Eagles Nightmare Far From Over

Added on Nov 28, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

The bloodbath that is the Philadelphia Eagles 2012 season is still five weeks from mercifully ending. The latest casualties in this exercise in futility were wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who was shipped to injured reserve with broken ribs, and defensive end Jason Babin, who was cut loose due to an inflated salary and poor performance. As bad as things have been since October, they are sure to get much worse once the season ends.

The guillotine securely hovering above Andy Reid’s head won’t fall until January. Owner Jeffrey Lurie has no choice but to clean house after issuing an offseason playoffs-or-bust ultimatum. Reid’s coaching staff will also be vanquished, including acting defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who has managed to be more inept than the maligned and fired Juan Castillo.

Ridding the team of an aging coaching staff will be the easy part. The brutal decisions will be which players to keep and which ones to label as scapegoats for back-to-back failed campaigns, especially on defense. Big ticket free agents such as Nnamdi Asomugha and Cullen Jenkins should and will be jettisoned. Safeties Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen are average on a good day. The bumbling trio of Akeem Jordan, Jamar Chaney and Casey Matthews have almost zero job security.

And then there’s the shockingly ineffective offense. An offense that will march out rookies Nick Foles, Bryce Brown and Damaris Johnson this Sunday night. An inconsistent Brent Celek could be in jeopardy, as well as the underachieving Jeremy Maclin, who is up for a contract extension. Jackson is still worth keeping, but he’s not a true number one receiver and is easily rendered obsolete by utilizing over the top coverage.

The offensive line should be okay, provided Jason Peters, Todd Herremans and Jason Kelce return to full health. And the combo of Brown and LeSean McCoy represents the team’s lone strength entering 2013. With Reid and his pass happy playcalling gone, a new head coach would be wise to lean on a ground game that will help protect a young quarterback and a rebuilding defense.

Repairing all the Eagles cracks isn’t a short-term project. Finding a competent head coach unafraid to dump dead weight and miscalculated draft picks is imperative. For all his faults, Reid won a lot of games during his tenure, and until the last two years fielded a competitive and respected roster. But 14 seasons is a long time to stick in a city starving for a championship. Sweeping change is overdue.

At this point, no one in the organization is safe. Reid and Michael Vick are easy targets, but the future of wunderkind general manager Howie Roseman must be evaluated. Roseman was the architect behind the free agent splurge of 2011 and the in-house spending spree of 2012. He will likely escape the axe, although he too needs to be held accountable for the franchise’s recent decline.

Whatever happens between now and next summer, one thing is certain: the Eagles nightmare is only beginning.