I like to think of the resurrection of the 2011 Eagles into a wiser and better 2012 team that will have learned from its mistakes…and will be much improved because of it. I’d like to think of it as “evolution”… but of course, evolution does not always proceed in an orderly or logical manner. After all, the armadillo was at one time probably considered a very nice evolutionary advance for mammals…
Along comes Reuben Frank, the esteemed veteran writer for CSN Philly.com, who takes more of a “crime scene” approach to analyzing the Eagles this season. In case you missed it, here is Reuben’s less-than-charitable post-mortem on the 2011 Eagles…
“Ten Things That Went Wrong for the Eagles in 2011 … “
The hardest part of coming up with a list of 10 things that went wrong for the Eagles this year is narrowing the list down to 10.
Because everything went wrong this year.
Nonetheless, we’ll give it a shot. Here, in no particular order, are 10 things that the Eagles were counting on to contribute to a big-time postseason run — perhaps even a Super Bowl run — that went terribly wrong this year.
This is not a list of the Eagles’ weaknesses or faults, more a list of their greatest 2011 disappointments.
1.) Asante Samuel didn’t have an Asante Samuel kind of season
We all put up with Samuel’s occasional unnecessary risk-taking because the payoff is a ton of big plays. From 2006 through 2010, Samuel had an NFL-best 41 interceptions — more than eight per year, including five in the postseason. Samuel’s teams were 29-5 during that span when he had an INT and 24-3 in the regular season. This year, those big plays never happened. With the exception of an INT in Atlanta and an INT and TD return against Arizona, Samuel has not had a productive season. Maybe the trade talk affected him, who knows. He just hasn’t been himself. The Eagles don’t have many defensive playmakers. They couldn’t afford a down year from one of their best.
2.) Michael Vick was never Michael Vick
The guy we saw the first 10 weeks of last year never materialized. Why did 21 TDs and six INTs become 11 TDs and 11 INTs? Nobody is quite sure, but it’s clear that without an elite quarterback, the Eagles had no chance to be an elite team.
3.) DeSean DiSaster
The last few years, DeSean won games for the Eagles. This year, he lost games. When he bothered to show up at all. The Eagles tested D-Jack this year to see whether he was mature enough to handle a massive contract. The result was his worst year as a pro, at least five dropped touchdown passes, a one-game suspension after he missed a mandatory team meeting and a growing reputation as another wide receiver diva. Does DeSean deserve a top-5 wide out contract? After 11 weeks, he ranks 24th in the NFL in receiving yards, 53rd in receptions and tied for 70th with two TD catches. You tell me.
4.) The Juan Castillo Experiment
Really, not much more to say here. It’s all been said. A catastrophic failure. When you become the first team in NFL history to blow four fourth-quarter leads in your own stadium in one season, it doesn’t take a genius to realize one team is making adjustments and the other isn’t.
5.) A huge step backward for Nate Allen
It seems like so long ago now, but Nate Allen was very good last year before he got hurt. He had interceptions in his first three NFL games and looked for all the world like a big-time ball hawk at safety. But Allen has struggled this year, both with continued knee soreness and tackling and coverage issues that may or may not be related to his knee. Not the same guy. Big step backward for Allen.
6.) Trent Cole’s calf injury
Cole was off to a tremendous start when he got hurt in the 49ers game. He had three sacks in his first four games, and his explosive moves to the quarterback were opening up rush lanes for Jason Babin, who had seven sacks in those first four games. But Cole’s calf injury really ruined his season. He only missed two games, but he hasn’t been the same since he got hurt. He has two sacks in five games since coming back, and Babin only has three since Cole got hurt. If you do the math … before Cole’s injury, Cole and Babin combined for 10 sacks in four games. Since then, they have five sacks in seven games. This defense can’t work without a ferocious pass rush, because the back seven just isn’t good enough or experienced enough to carry the unit and the Eagles don’t have any blitzers capable of disturbing the QB. Cole’s injury was disastrous for the defense.
7.) Andy Reid coached really, really poorly
From getting too conservative with Mike Kafka in the Atlanta game to the fourth-down conversion attempt vs. the Giants early in the fourth quarter with the Eagles leading to the Chas Henry fake punt against the Bears to the Ronnie Brown goal-line option play in the 49ers game to giving NFL rushing leader LeSean four total fourth-quarter carries against the Bears and Cards … Reid made a series of inexplicable and inexcusable decisions this year, and in close games, they cost his team dearly. Reid is not an awful coach. He’s a good coach who’s having an awful year.
8.) The Nnamdi Problem
I still think Nnamdi Asomugha is a very good cornerback and this will turn out to be a good signing. That said … what the heck were they thinking taking a guy who didn’t join the Eagles until July 29 and couldn’t start practicing with his new team until a week later — just five weeks before the regular-season opener — and trying to transform him overnight into some sort of hybrid corner-safety-linebacker with the weight of the defense on his shoulders? By the time Castillo finally backed off the “Have-Nnamdi-do-Everything Plan,” admitting he asked the veteran cornerback to do way too much way too soon, Asomugha seemed lost. Then he hurt his knee at practice and a disappointing season turned into a disastrous one. Castillo spoke when he got hired of simplifying the defense. Once the Eagles acquired Asomugha, Castillo did exactly the opposite, and by doing so, he effectively neutralized one of the team’s huge additions.
9.) Where are the picks?
A decent pass rush never resulted in turnovers. The Eagles devoted a lot of offseason resources to the pass rush, signing defensive linemen Babin and Cullen Jenkins to huge contracts, and both have played very well. The Eagles are seventh in the NFL with 30 sacks, just three out of third. But all that pass pressure never resulted in the interceptions it was supposed to lead to. The Eagles are only 15th with 11 interceptions, and four of them came in one game. Take out the Redskins game, and the Eagles have just seven interceptions in 10 games. They had three in their five games before Washington and just four in the last five games. The whole idea of pass pressure is to make quarterbacks feel uncomfortable and force them to make rushed, poor decisions. For whatever reason, the Eagles’ pressure never did that.
10.) No big plays
Last year, the Eagles had 11 offensive touchdowns of 40 yards or more. The year before, they had 12. This year? They have just one — and that came on opening day, LeSean McCoy’s 49-yard TD run against the Rams. So in 33 games from opening day 2009 through opening day 2011, they had 24 offensive TDs of 40 yards or more. In the
last 10, they have one. Since the Eagles always have bad field position — they rank 25th in kick return average at 22.3 yards a pop and 29th in punt return average at 6.8 — it’s no surprise so many drives have failed to generate points. It’s hard enough going 80 yards or more with an efficient offense. Factor in all the turnovers — the Eagles lead the NFL with 25 of them — the red-zone inefficiency (24th) and the absence of big plays and it’s easy to see why this offense has been so inefficient.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
