Faith in Eagles Management

There has been much lamenting and gnashing of teeth in Eagles Nation over the past week or so as players like Lito Sheppard, Sean Considine, Correll Buckhalter, and most especially Brian Dawkins have either been traded away or left the team via free agency. You also have the two twin towers of the offensive line for the past decade, Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan, very much in doubt as to their own returning for next season. Tight End L.J. Smith is shopping his services and is believed not wanted back by the Birds. These players make up a huge portion of the success that the Philadelphia Eagles football team has enjoyed over the past decade. But as they leave it is important to note something that is extremely important: this current Philadelphia Eagles management team of owner Jeffrey Lurie, team President Joe Banner, and GM/Coach Andy Reid almost always knows when to say 'when' with a player, no matter that player's reputation or popularity. From Duce Staley to Jeremiah Trotter to Hugh Douglas, the Eagles knew when it was time to say goodbye. Probably the only exception was Terrell Owens, and is there anyone out there as an Eagles fan who really wanted him to stay after all the histrionics and drama that he created? He moved on to the Eagles greatest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, and put up some great stats. He has also continued his controversial ways there, and has helped the Cowboys achieve exactly nothing of note as a team in his two seasons in 'Big D' so far. Since the end of Andy Reid's first season as head coach in 1999, and since Donovan McNabb took over as the starting quarterback, the Eagles have fashioned a regular season record of 92-51-1. They have had just one losing season in that stretch, the injury and T.O. drama-marred 2005 season following their Super Bowl near-miss vs. New England. They have won five NFC East titles, and are coming off a 2008 season that saw them advance to the NFC Championship game for the fifth time. Eagles fans are easily among the handful of most passionate and knowledgeable fan bases in the entire NFL community. They are also notoriously emotional. They form bonds with their heroes that are commendable, but that would be disastrous if such emotion was demonstrated similarly and then operated on by the organization. The Eagles brain trust has to make difficult decisions to remain competitive year-in and year-out. Ask an Eagles fan if he would trade one single Super Bowl victory for ten losing seasons and most fans would take the Super Bowl. Ask the team management if they would prefer to win one Super Bowl and then lose for a decade, or continue to be a competitive club that wins division titles and is in the playoffs most years over the next decade, and I would bet the management would take the latter. That is because management is smart, whereas fans generally are not. 'Smart' in this respect meaning that there comes a time when every player has to move on, and management has to make those tough decisions no matter what the fans feel. It has happened with the popular players already mentioned, and it will happen sometime in the next couple of seasons with players like McNabb, David Akers, and Brian Westbrook. Father Time catches up with everyone, including pro athletes, and especially pro football players who take a pounding in one of the most violent sports ever devised by man. The management team in charge of the Philadelphia Eagles pro football team has proven itself over a decade that it knows what it is doing in keeping the team a strong competitor every year in perhaps football's toughest division. A great deal of leadership has aged and is now moving on as the team says goodbye to Dawkins and Thomas and perhaps to Runyan. But my money right now is on that management team to further develop the players still on the roster, and to bring in more complimentary players via the draft and free agency, and remain strong competitors for that fan base. Due simply to their track record, if for no other reason, I for one have faith in Eagles management to keep the team a winner.

Donovan and Eagles at a Crossroads

Despite what the gloom and doom crowd at 610 WIP AM Sports Talk radio would tell you, the Philadelphia Eagles football team does not stink. Their coach does not need to be fired. Their quarterback is not washed up. Eagles fans have become spoiled by the Andy Reid era. That is a fact. They must have forgotten the Ray Rhodes era that preceded it, when the team went 29-34-1 over a four year period. Or perhaps the Rich Kotite era before that, when the team went 36-28 over four years but only made the playoffs once. Maybe they loved those brash Buddy Ryan years before that, every one a winning regular season. Of course there was that little matter of zero playoff wins. None. Marion Campbell, the 'Swamp Fox', and his 17-29-1 over three years and no playoffs? Forget those. Fact is that since the end of Dick Vermeil's final full season in 1981 and the start of the Reid Era, the Eagles floundered, sputtered, and crashed after brief periods of soaring. Fact is also that since the end of Reid's first season he has guided the team to an 88-52-1 regular season record, 8 playoff wins, 4 NFC east division titles, an NFC championship, and a narrow Super Bowl defeat to this decade's dynasty team. The biggest mistake that professional sports teams make is hiring the wrong manager/coach. The 2nd biggest that they make is hiring the right guy, then giving up on him when the going gets tough. The organizations that remain the strongest consistently, year-in and year-out over lengthy periods of time, which is exactly what their fan base wants, are the organizations that keep their good coach through the tough times. The fact is that the Eagles are in a transition period with their personnel, they play in a tough division with superior competitors, and their superstar running back is playing at less than 100%. Andy Reid and his staff deserve a full chance to work their way through this tough period. My bet is that they quickly have the team back in contention. Of course that's not to say that they aren't in contention right now. The team sits at 5-4-1, just a half game off the final Wildcard pace. Their defense has allowed the 8th lowest points in the entire NFL. Only 5 teams have scored more points than their offense. The simple fact is that they remain one of the top teams in the league. They don't get blown out. They do not get dominated. In other words, to say they 'stink' is to completely ignore reality. They are in such a difficult playoff situation because they have not come through in critical situations in close games, not because they are any worse than any of the teams to whom they lost. Their four losses were twice by 4 points, once by 5, once by 6, and then there is last week's dispiriting tie with Cincinnati. Their five wins have all been by more than a touchdown. In other words, this is a good team. They have simply suffered some bad breaks, and some bad breakdowns at key moments. You can blame that on poor coaching decisions and be correct in a few instances. You can blame that on the inability of players to make plays, and be just as correct. You can also look at the fact that their most dynamic offensive component, running back Brian Westbrook, has been a shadow of his Pro Bowl self in an injury-marred season. The Eagles are in a four-team race with Washington, Dallas, and Atlanta for the final playoff spot. A look at all of their schedules shows that none has a real advantage. In other words, the Eagles are a playoff contender during a difficult season. On Sunday they have a difficult challenge in playing at Baltimore, an AFC contender with a defense as good as the Eagles. It should be a defensive struggle for both clubs. It is up to Donovan McNabb, the veteran quarterback whose career in Philadelphia (but certainly not his entire NFL career) is perhaps at as big a crossroads as this team's season. If McNabb steps up and leads the team to victory this week, the Eagles stay in contention, the WIP crowd is silenced for at least a week, and McNabb stock rises. If the Ravens dominate him and win the game, the Eagles season is likely over, and perhaps McNabb's career here as well. The Philadelphia Eagles and their longtime quarterback are indeed at a crossroads. Their coach should not be considered in the same light.

Who is This Marshawn Lynch Fella Anyway?

I used to play Fantasy Football regularly, and was usually pretty good at it too. With a bunch of guys that I knew from my former profession in banking, I kept playing into my early years with the police department. But somewhere around the turn of the century, I dropped out. Part of the reasoning was that I just wanted to simplify things a bit, to get rid of some things that were taking up my time and effort. You see, when I get involved in stuff like that, I get involved. It's fun, sure, but it's not all just fun, I have to win too. So that means that I have to know as much information as possible, which involves reading on the web and in magazines, watching TV shows, watching games, etc. For the past 8-10 years without Fantasy Football, I have found that I enjoyed watching Eagles games so much more. Of course this may also have had something to do with the fact that during this period the Eagles got really good thanks to Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, et al. I found that I didn't at all miss the Sunday ritual of checking the highlight shows to see if any of my guys had big games, scored touchdowns, and so on. I enjoyed football much more without the Fantasy element. So with all that good stuff, why am I back in the game, cramming suddenly for a Draft to be held tomorrow (Friday) night? Good question. A few guys that I work with are involved, and asked, so I am gonna take the plunge again. I looked down the list of NFL kickers as currently ranked by one of the rating services, and I didn't even know 12 of the top 13 names listed. I don't know the vast majority of the RB's and WR's, and even a few of the QB's. Heck, if it wasn't for some stupid ESPN commercials, I would have never heard of Maurice Jones-Drew at all. So here I sit, having to decide which two players from the team that I have inherited in an ongoing league that I might want as 'Keepers' for my team. I am leaning towards keeping a guy named Marshawn Lynch, because the websites and magazines rate him as around the 10th-15th best player overall. But I don't really know who the heck he is, outside of being a RB on the Buffalo Bills. It is so much different than when I left the Fantasy game a decade ago, when I knew all the players and was educated well on the trends. Now I am playing catchup, which probably means that I am donating my $120 entry fee. At least for this year. Unless of course this Marshawn guy is a stud, and maybe I can spackle and duct tape together enough luck to steal something early. Hope springs eternal on Draft night, where the real fun is enjoyed anyway. Am I ready for some football? Here goes nothin'.
NOTE: The league that I joined decided on Draft night to "redraft" with no 'Keepers' this year, so Lynch was not mine in the end. My first four picks were: Clinton Portis RB, Ryan Grant RB, Steve Smith WR, Donovan McNabb QB

Big Red Opens Green Camp

The Philadelphia Eagles opened training camp for their upcoming 2008 season on Monday at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The camp will run from now through August 13th, when the Birds will pack up and head to Philly. The Birds open their pre-season schedule at the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 8th, then open at home on August 14th against the Carolina Panthers. The team will then close out it's pre-season with games at New England and at home against the New York Jets. Coming into camp, the Birds have been installed by the odds makers in Las Vegas as the 3rd best team in the NFC. Unfortunately, they are also the 3rd best team in their own NFC East division. Vegas has the Dallas Cowboys as the NFC favorites, with the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants ranked just slightly ahead of our Birds at this point. Over in the AFC, New England is the favorite, and is the overall favorite as well, followed by Indianapolis and San Diego tied for the 2nd overall favorite to win it all. Jacksonville is the 4th highest rated club, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are tied with the Eagles for 7th overall. The success or failure of the upcoming season is, as always, in the hands of Donovan McNabb. At age 31, McNabb will be starting his 10th NFL season at the helm of the Birds 'West Coast' offense, and will be trying to rally a club that started slow a year ago as he recovered from injury. In the end, McNabb didn't have a bad season last year. He was able to play in 14 of the club's 16 games, tossing over 3,000 yards for the 5th time in his career. His quarterback rating of 89.9 was the 3rd highest of his career, the 2nd highest among full seasons that he has played, and he completed over 61% of his passes. It was in many ways perhaps his 2nd best statistical season, trailing only the magical 2004 of 'T.O' and the Super Bowl. However, McNabb was often tentative through the first 2/3 of the year, when the Eagles struggled and fell to a 5-8 record before rallying to finish at 8-8 by winning their final three games. The Birds have some questions coming in: will the three-headed cornerback rotation of stars Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and newcomer Assante Samuel work in practice? Will Brian Westbrook be able to get happy with his contract situation, stay healthy, and remain one of the top multi-purpose backs in the NFL? Can Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis, and L.J. Smith team with McNabb to form a fully functional, productive receiving corps? Will Jim Johnson's noted 'bend but don't break' defense actually bend a little less, and break a little lesser? Will Marty Mornhinweg get the offense into the end zone from the Red Zone more often? And perhaps most importantly, can the Birds coaching staff fix the horrible problems on Special Teams that killed the club so often in 2007? The Eagles are once again a very talented football team, and they are led by one of the best coaches in the league over the past decade in Andy Reid, who has guided them to five NFC East titles, four NFC title games, and a Super Bowl appearance. Reid's very public family troubles of a year ago are largely behind him now, and his concentration should be totally back in the game. 'Big Red' and his staff know what it takes to win, and given health there is every reason to believe that the Eagles will get off to a better start this year. They remain the most dangerous team in the league after Thanksgiving, so what happens between the September 7th home opener at the Linc vs. the St. Louis Rams and that Turkey Day tilt with the Arizona Cardinals (yes, the Birds are on Thanksgiving this year, at home) will likely determine their season. This fan has rose, or should I say green-colored glasses. I predict that the Eagles will stay healthy and once again win their division, with starring turns from McNabb and Westbrook. Time will tell, but in the middle of the summer at the beginning of training camp, we are all allowed to dream of next January's NFL Super Bowl. The Phils will deservedly keep getting our attention here in the Philly sports world, but it's also time to start following the Birds. Time's yours...