What happened?
The Eagles had their season end in the NFC Wild Card playoffs for the second straight season, as Michael Vick's last minute interception finished off any chance of a late comeback against the Green Bay Packers.
The Good:
Very little to see here.
Jason Avant did have a couple of drops, but also caught seven passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Jamar Chaney played well for Stewart Bradley in the middle.
Kurt Coleman didn't have a bad game at safety, recording seven tackles.
The Bad:
Michael Vick was just average in his last game of the season. He completed 20 of 36 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown, and ran for a touchdown as well, but his poor pass that led to the game ending interception will be what's remembered.
LeSean McCoy only carried the ball 12 times for 46 yards. That's a 3.8 yard per carry average. Not good enough against the 18th ranked rush defense in the NFL.
DeSean Jackson only caught two passes for 47 yards.
The defense let James Starks, a rookie who had all of 101 yards rushing during the regular season, go off for 123 yards in his first ever playoff game.
The Eagles got called for seven penalties that cost them 50 yards.
The Ugly:
Michael Vick was sacked three times and pressured a lot more than that. By the end of the game, Winston Justice was watching from the bench.
David Akers went 1-3 on field goal attempts. After the game, it came out that he was dealing with some family health issues, but this isn't the first time he's come up small in a big playoff game.
The Eagles allowed the Packers to convert eight of 13 third down attempts.
The offense only scored one touchdown in three trips to the red zone, while the Packers scored on all three of their trips.
For the second year in a row, the season has come to an end too soon.
The Breakdown:
For a season with all kinds of twists, turns and adventures, it came to an end almost the same way that it started. The Green Bay Packers came into Philadelphia and stopped Michael Vick's last minute attempt at a comeback for the second time this year. The first time, it came on a stop on a fourth down and short. This time, it was on a Tramon Williams interception in the end zone with under a minute to play and the Eagles down by five points. It wasn't a pretty game by the Eagles, but they were in it until the end, they just didn't have enough to get it done.
To be fair, that was the problem with the Eagles all season long. No matter how well Michael Vick and the offense played, there was this sense that something was going to happen, and this team would stop being able to score points at will. Late in the season, the offensive line, which had been bad all year, somehow got even worse, and that carried over against the Packers. On the first play of the game, Vick got hit hard, and that was the story for the rest of the game. Vick never got a chance to get comfortable, and he couldn't read the blitz well when it was coming. It was just a bad situation that had gotten worse as the season went on, and it reached its climax on Sunday.
This isn't going to be a retrospect on the entire season. That's going to come after the Super Bowl. For now, I just want to look at this game in the same regards that I looked at every other game the Eagles played this year. For the most part, it was the same mistakes that the Eagles made in every game that they lost that came back to bite them in the game against the Packers, and that's why their season is over now. First and foremost, LeSean McCoy didn't get nearly enough touches against the 18th ranked rushing defense in the NFL. All you have to do is look at what the Packers did with James Starks, who had all of 101 rushing yards in his career before this game, to see what the Eagles should have done with McCoy. Just establishing a running game would have kept the blitz off of Vick a bit more and made things easier for the entire offense. Instead, Andy Reid did what Andy Reid does, which is throw the ball more and more as the season moves along. This isn't the first time I've seen this from Reid in the playoffs, and the result is almost always the same.
DeSean Jackson took too long to get established as well. For someone that wants to get paid this offseason, he didn't do a whole lot to justify that. Sure, he's still going to get his money, but in five career playoff games, Jackson is averaging just 53.6 receiving yards and has just two touchdowns. That's not good enough for the biggest weapon that this team has on offense. I don't care how much he has to rely on the big play, he should get more involved than that. It's not good enough. The story is the same with Brent Celek, who had another game with next to nothing on the stat line. Yes, he had to block a lot this season, thanks to the offensive line, but he still should have been able to do more on offense than what he did in this game and during the season.
I don't even want to get into the offensive line, but I guess I have to. Gone are the days of Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan...now the Eagles have Jason Peters and Winston Justice, and Justice couldn't even finish the game against the Packers. He struggled so much, and was called for so many penalties, that he spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench, with King Dunlap out there for him. Justice just signed an extension last year, but he might have played his way out of Philadelphia with this last showing. He struggled all year against the faster rushers, which is something that's plagued him throughout his career. The one thing that the Eagles had throughout Donovan McNabb's time in Philadelphia was bookend offensive tackles. Now, they almost have turnstile offensive tackles, and it's only been two years since Tra and Jon last played here. Not good at all. That needs to get better, and fast.
Then, there's the defense. You can talk about injuries all that you want, but the fact of the matter is that the players that stepped in for the ones that went down played almost as well. Kurt Coleman isn't Nate Allen, but he did well enough. The problem lies with the linebackers, who all need to be upgraded, the defensive line and the secondary, save for Asante Samuel/Nate Allen/Kurt Coleman. Against the Packers, Aaron Rodgers was able to check down time and time again to open receivers on third downs. That's why the Packers went eight for 13 on third downs during the game, and that's how good teams keep drives alive. It's another problem that the Eagles have had all season, and that goes hand in hand with the problems in the red zone. Once again, the Eagles couldn't stop the Packers in the red zone, and Green Bay made them pay with three touchdowns from inside the 20. That lies with the entire defense, and there's more than enough blame to pass around. Trent Cole seems to disappear in situations, the rest of the line is average, at best, and don't get me started on the linebackers. Once again, it was something that was brewing all season and it came to a head last Sunday.
Overall, it just wasn't a good game for the Eagles. Even David Akers, the longest tenured Eagle, had a bad game in what could be his last game in Philadelphia. There are things going around about him having a family health issue, so I can understand why his head might not have been in the game, and I hope he comes back for at least another year. He's the best kicker that the Eagles have ever had, and if it weren't for that guy in New England and Indianapolis, he would be known as the best kicker of the 2000s. That's how good he's been. For this game, and all the failures during the season, the blame lies with the entire team. Players couldn't make plays when they needed to, and even Michael Vick couldn't get it done by himself. This team tried, and was talented, but they were good, not great. Whenever they played a better team, they struggled, and it showed throughout the season. Against the Packers, everything that had been a problem during the regular season: the lack of a good offensive line, an inconsistent running game, dumb penalties, poor red zone defense, all of it, it all came tumbling down. Now, the Packers get to keep playing, and the Eagles get to resume a familiar sight...watching the playoffs from their couches.
Change has to come to this team. The only question is what will it be?
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