Hard truths to face before '06 Season

[4and26]

We can all point to certian area that need improving but there is something terribly wrong with this team and I can't put my finger on it.    Where's the motivation? Where's the heart? How on earth do you get blown out like that on a Monday night at home?
Embarrased.. perplexed...

[Zanshin]

It was a blowout....but they scored three times directly off of turnovers.  That'll take the wind out of your sails, especially when you know you're playing with third stringers.  I'm not an apologist by any means, but come on.

[henchmanUK]

Maybe the Eagles shouldn't turn the ball over then. 

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

It was a blowout....but they scored three times directly off of turnovers.

4, really.  Boulware returned a pick inside the 5, along with the 3 turnovers that were returned for TD's.

[Tomahawk]

Maybe the Eagles shouldn't turn the ball over then. 

Good point.

[SunMo]

It was a blowout....but they scored three times directly off of turnovers.  That'll take the wind out of your sails, especially when you know you're playing with third stringers.  I'm not an apologist by any means, but come on.

i agree, the defense had been playing decently until Ed McMahon gave the Seahawks 14 points, after that they folded the tent.

[Zanshin]

Everyone will handle it their own way, I guess.  But I don't see the point of stressing about it. 

This season is essentially over.  They've had the Super Bowl hangover, the Owens mess, the rash of injuries to critical players.  It's a bad season.  And it's been so ridiculous that I think it deserves to be treated as a mulligan until it's proven as a trend.

They'll have work to do in the offseason, and it'll be good to evaluate players....  But I don't think we're going to get a real sense of the team again until next year.

[PhillyandBCEagles]

Oh, all that said:  We need at least two starting quality OLBs next year.  That's hurt us since day one.

Get Peterson and move Dhani back to WIL.

[Zanshin]

Move Dhani back to the Giants.

[Wingspan]

Reidme: I dont know why you deleted your post...but i couldnt have said it better myself.

this organization has become a parody of itself.

[Tomahawk]

Reidme: I dont know why you deleted your post...but i couldnt have said it better myself.

this organization has become a parody of itself.

He understandably started a new thread with it.

[MURP]

[li]the backup quarterback spot has been completely ignored for years. i know you cannot have 2 probowlers. but to think a team would have a better insurance policy than mike farging mcmahon and koy the holder detmer. neither one of those guys even deserve to be in the league. [/li]

good point.  I didnt care for Mike McMahon when the Eagles were looking at him in the offseason, but he had me fooled there after the Giants game that he might actually be decent.  no longer.   Depth has been a concern for a while and I agree with you that Reid hasnt done enough.

[Wingspan]

[li]the backup quarterback spot has been completely ignored for years. i know you cannot have 2 probowlers. but to think a team would have a better insurance policy than mike farging mcmahon and koy the holder detmer. neither one of those guys even deserve to be in the league. [/li]

good point.  I didnt care for Mike McMahon when the Eagles were looking at him in the offseason, but he had me fooled there after the Giants game that he might actually be decent.  no longer.   Depth has been a concern for a while and I agree with you that Reid hasnt done enough.

man do i look dumb in that old thread. i should delete myself.

[PhillyandBCEagles]

Move Dhani back to the Giants.

I got no problem with him at WLB...our mistake was thinking we could shoehorn him into the SLB position when we brought him in last year

[PhillyFan]

Those of you thinking all is lost for next year and beyond because of last night or the way they've played this year are going overboard.   

Teams have had poor years and rebounded to get right back in the SB mix with the same coaching staff and core group of players before. 

The Pats didn't make the playoffs after beating the Rams in 2002, then came back and won SB in 2004 and 2005.  Sure they weren't as bad as this year's Eagles, but they didn't lose their starting QB and have a similar debacle like the TO situation. 

The Rams went 7-9 after losing that SB and then went 12-4 the next year. 

The Panthers went 7-9 last year after losing in the SB the year before, and may be the best team in the NFC this year.  Again, their down year wasn't as bad as this year, but they also had their QB for the whole season.

A lot of this is just normal human psychology.  You go out and work hard and just miss getting to the SB for three years, then you finally get their in the fourth year.  Even though they didn't actually win it, you know that back in their minds they had a significant level of satisfaction that they finally broke through the championship game barrier.  So that compounds the SB loser hangover syndrome we've seen the last few years in this league.  Then, on top of that, you have this major TO distraction and your QB is playing hurt and won't get better - so you've got so much uncertainty there to deal with.  Then your QB goes down and your left with McMahon and Detmer, and other injuries start piling up - these guys are human, they knew they couldn't get back to the SB with the guys that were left.  And with the success they've had the past four years, a SB win was the only thing worth fighting for - once these guys knew that wasn't going to happen, human nature gets in the way and they just can't prepare emotionally like they have the last few years.

So, you get this season behind you.  You get your starting QB back, you get everybody else back healthy, you add one or two big time free agents and one or two other free agent starters with all the cap room you've got, you take advantage of the higher draft pick to draft or trade up for a young impact player and you get to start fresh ready to prove just about everyone and their mother wrong for picking you to miss the playoffs next year. 

This year certainly sucks and if you want to wallow in the misery go ahead.  But acting like the organization is in shambles and needs to clean house and start over is just ridiculous.