January 03, 2006

Requiem for an ex-Champion

Who would have thought when the season started the Philadelphia Eagles would end it with Koy Detmer throwing three awful passes in a row, with the last one intercepted and ending the game? Who would have thought the season would end in the regular season? Who would have thought the Eagles would only win 6 games?

A year after reaching the Super Bowl, on Sunday the Eagles ended their season with a 6-10 record, losers of 8 of their last 10 games and out of the playoffs for the first time since 1999. Not many people thought the Eagles would enjoy a season like last year, when they went 13-1 before playing the jayvees in the last two games and then reached the Super Bowl.

And we all know the story. The Eagles lose the first game after McNabb gets hurt, but nobody really thinks it's all that serious. After the Eagles sprint to 3-1, everything's all rainbows and puppydogs. But, then there's a big loss to Dallas.

And even though the Eagles beat the Chargers the next week, it was on a fluke returned blocked field goal for a touchdown. T.O. started grousing at that point, the team started to get more and more banged up, and McNabb started to look more and more hurt. And even after two straight losses, a T.O. season-ending suspension/deactivation, some people still had hope -- until a late 20-7 lead over the Cowboys became a 21-20 loss on Monday Night Football.

At this point, there's no shortage of people to blame. Terrell Owens, of course. But also Andy Reid (for not resolving the T.O. situation in training camp, for his wacky playcalling, for the way he handled the special teams), the defense (for forgetting how to tackle), the wide receivers (for sucking), and maybe even a little bit o' Donovan, though he's one of the more blameless people on the team, despite some of his untimely interceptions, despite what the head of the NAACP wants you to think.

What to look for next year? Eh, who knows. The Eagles need some outside linebackers, they need to hope the corners return to form, they need defensive tackles, they need wide receivers, they need good special teams. Yikes. They need a lot. And despite the fact you might think, "Oh, they'll be okay once people heal," the Eagles didn't beat any playoff teams this year. The Eagles probably need more than we all think.

And if that's the case, well, it's time to start dusting off the VCR so you can watch that tape of the 2004 NFC Championship, because next year could be a long season, too.

As dust settles, Kalu blames T.O. [Inky]

Posted by D-Mac on January 3, 2006 09:58 AM
Posted to Andy Reid , Donovan McNabb , Eagles , Terrell Owens

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