Week 4 Review: Eagles lose 24-23

For the first time in franchise history the Eagles have blown three straight 4th quarter leads.  Since their Week 1 victory over the St. Louis Rams the Eagles have been outscored 36-0 in the 4th quarter.  The team blew a 20-point second half lead at home to the 32nd ranked offense in the entire NFL. Dating back to last season the Eagles have lost five straight games at Lincoln Financial Field.

Sunday’s loss to San Francisco was the ugliest loss in an ugly season. Poor defensive play, horrendous decision making, and abysmal coaching cost the Eagles a game that should have NEVER been close. Make no mistake about it: the Eagles deserve to be 1-3 on the season. They have a lot of work to do if they want to turn this season around.

Below is the good, the bad, and the ugly from an atrocious effort and an inexcusable Week 4 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

THE GOOD:

DE Jason Babin: The Eagles had three sacks on Sunday afternoon. All three were registered by Babin. Although Babin had one bad roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter, his pass rushing ability is relentless. He has now registered sacks in each of the first four games of the season. Babin’s 7 sacks is the most ever by an Eagles player through the first four games of a season surpassing Clyde Simmons’ (1991) and Hugh Douglas’ (2001) 6.5 sacks.

QB Michael Vick: Vick bounced back nicely after two subpar performances completing 30/46 passes for a career-high 416 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also ran 8 times for 75 yards. He did everything he could do to lead the Eagles to victory. His lone interception was under-thrown but it was not completely his fault. Vick made good decisions against the blitz and ran when he needed to. His touchdown pass to Clay Harbor was on a play that only he can make. Vick deserved a win on Sunday. The rest of his team let him down.

WR Jason Avant: Avant showcased his great hands and toughness finishing with 6 catches for 69 yards. He worked the middle of the field well and caught almost everything thrown in his direction. Avant isn’t flashy but showcased on Sunday how effective he can be as a slot receiver in this offense.

OT King Dunlap: Dunlap did a great job blocking a David Akers field goal attempt in the 3rd quarter. He broke through the line and used his long arms to block the kick. Great effort and even better execution.

LB Brian Rolle: For a rookie making his first career start, Rolle made a solid impression. He was certainly better than Casey Matthews. Rolle finished with 5 tackles and had maximum effort while out on the field. He made a great play to force a fumble that was ultimately overturned. Rolle wasn’t perfect but it was a performance he can certainly build upon.

TE Clay Harbor: Harbor had a very strong performance in the receiving game. He finished with 3 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. Harbor made a great adjustment on his touchdown reception to keep moving and allow Vick to find him in the back of the endzone. He also made a very nice catch over the middle. It was a very good game for the second year tight end.

WR DeSean Jackson: Jackson barely ends up in the good column. The wide receiver bounced back with a monster game statistically. He finished with 6 catches for 171 yards. However my mind consistently goes back to his “effort” on Vick’s interception. Even though the pass was under-thrown, DeSean has to make a better effort on that pass. He had the ball ripped from his grasp and then turned around to complain to the referee rather than making a tackle. It was great to see Jackson bounce back with a strong performance but his effort on the interception was troubling.

THE BAD & THE UGLY:

Head Coach Andy Reid: I can’t think of another profession in the entire world where for thirteen years you could consistently take responsibility and say that you have to put the people that work under you in a better position to succeed yet continue keep your job. Andy Reid has had a tremendous amount of success as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He has many strengths as a head coach. But he also has many weaknesses. Weaknesses that have not improved for thirteen seasons. Through four games this year the Eagles are an undisciplined team with poor fundamentals that plays soft.

Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo: The Eagles fired Sean McDermott after last season and spent a lot of money in free agency to improve the defensive side of the football. Yet the defense is somehow worse this season than it was last year. Although there is a lack of talent at linebacker and safety, Juan Castillo must shoulder the majority of the blame. The 49ers made adjustments at halftime and the Eagles had no answers. Alex Smith, yes THAT Alex Smith, finished 21/33 for 291 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a 112.1 QB rating. The defense allowed an injured Frank Gore to rush for over 127 yards on just 15 carries on a bad ankle.

The Eagles defense has been one step behind the entire season. There is just far too much talent on this team for the defense to be THIS bad. The Eagles defense has now blown more 4th quarter leads under Juan Castillo than it did under Sean McDermott in two seasons (thanks to Reuben Frank). Juan Castillo might be a good man and a solid football coach but he is not a good defensive coordinator. At least he isn’t at this point in his coaching career.

Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg: The play-calling in the red zone and on the goal line is absolutely mind boggling. Why in the world would you call a halfback option pass up the middle on the goal line? In the last two weeks the Eagles have had the ball inside the one yard line on TWO separate occasions and have come away with ZERO points. That’s not just bad, it’s inexcusable.

With the amount of firepower that the Eagles have on offense there is absolutely no reason that they should be this bad in the red zone. The team is now 8-for-21 in the red zone this season. The exact same problems that plagued this offense last season continue to cause them issues in 2011.

The fact that the team called 54 pass plays and just 12 run plays should be deemed irresponsible. Instead it will be chalked up as consistency. In a game in which the Eagles at one point held a 20-point lead, they ran the ball just 12 times. With a running back that had the second most rushing yards in the entire NFL coming into the game, the Eagles ran the ball just 12 times. With a quarterback recently removed from a concussion and playing with a bruised right hand, the Eagles called just 12 run plays. The pass/run ratio of the first three weeks seemed too good to be true. The offensive play calling regressed significantly against the 49ers.

K Alex Henery: The Eagles knew they were taking a risk coming into the season with a rookie kicker. It finally backfired as the team took on the kicker they kicked out the door after last season in David Akers. Henery missed two field goals inside 40 yards in the second half. He push both kicks wide right. When you lose by one-point and your kicker missed two make-able second half field goals, he deserves a tremendous amount of blame.

Interior Offensive Line: The Eagles interior offensive line just isn’t good enough. They are getting manhandled up the middle and got absolutely no push down on the goal line. Evan Mathis, Jason Kelce, and Kyle DeVan have shown flashes of playmaking ability but far too often they have made mistakes and been a negative aspect of the offense. They have to play better if the Eagles have any chance of turning this season around.

Linebackers: It shouldn’t be a surprise that the linebackers continue to struggle considering Andy Reid has neglected the position for years. In the Eagles wide-nine system, linebackers are counted on to shed blocks and make plays. Unfortunately the Eagles linebackers have not done that so far. Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter combined to average 6.8 yards per rush on Sunday. The defense is being gashed up the middle of the field and somebody in the linebacker corps is going to have to step up if they want to start to correct it.

Safetys: Jarrad Page has been horrendous in three of the first four games of the season. He shouldn’t be on the field but the Eagles don’t have a better option at this point. Nate Allen is clearly a step slower than he was last year and has been overmatched this season. He was beaten badly on a 25-yard catch by Vernon Davis in the 2nd quarter. The Eagles safeties have struggled in coverage and can’t tackle. It is a major concern.

Cornerbacks: Through four games the Eagles are not getting the return on their investment at the cornerback position. Nnamdi Asomugha got beat again this week and has not played up to what is expected of him. He has shown flashes of brilliance and did a nice job when matched up against TE Vernon Davis, but ultimately Asomugha has to play better. I still have no idea what Asante Samuel was doing on Josh Morgan’s 3rd quarter slant route. The only time Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was mentioned on Sunday was when he lost yardage on an unnecessary trick punt play.

RB Ronnie Brown: I don’t care if that play call was a pass-run option. What in the world was Brown thinking? How can you try and throw the ball as your being tackled to the ground near the goal line. That decision is one of the most mind boggling decisions I can remember seeing in a long time. A player of a lesser caliber would be cut on Monday for making such a mistake. That simply can’t happen and when you lose by one-point, you can point at that play as a major reason for the loss.

WR Jeremy Maclin: Maclin finished with 7 catches for 71 yards but he has to do a better job protecting the football. He had the ball stripped twice and lost a fumble at a crucial point in the 4th quarter. That is now twice in three weeks that Maclin let the team down at the end of the game as they tried to drive down field for a victory. He has all of the talent in the world. He must be better.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the worst loss of the 2011 season for the Eagles.  It was an embarrassing defeat and an inadequate performance from top to bottom.  The team has a tremendous amount of work to do and must do it quickly if they want to try and salvage this season.  Through four games the Eagles are not a good football team.  They deserve to be 1-3.