Ten days after the meltdown that ended their promising season, the Eagles have already gotten off to a great start in this winter of our discontent. Here’s a recap of the team’s miscues this offseason.
Despite two horrible performances against Dallas, franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb called it an “outstanding” season and offered a snippy mock-apology for not winning all 16 games.
After months of national hype and two (count them, two) truly big plays all year, backup quarterback Michael Vick lavished praise on his new-found unselfishness and called it “a great year.”
Coach Andy Reid took full responsibility for the collapse, and then — three-year contract extension tucked neatly in his pocket — fired his special-teams coach and two strength aides.
Owner Jeffrey Lurie and president Joe Banner, who started the year boasting about their “pedal-to-the-metal” style and their success in assembling the best roster in the NFL, totally disappeared from public view.
If the Eagles still see themselves as the gold standard, I can testify right here and right now that they are alone in that belief. Their fans see them as a tired franchise residing in a warped world created by their own delusions. Not only do the Eagles NOT have the best roster, they are not even the most popular team in their own city anymore. And the distance between them and the Phillies grows with every big-game loss and every insulting comment following it.
The first thing Reid needs to do is dump McNabb, who has million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head. The quarterback’s stupid remark about feeling sorry he couldn’t win all 16 games was vintage McNabb. Yeah, point the finger at the fans for high expectations, instead of blaming yourself.
And Vick needs to leave, with Mc-Nabb. Even after 21 months in “Kansas” — his euphemism for the federal prison camp in Leavenworth — Vick remains the same smug narcissist he always was. He’s not in Kansas anymore, and we can only hope he won’t be here much longer.
Finally, there’s Reid, who shocked special teams coach Ted Daisher by firing him after one season. Among his misdeeds, Daisher got the blame for blowing a timeout in the last regular-season game, something Reid has done in just about every single game he’s ever coached. Well, at least the new guy has a neat name: Bobby April.
It seems to me the Eagles need a Mr. January or Mr. February more than a Mr. April.
– Angelo Cataldi is host of 610 WIP’s Morning Show, which airs weekdays from 5:30-10 a.m.
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