Jaws weighs in on season

[MURP]

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Jaws:

DT's and LB's suck
Oline is good
Stallworth is gone

On Sports Media | Jaworski tells it like it is: Eagles had good year
By Marc Narducci
Inquirer Columnist

A large segment of Eagles fans believe that, with a break here or there, the Eagles and not the New Orleans Saints would have met Chicago in the NFC title game.

Don't count ESPN analyst and former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski among this group. Jaworski said that the right team won and that the Eagles should still be proud of a successful season.

"I do not think that the Eagles could have won that Saints game with a break or two," Jaworski said in a phone interview. "The shortcomings of the team were exposed in that game - the inability to stop the power running game, the weakness of the interior of the defensive line, or linebackers' failure to make game-changing plays. When you have a weakness, somewhere along the line, it gets exposed."

Jaworski said that even though the season ended in disappointment for the Eagles, the fact that they went 10-6 in the regular season, won the NFC East, then beat the New York Giants in the wild-card round made the campaign one the team could be proud of.

"Absolutely, it was a successful season," he said. "Ultimately, the goal of 32 teams is to win the Super Bowl, but when you look at the body of work of the football team this season, I thought it was a successful year that they can build on."

Jaworski will be in Miami during Super Bowl week, working on projects for ESPN. He believes that next season, if the Eagles address some defensive needs, they should be in the Super Bowl hunt. Jaworski thinks the Eagles learned a lot about themselves when Jeff Garcia replaced injured Donovan McNabb at quarterback.

"Conventional wisdom was that when the Eagles won, it was because of Donovan and that Donovan had to be great for them to win," Jaworski said. "Without Donovan, people learned there were quality players on offense, the offensive line could block and create space for the running game, and the guys who weren't getting notoriety were good enough and could win."

One of the key off-season duties for the Eagles would seemingly be to re-sign free-agent wide receiver Donté Stallworth, who despite missing four games due to a hamstring injury caught 38 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season.

Jaworski, however, says he doesn't think re-signing Stallworth is essential.

"I think he is a solid football player, a very good football player, but he has a history of being injured, and I think availability is a top priority," Jaworski said. "He has been inconsistent as far as receiving goes - dropping too many balls."

And Jaworski thinks that Stallworth will cash in on the free-agent market.

"Unfortunately, what people will see is that speed, and that will make him a valuable commodity," Jaworski said. "I believe somebody will overpay for him."

Strong opinions like that one should help Jaworski vault up the ESPN ladder.

He doesn't have the bombast of some announcers, just knowledge that comes from a 15-year NFL career and an insatiable appetite for studying film.

As the president of the Philadelphia Soul, he has a thorough knowledge of the Arena Football League, and he will be an analyst on about six ESPN games this season, none that include the Soul.

ESPN would better use Jaworski's talents by making him an analyst on NFL Monday Night Football.

This year, Jaworski was an analyst for an opening Monday-night game between San Diego and Oakland when ESPN televised two games in one evening.

"I enjoy whatever they have me doing," he said, ever so diplomatically.

Jaworski can break down a game in a much more interesting fashion than current analyst Joe Theismann, who babbles too much.

Also, Jaworski gets to his point and often offers insights that the regular viewer doesn't have, which should be the goal of any top analyst.

[Father Demon]

"Absolutely, it was a successful season," he said.

After a couple weeks to mellow down and reflect, I have come to the same conclusion.  This was a successful season, considering everyone -- you, me, and the world -- thought the Eagles would be playing for a draft pick after McNabb went down.  Only the insane thought the result of this season was possible.

Although disappointed, I'm happy with the season.  It gave me reason to be a happy, excited, and hopeful fan for 6 games that otherwise would have been miserable to go through.

[ice grillin you]

DT's and LB's suck

so half the defense sucks?  i think thats what what said?

did someone say they were happy with the season!??!?!?!?

anyone that thinks the birds had a successful season is a charles roberts fan

[Father Demon]

I knew it would be you.

If you read my post, it says I'm happy with the way the season turned out considering that I thought the season was a total loss when Garcia stepped in.  Watching them go from a probable 1-5 to 5-1 was great.  And considering our expectations, it made the season a success. 

I know this season cut you to your very wiggy core, and you have immeasurable pains that none of us would understand, but the fact that you are a drama queen does not mean that most people do the same. 

Expectation when McNabb went down:  6-10, and probably 3rd in the East.  Result: 10-6 and winning the NFC East and a playoff game against a division rival  = Successful season.

If you at any point thought the Eagles could make the Super Bowl, then you were simply disillusioned.

[The BIGSTUD]

The Eagles didn't have a successful season, but it wasn't a failure either. Somewhere in between which isn't good enough.

[Eaglez]

In retrospect, the Eagles had a good season considering the circumstances surrounding the team.

Blah blah blah no super bowl equate failure blah blah...

Sure, but I can't imagine a rational person not enjoying the Eagles going 10-6, winning the division, and winning a playoff game. Yeah, no one like how it ended, especially when the Eagles had a chance to win the game. But, it's much better than having to sit through another 6-10 season and have no excitement or anything meaningful to root for.

In the end, I was entertained. It was a great storyline, they were fun to watch, and it is something positive to build off of. At least the Eagles weren't the Chargers...

[Magical_Retard]

forget when mcnabb went down... a lot of ppl didnt think we would finish higher than 3rd b4 the season started.

[Diomedes]

I count the season a success too.  The team overachieved, and the way they did it was thrilling.  NFC East again, sending Tiki packing with a loss, taking another huge chunk out of Eli's ass...it was great.  I wouldn't have enjoyed that as much if it hadn't seemed so impossible after the Indy game, but so be it.  I'll take my kicks where I can get 'em.

The Defense sucks, and it's not gonna get better next year.  The WRs suck, and that's not gonna improve either.  farging Reggie Brown needs to learn how to catch goddamnit.

[Geowhizzer]

It was an enjoyable season, and I refuse to get too upset over the loss to the Saints.  Now that the game is two weeks in the past, of course...

[Diomedes]

I didn't expect a win there, so I was please just to see the Eagles put up a fight.  At least they didn't embarrass themselves.

[Sgt PSN]

I didn't expect a win there, so I was please just to see the Eagles put up a fight.  At least they didn't embarrass themselves.

200+ yds rushing allowed
Unable to convert 2 and 1/3 and 1
Andy doing what he does best and making a terrible call in crunch time by punting

All rather embarassing.  But they did put up a fight and somehow managed to keep the game close and make it look respectable on the scoreboard despite being dominated for most of the game.  I think the Saints let the Eagles look good in that game more so than the Eagles doing it on their own.

I do agree with your original post though.  They definately overachieved, especially after that horrible streak they went on between game 6 - 11.  It was a topsy turby season but mostly fun.  I don't think I've hated and loved this team as much during one season as I did this year. 

This Skins sucked ass all year and the Cowboys and Giants both blew it in the WC round.  Success all around I'd say.   

[Eagaholic]

Garcia and McNabb both beating TO and Dallas = a playoff win.

How successful the season was must also be viewed in terms of the disaster the year before. The team seemed headed toward a similar fate this year but showed an ability to turn things around - especially by taking advantage of divisoin rival weaknesses. That is big. Actually, this year could have been worse than last because last year which had all the injuries and distractions. This season began well, and to continue losing after McNabb went down would mean a complete choke/implosion with a need to totally rebuild.

[rjs246]

If I look strictly at the record, the season was more successful than I expect it to be. The team's final W-L record exceeded what I was expecting, but the rest of the NFC East severely underperformed so a win or two extra isn't a shock.

By EVERY other benchmark this season was a failure. They went right back to passing 65% of the time (until McNabb got hurt). They lost to several inferior teams. The gameday coaching was atrocious. The defense was atrocious. The last three defensive first-round picks for the team contributed precisely dick. The team's best WR was hurt for a quarter of the season. The franchise quarterback was given a ridiculously soft schedule and went 5-5. Westbrook missed playing time AGAIN.

10-6 is nice. But this season was a farging clusterfarg.

[MDS]

They didn't win the superbowl. That's really all that matters.

[mussa]

This season proved to me without a doubt that our coaches suck.  Are players are capable, but some areas are weak, mainly due to coach/gm making poor decisions. Another failure by the personel.

Letting Stallworth go is a huge mistake. I am so pissed about this.