Booing Andy, Booing DeSean

Derek Sarley, at IgglesBlog:

I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the selective Rocky-ism of Philadelphia fans that lionizes immensely talented, but fundamentally flawed, players like Iverson and DeSean while absolutely destroying fundamentally limited, but immensely high effort guys like Chad Hall and Reno Mahe, but it’s a real thing, and it remains the key to understanding why, on a horrible day like yesterday, fans booed more loudly for Chad Hall’s lone carry than they did for DeSean’s two killer drops.

Derek’s observation is astute, although I think the boos for Jackson are coming. The Chad Hall heckling is really just an extension of Andy Reid hate, and it takes time to resolve the cognitive dissonance associated with booing both the organizational head and the Pro Bowl player long considered to be slighted by that organization.

'Typified the Season'

Derrick Gunn, on the coaching skirmish.

The exchange actually happened early, when the Eagles still held a lead. While it was brief, the two had to be separated by Eagles sideline personnel.

I was told that Washburn and Mornhinweg never before had a verbal spat, neither in a practice or a game this season. Details of their disagreement were not revealed, but as several players told me after the game, the argument between those two typified the season, which has been all about frustration.

What a season. We’ve moved on from reporters to coaches. Apparently, players had to step in.

By the Numbers: A Fall From Grace

At the end of Sunday’s game two players were firmly seated on their respective benches. One was Tom Brady, leader of an elite but far from perfect team, who took a rest after amassing a three touchdown lead. The other was DeSean Jackson, talented underachiever on a league-basement team, who was benched for poor play while the Eagles were trying desperately to come back.

There may be a more apt and fair comparison, but to me that distinction illustrates exactly how far the Eagles have fallen. They used to be an elite squad. Not anymore.

Let’s check the numbers:

7 = Times the Patriots entered Eagles territory. They scored 5 touchdowns and went 1 for 2 on field goal attempts on those 7 possessions. That touchdown percentage would be worst in the league for opponent trips to the red zone, let alone crossing the 50 yard line.

2 = Official tackles by Jamar Chaney. There is no doubt that on Sunday Chaney missed more tackles than he made. See the entries under “No need for linebackers” and “fundamentally sound” in the Eagles coaching handbook.

400 = Largely worthless passing yards by Vince Young. That is, however, a single game career high.

40% = Completion percentage on passes targeted at DeSean Jackson. Young’s total would have been even higher if not for Jackson letting two touchdowns and another 75 to 100 yards slip through his fingers. DeSean’s stock has never been lower. It is increasingly likely not only that he’s playing for another team next season but that the Eagles won’t be able to get back much for his services.

10 = Eagles penalties, for 60 yards.

6 = First half carries by LeSean McCoy. The Patriots secondary is bad and the Eagles were able to take advantage of that matchup frequently, so I won’t belabor the “Why won’t you run the ball?” point. But the Patriots were also deficient against the run, no matter what Reid said in his post game press conference. Especially in a game when the goal needed to be keeping Tom Brady off the field, McCoy should have been more of a factor. You can bet that’s what Jim Washburn was heckling Marty Mornhinweg about on the sideline.

.125 = Eagles win percentage at Lincoln Financial Field since Week 16 of last season. Seeing so many fans stream out of the stadium with a quarter left to play can’t have made Jeff Lurie happy.

Photo from Getty.

Game Day Blowout

Did Kurt Coleman just give that fan a concussion?

Week Twelve
New England Patriots @ Philadelphia Eagles
4:15 pm ET on CBS

PS: I’ll be in the press box again, so follow along @Brian_Solomon for real-time updates.

Eagles-Giants Rewind: Observations All Around

I rewatched the Eagles-Giants game last night. Here are a few more brief observations.

• Other than the interception, which he lucked into, Jamar Chaney did not have a good game. First of all he’s (become?) a very poor tackler. There were at least three or four completely missed tackles on his part. But his bigger problem is play recognition and reaction. Both Brian Rolle and Akeem Jordan are relatively quick to diagnose and attack run plays. Chaney tends to move slowly in both run and pass defense. The long pass to Victor Cruz on the Giants final drive was his fault.

• Another player who needs to step up his game is Clay Harbor. He didn’t get beaten as a run blocker, but rather failed to sustain the blocks. His man eventually tackled LeSean McCoy on multiple occasions. Not good enough effort. Also, Vince Young’s first interception came when the ball hit Harbor in the helmet (although pass interference should also have been called).

• Danny Watkins could also work on sustaining blocks and looking for guys at the next level, but overall he’s holding his own at this point. He’s a legitimate starter. So far Watkins has only improved, and we can hope that continues.

• I liked referee Mike Carey yelling at the Eagles and Giants players, getting in their faces after an early skirmish. You don’t see that often.

• One of the things that worked really well was switching Cullen Jenkins out to defensive end. Juqua Parker often slid inside on those plays, and they each got a lot of pressure.

• Both Parker and Darryl Tapp played really well as the second-string defensive ends. Jim Washburn’s revival of the second defensive line unit (even with street free agents like Derek Landri) might be a more impressive feat than turning Jason Babin into a Pro Bowler.

• The Giants deployed a 3-4 base or 3-3 nickel look more than a handful of times. I’m not sure it was the best decision, given the state of their linebacker corps and the way the Eagles have played against 3-4 teams thus far in the season.

• The biggest way the Giants kept McCoy under control was by maintaining containment. He wasn’t able to bounce inside runs outside nearly as often as he had through the first 10 weeks.

• The Eagles tried Ronnie Brown as a fullback a few times and it predictably failed. They must see Owen Schmitt as a big liability. However, it did help to set up an inside trap run to Brown that converted a 3rd and 3 in the fourth quarter.

• Not sure the goal on QB sneaks should be to run behind Kelce/Watkins. They both have a tendency to lose leverage and get pushed, if not backwards, at least not forward. If you watch Jason Peters and Evan Mathis on the same play, they start slowly but end up pushing their linemen back two yards or so. Might be time to try that side.

Photo from Getty.

A Thin Veneer of Success

I know I’m the Negative Nancy of the Eagles blogosphere, unable to enjoy a close win against a division rival. Yes, the 18-play drive was neat and the defensive line played well against a bad Giants offensive line. But without a heroic strip-sack by Jason Babin with a minute left after the Giants had already driven 70 yards, we might be talking about yet another fourth quarter collapse.

Frankly, this win only covered up many of the same problems we’ve seen in every loss. Turnovers, red zone issues, missed tackles, dropped passes, blown coverages, stupid penalties — it was all still there. We even saw new problems emerge: the offense couldn’t get LeSean McCoy going until his final run of the night.

There are far more people than I expected who are re-checking playoff scenarios based on the thought, “If only they could keep playing at the same level.” Let me tell you, that level is at best .500 the rest of the way.

* * *

In other news, here’s Pro Football Focus’s charting of the Eagles pass coverage from Sunday night. We’ve talked about Nnamdi Asomugha’s problems, but if you saw Rob Gronkowski’s two touchdown game on Monday night, the linebackers should worry you much more.

Photo from Getty.

By the Numbers: Unsatisfying Victory

I’ve never been less enthused about an Eagles win in the Meadowlands. Hope that doesn’t harsh your mellow, but this terrible season and the race-to-the-bottom game last night didn’t really cheer me up.

Let’s look at the numbers:

0 = Giants red zone opportunities. How do you solve a massive red zone defense problem? Don’t let the Giants inside the 20!

3 = Interceptions by Vince Young. The Eagles backup was alternatively efficient and mistake-prone. He helped convert more than half of the Eagles third down opportunities and threw for two touchdowns in a game where the Giants largely contained LeSean McCoy. When Young is on his game, you wonder why he isn’t an All-Pro. But those turnovers, yikes.

12 = Passes targeted at Riley Cooper. Sunday night was our first extended look at Cooper and Young looked to him early and often. DeSean Jackson had a rebound day, but after him, Cooper was clearly Young’s favorite target. The largest wideout the Eagles have by far, Cooper could fill a fade-catching niche for the offense. But I’m not convinced after one game. It would be nice to see him get more snaps as the season conintues so we can evaluate his receiving skills going forward.

128 = Receiving yards by Victor Cruz. I hoped that Nnamdi Asomugha would redeem himself against the Giants and Cruz, showing that his early season troubles were mostly the result of learning a new system and trying to fit into Juan Castillo’s questionable coverages. Then we all saw that touchdown catch by Cruz, where Asomugha completely lost him in the end zone. $60 million? Not even close to worth it right now.

10 = Official quarterback hits on Eli Manning. The Eagles defensive line looked energized after a few down weeks. The Giants have one of the worst run blocking lines in the NFL, so it was good to see Jim Washburn’s group shut that down. But the pressure on Manning was a nice bonus.

50 = Receiving yards left on the table by DeSean Jackson due to a taunting penalty. I don’t really know where to start with Jackson. The taunting penalty seemed unfair considering its dead-ball-foul nature, but ultimately it’s DeSean’s responsibility. And after he missed last week’s game, you’d think he’d play with some maturity and humility. I guess not. At this point I am increasingly sure that he won’t be in Philadelphia next season.

Photo from Getty.

Dream Team?

Would have thought they’d stay away from that metaphor.

Week Eleven
Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants
8:15 pm ET on NBC