifteen yards.
Quintin Demps just seems out of his element at times when asked to play an extended period of time at the safety position.
The biggest misstep the Eagles made last summer was letting Brian Dawkins walk. I’ll be the first to admit that Dawkins is in the twilight of his career and has lost a step or two out there on the field. But, the one thing he brought to the Eagles that they sorely missed, and, what ultimately let them down in the end, was his leadership.
Dawkins was the hype man in Philly. He was the guy who got the crowd going, but, most of all he got his teammates lathered up and ready to play. He has that sort of aura about him that team’s respond to when he is on the field. He goes out there and plays like a mad man and his teammates feed off of that energy much like the Ravens do with Ray Lewis and the Steelers do with Troy Polamalu.
The defense, and the team as a whole, seemed to lack that internal fire this season. Dawkins was not only the heart and soul of the defense but he was the heart of the team. He was always the one to rally the troops when things took a turn for the worse. If the offense had a couple of bad possessions or a bad turnover Dawkins was the one out there leading the defensive stand and keeping the other team out of the end zone when the Eagles needed it the most.
Philadelphia simply did not have that player this year. Nobody picked up the flag and led the team into battle once Dawkins left. McNabb has never been the guy to fire his team. He has always let his play do the talking on the field, which is why simply dumping McNabb for someone else is not going to fix the ills of this team.
Everyone is quick to want to throw McNabb overboard and write him off as a guy who is never going to win the big one, but, the Eagles issues run much deeper than whether McNabb is a championship QB or not. The current team lacks any real leadership from within. In the past they always had guys like Hugh Douglas, Dawkins, and Jeremiah Trotter to pull the team up by its bootstraps when things got tough.
I don’t see Michael Vick or Kevin Kolb being that guy for Philadelphia. Vick has never been one to relish a leadership role and I have yet to see Kolb show any real fire or emotion out there.
Whatever the Eagles decide to do this spring a few things are for certain. They need to find that captain of the ship who is going to give them that leadership and internal fire they need to stay sharp all season.
Sheldon Brown needs to be taken care of. I shudder to think of how bad things could get next season if Ellis Hobbs is the other starting cornerback. Sure Brown struggled towards the end of the season but he was one of the best corners in the league this year.
They need to find a linebacker who is going to make some plays for them and hopefully Bradley is up to speed this summer.
A long term answer at free safety needs to be found, preferably someone who is interested in tackling ball carriers.
It is not all doom and gloom in Philadelphia, the team is still young and maybe it was a lot to expect it to make a deep playoff run without Brian Westbrook being a prominent factor in the offense. With the right tweaks on defense and with team chemistry this team can still be in the mix again next season. If not it could be yet another frustrating finish to the season again next year.
