I haven’t posted here in months, mostly because I got pissed off about the lockout and found other things to do.  But I have been lurking here and following the Eagles.  Anyway, I have given this whole thing some thought and have decided that it is time for the Eagles and Andy Reid to part ways.  I’ll tell you  why., and it won’t be about  x’s and o’s or stuff like that.

Things have grown stale.  Reid has been here a long time.  Inevitably when you are in a situation for long time things grow stale.  I hate to say that Reid has become comfortable, complacent, etc., because those words can be taken in a negative context.  There is nothing negative about this.  I don’t hate Andy Reid.  To the contrary, I will thank him for making Eagles football exciting since 1999, and wish him the best.  I still think that he is capable of coaching a Super Bowl winning team, just not in Philadelphia.  I’d rather see an amicable separation than a firing.

All the other stuff, the coaching staff changes, the lack of talent at certain positions, the red zone issues, the play calling, etc., are really just symptoms of the staleness.

As for when, I don’t know.  I’m not sure that it matters, but probably after the season.  I don’t see the Eagles winning the Super Bowl this year, not with the lack of talent at linebacker, safety, and to a smaller degree offensive line.  I could see 9-7, maybe 10-6, but that’s about it, and if the Eagles make the playoffs they won’t go far.  Just too many holes.  The new coach should be hired after the season.  As for who that should be, I would be against hiring any of the big names (Cowher, Fisher, etc.).  Bring someone in with a fire in their belly and something to prove, someone who will light a fire under the players’ asses.  Other than Vermeil and Dungy, I can’t think of other coaches (Johnson, Parcells, Holmgren, etc.) who have been successful and gone to another team and won a Super Bowl.  And, they generally don’t stick around for long in their second stints (Yes, staleness is bad, but some continuity is good).  It should be someone from outside the organization, tough (remember .... change).

Change is inevitable, and risky.  I understand those risks.  We could hire another Rich Kotite (gasp).  But I think that the time has come where keeping things status quo is even riskier.  The Eagles need a change.  Andy Reid needs a change.  It is time.

I know that I have offered no concrete evidence here to back up what I am saying.  All that I have written is based on gut feeling.  Well, that and personal experience.  I have been a Reid supporter for a long time, and I still am.  But it is time.  So, thanks for reading and flame away!

I liked Joe_D's most favorite post, so I figured that I'd come up with a list of our most disappointing losses under Reid.  This is not meant to be a scab picking exercise.  I'm just curious how my ranking matches up with the folks here at BGN.  So here goes ....

10. December 28, 2010

Vikings 24 Eagles 14

2 seed was not guaranteed if we had won, but was likely IMO.  And we just came out flat and not ready to play.  Maybe the team felt that the Vikings would lay down, but you’d think we would have learned our lesson losing out on the 2 seed the year prior.

9. January 9, 2011

Packers 21 Eagles 16

As bad as we played against the Vikings I figured that with a week off we could regroup and get something going in the playoffs.  It turns out the team just had too many flaws.  As bad as we looked that game we were still in it at the end.

8. January 27, 2002

Rams 29 Eagles 24

It’s always tough to be one game away from the Super Bowl and lose, but honestly, I thought that it was a tough task to go to St. Louis and win.  We were ahead in the second half and then Marshall Faulk took over.  I remember feeling optimistic about the team after this loss, as painful as it was.  I know that this was a championship game but my expectations were not quite as high going into this game.

7. January 13, 2007

Saints 27 Eagles 24

The Jeff Garcia run.  We had the destiny mojo going, and were winning in the second half.  This went down to the wire, with an offensive penalty (questionable to some) taking away a first down that would have had us in FG range.

6. January 3, 2010

Cowboys 24 Eagles 0

You could argue the playoff loss in Dallas the following week, but IMO this is where the season ended for the Eagles.  A win would have given the Eagles the 2 seed.  Instead, we were 6 seed and had to go right back to Dallas.  The loss the next week was a foregone conclusion as I saw it.  There was nothing in this final regular season loss that told me that we had a chance the next week.  Going into the game I thought that we had flaws and it would be tough, but we really came out flat in this one.

5. January 7, 2001

Giants 20 Eagles 10

I hate losing to the Giants more than any other team, and doubly in the playoffs.  Add to that the fact that they beat us 3 times that year.  The opening kick off return and Sehorn’s pick 6 killed us.

4. January 18, 2004

Panthers 14 Eagles 3

I believe that this is the year we lost Westbrook the final week of the season.  We were just coming off of the emotional 4 and 26 victory.  McNabb got hurt in the first half and was never the same.  The offense never got going.

3. January 19, 2003

Bucs 27 Eagles 10

Until 2008 this was my most disappointing championship game loss.  Expectations were high.  Final game at the Vet.  We owned Tampa Bay in the playoffs up to that point.  We got a quick score early and then it went all downhill from there.

2. January 18, 2009

Cardinals 32 Eagles 25

Out of all the championship losses this one hurt me the most.  We had the destiny thing going, seeing how we squeaked into the playoffs with help.  We had just beaten the number 1 seed Giants.  We had already beaten the Cardinals soundly that year.  Dawkins’ status after the season was up in the air.  And we were into this one until the very end.  Painful.

1. February 6, 2005

Patriots 24 Eagles 21

It’s the Super Bowl, need I say more?

So there you go.  All of these were playoff games or had playoff implications.  Other than these games, any divisional game lost sucks, but two come to mind.  The 10-3 loss to the Redskins in 2008 where we controlled our own playoff destiny and the 30-24 loss to the Giants in 2006 where we were up 24-7 going into the 4th quarter.

As Joe_D said, did I miss any?

I've been hanging around here off and on for a couple of years now, but this is my first fan post, so go easy on me please.

There are a lot of pissed of Eagles fans out there this morning, and rightly so.  I'm one of them.  I think that my biggest gripe is with the coaches for not reacting to the defenses pressuring the crap out of Vick.  It's pretty obvious that is what teams are going to do, because it has worked.  Please plan for it, coaches.  'Prec.

That said, I understand the rants, but let's take a couple of seconds, step back and look at what we have in the Eagles.

First, ask yourself, at the beginning of the year if someone told you that this team would be a 3 seed would you have been happy?  I would have been, because anything can happen in the playoffs.

We have a very talented, but young and inconsistent team.  I can think of two games all year that I could breathe easy in the second half, Jacksonville and the second Washington game.  All of the others we have either been behind in the second half or our opponent has been within a score.  The Eagles disappear for stretches in almost every game.  This is the team we have at this point.  Given this I am not surprised at all that the Vikings played this one close.

I think that the Eagles are a team on the rise.  We are a very young team, and these young players are getting experience being in the playoff hunt.  That's good, and will hopefully benefit us in the future.  There are some holes to patch for sure, but I am very optimistic about this team.

Will I be rooting for us to win in the upcoming playoffs?  Absolutely.  Will I be disappointed if we lose?  No doubt.  But I know what we have.