The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins are concluding disappointing
seasons that have caused questions for both heading into 2012.

The Eagles will try for a fourth straight win and a season sweep of their
NFC East rivals on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Philadelphia (7-8) will miss the playoffs for the third time in 12 seasons
despite an infusion of talent that included Jason Babin, Nnamdi Asomugha,
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Cullen Jenkins, prompting fellow newcomer Vince
Young to call the Eagles a “Dream Team.”

Instead, the defending NFC East champions got off to a 1-4 start and never
recovered until this three-game win streak that nearly kept their division title
hopes alive.

“There are a lot of things I could have done better with that,” said coach
Andy Reid about his team’s poor start. “The bottom line is they’re together now,
and they have an opportunity to play a good football team and continue to get
better as a unit.”

It appears Reid will return for a 14th season, but it’s unclear whether
defensive coordinator Juan Castillo will be retained. Castillo, a former
offensive line coach, saw his unit struggle until recent weeks.

Washington (5-10), meanwhile, will finish in last place for the fourth
straight season. Second-year coach Mike Shanahan has acknowledged that his
rebuilding plan for the once-proud franchise needs more time.

“A lot longer than I first anticipated,” Shanahan said. “We had less depth
than I thought. We were a little bit older at a few different positions. I
thought we might keep those players a little longer than we did.”

The Redskins have endured a season in which running back Tim Hightower,
receiver Santana Moss, tight end Chris Cooley and right tackle Jammal Brown all
missed significant time with injuries. Plus, left tackle Trent Williams and
tight end Fred Davis were suspended for the last four games of the season for
violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Rex Grossman was benched following his four-interception performance in a
20-13 loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 16. Grossman regained the starting job when
Washington lost all three games started by John Beck, but he’s tied for the
league lead with 19 interceptions.

“My confidence level is at an all-time high,” Grossman insisted. “I just
need to eliminate a couple of bad plays here and there that deter a great
performance.”

Grossman got some good news when the Eagles placed safety Kurt Coleman on
injured reserve this week with a biceps injury. Coleman picked off Grossman
three times in the first matchup.

The bigger story injury-wise for Philadelphia is whether LeSean McCoy will
play through an ankle problem suffered in last Saturday’s 20-7 win at Dallas.
McCoy leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns (17) and total TDs (20).

McCoy is tops in the NFC with a career-high 1,309 rushing yards, 123 shy of
Wilbert Montgomery’s club record of 1,512 set in 1979.

“Well, it’s not a high ankle sprain so we’ll just see how he does here,”
Reid said. “If he can play, he’ll play. He wants to play. We’ll see how he
does.”

McCoy wouldn’t be the only Eagles Pro Bowler trying to gain individual
honors. Babin has 18 sacks to tie for the NFL’s second-highest total behind
Minnesota’s Jared Allen, who has 18 1/2.

The Eagles have a league-high 49 sacks while Washington’s pass rush has been
solid with 39, led by rookie linebacker Ryan Kerrigan’s 7 1/2 and Brian Orakpo’s
seven.

Orakpo is finishing his third season with the club, and still feels the
franchise is headed in the right direction.

“We’ve got the right guys in this locker room,” Orakpo said. “Guys are
fighting hard. We don’t really have any issues. Guys play for each other. Got a
great coaching staff. We got an owner (Dan Snyder) doing everything possible to
win. … 5-10 is a terrible season to have, but I’m a very optimistic guy, I
want to keep building and hopefully get this organization on top eventually.”

Washington has seen its defense slip to 14th overall after allowing an
average of 381.3 yards the last three games.

The Redskins will face a resurgent Michael Vick, who has thrown for five TDs
and rushed for two more in his last two meetings against them.

“I’ve watched this team grow as the weeks have went on,” Vick said. “The
last three or four weeks, we’ve come together as a team. It’s a family
environment, a family atmosphere and that translates to winning. That’s why you
see a different team.”

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

610-778-2243

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

610-778-2243

When Andy Reid last walked off the field at the Linc, fans were chanting “Fire Andy!”

Reid may hear more of the same when the Philadelphia Eagles host the New York Jets on Sunday. It won’t help his cause that standing across the sideline will be the son of one of the most beloved sports figures in the city’s history.

Jets coach Rex Ryan might get a standing ovation simply because his father, Buddy Ryan, is revered in Philadelphia. For a few hours on game day, Rex Ryan will represent a constant reminder to those long-ago days when the feisty Eagles fans actually had a love affair with the coach of their team.

Now they can’t wait for him to go.

The Eagles are 5-8 in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations. They’re clinging to slim playoff chances in a mediocre NFC East, but must win out and get lots of help.

The Jets (8-5) have won three straight and are in prime position to reach the playoffs as they seek their third consecutive trip to the AFC championship game.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Buddy’s son puts these Eagles out of their misery.

Buddy Ryan never won a playoff game in his five years coaching the Eagles from 1986-90, going 0-3. But he invigorated a generation of football fans by bringing the team back to prominence after several down years. His bombastic personality, blue-collar attitude and shoot-from-the hip style forever endeared him to the diehards.

“It was great the years my dad had in Philly,” Rex Ryan said. “The fans really did identify with him. He was himself and I think the fans really appreciated that. I think he wishes he would have had a couple more years to maybe get the Eagles over the top there, but really they put together one heck of a football team and I think the fans appreciated the way they played. They might not win every game but they were going to beat you up every game, that’s pretty much how the Eagles were.”

Reid’s success far exceeds Ryan’s accomplishments in Philadelphia. Reid has led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, six NFC East titles, five conference championship games and one Super Bowl in his first 12 seasons.

Despite such an impressive resume, Reid has never been popular among fans. Many have been calling for his dismissal for years, saying the Eagles will never win their first Super Bowl with him calling the shots. Reid is the anti-Buddy. He’s stoic, boring and hardly reveals anything of consequence at his news conferences. His coaching philosophy — a pass-heavy offense — annoys old-schoolers who prefer a balanced attack. His refusal to call players out publicly angers those who want to see underachieving athletes made accountable.

“I think both of us are extremely handsome,” Rex Ryan said in typical fashion when asked to compare himself to Reid. “I think that’s the thing that really jumps out at you. They say it’s a big man’s game and there you have it. Two of the biggest coaches in the league going at it. But clearly, I respect the heck out of Andy. He’s a tremendous coach, probably a Hall of Fame-type coach. So I think what he’s done, his resume, is as impressive as anybody’s.”

Unlike fans and most reporters, Rex Ryan knows a different side to Reid.

“Anyone who has spent time off the field with Andy, he has a great sense of humor, doesn’t take himself too serious, has a great time,” Ryan said. “He’s smart. He’s really fun to be around.”

No kidding?

“Well, you guys can tell all those things are true from these press conferences,” Reid joked.

The two coaches share a mutual respect.

“I have a good relationship with him. He’s a good guy,” Reid said. “He has some ties to the Eagles and he’s always taken an interest in that, as his brother has, and his father.”

Earlier this season, the Eagles honored Buddy Ryan at a halftime ceremony during a Monday night game. The 80-year-old Ryan, who is battling cancer, got a loud ovation and fans chanted his name.

“He absolutely loved it,” Rex Ryan said of his father. “A classy thing to do by (Eagles Chairman and CEO) Jeffrey Lurie and I know one thing, he’ll never forget it. He certainly appreciated it and I appreciated it as well.”

A month ago, these two teams were almost in similar spots. The Jets were 5-5 after consecutive losses to New England and Denver. The Broncos rallied to beat New York on Tim Tebow’s 20-yard TD run in the final minute. New York’s offense was sputtering and the season seemed lost.

On the other hand, the Eagles had just improved to 4-6 by defeating the New York Giants on the road behind backup quarterback Vince Young. They were just two games behind and owned the best record in the division.

Since that loss to Denver, the Jets have outscored their opponents 99-53 during a three-game winning streak. Mark Sanchez has been outstanding, throwing for seven TDs and running for two more.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were blown out by New England and Seattle before beating Miami to stay mathematically alive in the playoff race.

“I’ve watched their talent,” Ryan said. “That doesn’t look like a 5-8 team. They’re fourth in the league in offense, 11th in defense, so the numbers don’t make sense right there. They’ve had some struggles, but I’m going to tell you this, they probably have as much talent as any team in this league.”

With one more loss, the Eagles could be the most talented team going home when the regular season ends.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick watched practice from the sideline, still sore from taking a beating in his first game back after breaking his ribs last month.

Vick participated in a walkthrough Wednesday morning, but was a spectator in the afternoon when the Philadelphia Eagles began preparations for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

Before practice, coach Andy Reid said he’s confident Vick would start against the Jets (8-5). The Eagles are still clinging to playoff hopes despite a 5-8 record. They’ll need Vick to be sharp this week against one of the toughest defences in the NFL.

“He was a little tender from the game (but) not as bad as before,” Reid said. “He was throwing the ball out there.”

Vick was sacked four times and took several hard hits in a 26-10 victory at Miami. He missed the three previous games after breaking two lower ribs in a loss to Arizona on Nov. 13.

Vick showed plenty of rust against the Dolphins. He completed just 15 of 30 passes and threw another interception. But he still made enough plays to help lead Philadelphia to a win that temporarily kept them alive in the NFC East race.

A Pro Bowl starter last year, Vick has struggled this season. He’s ranked 22nd with a 78.9 passer rating, and his 12 interceptions double his total from last season and are one shy of his career worst.

“Well you have to give credit to the defence, particularly on the tipped balls,” Reid said. “In some situations, yeah (he’s forcing the ball) to get things going. He will tell you that he’s trying to make things happen, but he’s made a lot of good throws, too.”

Despite Vick’s mediocre stats, Jets coach Rex Ryan, like other coaches and defensive co-ordinators around the league, are wary of Vick’s unique skills.

“He can throw a battle ship through a strawberry,” Ryan said. “There is only one Michael Vick in this league, a dynamic playmaker, can make all the throws, strong arm and the way he can move is second to nobody.”

Vick won’t have an easy time against New York. The Jets have the sixth-ranked defence and are sixth against the pass. Their secondary features two-time All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.

On the other side, the Eagles have three heralded cornerbacks that have failed to live up to expectations in their first season together. Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie haven’t been the shutdown trio most anticipated.

“He is a tremendous corner, the best corner in football. It’s not even close,” Ryan said of Revis. “Nnamdi is an outstanding corner. Samuel is an outstanding corner. They have a lot of talented guys over there, but there’s only one Darrelle Revis.”

Revis likely will match up against DeSean Jackson. The two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver caught just his third TD pass of the season last week. Jackson is always a deep threat, though, having scored 21 TDs of at least 30 yards in his four-year career.

Ryan wouldn’t commit to putting Revis on Jackson.

“Whoever we decide to put him on, it’ll be a long day for that individual,” Ryan said.

Philadelphia’s receivers are quite aware of Revis’ talents.

“His ability to be patient is his biggest asset,” wideout Jason Avant said of Revis. “Usually when you have guys that are fast and quick, most DBs are frantic and they can’t get in a stance. He’s really calm and knows he’s the best, so he sits there and waits for you to declare your move. He’ll sit right there in front of you.”