Posted by Mike Wasserson in NFL Headlines on November 15, 2011  |  0 Comments More from this author  |

It’s a common theme and sound-byte in an Andy Reid press conference. It usually comes in between a cough and a throat clear as the head coach tries to rally his thoughts and take on the barrage of the media after a loss. The same question will come in a bunch of different disguises, but Reid holds his ground and tends to murmur out the following answer: “We’ve got to do a better job at that and I have to put players in a better position to win games.”

There’s a reason that I haven’t watched an Andy Reid press conference in over five years, and it’s a pretty easy answer: he continues to give the same rote, monotonous responses after a loss yet doesn’t keep to his word.

Even after a win, you will rarely get any valuable nuggets out of a Reid press conference other than an update of the team’s injury report.

It’s easy to criticize Reid now when everything around him seems to be collapsing and the “good ol’ days” seem gone and distant. However, the Andy Reid press conference is the epitome and symbolic of why the end may be coming for him. 

It’s a general portrayal of pompousness. One that gleams of conceit and a general disdain for anyone that has the audacity to question the coach’s decisions. The true definition of a martyr that is going to go down doing it his way regardless of what anyone has to say.

After a reprehensible 21-17 loss to the bottom of the barrel Arizona Cardinals, the Eagles’ playoff hopes were pretty much all but dashed as they prepare to look ahead to the offseason with seven games still to play.

The term “disappointment” is an extreme understatement when reflecting on how the team has lived up to expectations this year. After their feverish offseason acquiring the likes of Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins, the team has managed to blow an NFL record five fourth quarter leads this year (Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Arizona).

It’s simply a case of coming from ahead to lose games instead of its more admirable opposite of coming from behind to win.

Some will put the blame on the likes of Michael Vick’s regression, who has become one of the more turnover-prone quarterbacks in the league ever since his resurgence last year.

Some will put it on the defense, who has failed to not only find a rhythm but seemingly haven’t even gotten their feet off the ground yet. 

But honestly, it all comes full circle back to Reid considering this is his team, his personnel, his play-calling, and his preparation. Reid was the one who decided to hitch his offensive wagon to Vick and put an inexperienced Juan Castillo in charge of the defense, who has been severely over-matched nine games into the season.

It was Reid’s decision to not give the ball to the team’s best playmaker and leading rusher at the time LeSean McCoy when it mattered most in Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. Especially considering they were missing their top two receivers in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. It was also Reid, through the hiring of Castillo, that matched up Larry Fitzgerald against rookie second round safety Jaiquawn Jarrett on the game’s most important drive. You want to talk about “putting players in a position to win games?” Why not put your $60 million corner, Nnamdi Asomugha on one of the league’s best receivers? Asomugha was on Fitzgerald for 20 of his 46 plays and yielded zero completions. What happened on the other 26 plays that Asomugha wasn’t on him? 7 catches for 146 yards and 2 scores. 

There is no explanation or logic for Castillo’s gameplan and how they utilize Asomugha as the game progresses.

It sounds harsh, but simply put, this team has loser in their DNA and it has been genetically passed down to them from Reid. They will jump through hoops of fire to find new and innovative ways to blow games, whether it’s giving up a 20 point second half lead to the 49ers or making John Skelton of the Cardinals look like John Elway operating a two-minute drill.

Historically Reid’s teams, dating all the way back to earlier in the decade where since then the entire roster has turned over with new players, have always had mind-numbing errors being committed. Wasting timeouts, inopportune penalties, squandered big plays, and crippling turnovers. 

It’s almost like it doesn’t matter what the team does in the draft or free agency, because they are going to acquire the fail gene regardless. It all points to the sign that this is a systemic problem. It doesn’t fall on one player, but rather a team philosophy. And honestly, that all comes back to Reid. He is the captain of the ship, he’s making the final decisions, these are his players, and these are his assistant coaches and coordinators.

None of us know what the big wigs of the team in Jeff Laurie and Joe Banner are thinking or will do when the offseason approaches.

But we do know for a fact that Reid will continue to do things his way, regardless of what the outsiders think or say. And that may ultimately spell his demise and the conclusion of a 12 year era marked by underachievement and disappointment.

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