Three things the Philadelphia Eagles need to fix after bye week

Photo courtesy Steven M. Falk/philly.com
Todd Bowles was promoted to defensive coordinator after Andy Reid fired Juan Castillo following two straight losses with letdowns in the fourth quarter.

The Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) stumbled into their bye week losers of two straight after a 3-1 start to the 2012 season. They exit their bye with a new defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, and a lot of work to be done.

The Eagles have a long way to go in order to prove that they are a legitimate contender not only in their own division, but in the NFL. At the risk of jinxing them, the Eagles have been perfect under Andy Reid following a bye week (13-0). They will face a team boasting a perfect record of their own, the Atlanta Falcons, who are the only unbeaten team left in the league at 6-0.

Here are the three big things that the Eagles need to fix before they meet the Falcons on Sunday.

1) Re-teaching Michael Vick how to tuck a football

It’s not news to anyone that Vick has had his turnover issues this season. Throwing interceptions is one thing, but the sheer amount of fumbles Vick has coughed up is the most astounding stat. Vick has nine fumbles (five lost) in six games, and has lost his grip on the ball in all but one game (a victory over the New York Giants).

Photo courtesy Getty Images
Michael Vick’s fumbling issues have hurt the Philadelphia Eagles this season. He has coughed up the ball at least once in all but one game so far this year.

It’s clear that Vick needs some sort of antidote to clear his fumblitis. I would prescribe the classic “carrying the ball everywhere you go” treatment. This treatment has been known to be utilized by coaches mainly for running backs with fumbling issues. If he hasn’t already, Reid should have Vick clutch a football all day long and give a reward to anyone who can strip the ball from him. It has gotten to the point where drastic measures must be taken to solve this problem.

2) The 2-minute drill…for the defense

The Eagles defense has been relatively spectacular at times throughout this season. It is clear that they have gelled and are playing more as a unit than last year’s disaster. However, two late collapses in big situations in the fourth quarter that resulted in losses have the defense in a tailspin. These letdowns resulted in the firing of Juan Castillo and promotion of Todd Bowles to defensive coordinator. He will have to fix his defense’s ability to perform in the clutch if he expects to hold onto his new job.

The Eagles’ defense needs to put another complete game together like they did against the Giants. They should focus primarily on stopping an up-tempo, late-game attack, which they have not shown the capability of doing in losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions.

3) Getting LeSean McCoy and the rushing game more involved

Photo courtesy AP Photo / Paul Sancya
LeSean McCoy is the Philadelphia Eagles’ most dangerous weapon, and has been a big factor in their three wins this year. When he is underutilized, however, the Eagles have fallen short.

McCoy is perhaps the Eagles’ most dangerous offensive weapon. He is a rushing, juking, stop-and-start, change directions on a dime, catching machine. However, the Eagles seem to shy away from giving him touches, electing instead to let Vick air it out with mixed success (eight touchdowns, eight interceptions).

In the Eagles’ three wins, McCoy touched the ball at least 20 times (20, 25 and 23 against the Browns, Ravens and Giants respectively). In their three losses, however, McCoy touched the ball less than 20 times (13, 16 and 14 against the Cardinals, Steelers and Lions). Although the Eagles’ offensive line is still a work in progress, the Eagles would be wise to make sure that McCoy gets his touches.

Photo Caption Contest:

On a side note, I will be starting a new post called “Clipped Wings” tomorrow. Each week I will find a photo related to the Eagles and ask for your captions or comments. I will pick the winner every week before posting the next photo. Keep an eye out for the first photo tomorrow!

Baltimore Ravens’ consistency something that Philadelphia Eagles should strive towards

Photo courtesy Rob Carr/Getty Images
The Baltimore Ravens have achieved something that Philadelphia Eagles’ fans are still waiting for: a level of consistency to match their resiliency.

Congratulations Philadelphia Eagles, you’re 2-1. You beat the Cleveland Browns (0-4), perhaps the worst team in football, by a single point, but then followed up that dismal performance by conquering the Baltimore Ravens (3-1), one of the better teams in the league. After getting blown out by the Arizona Cardinals last week (3-0), the questions that had laid dormant due to the fact that you kept winning came rushing out of the floodgates.

After analyzing the Ravens schedule for the first three weeks, the legitimacy of that Eagles’ victory back in week two suddenly seems blemished. The Ravens have played four games in 17 days, and entered this season with the burden of losing their longtime former owner, Art Modell. Before their showdown with the New England Patriots (1-2), further tragedy struck when starting wide receiver Torrey Smith was informed of his younger brother’s death.

The Ravens have emerged standing tall through all of this chaos, and are poised atop the AFC North. With only one letdown in their first four weeks, the Ravens loss to the Eagles could be seem as more of a hiccup than a legitimate Eagles’ victory.

Don’t get me wrong, the Eagles certainly fought hard to get back in that game after getting manhandled in the first half. They overcame turnovers and a barrage of injuries to storm back and not only make it a game, but ultimately come away with the victory. There is no denying that the Eagles have resiliency, something that they share in common with the Ravens. The difference lies elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of russellstreetreport.com
The Philadelphia Eagles may have beaten the Baltimore Ravens, but they could still learn some lessons in consistency from their foe.

Perhaps the most notable difference is that the Ravens level of consistency is on a completely different level than the Eagles. They were competitive in all four of their games, and their only loss was by a single point. The Eagles, on the other hand, kept their fans guessing by getting slapped around by the surprise team of the season thus far, the Cardinals.

The Eagles have lacked consistency for the past few years under head coach Andy Reid. What used to be a program that could be counted on to make the playoffs every year (2000-05, 2009-11), if not those heart-wrenching NFC Championship Games (three straight losses before breaking through to go to the Super Bowl) has suddenly become a liability. No one, not even the experts, can really get a read on how the Eagles will play from week to week.

Some blame it on Michael Vick’s turnover-prone play. Others on injuries that have devastated the offensive line. Still others say that this is Andy Reid’s final shot to get the team back to the promised land.

As for me, I think it’s an issue of consistency and resiliency. The Eagles won two close games this season, games that they most likely would have lost last season. Their level of resiliency has definitely improved and made them a competitor in the league. Their consistency, however, is what separates them from a competitor to a legitimate threat to win the Super Bowl. They should mimic the Ravens and shoot for that same level of consistency, because that is what separates good teams from great teams in the NFL.

So Eagles, you’re 2-1. Congratulations. But don’t let that success get to your head. There’s still a lot of work to be done, and the New York Giants are coming to town.

NFL replacement refs exit stage left

Photo courtesy Stephen Brashear/The Associated Press
The replacement referees saw their time in the spotlight come to a crashing conclusion, perhaps largely in part to the chaos of this game-ending Monday Night Football call.

After a three week run, the NFL replacement refs were not given a standing applause as they made their exit. Instead, they were chased off stage to a chorus of boos and rotten tomatoes after the NFL reached an agreement with the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) to bring back the regular officials in time for Thursday Night Football, which pitted the Baltimore Ravens versus the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL and the NFLRA agreed to an eight-year deal just days after the Monday Night Football debacle that ended in chaos and cost the Green Bay Packers a victory against the Seattle Seahawks. It would appear that the egregious error in awarding the Seahawks a touchdown as time expired was the final straw for the NFL, which had been weathering a barrage of complaints regarding the inexperience of the replacements.

With the reinstatement of the regular referees, there will most likely be noticeable changes in the way that the games are played. These referees are not intimidated by the players or coaches, and are much quicker to call penalties and keep the game moving. This means that the tempo of games will increase to what fans are more used to seeing.

So how will these changes affect the Eagles? The replacement referees were inconsistent, but often times seemed to let the players go at it with as little interference as possible. The team, which has accumulated over five penalties per game so far, is going to have to tighten up their play. They cannot afford to give away yardage with preventable penalties and put themselves in tough situations. Although they won two nail-biters, every Eagles fan knows that their luck will run out sooner rather than later in close games. Also, if they played almost any team other than the 0-4 Cleveland Browns in week one, they would have lost the game because of the 12 penalties that they accumulated, which cost them 110 yards.

In addition, the regular referees are much better at catching close calls, so the Eagles’ secondary needs to keep their hands to themselves and adopt a less physical style of play. The corners especially have been draped over the opponents’ wide receivers at times, and have sometimes gotten away with it. That will not be the case with the return of the hawk-eyed regulars.

The Eagles need to adjust to the regular referees quickly, because the New York Giants are coming to town with both teams sporting matching 2-1 records. This is the Eagles first NFC East game, and it is crucial to show the defending champs that they mean business. With the regular refs back in the mix, there will be no room for excuses.

Philadelphia Eagles still an enigma after Week 3 in NFL

Photo courtesy Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Mike Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles squeezed by both the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens in the first two weeks of the season, but fell short against the Arizona Cardinals in week three.

After three games, two wins with eerily similar results and one head-scratching loss, the Philadelphia Eagles are still an enigma. They began the 2012-13 season in near-disastrous fashion, needing a late-game drive to offset a dreadful offensive performance from their supposedly high-octane offense to scrape by the Cleveland Browns, 17-16. The Browns are now 0-3 and expected by most experts to finish near the bottom of the league.

The Eagles then squeaked by with a one-point victory again…but this time against a much higher quality team in the Baltimore Ravens, winning 24-23. Again, the offense sputtered for the majority of the game, only to come up clutch on a 4th quarter drive with time running down.

In their week three match-up of the battle of the birds, the Eagles put in a lackluster performance, getting blown out by the surprising Arizona Cardinals, 27-6.

The argument could be made that the Eagles are the luckiest 2-1 team in the league after their conflicting performances. Luck, however, is something that Eagles fans know does not exist for their team. In fact, luck plays for the opponent. So what should fans make of the first three weeks of the season for the Eagles? Other than the fact that their team seems to love making them sweat, some interesting themes have emerged.

1) The Eagles defense has outplayed the offense

Let’s face it, we all ripped apart Juan Castillo in his first year as defensive coordinator for the Eagles’ defensive woes. Now in his second season and already on the hot seat (perhaps unfairly, but hey, we fans demand immediate success), Castillo seems to have whipped his defense into shape.

Photo courtesy gcobb.com
The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense has shown vast improvement from last year’s squad, and has helped them to a 2-1 record.

As a unit, the defense has forced six turnovers and limited their opponents to an average of 275.67 yards of total offense per game, good enough to place them in the top ten for defenses. They’ve buckled down late in the fourth quarter to preserve leads (when they’ve had them) and played a swarming, up-tempo defensive attack.

The much-scrutinized secondary has been at times impressive and other times solid enough to get by, although I think we all expected more out of Nnmadi Asomugha, who only breaks up a pass if he is draped all over the wide receiver. Likewise, the linebacker corps has silenced its critics, including me. Middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans looked rusty in the preseason, but after only two regular season games he has emerged as the leader of the defense. He has a knack for being around the ball and complements rookie Mychal Kendricks, who flies around the field with a purpose.

2) Michael Vick can come up clutch…after putting himself in a bad situation

Vick broke out in 2010 with the Eagles after serving his time and getting a second chance. He made the most of it, throwing for 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns with only six picks. He also rushed for 676 yards and an additional nine touchdowns on the ground. His performance was so stellar that he was mentioned as a contender in the MVP race. His brilliance was short-lived however, much to do with the fact that teams adjusted to his style of reckless play and learned that they could effectively take him out of the game by punishing him with hits.

Photo courtesy Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Kevin Kolb beat his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, by leading an onslaught at the helm of the Arizona Cardinals’ offense.

Last season, he demonstrated a worrisome tendency to turn the ball over, throwing 14 interceptions and fumbling 10 times. That small worry has resurfaced early this season in a big way. He has thrown six interceptions and fumbled the ball five times in the first three games this season. He is a play-maker, but he does not seem to grasp the difference between making a play and holding onto the ball too long. He forces passes into tight coverage as well, putting added pressure on his defense to come up with more stops. The defense was able to get it done the first two games, but could not stop the Cardinals’ onslaught behind their former quarterback, Kevin Kolb.

Despite these inefficiencies, Vick led two impressive, late-game drives against the Browns and Ravens to squeak by with two, one-point victories. He was clutch when the Eagles needed him most, driving them down the field on 91- and 80-yard drives, respectively. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they didn’t give themselves a chance for a comeback drive late in the game against the Cardinals.

If the Eagles expect to get back to their winning ways, they will need to limit their turnovers and stop relying on last-minute heroics. The good news is that the Eagles are a different team from last year. Last season, the Eagles did not win close games. This season, they’ve already notched two under their belts. The key for the upcoming weeks will be to establish some sort of consistency from game to game, something that was lacking in their blowout loss to the Cardinals.