Too Little, Too Late

Everyone has to enjoy a near-shutout against the Cowboys, even if Dallas did muddle through the meaningless game led a backup quarterback. The Eagles did lose to John Skelton earlier in the season, so at the very least this counts as progress.

The Eagles have put together their best and most consistent stretch of the season over the last three weeks, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t continue against Washington next weekend. But the broader questions remain as to how to interpret this recent upswing.

Are these the “real” Eagles that just needed too much time to coalesce into a playoff-caliber team? Does this justify last offseason’s moves, and support keeping the same structure in place going into 2012?

Although we’ll have plenty of offseason to analyze it further, I don’t think the answer to either of those questions is yes. Recent success, especially against poor opponents, can cloud our judgement and fabricate an upward trend where there is none. Nor does any improvement at this point explain why it took so long. I flat out reject any argument that blames the lockout, since once again: every team had to deal with the same thing.

But on a subjective, inside-Novacare maneuvering level? This final month could be just enough to justify maintaining the status quo.

The hope is that a disappointing season like this would force management to confront the decisions that led to such an outcome. They might find and attempt to correct the failures in drafting, free agency, playcalling, etc.

Instead, the danger of this potential false positive final month is that it allows the Eagles front office to conveniently ignore all of those mistakes, if they so desire. I sincerely hope that isn’t the case.

Photo from Getty.

On Spagnuolo's Future

Kevin Acee, for the San Diego Union-Tribune:

League sources have said for weeks that Kroenke plans to clean house after the season, firing both head coach Steve Spagnuolo and General Manager Billy Devaney. League sources also said this week that it is all but certain that Spagnuolo will join Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.

I’m skeptical of this particular report, because this San Diego reporter for some reason has “league sources” that predict ten different dominos falling across the NFL.

Also, I bet Juan Castilllo is retained and Spags jumps in as Senior Assistant/ Assistant Head Coach, just like Marty Mornhinweg did in 2004.

(Via Sheil Kapadia)

The Creepiest Santa Claus Ever

That video was painful.

Week Sixteen
Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys
4:15pm on FOX

Jim Washburn Doesn't Take It From Anyone

Sean Jensen, at Yahoo Sports:

When he signed with the Tennessee Titans, defensive line coach Jim Washburn told him that he’d give snaps to the best players, regardless of where they were drafted or how much they were paid.

“ ‘If Jeff Fisher tells me who to play, I’m going to tell him to [expletive] himself,’ ” Babin said Washburn told him. “ ‘Then he can fire me.’ ”

Charting the Eagles 2011 Playoff Odds

For the Eagles to win the division and make the playoffs, they need to win out against the Cowboys and Redskins, and hope the Giants lose this week and beat the Cowboys next week.

That’s still an unlikely string of outcomes, but it’s much better playoff chances than the Eagles have had in weeks. Football Outsiders head honcho Aaron Schatz was gracious enough to provide archives of their week-to-week playoff odds, and I’ve compiled the Eagles numbers here:

You can follow along the Eagles ups and downs, from the heights of perceived Super Bowl glory (18 percent chance of winning it all after week one) to the brief resurgence following week eight, to getting eliminated from wild card consideration completely.

Amazingly, the current 15 percent chance is the highest they’ve had in seven weeks. Still a long shot, but it at least makes this weekend interesting — a fan luxury we wouldn’t have if any of the other NFC East teams were any good.

Choices at Safety

Tommy Lawlor:

We’d all love the Eagles to go find Dawk, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, or someone like that, but these are rare talents. You simply can’t hold the Eagles (or any team) to that standard. Can the Eagles upgrade on the current set of Safeties? That’s certainly possible, but I think the player would have to be special.

It’s obviously a false dichotomy to say that the Eagles only choices are essentially to stick with what they have or bring in a “special player.” That kind of attitude also suggests that the Eagles should have stayed with Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown as starting wide receivers, and that drafting someone like Earl Thomas wasn’t possible.

I still hold out hope for Nate Allen to rebound in 2012 and perhaps Jaiquawn Jarrett will show his talent, but Kurt Coleman is at best a good backup safety and none of the three have consistently demonstrated above-average play. What’s wrong with signing a non-Jarrad Page veteran and making the youngsters actually earn one or both starting jobs next year?

Alex Henery's Questionable Leg Strength

Tommy Lawlor, in his always detailed game review:

Speaking of FGs…a few people (me included) wondered why Reid didn’t try for a FG in the late 3rd Qtr when we had the ball at the NYJ 36. We punted. We then stopped the Jets and got the ball back at the 39. 3 plays later we scored a TD. I won’t lie. I wanted to see Henery kick a long FG. We know the guy is good from 30-the low 40s. We have no idea about 45-55. Mystery.

It’s not that much of a mystery, unfortunately. At least at this point in his career, Henery doesn’t have the leg to consistently make field goals from beyond 45 yards.

Remember when David Akers used to crush 60-yarders in warmups? Before every game I’ve attended in the press box this year, I’ve watched Henery stuggled to make the distance from 50 yards out. The transition in the kicking game is an untold story this year.

Rewind: Notes on the Eagles-Jets Game

I rewatched the Eagles-Jets game last night and came away with several short nuggets for your enjoyment. Here you go:

• The Trent Cole and Jason Babin delayed blitz routine is fun to watch. Jimmy at Blogging the Beast has a nice breakdown of it. Though they’ve run this for a few weeks, it was especially effective against the Jets. I expect that the Cowboys tackles will be more prepared to pass their rushers off to the inside, which is when the Eagles should go double A-gap blitz instead.

• On the other side of the blitzing coin, there’s no need to pull zone blitzes that drop Cole into coverage. It’s just counter-productive. Mark Sanchez completed his long pass to tight end Dustin Keller against Cole. Of course, it helped that he could use a pump fake to move Kurt Coleman out of position.

• Casey Matthews definitely has potential as a nickel linebacker. He’s at least playing at game speed now and recognizing backs out of the backfield quickly, which is a massive improvement from before. He wasn’t a horrible pick in the fourth round, but I have no idea what Juan Castillo and company were thinking starting him, especially as a rookie.

• Meanwhile, Brian Rolle seems to be hitting a bit of a rookie wall. Where Matthews was flying around the field, Rolle looked slower than usual.

• Asante Samuel shifted over into the slot on the right side once or twice when he didn’t have a receiver to match up with on his side. That said, he was immediately called for pass interference on a slant route.

• Pro Football Focus charted the Eagles defense with 9 blitzes out of 31 plays. In general, blitzing (even sending 6+) is very positive for this team, since most of the coverage problems originate with linebacker or safety play.

• I loved the little play action screen pass in the third quarter, when the Eagles brought Brent Celek across the formation as if he was going to trap block, then he let the defensive end go, turned, and was open for the quick pass. Almost converted for the first down.

• The Jamar Chaney interception was all Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. DRC jumped the slant route and knocked the ball into the air. It really shouldn’t be as hard for him to adjust to the slot as he makes it out to be, but he’s clearly more comfortable on the outside.

• LeSean McCoy’s 33 yard TD run was a classic example of his skills. He dodged the first free rusher and then bounced to the opposite side of the field, dancing around another defender. Then he turned on the burners. Touchdown.

Photo from Getty.