What the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles Need to do

One of the biggest disappointments thus far this season has been the Philadelphia Eagles, and they are now sitting at 3-5 with 4 straight losses, they are in second place in the NFC East.  They can turn it around, they have the talent, and right now the Giants are 6-3 and one of those losses is to the Eagles.

There really does not seem to be one issue with this team, if there can just be one main issue it would be the lack of play by the team as a whole.  They can’t protect Michael Vick, they can’t throw the ball well, they can barely score points and their defense has been atrocious, it is softer then a memory foam mattress.

This past week is an example of how bad this team has been playing, there were many missed tackles, poor blocking and a lack of red zone execution against the New Orleans Saints.  They had 2 turnovers in the red zone, a fumble and an interception that was returned for a touchdown and they also failed to convert a 4^th down at the end of the game in the red zone.  That is not good for a team that is already struggling; they could easily be 1-7 right now if not for Vick beating both the Browns and Ravens at the end of those games.  They could even be 0-8 if not for the Giants mistakes on the final drive that led to what could have been a game winning field that was missed.

Some people want to blame Andy Reid, some want to blame Vick, some blame the offensive line, some the defense and some blame the lack of carries by LeSean McCoy.  If you ask me I think this is a team situation, I can’t remember seeing such a talented team playing so poorly, they have only gone over 20 points once this season.  I thought Monday night’s game against the worst defense in the NFL would help get the Eagles back on track, CBS’s NFL analyst Shannon Sharpe said “When the Saints come marching in the Quartbacks numbers go up”.  What he meant by that was when the Saints play their opponents QB will light it up.  Vick did not do that, he did have that one long pass play to DeSean Jackson but most of that yardage was after the catch.

If the Eagles want to right this sinking ship, which they can do they need to fix some things.  They first need to run the ball more, LeSean McCoy is one of the best running backs in the NFL right now, he is fast, elusive and can take the pressure off of Michael Vick.  The Eagles cannot expect to win when the have a spread of 5 receivers and then try to have their offensive line that has holes like Swiss cheese protect Vick, he got pounded on Monday.  If memory serves me right he was sacked, hurried, and hit on 37% of his drop backs, that is inexcusable, the Eagles did give Vick a 100 million dollar contract to take a beating and turnover the ball as many times as he has.  Some of those are his fault and some are because he has to hurry the throw or the ball gets knocked loose when he is being hit.

The Eagles need to find a way to get the ball to the other play makers such as Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson.  They have speed and skill to get it done, as does Vick and McCoy, once they are all on the same page this offense can be lethal, but right now it is a different story.

As for the defense, they have to step it up, there is no excuse for their poor play, they are professional athletes, they should know how to tackle and be swarm to the ball, firing the defensive coordinator was a bad idea.

If Eagles want to be a better team they need to fix their problems, and if they don’t get it right and save their season Andy Reid will be gone, and should be.  The team needs to draft offensive linemen and work on their defense, and Vick could be gone as well, but only time will tell.

My prediction is that the Eagles could finish 8-8 at best, I don’t see it being any better then that.