First of all, we must come clean and admit that we were wrong…
With :15 left in last night’s Eagles-Giants war, as Tom Coughlin was rushing out his kicking team to attempt a third-down, potential game-winning field goal, we were screaming for Andy Reid to take a timeout.
Not in a “wait until the last second and try to ice the kicker” kind of way, but more so to make sure the Defense was properly prepared. Both teams were scrambling to get the correct personnel onto the field, and the chances of an offsides penalty were high. Giving the Giants even a yard more, could have been detrimental to the Eagles victory.
Of course, Reid called a timeout(*), and of course, Lawrence Tynes missed the unnecessary attempt. This is where we, and Andy, were wrong.
(*)From our vantage point in the Linc, we saw Andy signal for the timeout well before the play ever started, and weren’t freaking out along with the rest of the crowd… Though who can blame anyone for thinking otherwise?
Icing the kicker is total bullshit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau(**), the move has officially worked one time. Ever. You may remember when Mike Shanahan successfully pulled it off roughly 28 years ago, and every coach has idiotically followed suit ever since. It’s meaningless… And only causes problems.
(**)And of course, we are totally making this stat up!
Letting Tynes tee up that first field goal try, gave him a perfect understanding of what he needed to do to successfully hit the second try. His first attempt had the distance, but was just to the left of the uprights. His second kick was perfect… Except that it wasn’t! The snap was low and mishandled by the holder, forcing Tynes to get too much lift on the ball, sending it straight up in the air. You could see the ball’s trajectory the second it left his foot.
But there should have been no second kick, nor should there have been an Eagles timeout. Even with the clock stopped, the Giants rushed the field goal attempt and missed, and the Eagles should have let it happen.
So, a poor snap on a Mulligan field goal saved Andy Reid’s ass. He said it himself… The fans wouldn’t have let him leave the stadium alive. On the bright side, his poor icing attempt didn’t come back to haunt him, and we’d bet any amount of money that Reid doesn’t ever try to ice a kicker again!
Speaking of things that Reid rarely tries… The running game made a timely and surprising return to the Eagles’ offensive gameplan! Andy Reid – yes, Eagles’ Head Coach, Andy Reid – called 30 passing plays to 36 rushing plays. 36!!! Can you believe it?! Did you see Merril Hoge’s head explode when he mentioned this on Sportscenter this morning?! Amazing!
The question is… Why? Why does The Walrus wait until his back is against the wall and all hell is breaking loose, before he pulls out a gameplan like this?! We see this happen at least once a year. The Offense is stagnant and lethargic, so Reid shakes it up. Well, according to CSNPhilly’s Reuben Frank, the Eagles are 10-1 when LeSean McCoy has 20 or more carries, and 20-21 when he doesn’t. So maybe Andy should pretend his back’s to the wall a little more often.
Regardless, last night was phenomenal! What a fantastic win and a fun, intense game to watch/be at/enjoy! The Defense did a brilliant job honoring Brian Dawkins, on the legend’s special night(***). And the Eagles are 3-1 and in first place of the NFC East!
(***)More on Dawk later on…
Whether they win their games by a combined 4 points or 40, we’ll take these gritty, hard-fought, nail-biting wins anytime!
Fire The Walrus 
Miracle at the Linc for sure! I think it was divine intervention called Brain Dawkins