Fire The Walrus

We said it before the season, we said it a few weeks ago and we’ll say it again now: the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles are an 8-8 team. Could they somehow sneak their way to 9-7? Sure. Could they drop 6 of their last 10 games to only reach 7-9? Of course. But they are what they are… a middling, .500 football team, with a penchant for inconsistency.

Their record may be 3-3, but the Birds are VERY lucky to not be 2-4 or worse. The Browns dropped a game-ending interception in the endzone on the Eagles’ winning drive in week one. A phantom offensive pass interference call handed the team a gift against the Ravens in week 2. A bad snap and hold saved Andy’s (literal) bacon in the week 4 Giants game. Sure, they were seemingly one third-down stop or missed field goal away from beating the Steelers and Lions, but that’s five of six games that came down to one decisive play.

If you take away the Cardinals game – where the Eagles had their lunch handed to them – the team’s point differential is -1, giving up 98 points while scoring 97 in those five games. That’s 8-8 football. Factor in the Cardinals game, which the Eagles lost by 21, and their point differential for the season is -22.

For you math/stat nerds, let’s break that down using Bill Barnwell’s favorite metric for determining expected performance: Football’s Pythagorean Theorem(*). Based on point differential, the Pythagorean Theorem is the best tool to accurately predict a football team’s record, and as they head into the bye, the Eagles boast a winning percentage of 0.396, or 6.3 wins. So, good news… They’re currently outperforming their projected Pythagorean Theorem! Yay!

(*)Click here for Barnwell’s excellent explanation of the Pythagorean Theorem and why it’s so important to football.

Taking the 8-8 theme even further, the Eagles are equally average statistically speaking. The team ranks 11th in total offense (yet 31st in points per game) and 11th in total defense. And if you’re REALLY into stats and advanced metrics, the Eagles rank 24th in Offensive DVOA(**) and 6th in Defensive DVOA… But those numbers don’t take into account week 6, so expect the defensive rank to drop. So, bad news… The Eagles stink. Especially on Offense.

(**)DVOA is the Football Outsiders metric that measures a team’s performance against league average after adjusting for the down, distance, game situation, and quality of opposition. Read more about DVOA here. It’s super interesting nerdy!

Between the turnovers – 13 total… 12 by Vick alone! – and the lack of pressure on opposing Quarterbacks – particularly in the fourth quarter – the chances of them turning this thing around are slim. The Eagles are sackless in the last three games, with only seven QB hits… And they didn’t even lay one hand on Eli in week 4!

On top of being mediocre-to-bad, now the team is starting to deal with the inevitable finger-pointing in the lockerroom. Overpaid, overrated Nnamdi Toastugha openly complained about Juan’s change in Defensive philosophy during Sunday’s game against the Lions, particularly questioning why he was taken off of Calvin Johnson (who he had held to one catch over three quarters) in favor of Dominique Rogers-Cromartie. Maybe it’s because DRC has established himself as the team’s best Cornerback… Maybe it’s because Juan’s an Offensive Line Coach masquerading as a Defensive Coordinator… Who knows?

All we know is that this is only the beginning of the dissent, and it’s only going to get worse. The players are undisciplined and their going to express their concerns. It may have been the Lions who recorded 16 penalties on Sunday, but it’s this Eagles team that is horribly undisciplined – hell, rookie Fletcher Cox openly admitted to throwing punches. Even Jason Avant thinks so (via Philadelphia Daily News’ Marcus Hayes):

“It’s just undisciplined. That’s the bottom line,” Avant said. “It’s undisciplined football. An undisciplined team at this point. Six games in, it’s embarrassing. That’s the word. Embarrassing. For coaches. And veteran players. With the mind-set of, ‘Me before the team,’ in certain instances. And we need to address that before we play another ballgame.”

You’re right, Jason, it IS embarrassing. The whole team is embarrassing.

And guess what? That responsibility falls on the coaching staff… Especially Andy Reid. But much like everything else, Andy will stubbornly ignore this glaring issue… You know, aside from telling us that he needs to do a better job(***).

(***)There are seriously only so many more times we can hear those words escape through The Walrus’ crumb-covered whiskers.

Meanwhile, in the 2012 Eagles Fantasy Blame League, Andy took the opportunity during his day after press conference to give both Vickhead and Juan Cantcoachagainstillo a vote a confidence. It’s looking like a tight race to see who gets thrown under the bus at the end of the 8-8 season.

So, as we enter the bye week, the Eagles’ 2012 season has reached a crossroads… 10 games to prove they deserve the preseason hype and a spot in the postseason. 10 games for Michael Vick to prove he deserves $16.5 million in 2013. 10 games for Andy Reid to prove that he deserves to remain the coach of this team.

In reality… That’s 10 more games to 8-8.

And 10 more games to Fire The Walrus.

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!