The Philadelphia Eagles began the 2011 NFL season as the clear-cut favorite to win the NFC East. The season ended with the Eagles packing their bags and heading home after the regular season ended. What went wrong? Murphy’s Law was alive and well in Philadelphia but much of the carnage was avoidable.

Michael Vick needs to bring his “A’ Game the rest of the season.
Photo by: SRA Moses Ross Wikimedia Commons

Is it easier to fire the big man Andy Reid or is it easier to gut this team and rebuild from scratch? There will be serious carryover issues in 2012 and the problems must get addressed now to prepare for next year. Not all is bad with the Eagles and the team has positives to build on.

Bad Chemistry

The Eagles assembled one of the most talented teams in the NFL but they forgot about one important aspect of building a team: Chemistry. Adding Nnamdi Asomugha was a huge coup for Andy Reid and the Eagles front office but it also led to some serious chemistry issues in the secondary, starting with Assante Samuel questioning the move in training camp.

Eagles in Trouble at Quartback Position for Years?

One Eagles front office move that will handcuff the team for years was the signing of Michael Vick to a long-term contract. Vick is going to get injured every season and every time he goes down the Eagles and their fans will suffer. Until the Eagles rid themselves of Vick and get a legitimate quarterback they will never seriously contend in the NFC East.

Then the Eagles added a competent backup in Vince Young but they forgot this is the same guy who led to Jeff Fisher calling it quits after a long tenure with the Titans. Young’s antics in Tennessee led to more than a few gray hairs for Fisher, who took 2011 off to recuperate.

Vince Young compounded the Eagles front office woes by declaring the Philadelphia Eagles a “Dream Team.” The name became a derogatory term later in the season when the team went on a losing streak and eliminated themselves from serious contention to make the NFL Playoffs.

Jason Babin and LeSean McCoy Positives Going Forward

The Eagles did have some bright spots in 2011. LeSean McCoy showed the NFL he is worthy of consideration as a top five NFL back and when Andy Reid allowed him to take over games he did in a big way. McCoy’s running style and never quit attitude led to several key wins for the Eagles but he did break down at the end of the season.

Jason Babin gave the Eagles defense one positive through a dismal first half of the season. Babin gave the Eagles a legitimate pass rush and led to the improvements on defense in the second half. Babin finished the season strong, scoring eight sacks in his last four games and gave Eagles fans something to look forward to in 2012.

DeSean Jackson Must Go

McCoy’s impressive season became overshadowed by the baffling antics of DeSean Jackson. Jackson left the Eagles with no choice but to let him walk once the free agency period begins. The Eagles blew their chance to trade Jackson but there are options they can look into.

The Eagles can franchise tag Jackson and then trade him after he signs. This will be a tough move to pull off since Jackson’s brash attitude will clash with most quarterbacks and receivers in the NFL. The Eagles have already blown any chance to get value for Jackson and their best bet is to move up the NFL Draft board and snag Justin Blackmon of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Blackmon is Terrell Owens and Randy Moss rolled into one without being a head case.

*Todd Jacobs lives in Las Vegas but has been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since the ’70s. Members of Todd’s family were devout Eagles fans and he had little choice but to follow the Eagles from an early age.

Sources:

ESPN Clubhouse: Philadelphia Eagles news and stats.

Reading Eagle: Jackson facing uncertain future in Philly

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As soon as Vince Young said the term, “dream team,” fans of the Philadelphia Eagles must have been scared. While the team was the most active during the offseason in bringing in stars, comments from the least talented of the new acquisitions were sure to cause problems. The Eagles struggled to an 8-8 record and while some players had monstrous fantasy seasons, others faltered. Who are the biggest surprise and disappointments, and which star can say they were the Eagles’ 2011 fantasy MVP?

MVP – LeSean McCoy

There is no doubt in my mind that McCoy is the best running back in the NFL, especially so in fantasy football. This season, his yardage figures don’t compare to those of Ray Rice, but the instability at the quarterback position in Philadelphia can be blamed for that. He rushed for 1,309 yards on 273 carries and made 48 catches for 315 yards with 20 total touchdowns.

Biggest Surprise – Jason Babin

The eight-year pro is one of the offseason acquisitions for the Eagles, but he was probably the least hyped. When the Eagles signed him, it was his sixth team in six seasons, including a previous stint with the team. As a member of the Tennessee Titans a year ago, he made 13 sacks and was a force on the defensive line. What he did this season was grow from that success to become one of the best sack-artists in the NFL. He made 18 sacks to go with 40 total tackles, rewarding those fantasy GMs that selected him in IDP leagues.

Biggest Disappointment – Michael Vick

The former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback began his second season as the Philadelphia starter and suffered through the same problems he has suffered from his entire career. He missed three games due to injury, adding further proof that his body type isn’t one for taking hits. He did set a new career high in passing yards with 3,303, but struggled in all other facets. A year ago, he turned the ball over nine total times, while this season, he threw 14 interceptions and lost four fumbles. It is hard to keep your team in the game when you keep giving the ball away.

Another disappointing stat for Vick were his rushing scores. A year ago, he set a career-high with nine and followed that up this season with just one. Vick can still be a fantasy star, but he won’t be a first round selection in 2012 like he was this season.

For a closer look at All-Injury teams for all major fantasy positions and biggest stars and busts from each NFL team, click here.

More from this contributor:

LeSean McCoy is Top Fantasy Running Back in 2011

Backup Running Backs to make Splash in 2011

Don’t Give up on These Players too Early

Drafting Individual Defensive Players?

Top 2011 Fantasy Football Rookies

Hobson Lopes has been playing fantasy football for more than 10 years and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

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The Philadelphia Eagles had to watch the very last game of the NFL regular season with a wistful eye. As Eagles fans like myself know, the unofficial NFC East title game pitting the Dallas Cowboys vs the New York Giants on Jan. 1 didn’t have to be possible. With one or two more Philadelphia wins, Dallas and New York would have been eliminated well before the finale, perhaps as they deserved to be.

Instead, these two 8-7 clubs fought for the NFC East crown while the hottest team in the division began their vacation hours earlier. But if any of these two teams could remotely come close to deserving the NFC East in the Eagles’ place, it was pretty clear that it was the Giants in their 31-14 win.

Dallas’s mental toughness and ability to win late has even been brought into question by the likes of Emmitt Smith. Meanwhile, New York always seems to find an extra spark of life whenever Tom Coughlin is in danger of getting fired. Therefore, it made more sense that the Giants were the only team to show a pulse in the first half as they jumped to a 21-0 lead.

New York was the squad leaping over the opposition, getting big passing plays and even using a power running game like in the old days, while Dallas was utterly limp and was wilting in the spotlight. However, this wouldn’t be an NFC East title game if both games didn’t look overwhelmed and ready to collapse at some point.

The Giants looked ready to fall apart again when the lead shrunk to 21-14 and the Cowboys looked poised to get a chance to tie it up. But on a third-down play in the middle of the fourth, Eli Manning all but sowed up the division title with a 44-yard bomb to his new favorite target, Victor Cruz. It didn’t go for a touchdown, yet it kept Dallas from getting the ball back, gave New York momentum for good, and led to a field goal that put the Cowboys right back against the wall.

The Giants’ victory was reflective of their season as a whole, just like the Eagles’ last victory over the Washington Redskins was reflective of theirs. The Eagles started pretty slow and then poured it on over the Redskins at the end, just as they started slow and poured it on at the end of 2011. Meanwhile, the Giants started hot with a 6-2 record and a 21-0 lead over the Cowboys, then almost blew the season and the game in the middle before rallying back at the very end.

Unlike the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins, the Giants mastered the art of starting and finishing the year on a hot streak. The rest of the NFC East either got hot early and couldn’t keep up, or started terribly and got better when it was too late.

There were no really deserving champions in this division, yet considering the mess that Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington made of their seasons, New York proved to be the only one capable of cleaning up its messes. In any other year, that probably wouldn’t be enough for the Giants to survive – but thankfully for them, this wasn’t any other year.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

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The Philadelphia Eagles finished their season with a convincing win against the last place Washington Redskins, solidifying their 2011 dominance over the NFC East.

Michael Vick threw for 335 yards and three touchdown passes, to lead the Eagles over the Washington Redskins 34-10 Sunday for their fourth straight win. With the win, the Eagles finished their season 5-1 in the division on the year. They came one New York Jets win away from making the postseason.

Had they have made the postseason, they would have been the second hottest team in the NFC going into the playoffs (behind the New Orleans Saints who have 8 straight wins), but, trust me, no one was looking forward to seeing the Eagles—not by any means.

“That’s the unfortunate part,” Vick said. “Everybody’s gelling together, our team is getting closer as a unit, everybody’s understanding their coaches and what they’re trying to do and their philosophy. We know what needs to be done. We’ll fly under the radar and try to shock people next year. Next year will be totally different. I promise you.”

Fact is: there’s no flying under the radar for them—they’re seen vividly, and heard loudly.

Still, in moving forward, there are a lot of decisions to make within the organization—even if there aren’t many changes made in the end.

The team has decisions about the personnel on the sidelines to make, and some positions on the field to look after, as well. Of course, in almost as if deliberate fashion, Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid has nothing to tell us about his thoughts on the matter. His comments on this year’s impact on the franchise’s future were, “We’ve got to get better all the way around, starting with me,” Reid said. “This wasn’t good enough.”

Quite frankly, I don’t know why I continue to type that lazy sentence.

Either way, this post is not about the bad, it’s about the good.

The final four games in which the Eagles beat their opponents 125-46, will do good for their morale going forward,. It will also do well for the offseason excitement, while allowing the Eagles to come into next year just as confident as they were the beginning of this year; but more experienced and knowing better how they’re supposed to play. No “Dream Team” quotes, no thinking just because you’re talented you’ve booked a Super Bowl berth, and no barking at the fans because your on-field play is horrid. Just strap up the cleats, and get the ball rolling again.

Let’s just consider this year an extremely extended session of OTAs.

That’s the way I look at it. Because the team that showed up in those last few games, certainly were what everyone had expected from the beginning.

Just a bit too little, too late.

“You have to analyze everything that happened and figure out how not to let it happen again,” Vick said. “We’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do, a lot of thinking to do. I think our opportunities will arise.”

Even though the NFL will go on this season, there should be a lot of excitement in Eagles’ nation when the NFL season restarts again.

Vincent Heck is a life-long resident of the Philadelphia area, and a featured ‘Fan View’ blogger on Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @HeckPhilly

Follow Yahoo! Local’s Yahoo! Philly on Twitter: @YahooPhilly

View Vincent Heck’s article archive.

Source: NFL-Pro-Reference.com

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The Philadelphia Eagles have nothing at stake against the Washington Redskins on Jan. 1. Eagles fans like myself can only root for a .500 record that is completely misleading to how 2011 really went – and a loss doesn’t seem likely to get Andy Reid fired anyway. The Redskins have nothing to play for either, since they are 5-10 and stuck in last place yet again.

This makes the Eagles-Redskins battle completely meaningless as a whole. What’s more, it is even more embarrassing since it is one of the few Week 17 games that have absolutely no stakes at all.

There are only two other games that will not make any impact on the playoff picture or on the top of the NFL draft order. The 7-8 Chicago Bears visit the 3-12 Minnesota Vikings, after the Bears got knocked out of the playoff race and the Vikings knocked themselves out of the race for Andrew Luck. Meanwhile, the 7-8 Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals do battle with only an 8-8 record on the line for the winner.

Every other game means something in some way for some team – and even the Indianapolis Colts-Jacksonville Jaguars battle is huge since it will settle the No. 1 draft pick one way or the other. The other finales will determine postseason berths and playoff seeding for one or both teams in action. But the Eagles and Redskins are completely free of such worries, however.

Washington is used to just playing out the last game of the season with nothing to shoot for, but it is a different story for Philadelphia. It is either resting for the postseason, trying to secure a better seed or seeking to clinch a spot in the playoffs by now. Instead, the Eagles are only attempting to reach .500 and not have any injuries that will impact the start of 2012.

Considering the rest of the high impact action in Week 17, there is no reason to tune into the Eagles-Redskins game over all the others, unless one is a fan of these teams. Unfortunately, myself and others are stuck with the Eagles and will have to yawn through the finale. In between, we will either be infuriated that Philadelphia couldn’t win four straight earlier in the season, or be mad at only the third losing season in the Reid era.

There is a slim chance that this finale could be historic as the last game in Philadelphia for Reid and DeSean Jackson, but we won’t know that for sure for weeks or months. For the moment, this is the most boring and meaningless Week 17 Eagles game in a long time, and perhaps the most boring Week 17 battle in the NFL as a whole.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

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