Behind enemy lines in Philly, spoke with a family friend who is a lifelong Eagles fan. He knows the Eagles inside out, goes to all the games. This is what he said:
1) After 10 years of Reid, he has to be removed.
2) Reid as head coach AND General Manager is not a good combination.
3) Eagles have never had a FB, it kills their short ground game. Reid is the GM, the blame goes back to him for never having one.
4) Yes, Jackson is good, but opposing defenses are going over the top (cover2) now to limit him. He has ONE TD all season, the Giants end-around, so as good an impact as he has made, he is still a rookie and is now reaching a ceiling. Lack of WR is going to be traced back to Reid as GM.
5) Short yardage a killer for the Eagles all season, Bears, Giants, Ravens games only a few examples. The reason why is that their Center and Guard (Jackson and Herremans) are bad, Andrews is terrific but he has been in and out of the lineup due to injury (only 2 starts this season). Andrews can cover up for them when he is in, but only so much. These guys are better in pass protect, but cannot run block to save themselves. Pretty nasty derogatory remarks about Herremans in particular.
6) Reid has lost his mind. When McNabb came into the league, Reid orchestrated McNabb's introduction very carefully, picking the week after a bye when the opponent was a weak Redskins team. Contrast that with how he now put in Kolb... against a stronger Ravens defense at halftime! Not helping the rookie one bit with that move.
7) Eagles fans unfortunately may have to see McNabb go somewhere else (Vikings?) and then watch as he becomes successful there, the same way Cunningham became successful with Carter and Moss. This is not preferred to see McNabb leave.. keep him for another coach and see how he does.
8) The moves by the Eagles to trade their first round pick down to the second round are very good, but the problem is that the Eagles are still poor evaluators of talent and the draft is not benefitting them nearly enough. And since Reid is the GM too, the blame once again goes right back to him. Add the fact that he is a terrible in-game manager and the worst clock manager, and his time is up. You spend 10 years as a head coach and you do not win a title, time to move on.
Friday, November 28, 2008
The Eagles
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Andy, your post today actually brings up something that all Giants' fans dread, because they know that day is coming. I was going to pose this question at a later date, but now is as good a time as any.
What do you think the odds of Spagnuolo staying with us past this year? ( Please...just hope he doesn't land in Philly )
Do you think there might be a clause written in his contract that Spags is the coach in waiting after Coughlin retires in a few years?
The odds are not good, and no, I don't think there's any chance of a clause like that in his contract. The Giants wouldn't do that for a couple of reasons.
First, they wouldn't do that to a loyal assistant who could've left them after the Super Bowl. NFL head coaching jobs don't come around often, so they wouldn't stand in his way. That's a philosophy of loyalty that goes back to when they let Vince Lombardi leave to coach the Packers (I wasn't there, but my understanding is he would've stayed if the Giants would've fired their head coach and promoted him ... but they refused).
The other reason is:
Things change. If they promised him that when Coughlin's contract expires after the 2011 season he'd be the head coach ... well, what happens if Coughlin has three Super Bowl rings ( we would all love that ) then and doesn't want to retire?
What happens if the Giants defense ends up being horrible for three years ( doubtful )and suddenly Spagnuolo as a head coach looks like a terrible idea? (I know that's hard to fathom, but Tim Lewis was once a hot head coaching candidate, too). They're not going to lock their future in writing because if last season taught us anything it's that things and opinions and a coach's (or players' stock) can change in remarkably quickly fashion in the NFL.
If someone had said to us in November, 2007 "Why don't the Giants lock up Coughlin and Eli Manning to long-term deals right now?" our answer would probably have been a lot different than it is right now. So there's no harm in waiting. And if, in 2011 or whenever, Coughlin retires and Spags is gone ... well, there's always Bill Cowher.
Anyway, I hope when Spags leaves it is somewhere like Cleveland or Oakland.
Maybe I've had too much turkey and I've been draming ( or having a nightmare ) with all this tryptophan in my system.
Actually, by 2011, I bet Bill Parcells has the itch to get back into coaching again, too...lol
Interesting to note Spags, as yes, the topic of him going back to Philadelphia certainly came up. For every time that an assistant is promoted to "assistant head coach," it seems like a promotion but it rarely translates into anything more permanent. This year was a pure gift for Spags to be here in NY, 1 more year than we were entitled to. I fully expect him to be the head coach of another franchise next season. I'd be ill to see him go back to Philadelphia, but assuming Reid does not run the table and save his job, if I am Lurie that is the man I want because they know him. Remember what George Young said about head coach personnel decisions: "Always hire somebody you know. That way you have a good idea of what the person's like. No surprises."
If Spagnuolo had the sense not to take the job in Washington, then he won't sign on in either Oakland or Cleveland either. He has better sense than that.
Sadly, Philly looks like the most likely landing spot for him. Think about who else will be looking for a head coach:
1. Detroit: Spags will be able to do better than that.
2. Dallas: Assuming they don't have a surprising run deep into January, they'll dump Wade and give the job to Red Jesus.
3. Cincinnati? Again, Spags has better sense than that.
I think he'll go to Philly. So sad.
I can't picture Spags going to Phily and being Johnson's boss. Why would Phily not promote Johnson instead.
I hope phily fires Reid and McNabb because I think both are very very good. Phily, unless it's completely killed by injuries is always in the hunt. Remember they lost the superbowl to one of the greatest coaches of all time.
The Giants simply have to win two of their next three games and they lock up the NFC East and a first round bye. Just take care of their own business and the rest will take care of itself.
Its even harder to keep players.
We should enjoy the run......maybe Reid should be Giant's defensive coach, lol
Post a Comment