Turnovers Plague Eagles In Loss To Cincinnati

Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles’ coach, after the Eagles’ training camp in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA – Following a one-game flirtation with competence, the Philadelphia Eagles got back to doing what they do best Thursday night.

That is, they couldn’t get out of their own way in another embarrassing defeat, this one a 34-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field.

Making this one even more disgraceful was that the Eagles (4-10) were ahead late in the third quarter before the wheels came off in a dumbfounding series of turnovers that led to 24 Cincinnati points in 31/2 minutes.

Leading by three and in position to extend the advantage and win their second in a row after losing eight straight games, the bumbling Birds instead turned the ball over four times in the next six minutes to match their season high with five giveaways.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=435189

Eagles Stun Bucs In Thrilling Finish

Editor’s note:  It’s about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TAMPA, Fla.— The most puzzling Philadelphia Eagles game of the season was a tale of two comebacks, with some old-fashioned, fourth-quarter desperation providing the fuel for a 23-21 victory over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Nick Foles hit Jeremy Maclin with a 1-yard scoring pass on the game’s final play from scrimmage as the Eagles (4-9) broke an eight-game losing streak and came away with perhaps their most improbable win in decades, considering what happened immediately after Damaris Johnson fumbled away a punt return early in the third quarter.

Leading 10-0 and dominating on defense, the Eagles temporarily lost their fighting spirit after that play, and the Bucs (6-7) responded with three touchdowns for a 21-10 lead.

But Foles and an offense that was stifled on the ground all day pulled it back together and pulled one out with two late touchdowns sandwiched around a crucial defensive stop.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/sports/football/eagles/mc-eagles-bucs-1209-20121209,0,1262341.story

Eagles Deny Report Of Conflict With Vick

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick after the Eagles’ training camp in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA – Michael Vick still hasn’t passed his concussion recovery test and remains out, but the Philadelphia Eagles strongly refuted reports of a rift between the quarterback and the team over the issue.

An ESPN report Friday said Vick believes “politics are entering the equation” in his bid to get back on the field as the team plays rookie quarterback Nick Foles, who will start a third straight game Sunday night against Dallas.

“There’s nothing to that,” said head coach Andy Reid, who said he has talked to Vick about the matter.

Head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder confirmed that Vick on Friday failed the ImPACT test that measures cognitive brain function for a third time this week, but said the team believes it has figured out why Vick reached a “plateau” in phase four of the five-phase recovery protocol.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=432499

Andy Reid’s Exit Is Now Imminent

Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles’ coach, after the Eagles’ training camp in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LANDOVER, MD - Never in anyone’s wildest imagination could the end of the Andy Reid era as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles have gone down like this.

Anyone who says they saw it unfolding this way is lying or insane or both. Probably both.

What we’re seeing with this team is not to be believed. The Eagles have become the NFL’s version of Monty Python‘s dead parrot, bereft of life, an EXXXXX!!!!!-football team.

They have gone from not being able to pull a couple close ones out at the end to not even being competitive.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/sports/columnists/fierro/mc-eagles-fierro-column-1118-20121118,0,5637049.column

Eagles Reach A New Low Under Andy Reid

Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles’ coach, after the Eagles’ training camp in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To be an Eagles fan is to be an expert in disappointment, a connoisseur of dashed hopes.

The team has suffered almost every flavor of defeat in Andy Reid‘s final season.  There was the shocking blowout in Arizona, the near-miss in Pittsburgh, the collapse against Detroit, the whipping administered by Atlanta, the failed gut-check in New Orleans.

But this one? This cruel beatdown at the hands of the hated Dallas Cowboys was a rare blend, indeed.  In an absolute must-win situation, the Eagles reached out for the faint sweet glimmer of hope, only to have it cruelly snatched away and replaced by the most bitter of defeats.

There was hope in the form of rookie quarterback Nick Foles, who led the team on two third-quarter scoring drives to take a 17-10 lead.  There was hope in the sudden competence of a defense that had been AWOL for the previous three-and-a-half games.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20121111_Eagles_reach_a_new_low_under_Andy_Reid.html?mr=1&submit=Vote&oid=1&178713011=Y&pid=178713011&cid=8500281

Les Bowen: Eagles’ Lurie Can Blame Himself For This Wasted Season

Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles owner, after the Eagles’ training camp, Aug. 3. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW ORLEANS - If this Eagles season continues to go south, straight past the point of no return – which could happen tonight – I say it’s Jeffrey Lurie‘s fault.

The team chairman has been trying to have it both ways with head coach Andy Reid, and in the process he has all but ensured this will be Reid’s last season.

We all wondered last January what the effect would be of Lurie publicly putting Reid on the clock.  We wondered again in August, when Lurie underlined it in red: “substantial improvement,” or new coach.

We don’t have to wonder about that effect anymore.  We’re seeing it on the field.  Lurie has diminished Reid as a leader and forced the coach to fly by the seat of his pants, instead of being able to address the long-term best interests of the franchise.  A coach who felt he had job security might have pulled the Nick Foles lever by now. A coach who felt he had job security might have bitten the bullet and jettisoned Juan Castillo at the end of the 2011 season, instead of trying to jerry rig a Castillo-Todd Bowles marriage, then annulling it the moment he caught a whiff of last season’s problems, leading to defensive chaos against Atlanta last week.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20121105_Les_Bowen_.html