The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to rebound from a disappointing season that saw them stumble out of the gates, then miss the NFL playoffs despite high expectations heading in.

They begin trying to atone for the mess that was their 2011 season when they kick off their 2012 campaign on the road, Sunday, September 9 against the Cleveland Browns.

The Eagles, who lost four of their first five games and finished 8-8 last season, are on Monday Night Football twice in 2012 — November 5 at the New Orleans Saints and November 26 at home against the Carolina Panthers.

Here’s a look at the Eagles’ entire 2012 schedule, beginning with their four preseason games in August and winding up with their final regular-season game, against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants:

Philadelphia Eagles 2012 Preseason Schedule

Thursday, August 9: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, August 20: at New England Patriots, 8 p.m.

Friday, August 24: at Cleveland Browns, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, August 30: vs. New York Jets, TBD

Philadelphia Eagles 2012 Regular Season Schedule

Sunday, September 9: at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.

Sunday, September 16: vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.

Sunday, September 23: at Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m.

Sunday, September 30: vs. New York Giants, 8:20 p.m.

Sunday, October 7: at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.

Sunday, October 14: vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m.

Sunday, October 28: vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m.

Monday, November 5: at New Orleans Saints, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 11: vs. Dallas Cowboys, 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, November 18: at Washington Redskins, 1 p.m.

Monday, November 26: vs. Carolina Panthers, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 2: at Dallas Cowboys, 8:20 p.m.

Sunday, December 9: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m.

Thursday, December 13: vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 p.m.

Sunday, December 23: vs. Washington Redskins, 1 p.m.

Sunday, December 30: at New York Giants, 1 p.m.

Sources:

NFL standings

Eagles announce 2012 schedule

—

Adam Sparks has followed the Philadelphia Eagles since Randall Cunningham was scrambling around Veterans Stadium, and he has written about the team as a freelancer since 2010.

PROVO — Looking fast, healthy and comfortable, wide receiver McKay Jacobson ran a variety of routes, and caught an array of passes from former BYU teammate Max Hall, during BYU’s pro day in late March.

“It was really good to throw with him,” Jacobson recalled this week. “It had been a couple of years since we’d played together. I was happy that he was there.”

The NFL scouts looking on that day apparently took notice.

Not long after pro day, former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt, who serves as a draft analyst for the NFL.com, made a bold assessment.

“Jacobson has the chance to be a very good pro player,” Brandt wrote.

Those words buoyed Jacobson, who caught 113 passes for 1,836 yards and nine touchdowns during his Cougar career.

“It’s definitely good to get some good feedback,” he said. “I knew (Brandt) was with the Cowboys for many years. It was a very cool thing to read that and feel like my hard work would pay off and that I would get an opportunity.”

The former BYU wideout will soon embark on his NFL career and try to prove Brandt right. Jacobson signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles over the weekend, and will depart for the City of Brotherly Love on May 11 for rookie camp.

“I’m definitely ready for the next chapter in my life. I feel grateful that I get to play with such a great organization like Philadelphia,” he said. “For me, like all of the new guys, you’re fighting for position for playing time and making the active roster. You have to be very competitive. It’s everybody’s livelihood now. At the end of the day, it’s football and I’ve been doing it my whole life. It’s the next level. I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”

The Eagles weren’t the only team interested in Jacobson’s services.

“My agent told me he was in contact with a few teams. It came down to the (New York) Jets or Philadelphia,” he said. “I did some background research on some teams and thought about teams I wanted to go for if I got the chance. I felt really good about Philadelphia and decided to go with them.”

For NFL fans, there is no offseason. If we aren’t firmly ensconced in the analysis of week to week games in the fall and winter, we’re constantly striving to figure out how our teams can get better, who can be signed to fill the holes that left last season ring-less, or how to maintain success. And then of course, even though we know what teams we’ll be facing in the coming season, the announcement of the NFL schedule triggers the immediate scrutiny of the rugged roads our teams will go down in the quest for a Super Bowl title.

For Philadelphia Eagles fans, the release of the 2012 schedule will trigger arguments — some with negative undertones, some with blind enthusiasm. We love to debate football in Philly. Sadly for us, the debates usually surround the reasons why we’re left without a parade down Broad Street. Eagles fans will dig to the deepest recesses of failure if they think an answer to why we haven’t tasted Super Bowl glory could be unearthed. This year is no different. Here are three quick thoughts about the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles’ schedule, and a copy for your office cork board:

PRIME TIME PLAYERS

The Eagles are one of eight teams that will play five prime time games in 2012. Three are at home, which will delight the Birds’ tailgating faithful, but more than likely dismay the majority of employers in the Philadelphia area. The Eagles see division rival and the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants on a Sunday night in Week 4. They host Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on a Monday night in late November (26) and the Cincinnati Bengals on a rare Thursday tilt, December 13. The Carolina and Cincinnati games are part of three prime time games the Eagles will play in an 18-day span. Sandwiched in the middle of those games is a Sunday night showdown against the Dallas Cowboys in Texas. The Birds will also visit the Big Easy on Monday night, November 5, to see the New Orleans Saints.

TEAMS GETTING PLENTY OF REST BEFORE SEEING THE BIRDS

There is an uncommon anomaly in the Eagles schedule that has them playing four games against teams that are coming off their bye week. One of those games will be against the Atlanta Falcons at home, and the Eagles will also be coming off the bye. Andy Reid is 13-0 after the bye week, just about the only results in Reid’s coaching tenure that no Eagle fan can shake a stick at. The Eagles also play the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins when they’ll have a couple weeks to prepare. Perhaps even more disturbing is that the New York Giants will have ten days to prepare for their Week 4 meeting with the Birds on a Sunday night in Philly. And worse still, the Cowboys will have ten days to prepare coming off their Thanksgiving game before facing the Eagles at home the next Sunday night. The Eagles will be coming off a short week, having played the Carolina Panthers at home the previous Monday.

THE WHOLE THING IS A CRAPSHOOT

If the Eagles 2011 season taught us anything, it’s that the NFL is an ever-changing beast. There are new teams rising to power, and powerful teams looking long in the tooth. Reading down the Eagles schedule and seeing a string of names like Giants, Steelers, Lions, Falcons, Saints and Cowboys in consecutive order certainly looks daunting, but until each individual week comes, it’s hard to discern just what you’re facing. The Giants were 9-7 last year and got hot at the right time. Who knows what they are this year. The Steelers defense is aging and not the “curtain” it used to be. The Lions game could be a track meet. The Falcons are off the bye. The Saints could be in total disarray after “Bounty-gate.” And if you can’t get up for the Cowboys, you don’t deserve to be wearing green. Nevertheless, let the scrutiny begin.

Philadelphia Eagles Regular-Season Schedule (All times Eastern)

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 9, at Cleveland Browns, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 16, Baltimore Ravens, 1:00 PM CBS

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 23, at Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 PM FOX

Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 30, New York Giants, 8:20 PM NBC

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 7, at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 14, Detroit Lions, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 28, Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 9: Monday, Nov. 5, at New Orleans Saints, 8:30 PM ESPN

Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 11, Dallas Cowboys, 4:15 PM FOX

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 18, at Washington Redskins, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 12: Monday, Nov. 26, Carolina Panthers, 8:30 PM ESPN

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 2, at Dallas Cowboys, 8:20 PM NBC

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 9, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 15: Thursday, Dec. 13, Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 PM NFL NETWORK

Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 23, Washington Redskins, 1:00 PM FOX

Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 30, at New York Giants, 1:00 PM FOX

Pete Lieber is a freelance writer and Philadelphia sports enthusiast. He’s already put Ws and Ls next to every game on the list above, and he plans to change those prognostications 15 times before Week 1.

SOURCE:

NFL.com

espn.com

The Eagles will start the 2012 season with an easy (on paper) opener at Cleveland, but will face teams coming off playoff seasons in six of their next seven games.

The same cannot be said of the Birds, who got off to a miserable 1-4 start a year ago and missed the postseason for only the third time in 12 seasons.

That early slate was considered by many to be the gentler portion of the 2011 schedule, while the home stretch was deemed a more difficult test. The Eagles, though, in a case of too little, too late, swept the final four games to finish 8-8.

As challenging as the NFL schedule-makers have seemed to set the Eagles’ first half – one that could decide coach Andy Reid’s future in Philadelphia – April is still a long way from September, and the league increasingly has turnover.

Still, Reid, in his 14th season, will have to avoid a number of land mines if his team is to return to the playoffs. The Eagles will face four teams coming off bye weeks, and both meetings with Dallas will follow Monday night games.

After visiting the Browns on Sept. 9 – just two weeks after the teams meet in the preseason – the Eagles will host Baltimore in their Lincoln Financial Field opener on Sept. 16.

It will be the first time Ravens coach and former Eagles assistant John Harbaugh faces his old team in Philadelphia, and the first time Audubon, N.J., native Joe Flacco returns to the area as an NFL quarterback.

The Eagles then fly west to visit Arizona on Sept. 23. Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb could have the opportunity to play against his former team, a chance he didn’t have a season ago after he suffered a concussion.

The highlight of the first month, however, will be a Sunday night showdown Sept. 30 at the Linc against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The Eagles won’t say it publicly, but many believed they were just as good as their Eli Manning-led NFC East rivals last season.

The game, on NBC10, will be the first of five in prime time. The Eagles, still quite the draw, are one of only eight teams with as many nighttime starts.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Pittsburgh on Oct. 7, though some have the Steelers as an AFC team in decline. Detroit, on the contrary, is considered an up-and-comer. The Birds will host the Lions on Oct. 14.

After a bye, the Eagles will square off with Atlanta for the fifth consecutive year. Both teams will be playing with an extra week’s rest, but Reid is 13-0 after the bye. The Birds will have an additional day off the following week when they head south for a Monday night tilt at New Orleans on Nov. 5. That’s typically a tough assignment. This time, it’s tough to say what kind of Saints team the Eagles will see. Coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the season because of the team’s bounty scandal, and quarterback Drew Brees may not be a happy camper if he has to play under the franchise tag.

The Eagles then jump back into their division when the Dallas Cowboys come to town on Nov. 11, and they will drive down I-95 to face Washington on Nov. 18. The latter game likely will be the Eagles’ first shot at rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, whom the Redskins are widely expected to take with the No. 2 overall pick in next week’s draft.

Last season’s dynamo quarterback, Cam Newton, will be on display when the Eagles welcome the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 26 – a Monday night. The Birds will travel to Dallas on Dec. 2 and to Tampa on Dec. 9.

They will have a short week to prepare for Cincinnati on Dec. 13, a Thursday night. Last season, the Eagles flew to Seattle for a mid-week game and were slaughtered by the Seahawks, essentially ending any postseason hopes.

The Birds gladly will accept the 10-day break before the Redskins visit the Linc on Dec. 23. And the season will end with a potential blockbuster against the Giants on Dec. 30 at the Meadowlands.

Here’s the Eagles’ entire 2012 regular-season schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 9: at Cleveland, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Sept. 16: vs. Baltimore, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Sept. 23: at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Sept. 30: vs. N.Y. Giants, 8:30 p.m. (NBC)

Sunday, Oct. 7: at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Oct. 14: vs. Detroit, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Oct. 21: BYE
Sunday, Oct. 28: vs. Atlanta, 1 p.m. (FOX)

Monday, Nov. 5: at New Orleans, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) 
Sunday, Nov. 11: vs. Dallas, 4:15 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Nov. 18: at Washington, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Monday, Nov. 26: vs. Carolina, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday, Dec. 2: at Dallas, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday, Dec. 9: at Tampa, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Thursday, Dec. 13: vs. Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m. (NFL Network)
Sunday, Dec. 23: vs. Washington, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Dec. 30: at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m. (FOX) 

Contact Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745, jmclane@phillynews.com, or follow @Jeff_McLane on Twitter.

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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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Philadelphia Eagles brought the 2011 season to a merciful end on Jan. 1. In truth, there wasn’t much reason for Eagles fans like myself to pay attention, since the finale meant nothing to both Philadelphia and the Washington Redskins. But for those of us who did pay attention, the last game was quite reflective of the entire season – since the Birds looked better than they really were at the very end.

The final score reads that the Eagles throttled the Redskins by 34-10 in relatively easy fashion. But Philadelphia got 21 of those points in the fourth quarter and didn’t do enough to pull away in the first three – a formula that sounds sadly familiar.

The initial three quarters clearly had the Eagles as the better team, although they were only up by 13-7. Each team forfeited chances to do more, just like they did in the entire 2011 season as a whole. In fact, when the fourth quarter started the Redskins actually got within 13-10 – and it certainly would have been fitting if the Birds had one more blown lead left in them.

For a team that blew fourth quarter leads through the first three months of the season, it is bitterly ironic that Philadelphia learned to win more in the fourth quarter of the season. And it is bitterly ironic that the Eagles scored 21 points in their final 15 minutes of the year, when endings like that would have made much more of a difference months ago.

It also would have made a difference if Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson didn’t wait until now to connect on 62-yard touchdown passes, or if Brent Celek broke out before December. But none of that happened, leaving the Eagles to taunt us in December even worse than they did in September, October and November.

Of course, this finale did come against a Redskins team that went from 3-1 to 5-11, in a slide that began and ended with losses to the Eagles. The previous three wins for Philadelphia happened to come against a 6-10 Miami Dolphins club, and two 8-8 teams in the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys that shot themselves out of the playoffs. In addition, Philadelphia didn’t even bother to let LeSean McCoy suit up against Washington.

All told, there are various factors that make it hard to really take a lot out of these last four victories. Going to 8-8 over a last place Redskins squad, and getting to 8-8 period over four non-playoff teams, doesn’t mean that these are the real Eagles and the 4-8 version was a fluke. They started slow and finished hot in their last game and in their season as a whole – and yet we still knew as little about them as we did four months ago.

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

Other stories by this contributor

NFL playoff picture a mixed bag of suspense in Week 17

Jets need a 2008 Eagles-style miracle

Coughlin only NFC East coach still playing for his job

Eagles, Redskins finale rare meaningless Week 17 game

Shanahan, Reid likely to survive disappointing 2011

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Philadelphia Eagles have faced questions about the fate of Andy Reid for most of the last few months. For that matter, all of the NFC East coaches have had their future look uncertain at some point this year. But Eagles fans like myself are resigned to having Reid coming back for 2012, while Dallas Cowboys fans were assured by Jerry Jones that Jason Garrett isn’t going anywhere.

That may not sound good to Cowboys fans if the team loses their NFC East title game to the New York Giants on Jan. 1. Yet while Jones promised on Dec. 30 that Garrett is safe even if Dallas loses, Tom Coughlin has no such public assurances from the New York Giants so far.

This makes the Cowboys-Giants battle have even more at stake than the NFC East, as at least one coach is still playing for his job. Coughlin could still stay if the Giants lose and turn a 6-2 start into an 8-8 finish and a season-killing loss at home. However, it would be an uphill battle to get one last chance in New York.

Like Reid, Coughlin has gotten even closer to wearing out his welcome with a disappointing 2011. But while the Eagles put Reid in jeopardy by struggling from the start, it took until midseason for the Giants to put Coughlin on the hot seat. He has escaped getting fired for some time – most notably by winning the Super Bowl in 2008 – yet just making the playoffs will have to do to make his case now.

Reid, Coughlin, Garrett and Mike Shanahan were all just as likely to get fired as they were to make it to 2012 at various points. But it seems that Shanahan and Reid will at least get one more season while Garrett has escaped the wrath of Jones for now. This would make it even more notable if Coughlin was the only NFC East coach to get the ax after all, even though he is the only one to win a Super Bowl with an NFC East team. Yet that was years ago and the Giants haven’t even won a playoff game since then.

Since this is the ugliest NFC East season of all time, it would make sense if at least one coach got fired for it. However, if the disappointing seasons of the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles and Washington Redskins aren’t enough to get any of their head coaches fired, it shows how untouchable and lucky they really are – or it could just trigger a bloodbath for 2012.

Still, while Shanahan, Reid and Garrett expect to breathe easy when it comes to their jobs, Coughlin still needs one more victory to do the same. If the Giants’ win over the New York Jets on Dec. 24 is their last of the season, then Coughlin will have to sit on pins and needles awaiting his fate. But with a win and a divisional title, he can likely relax like the rest of his peers when it comes to 2012 – if he was capable of relaxing.

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

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Eagles, Redskins finale rare meaningless Week 17 game

Shanahan, Reid likely to survive disappointing 2011

Smith latest Dallas legend to question Cowboys

Cowboys, Giants to reverse momentum yet again?

2011 Jets collapse nearly as bad as 2008

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

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.

Other stories by this contributor

Shanahan, Reid likely to survive disappointing 2011

Smith latest Dallas legend to question Cowboys

Cowboys, Giants to reverse momentum yet again?

2011 Jets collapse nearly as bad as 2008

Rumors of Spagnuolo’s return to Eagles more of the same

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

AFC

Offense

Wide Receivers — s-Wes Welker, New England; s-Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh; A.J. Green, Cincinnati; Brandon Marshall, Miami.
Tackles — s-Joe Thomas, Cleveland; s-Jake Long, Miami; D’Brickashaw Ferguson, New York Jets.
Guards — s-Logan Mankins, New England; s-Brian Waters, New England; Marshal Yanda, Baltimore.
Centers — s-Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh; Nick Mangold, New York Jets.
Tight Ends – s-Rob Gronkowski, New England; Antonio Gates, San Diego.
Quarterbacks — s-Tom Brady, New England; Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh; Philip Rivers, San Diego.
Running Backs — s-Ray Rice, Baltimore; Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville; Arian Foster, Houston.
Fullback – s-Vonta Leach, Baltimore.

Defense

Ends — s-Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis; s-Andre Carter, New England; Elvis Dumervil, Denver.
Interior Linemen — s-Haloti Ngata, Baltimore; s-Vince Wilfork, New England; Richard Seymour, Oakland.
Outside Linebackers — s-Terrell Suggs, Baltimore; s-Von Miller, Denver; Tamba Hali, Kansas City.
Inside/Middle Linebackers – s-Ray Lewis, Baltimore; Derrick Johnson, Kansas City.
Cornerbacks — s-Darrelle Revis, New York Jets; s-Champ Bailey, Denver; Johnathan Joseph, Houston.
Free Safeties — s-Ed Reed, Baltimore; Eric Weddle, San Diego.
Strong Safety — s-Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh.

Specialists

Punter — Shane Lechler, Oakland.
Placekicker — Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland.
Kick Returner — Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh.
Special Teamer — Matthew Slater, New England.
 

NFC

Offense

Wide Receiver – s-Calvin Johnson, Detroit; s-Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona; Steve Smith, Carolina; Greg Jennings, Green Bay.
Tackles — s-Jason Peters, Philadelphia; s-Joe Staley, San Francisco; Jermon Bushrod, New Orleans.
Guards — s-Jahri Evans, New Orleans; s-Carl Nicks, New Orleans; Davin Joseph, Tampa Bay.
Centers — s-Ryan Kalil, Carolina; Scott Wells, Green Bay.
Tight Ends — s-Jimmy Graham, New Orleans; Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta.
Quarterbacks — s-Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay; Drew Brees, New Orleans; Eli Manning, New York Giants.
Running Backs — s-LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia; Matt Forte, Chicago; Frank Gore, San Francisco.
Fullback — s-John Kuhn, Green Bay.

Defense

Ends — s-Jared Allen, Minnesota; s-Jason Babin, Philadelphia; Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants.
Interior Lineman — s-Justin Smith, San Francisco; s-Jay Ratliff, Dallas; B.J. Raji, Green Bay.
Outside Linebackers — s-DeMarcus Ware, Dallas; s-Clay Matthews, Green Bay; Lance Briggs, Chicago.
Inside/Middle Linebackers — s-Patrick Willis, San Francisco; Brian Urlacher, Chicago.
Cornerbacks — s-Charles Woodson, Green Bay; s-Carlos Rogers, San Francisco; Charles Tillman, Chicago.
Free Safeties — s-Earl Thomas, Seattle; Dashon Goldson, San Francisco.
Strong Safety — s-Adrian Wilson, Arizona.

Specialists

Punter — Andy Lee, San Francisco.
Placekicker – David Akers, San Francisco.
Kick Returner — Patrick Peterson, Arizona.
Special Teamer — Corey Graham, Chicago.

Coming out of a prolonged labor stoppage that forced the cancellation of all offseason activities, the Philadelphia Eagles nevertheless proceeded with their plan to rebuild the roster and forge ahead when the NFL Lockout finally ended in July.

During a hastily assembled training camp at Lehigh University, two particular catch-phrases quickly came to symbolize what the 2012 Eagles were supposed to be all about: “Dream Team” and “All In.”

What unfolded instead was a nightmare that left them all out of the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

The Eagles’ epic failure to live up to expectations is The Morning Call’s No. 3 regional sports story of the year.

After winning their opener with a blowout victory at St. Louis, the Eagles dropped their next four. Three of the losses came when the defense, under first-year coordinator Juan Castillo, failed to protect fourth-quarter leads.

Castillo and the defense would come under further fire after the Eagles failed in consecutive November games to protect fourth-quarter leads at home, against the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, to fall to 3-6.

The 21-17 loss to Arizona served as the flashpoint of the season, not only because the Eagles squandered another lead, but because wide receiver DeSean Jackson was held out of the game for disciplinary reasons while so many of their other key players were injured.

Quarterback Michael Vick missed the next three games, two of them losses, with cracked ribs. Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie also sat out the next three with an ankle sprain. King Dunlap, a valuable reserve offensive lineman and special teams player, suffered a concussion and missed three games as well.

Those next three games all but mathematically knocked the Eagles out of playoff contention. Although they haven’t lost since, they were officially eliminated shortly after taking the field against the Dallas Cowboys last Saturday, when the New York Giants wrapped up a victory over the New York Jets.

For the Eagles (7-8), the first three-game winning streak of the season thus means very little because they took too long to put everything together.

Nine new starters, including six on defense, and 24 players overall who weren’t on the team last season are among the current 53-man roster. What’s more, the Eagles have new offensive and defensive line coaches, who have introduced radical alterations to the team’s previous methods.

Their offense and special teams have faltered to the tune of an NFL-high 36 turnovers and the league’s second-worst turnover margin (minus-12).

Quarterback Michael Vick, so brilliant in becoming the league’s comeback player of the year in 2010, has been a fragile interception machine who wasn’t available for, or has been unable to, finish four of the Eagles eight losses.

As a result, a potential record-breaking season by running back LeSean McCoy (1,309 rushing yards, 20 total TDs, 48 runs of 10 yards or more, franchise-best 4.8 yards per career rush) has turned bittersweet.

Coming Thursday: The No. 2 Regional Sports Story of the Year.

nick.fierro@mcall.com

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By Pat Johnston

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 26, 2011 – Earlier today, Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy talked about his ankle injury which he sustained against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 24. McCoy spoke as if his 2011 season is over.

Eagles head coach Andy Reid struck a different tone during a press conference today. He called a report that said McCoy won’t play “false” (via Eagles Twitter). Reid also said:

Reid: Shady has a “slight” ankle sprain but should be fine for Sunday #Eagles (via Jonathan Tamari’s Twitter)

McCoy is only 123 rushing yards away from the team record set by Wilbert Montgomery (1,512) in 1979.

Reid went further regarding his starters’ availability for the Eagles final game of the season against the Washington Redskins:

“@EaglesInsider: AR: Starters WILL play against the Redskins, we’re in this thing to play our best football.” #Eagles #NFL (via Eagles Twitter)

For more Philadelphia Eagles coverage, visit our team page or our blog Bleeding Green Nation.

Read More: LeSean McCoy (RB – PHI), Philadelphia Eagles

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