Every Year The Birds Have A Meltdown Like This - But They Respond Well

[PhillyPhreak54]

Yeah, I know losing to Dallas blows. And I know it's worse because of the way they played. But wake up, people. This shtein ain't over! Things are never as bad as they seem and they are never as good as they seem. Every year the Birds comes out and lay a complete turd and every year it gets people all riled up. I hate losing. I hate losing a lot. But it's time to look at the big picture...

November 10th 2002...

Indianapolis - 35
Philadelphia - 13

What happened after the Colts came in and beat the shtein out of the Birds with a rookie RB (James Mungro)? Remember the Sign Man sign that day? "Champions Don't Let Down".

The week before that beating the Birds struggled to beat the Bears at a rainy stadium in Champaign Illinois. Then they get fargin smoked by the Colts the next week.

The Eagles won every game the rest of the year until that 10-7 OT loss to the Jints.

October 12th 2003...

Philadelphia - 21
Dallas - 23

The Eagles lost to the Cowboys that day. The Cowboys defense held McNabb to almost similar stats that day (saw this on ESPNews). The Cowboys ran a ton of "zero coverage" that day too because McNabb was hurting (thumb) and he stunk.

The Birds then promptly won 9 in a row.

November 7th 2004

Philadelphia - 3
Pittsburgh - 27

We all remember it well. And we remember the Birds winning every game after that until they rested the starters in STL and against CIN. This loss opened the eyes of the coaching staff, did it not? Remember Simoneau getting benched? Remember them shuffling stuff around? Exactly.

This loss yesterday was an eye opener. Reid has two weeks to prepare for SD and rethink his pass heavy scheme.

And another thing....that KC game last week was just like the Cleveland game last year. Remember that? Remember the loser Browns and Jeff Garcia taking the Birds to OT? Remember that they also struggled the next week against Baltimore? They barely won 15-10.

Both the CLE and BAL games in 2004 were right before that debacle in Pittsburgh.

They'll right the ship. I was pissed off yesterday but does me no good to stay pissed off considering history suggests that Reid will get this thing right.

[Sgt PSN]

Werd. 

[rjs246]

So struggling in a win (Raiders), plus struggling in a win (Chiefs), plus getting their asses handed to them (Cowboys), plus bye week, equals big win in San Diego and dominance for the rest of the season.


I like that kind of math. I'm not sure I'm convinced, but I like it.

[Rome]

[pinoyboy2pt0]

I wonder if this game will have roster move ramifications.  I don't know what they could do though or who they could change. 

Cut Parry!  Sign Ritchie!
Keep McCants on the team longer than a week.
Sub Hicks for Clarke.
Moats in Mahe out?

Figure out wtf is going on god damnit!

Chargers have almost every thing going for them they we usually struggle against.  We have mental farts vs some TE's and some running games, special teams...and they got it all (ok, not sure about the ST's...but Sproles looked good in preseason - is he still their return guy?).  Plus, they are a 3-4 team.  I hope I don't see Westy running sweeps or taking every inside run and bouncing it outside for a -2 yard loss.  I wonder how Donnie Edwards will do.  I wonder how Hicks big stupid face does.  I'll also keep an eye on Sproles and Jackson (wr).

We do have that they are going on a short week (they are on MNF tonight) AND AND AND the come to the east coast.  Very very tough situation for them.  It would be one hell of a character and morale boost for them if they win (the Chargers).  I think it will be a good game.

[MadMarchHare]

And while I'm inclined to agree with you, Phreak, here's my worry.  Before the Colts game (6-2 record), and the Pitt game (7-0 record), we were winning and winning well.  We sucked ass in much the same way against KC the week before this one.  Once is a fluke, twice a trend.....

They got some work to do to right this ship.  Especially the ST, which have blown on coverage on both sides of the ball all season.

[MDS]

"God I hope Phreak's right, cause we look like ass."

[MadMarchHare]

Actually, I think he's spying on the play chart, for the next game.  Don always was a crafty sumbitch.

[PhillyPhreak54]

And while I'm inclined to agree with you, Phreak, here's my worry.  Before the Colts game (6-2 record), and the Pitt game (7-0 record), we were winning and winning well.  We sucked ass in much the same way against KC the week before this one.  Once is a fluke, twice a trend.....

They got some work to do to right this ship.  Especially the ST, which have blown on coverage on both sides of the ball all season.

I hear ya, MMH. But look at it this way...

In 2002 the Birds had that famous loss on opening day to the Titans when Reid went conservative. They then opened up a can on Washington, Dallas and Houston. Even they struggled against Houston for a little bit (3-4) until McNabb hit Thrash for a TD. Vincent was burnt by Corey Bradford for 2 TDs early on. Then they lost to Jacksonville 28-25 before the BYE. They came out after the BYE and beat Tampa. Then they struggled to beat the Jints on MNF (offensively they struggled at least) and that Chicago game was rough offensively as well. Then came the Colts whuppin'.

In 2004 the Birds struggled with the almighty Browns and then struggled against the Ravens. Kyle Boller got yards on that defense. The Birds won 15-10 against Baltimore after having to take the Browns to OT. Then came the Steelers beatdown.

And in 2003 they, like 2005, were scraping and clawing for offense because McNabb was hurt. The Pats beat that ass 31-10 and the Bucs shut em out 17-0.

[PhillyFan]

Every Year the Birds fail to win the Super Bowl too. 

Go ahead and talk yourself into thinking this is just like every other year if it makes you feel better, but I was hoping this wasn't going to be like every other year.  I was hoping they'd actually finally win the Bowl this year.  And they have shown nothing so far to make me think this is going to be the year they finally do it.  Their poor performance in this game wasn't isolated - they played poorly against the Falcons, Raiders and in the first half against the Chiefs.  Fortunately two of those teams were poor enough that they could still come away win wins.  Of course the one game they hit in all cylinders was against a bad 49ers team.   


You have some of the same problems you've seen in the past few years (inconsistent running game, too many 3 and outs, poor clock management, questionable defensive line depth b/c of injuries, etc.) along with some new problems (awful kick and punt coverage teams, McNabb playing with multiple injuries, an inexperienced kicker, etc.).  In addition, the NFC East looks much improved, so they can't count on an easy 5 or 6 wins toward home field advantage.  Plus they have two losses already and two of the toughest games on their schedule left to come. 

I agree that Reid and the Birds have shown the ability to fix early season problems and finish strong and I think they have a very good chance to do so again this year.  I still expect the Eagles to get to the NFC Championship game again this year.  The adversity and tougher road this year may even help them be more battle tested for the big games at the end of the year if they can finish strong and healthy.  But it would have been nice to see them actually look better than they have in previous years, or at least as good as they did last year, because, remember, each of those teams ultimately failed in the end.

Look to recent history and find common patterns if you like, but just keep in mind that the pattern of the past few years is to end the season a step or two short of the ultimate goal.  A repeat of those years just isn't good enough.

[Rome]

I thought we had a board-wide agreement never to mention the Linc opener ever again?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Every Year the Birds fail to win the Super Bowl too. 

Go ahead and talk yourself into thinking this is just like every other year if it makes you feel better, but I was hoping this wasn't going to be like every other year.  I was hoping they'd actually finally win the Bowl this year.  And they have shown nothing so far to make me think this is going to be the year they finally do it.

Right on. Because what they do in the early stages of the season directly affects the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Did the 2001 Pats look flawless in the '01 regular season?
Did the 2002 Bucs look flawless in the '02 regular season?
Did the '03 Patriots struggle early on?

Gimme a break with this "because they look like steaming poo through 5 weeks they are not a SB team" stuff.

[PhillyPhreak54]

I wonder if this game will have roster move ramifications.  I don't know what they could do though or who they could change. 

Cut Parry!  Sign Ritchie!
Keep McCants on the team longer than a week.
Sub Hicks for Clarke.
Moats in Mahe out?

I agree. And i think that some changes are in store, just like Reid and Johnson made changes after Pittsburgh beat their asses and stole their lunch money last year.

We'll see what those changes are but I think that we are going to see some stuff be switched up.

Hicks' ankle is bothering him. Maybe that is contributing to his zesty play. If he does continue to struggle I think Castillo and Reid will not hestiate to pull him because 5 needs that protection.

And they were talking about working Moats in at KR (I posted an article on Saturday) so I think now is the time for #23 to make his appearance.

[Purple_Hayz]

We all remember it well. And we remember the Birds winning every game after that until they rested the starters in STL and against CIN. This loss opened the eyes of the coaching staff, did it not? Remember Simoneau getting benched? Remember them shuffling stuff around? Exactly.

Not to pick nits but it was Mr. Monday Night that was benched after the Pittsburgh game.  Sims took over his spot at Wil and Trotter stepped up to the Mike.  Simoneau promptly got his ass injured which opened the door for Keith Adams and the rest seemed to be history.  Too bad the Bullet is starting to loke more like a BB...

[WEST is GOD]

This happens every year, and every year everyone says it's a wake-up call, but how many times do you need your ass handed to you to wake up? It happens every year. They should be well aware of this by now. I don't mind losing some games, but every year they get their asses kicked at least once. This year is the only year that doesn't fit the trend, because the Eagles are a MUCH better team than the Cowboys. Last year the Steelers were 15-1, so it's different, and when we got smoked by the Colts, they were a very good team as well.

Last year it was the run defense. This year it's multiple things. I have faith it will be corrected, but last year the difference was a simple personnel move(Simoneau to Trotter), this year it's a lot more.