Not piling on Nnamdi Asomugha here…we regularly note at the Eye upon the good plays and tough assignments that should be credited to Aso, despite the fact he rarely gets public acclaim in Philly for the good plays he makes.
Everyone instead focuses on his breakdowns in zone coverage. In a way, Nnamdi's zone coverage snafu's (which are a TEAM problem, not merely a "Nnamdi" problem) could be said to symbolize the entire 2012 season so far for the Eagles. In other words, miscommunication and wasted potential…
Brian Westbrook and Philly writer Jordan Hall took on the issue in a nice piece for CSNPhilly.com.
It was the second quarter in the Redskins game and Nnamdi Asomugha was lined up with Washington wideout Aldrick Robinson. The rookie receiver ran a simple post route, and it seemed like Asomugha had inside help from safety Nate Allen.
Instead, a Redskin cut across the middle, which caused Allen to bite. Asomugha hesitated in coverage, believing he had help. However, once Allen jumped underneath, it left Robinson wide open for an easy 49-yard touchdown pass from Robert Griffin III.
"The play was a complete defensive breakdown stemming from miscommunication," said Westbrook.
"Nnamdi passes the guy off," Brian Westbrook said on Monday's edition of Daily News Live. "There's no communication between Nnamdi and the safety. It should be Cover 3, the safety should be back, but why is Nnamdi stopping? He has to continue to run. The communication has to be there, but you have to start that in practice.
"Your safety's not there, he's not playing the right position. Just keep going."
Asomugha didn't, and it resulted in one of Griffin's four touchdown passes on the day en route to a 31-6 shellacking of the Eagles.
"We had prepared, I thought we prepared well for what we were going to experience," safety Kurt Coleman said. "We did not have anything we did not see on film or in practice, the unfortunate part is when we came out here, we thought we had something communicated, it wasn’t fully communicated and as you know, when things in this league aren’t executed properly, it gets exploited."
Confusion, miscommunication, bewilderment, shock, anger…the Eagles' 2012 season will be remembered for these things in Philly.
"We just have to try to do whatever we can to win a game," defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said. "One game."
The problem is that the Eagles know they can't count upon one more win. They can't until they identify what's wrong. They're not even close to that stage. "I can't even tell you, to be honest," cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. "For a quarter or two, you’re looking good and then something slips and then it keeps slipping."
Added bewildered tight end Brent Celek: "I don’t know if it can get much worse. I’m not playing well. We’re not playing well. I don’t know what else to say."
To respond to Celek, yes, it can get worse. The Eagles' very next game is at home. On a Monday night. On national TV. With no other games going on. With a whole nation watching. And with a defense trying to chase down Cam Newton.
The Panthers also feature defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, whose firing two years ago started the downward spiral which continues to this day.
BRI SUKS EGG FANCY FOOTBALL UPDATE…
Week 11 saw big upset wins for Jercules and Palmy, and Huddy's Hoes added another "W" to what is now a 5-game winning streak. Bri's Fancy Boys (led by Coach Brozer) held off ATV's Dirty Stinkin's in a 100-90 slugfest, in which Broz' top scorer was the St. Louis Rams Defense/Special Teams.
League Standings
EAST
Bri's Fantasy Boys 8-2-1
Splunker Valley Apes 6-4-1
Harold HAHA 6-5-0
Great PPW 6-5-0
Hoof Heart Spiffo 3-7-1
Palm Feathers 3-8-0
WEST
Hudrock's Hoes 8-3-0
Bri Slappers (JB) 7-4-0
Dirty ATV Bums 6-5-0
Evans Head Beano 6-5-0
Jetpack Jerkies 3-8-0
Big Bone 2-8-1
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