As Eagles Eye converted from its former home at MVN to our new home here at Bloguin, the Philadelphia Eagles were annihilated in the first round of the NFC playoffs by Dallas, 34-14. By now you know the ugly details of the massacre: the Eagles were unmasked as pretenders to the crown. Dallas’ huge defensive front and their linebackers crushed and overwhelmed the weakened offensive line of the Eagles. QB Donovan McNabb was bull-rushed and sent running for his life throughout the entire game. Meanwhile Tony Romo was on the mark, and except for one shaky moment in the first half when the score was still close and an interception by Philly safety Sean Jones was overturned by review, Romo and the Dallas offensive line drove at will upon the patchwork Eagle defense. Season over at the half, and that was it for the 2009 Philadelphia Eagles.
Although an 11-5 finish and one-and-done in the playoffs is not the worst result for a franchise (I can count at least 20 other teams in the NFL which would like to have that result!), there is a cloud of disappointment and depression which hangs over Philadelphia these days. Our expectations of this team were far greater than the reality of the team’s physical decline. Losing center Jamaal Jackson to the IR two weeks before the playoffs turned out to be the decisive blow. Everything involving timing on the offensive line simply collapsed. Suddenly unable to score, the Eagles turned to their defense for an answer, and there was none… After 16 IR’s and half the defensive squad either hobbled or overmatched by bigger and faster opponents, the Eagles met their Waterloo in Dallas.
Talk shows in Philly are festering with angry callers demanding this and that, mostly saying the same thing: “Get rid of Andy Reid, get rid of McNabb, get rid of OC Marty Mornhinweg, get rid of DC Sean McDermott, draft us some new cornerbacks and DE’s…” The angry callers and posters in town actually believe the 2009 Eagles were good enough to win a coveted Lombardi trophy.
But I’m here to tell you, as the voice of Eagles’ fan sanity, the plain truth: the Eagles were simply not as good as advertised, and all the free agent patches and rookie plug-ins could not hide that reality in the end. In fact, as Dallas was getting stronger in December, the Eagles were literally falling apart from fatigue and injury. You can actually see the loss of speed and strength in many of the players by comparing game tapes from September to January; in fact, CB Sheldon Brown was so obviously battling ankle and shoulder injuries late in the year, it literally cost him a Pro Bowl selection.
Don’t blame McNabb. It’s hard to complete an accurate pass when you’re a half-step away from getting knocked on your back, or when Jay Ratliff gets to you before the snap from center is in your hands.
The Eagles disappeared from the playoffs because they ran out of gas, an injury leak which started in August and sprung full-force in November. They ran out of able-bodied players. The game speeds up in the playoffs, and the Eagles just could not hang with it. That’s why I say: real Eagles’ fans should not be disappointed. The Birds went as far as they could with a depleted roster that in the end was just not that good. You’ll never hear Andy Reid explain it exactly like that. But if he did, more of the disgruntled fans might cut him a break. In one way, this might have been Reid’s finest coaching year ever. I’ve never seen him do more with less.
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