Fire The Walrus

His Abject Stubbornness and Refusal to Admit a Mistake

The Walrus and the Fonz have one thing – and only one thing – in common: they can never admit to being wr-wr-wr-… Wr-wr-wr-wrong(*).

(*)Click here and go to the 9:15 mark.

There are a plethora of examples of Reid’s refusal to admit his plans went awry – the Wildcat, which was forced down our throats and NEVER worked; his running philosophy, which is a 2,000 word piece unto itself; any time Reno Mahe ever stepped onto the field… The list goes on and on, but it’s specific positions in particular that Andy consistently overlooks.

The Eagles are missing a big, powerful running back for short yardage situations? Not in Andy’s plans.

Linebackers are important to defense? Don’t try to convince Reid of that.

He always claimed he didn’t need a great Wide Receiver, but in reality he was constantly searching for one (mostly through the draft) and was horribly unsuccessful (Na Brown, Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell, Reggie Brown) until he finally (though temporarily) signed Terrell Owens. But then the problem returned until he struck gold with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.

We get it, Andy… coaches don’t like to admit mistakes because it makes them look weak and unprepared. But at what point does it become detrimental to the organization?

Each season the Eagles have a glaring hole; an achilles heel that is apparent to anyone who’s paying attention to the team on a daily basis:

• 2000 – Wide Receivers are easily the weakest link of the team, with starters Charles Johnson and Torrance Small equating to one good wideout. Chad Lewis led the team in receptions and yards. Also, Duce Staley went down in Week 5 and the Eagles never found a replacement. McNabb led the team in rushing.
• 2001 – Again the Wide Receivers bring down a good team, with the reign of James Thrash and Todd Pinkston just beginning. Thrash leads the team with 833 yards.
• 2002 – The trend continues as no Receiver reaches 800 yards for the season, but even an atrocious receiving corps couldn’t derail one of the best teams in Eagles history. Middle Linebacker was the “Death Star Reactor Core” of the 2002 team, as Andy Reid stubbornly refused to pay his star Defensive play-caller, Jeremiah Trotter, letting him walk away to a Division rival. Not having Trotter in the middle was the downfall of what-should-have-been a Super Bowl champion… And Joe Jurevicius will haunt our dreams forever.
• 2003 – No Wide Receiver has more than 575 yards. The NFC Championship Game versus the Panthers – aka “The Ricky Manning, Jr. Game” – was proof positive. Also, aside from Westbrook returning punts – Andy never fills the hole left by legendary return man Brian Mitchell.
• 2004 – It’s hard to find a weakness on a team that: A) Finally fixed its biggest problem by bringing in TO; and B) Fixed its second biggest weakness by welcoming back Trotter(**). But… Andy let the very underrated Carlos Emmons walk – stating that he simply couldn’t afford him – and hasn’t been able to find a Linebacker that can cover Tight Ends since. Dhani Jones, Emmon’s replacement, was a huge part of the Eagles second-half-Super-Bowl-meltdown against the screen pass. Also, Andy replaced veteran Punter Sean Landeta with Dirk Johnson – not a good move – and still couldn’t find a viable Kick Returner.(**)Almost made a “Welcome Back Kotter” joke, but one ancient TV reference per piece is enough.
• 2005 – TOOOOO TO-TO-TO… TOOOOO… TOOOOO… The unraveling begins. A Super Bowl hangover and injuries also derail team.
• 2006 – McNabb getting hurt and Jeff Garcia stepping in was the best thing to happen to the Eagles, forcing Reid to establish a legitimate run game. The issue was the Defense, primarily due to the gaping holes at Strong Safety and Outside Linebacker – better known as Sean Considine and Matt McCoy. Reno Mahe, Kick Returner didn’t really inspire confidence either. Poor drafting = lack of talent.
• 2007 – Again with the Linebackers – this time Omar Gaither, Takeo Spikes and Chris Gocong. And again with the return game.
• 2008 – A very strong team with few weaknesses, but the Linebackers still held the team back. That and the fact that – besides Trent Cole – the Defense didn’t have one standout playmaker that could get into the Quarterback’s face (see: Kurt Warner, 2008 NFC Championship Game).
• 2009 – The Offensive Line – which got brutalized in back-to-back games against the Cowboys – short-yardage situations and Donovon McNabb, who wore out his welcome (at least) one year too late. Middle Linebacker again hurts the Eagles, as Stewart Bradley (not that good in the first place) blows out his knee in a practice known as “Flight Night,” which we’ll be getting to soon enough…
• 2010 – Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback. Offensive Line. The Redzone. Third Downs. Take your pick.

Where does it end? Each year the Defense truly lacks Linebackers. Each year the Offense struggles to convert third-downs or short yardage. It’s been 13 years and still the Eagles can’t admit that Linebackers matter or that they struggle gaining one, two or three yards when it really matters. And how about the team’s much publicized struggles in the Redzone (on both sides of the ball)? Fans have been clamoring for a real Offensive Redzone threat for years, and still, the Birds can’t run a simple fade pattern inside the 20-yard line.

What about his play-calling; his challenges; his pointless, excruciating timeouts that result in NOTHING; the fact that he refuses to allow his Quarterbacks to call audibles or make hot reads? Andy Reid is relentlessly stubborn and unwavering in the way he does things. Sometimes that’s not a bad thing – his players have yet to ever quit on him. But change is a good thing, and in the NFL especially, you need to be able to evolve. Look at Tom Coughlin. A pissy, miserable bastard, that used to put his players through hellacious practices and fine them for not showing up 5 minutes early to meetings, changed his ways (albeit with near-mutinous players on his hands), became softer and gentler, inspiring his team to an impressive Super Bowl run.

Andy Reid can’t make adjustments in-game, and he can’t make them during the Offseason. What position will The Walrus overlook this year? We’ll see. He’s already kicked it off with Defensive Coordinator.

Just another reason to Fire The Walrus.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Reasons to Fire The Walrus, The Walrus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.