Posts Tagged ‘Cullen Jenkins’

Inside the Players-Only Meeting: Will it Save the Philadelphia Eagles?

Sunday, November 4th, 2012

by Brandyn Campbell

 

 

 

 

On three!
(Image via sportsphotographymashup.com)

With each loss, the issues grew more pressing for the Philadelphia Eagles: where was the leadership?

In the first loss following a bye week in the Andy Reid era, the team accomplished the appalling feat of getting worse instead of better.

Where was the leadership?  Players hung their heads in shame and vacated the locker room quickly.  But there was a strange detachment to the third consecutive loss on the part of Eagles players, it seemed.

LeSean McCoy came out and said what every fan and casual observer alike was thinking.

“How we played, how the game ended, I didn’t see any pride.  I didn’t see any heart.  This is the whole team, myself included.  We didn’t get it done today.”

Three straight losses and no fire.  A new defensive coordinator and no improvement.  An embattled head coach and yet they continued to show little fight.  What could save this Eagles team?

For the first time this season, a players-only meeting was held on Wednesday.  According to Yahoo! Sports,

“meeting was productive even though it was not always pleasant.  Players implored each other to talk amongst themselves, man-to-man, rather than go straight to the media.”

Which, of course, meant that an unknown player on the defensive ran to the media to give his perspective on the meeting and the team’s situation.

“Mike ain’t the problem.  Look, we all know he’s struggling.  That ain’t some secret.  But we’re not helping him and that’s the problem.  The defense isn’t helping him, the offensive line isn’t helping him.  None of us.  We all gotta help each other and that’s what we talked about.”

The unnamed player continued,

“This ain’t time to be throwing people to the street.  We already had that with [Castillo’s firing] and that didn’t work,” the defensive player said, referring to a 30-17 home loss to Atlanta in the first game after Castillo’s dismissal.  “We gotta hang together.”

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie didn’t hide behind anonymity.  Typically a quiet presence in the locker room, he felt that the meeting was an important opportunity to speak up.

“Yeah, because I don’t really say much.  I’m not into the talking game.  I just believe in going out and playing ball, regardless of what goes on.  Not a lot to be said.”

DRC knows that times are serious and that his teammates needed to hear his voice.

“It was a team thing.  I’m part of a team.  So I felt like if I speak, guys would listen.  I didn’t speak on much; I just said, ‘Let’s just play ball and see where that gets us.’”

Other players who reportedly spoke up in the meeting were Vick, Trent Cole, Jeremy Maclin, Cullen Jenkins, DeMeco Ryans and Jason Avant.

Will the meeting and the man-to-man discussions make a difference on Monday Night Football in New Orleans?  For a Philadelphia team all out of answers, it must.  With the level of dysfunction on this team, if the record falls to 3-5 things will be torn apart at the NovaCare – including a change at the quarterback position – and the chances for victory will diminish even further.  Half the season will remain, but the outlook is bleak if the Birds don’t even up their record at the Superdome.

Perhaps now isn’t the time to throw people on the street, to paraphrase the unknown player, but with a loss in New Orleans it will happen again.  The Philadelphia Eagles are playing to save their season, their quarterback and their coach.  Is the burden too much to bear?  We’ll find out on Monday night.

Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.

 

Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports

 

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Why Benching Mike Vick Won’t Fix the Philadelphia Eagles

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

by Brandyn Campbell

 

 

 

 

Everyone must stand alone.

For anyone who watched the Philadelphia Eagles’ third straight loss on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons,  it was clear that the game was lost overwhelmingly because of the pitiful showing by the team’s defense.

However, on Monday, the headlines surrounding the game were dominated by talk of benching quarterback Mike Vick.

The Eagles’ offense was certainly not stellar in the game, as has been the case all season.  They played it safe, and that paid off in terms of having no turnovers.  Vick’s numbers for the day, in the wind and rain that signaled the start of Hurricane Sandy, were 21 out of 35 passes for 191 passing and 42 rushing yards.

Nothing tremendous, but — pardon the pun — passable.

What was abhorrent was the play of the defense.  The first game for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is one he wishes could be re-done.  In the 30-17 loss, the defense simply could not stop the Falcons offense.  It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that the D finally stopped Atlanta from scoring on a drive.  Prior to that, the Falcons had gotten points on the board from every single possession in the game.

The Eagles D finally broke its drought on quarterback sacks (one each by Cullen Jenkins and Cedric Thornton) but still could not bring pressure to Matt Ryan.  The secondary was woeful, with more questions about Nnamdi Asomugha’s value to the team versus that of his contract swirling more than ever before.  Prior to the game, the Falcons had little rushing game to speak of.  However, running backs Jacquizz Rodgers and Michael Turner were able to combine for 118 yards on the ground.

It was a failure in every way possible for the Philadelphia Eagles defense.  But somehow, the focus is on Mike Vick.

Andy Reid has once again helped to spark the questions and controversy, saying that he would evaluate everything closely to decide if a change is needed at QB.  That seems to be a constant state of affairs in Philadelphia these days.  But what is more disturbing are Vick’s comments on the situation.

“Obviously he’s thinking about making a change at the quarterback position. The thing I do know, and I’ll go and watch the film and I’ll evaluate myself, is that I’m giving us every opportunity to win.  I’m trying my hardest.  Some things don’t go right when I want them to.  Some things do.  So if that’s a decision that coach wants to make, then I support it.”

When your quarterback’s confidence begins to publicly waiver, you’re in trouble.  Vick’s unquestioning belief in himself at times this season has been maddening, but it’s a swagger that you need in the star athlete you’re expecting to lead your team day in and day out.  For the first time, cracks in Vick’s armor revealed themselves on Sunday and more than a lack of confidence, Vick revealed what seems to be a problem for this Eagles team as a whole.

They are at an utter and complete loss as to what to do to get better and how to do it.  That goes from head coach Andy Reid on down to the players.

That’s a problem.

The Eagles clearly have no idea how to fix the issues the plague them and the most damning sign of all is the fact that the team now seems to be getting worse.  When players were asked following the game what the problem was, no one had an answer.  They hung their heads and mumbled.  And neither firing Juan Castillo nor having their behinds handed to them at that Linc seems to have motivated this team.  So we’re  now left with a collection of lost men.

Time to panic after one bad game?  No, but we’re not talking about a single contest.  The team has played poorly all season, and after three straight losses they look worse than ever.

Ironically, the defense wasn’t the problem this season and yet Castillo was fired.  Following that pattern, I suppose benching Vick is the solution that would follow for this team.  Because it doesn’t make a lick of sense.

The Philadelphia Eagles are a team imploding before our eyes.  They’ve lost faith in themselves and they appear to be a team without answers.  At some point you’d hope that the Birds would stand up and fight to prove that they are as good as so many, including myself, believe they are and can be.  But it appears that they can’t.  Or, even worse, that they just don’t want to.

This team wants an easy fix.  Pointing the finger at Vick is simple.  Turning the finger at themselves collectively?  It seems to be something that Philadelphia is incapable of doing.

Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.

 

Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports

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Philadelphia Eagles: Was Juan Castillo Used As a Scapegoat?

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

by Brandon Pemberton

 

 

Yesterday the Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, making him a scapegoat for the teams mediocre 3-3 start.  In the Eagles last two games, the defense gave up leads in the fourth quarter and Sunday’s collapse forced Reid to make changes.  But this is more of a indictment towards Reid and the reason why, if they don’t somehow turn it around and make a trip to the Super Bowl, he and this whole regime must go.

There is plenty of blame to go around when you break down why this team with all this “so called” talent is 11-11 in their last 22 games.  We can start on defense if you like.  It all started when Andy Reid hired Juan Castillo as the defensive coordinator when he has never coached defense in the NFL, let alone college.  He had been the franchise’s offensive line coach since Ray Rhodes was here, and was one of the league’s best.  He made a constant habit of taking late-round picks and undrafted free agents like Jamaal Jackson, Artis Hicks, and Hank Fraley, and turning them into serviceable starters in the league.

Moving a lifetime offensive coach to the defensive side, let alone in charge of the defense was unprecedented and downright foolish.  It showed me that Reid thought and knew he was teflon and wasn’t going anywhere.  The defense in 2011 was horrible, probably the worst I’ve seen in 27 years of watching Eagles football.  After the play of last year’s defense, which was for the most part a direct result of Reid giving Castillo the job, they all should have been fired.

The players on defense also need to be held accountable for their play.  Juan Castillo can call the right defense for a certain situation, but if the players don’t execute out there on the field, there is nothing he can do.  The defensive line has been a flat-out disgrace, 7 sacks in 6 games (on pace for 18 for the season), after leading the league with 50 last year.  They weren’t able to pressure the QB with the down four, so Castillo was left no choice but to blitz.  Trent Cole, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins have been complete no-shows vs the pass this season.

Okay an obvious target is Mike Vick and the offense as a whole.  He’s turned the ball over 13 times in just six games, often costing the team points and constantly putting the defense on the field and in tough spots.  The Eagles rank 31st in the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg, but is ranked 11th in total yards, which tells me that obviously Vick’s carelessness with the ball is a huge problem, and two, the red zone offense stinks and hasn’t gotten any better since last season. 

The offensive line is a glaring problem, losing the best left tackle in football and your starting center is going to leave you short handed.  I’ve watched the coach’s film and they aren’t as bad as most say they are, but the line definitely isn’t playing to the level that they were in 2011.  Guards Evan Mathis and Danny Watkins, honestly have been mediocre at best this season and I don’t expect much from backup center Dallas Reynolds. 

Finally, Andy Reid, the one who has put this team together.  He picks the players, he picks the coaches, and he has final say scheme-wise as well.  The bad play calling, his inability to adjust on game day, not using Shady McCoy (who is one of the top 3 running backs in all of football), and the fact that he had the gall to appoint an offensive line coach as the defensive coordinator, should have been grounds for dismissal at the end of last season.  Instead, owner Jeffrey Lurie brings him back and we have more of the same mediocre play from last season.

It’s no coincidence that the Eagles are 11-11 over their last 22 games, but a win in two weeks over Atlanta could give the Eagles confidence, momentum, and start a winning streak, but the downside of it is that it could also give Reid another year.  We will see how it plays out.  Football is a funny game. 

 

Brandon Pemberton of Sports Trap Radio, for War Room Sports

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It’s Time for the Andy Reid Era to End

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

By Brandon Pemberton

Catch me on Twitter @Bashir28

Angry, shocked, bewildered, and befuddled are a few words to explain how I felt after I watched the Philadelphia Eagles blow a 20-point, 3rd quarter lead, and lose 24-23 to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.  Yes I admit, I am a full-bred, Philadelphia-raised, 4-for-4 sports fan.  But as an aspiring sports radio host and sportswriter, I am also a non-homer and I break things down objectively.

When the Eagles assembled this current team during the lockout-shortened off season, I was excited about the pieces they added, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  On paper, bringing in corners Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, along with defensive lineman Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins, made this Eagles defense look like world beaters.  They also signed quarterback Vince Young as the backup to Mike Vick and late in training camp, former Giants wide receiver Steve Smith as well.  Young coined the phrase “Dream Team” in an interview with the Philly media and the whole city ran with it.  Even before the team had played a down of football.

I had thought there were positions that were left unaddressed before the preseason and after watching preseason games 2 and 3, it was obvious to me that the offensive line, linebackers, and safeties were going to be a problem.  When I let it be known on Twitter, Facebook, and in this article http://brandononsports.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/eagles-brutal-performance-onthursday-is-it-reason-to-worry/ , people told me “calm down, it’s only preseason”.  Well the only eye test I had was the Eagles’ starters against the opposite team’s starters.  I thought to myself, “the Eagles really need to do something about these linebackers with the scheme they are attempting to play”, but this is Andy Reid we are talking about folks.  He feels as though linebackers don’t matter and aren’t a factor in winning a title.

So here we are, after this first 4 weeks of the season and the Eagles stand at 1-3 and last in the NFC East.  Unable to hold 4th quarter leads, horrible play in the red zone on both sides of the ball, along with putrid coaching and philosophy are the main reasons why.  Oh, don’t let me leave out the protection issues with the O-line, Vick’s problems coughing up the ball, and the inconsistent play of DeSean Jackson.

I and everyone else have had it with Reid’s excuses right after games in press conferences and the day after.  The same “I have to do a better job” statements along with his pompous and smug answers to the reporters’ questions the day after a bad loss or when he has made mind-blowing mistakes in a game, just tick me off.  His inability to adjust on game day and his refusal to take value in certain positions is the reason why he hasn’t yet won a Super Bowl, and why this team has fallen flat on their faces after 4 games.

Early in his career, Reid refused to acquire any big-time wide receivers, even when it was obvious it would help Donovan McNabb and take the team to another level.  He finally came to his senses and in 2004, Terrell Owens was added to the team and the Eagles had its best offensive season in franchise history while making a trip to the Super Bowl and eventually losing to the New England Patriots.  He then drafted DeSean Jackson in the 2nd round in ’08 and Jeremy Maclin in the 1st round of the 2009 draft.  It took him a while, but he eventually figured out if he was going to be a pass heavy team, he needed stud receivers.

During Andy Reid’s tenure here in Philadelphia, he has refused to put value into the linebacker position.  When he came here in 1999, he inherited stud middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and in 2000 while Tom Modrak was the General Manager, they signed outside linebacker Carlos Emmons as well.  Trotter and Emmons played together for two years (2000-01) and when “Trot” was allowed to walk after the 01′ season, this is when I realized the Eagles and the front office undervalued the linebacker position.  Reid has gone year after year refusing to address this problem.  Gardner, Simoneau, Kirkland, Jones, Wayne, Bradley, Gocong, and recently Ernie Sims are some of the names of the mediocre players that have played here since Trotter and Emmons.  They also have never found a proper replacement for Eagles’ legend and future Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins.

So when I saw the Birds send out a starting linebacker core of Moise Fokou, Casey Matthews, and Jamar Chaney on opening day, I wasn’t surprised.  You would think since the team is using Jim Washburn’s “Wide Nine” set for the defensive line, which leaves the linebackers vulnerable to offensive linemen, the team would acquire bigger, more violent linebackers via free agency or the draft.  Instead they move Jamar Chaney from his natural position of middle linebacker and hand the job to a 4th round pick out of Oregon who can’t play.  The eye test doesn’t lie.  Anyone with football acumen would have told you that Matthews isn’t a NFL middle linebacker, let alone a starter.  How Moise Fokou owns a starting spot on an NFL roster, I have no bleeping idea.  The guy is nothing more than a special teams player.  I liked what I saw from Chaney last season, but the current scheme doesn’t fit his abilities. 

There are two other teams in the NFL that currently use the “Wide Nine” scheme with its front four, the Detroit Lions and the Tennessee Titans.  The Titans are in the top 10 in 3 key defensive categories in the NFL:  7th in yards per game (299.8), 8th in rushing yards allowed per game (87.8), and they have the number 1 scoring defense in all of football (14.0 pts per game).  Their trio of linebackers include:  Will Witherspoon (6’1′ 240), Barrett Ruud (6’2′ 241), and first round draft pick Akeem Ayers (6’3′ 254).  They all are players who attack the line of scrimmage violently and are big enough to take on and defeat blocks at the point of attack.  Will Witherspoon, who played in eleven games for the Eagles in 2009, is also excellent in pass coverage, especially against tight ends.

The Lions rank 11th in the NFL in yards allowed (334.3) per game, 20th in rushing yards allowed per game (113.0), and 8th in points allowed per game (19.0).  Of course any defense with a player like Ndamukong Suh is going to make it easier on linebackers to play because he draws so many double-teams.  But there’s no way you can tell me that Stephen Tulloch (5’11’ 240), DeAndre Levy (6’1′ 238), and Bobby Carpenter (6’2′ 249) aren’t a more credible linebacker crew than the crap the Eagles have.  Stephen Tulloch has played his whole career in the “Wide Nine” scheme and was a free agent during the offseason.  It would have made sense to take a look at Tulloch and sign him since he is a proven veteran playmaker, but no, this is Andy Reid’s regime we are talking about here folks.  By the way, Tulloch is having a Pro Bowl caliber season through four games.

Before I finish, let me address the safety position as well.  As I said earlier in this article, Brian Dawkins still hasn’t been properly replaced since leaving via free agency in 2009.  Nate Allen was having a good rookie campaign before rupturing his patella tendon towards the end of last season, and it wasn’t certain if he would be 100% coming into this season.  Kurt Coleman is a 7th round draft pick who outplayed his expectations last season, but that didn’t mean he was a NFL starter.  The Eagles drafted Jaiquawn Jarrett out of Temple in the 2nd round, which was a reach and he has dressed for one game so far.  When the Eagles realized they were in trouble during the preseason, they signed 6-year veteran Jarrad Page, who has started on some bad Kansas City Chiefs teams in the past and played sparingly for the Patriots last season.  To start the season, it was Coleman at free safety and Page at strong safety, but the both of them were exposed during the first 4 games.  Whether it was blown coverage or just plain missing tackles, they both proved that they shouldn’t be starting in this league.  Nate Allen was given a shot at starting this past Sunday against the 49ers and he was a non-factor.

What more can I say?  It’s the same sad love song with Andy Reid at the helm and running things around here.  The Eagles haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since the 2004 season and they damn sure aren’t [going back] this year or any with Reid as coach.  His message, coaching style, philosophy, drafting, and antics are all old and it’s time for new blood for this franchise. 

Brandon Pemberton of Brandon on Sports, for War Room Sports

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