All of Eagles’ Predicted Problems Creep Up in Loss to 49ers

Back in the middle of May, I wrote about why linebacker, and not cornerback, was the position the Philadelphia Eagles had to address more than any other. I don’t usually like to toot my own horn so obviously, but if you check out the post, it seems to have come full circle.

Not signing a veteran linebacker was very worrisome back then and could be the undoing of this team moving forward. But the talk about the linebackers has been done to death. It is obviously the biggest concern of this team and should be addressed, but at this point it’s not a hole that’s fixable.

There could be a couple band-aids tossed over it, but that’s the best they’re going to do with the linebackers this season. They can start with finding a place for Akeem Jordan, but I’ve given up completely on that unit being addressed any further.

The other predicted problems, namely the offensive line and going with a rookie kicker, are also in need of some discussion.

While I’m in the habit of tooting my own horn, I’ll do it again and point out I thought the wholesale changes being made across the offensive line were going to be a complete disaster, as described here. And that was written early enough that first-round pick Danny Watkins had yet to be benched for the disaster that is Kyle DeVan.

For all the complaining that was going on about Winston Justice, I think this has proven the offensive line is far better with him in the lineup. Not only is he a better right tackle than Todd Herremans, but Herremans is far and away a better option at left guard than Evan Mathis, and I say that firmly believing Herremans is incredibly overrated at any position.

That move will likely be made once Justice is healthy and ready to go.

And just a quick digression, why was Justice even taken off the PUP? Here were are passing through Week 4, and he’s still inactive and on the bench. He’s taking up a roster spot just to be inactive on game days and likely won’t be ready until about Week 7, which is when he would be able to come off the PUP anyway.

The Eagles could have kept another defensive end during this entire stretch, which could become important with Darryl Tapp, Juqua Parker, and now Trent Cole dinged up.

But anyway…

Justice coming back to right tackle and moving Herremans back to left guard will go a long way. Jason Peters will go back to working with a guy with whom he is familiar, and the team gets an upgrade at both spots. Then someone needs to smack whoever is so in love with Jason Kelce and give the starting job back to Jamaal Jackson, who should have had it all along.

I get the sense it’s Howard Mudd who keeps Kelce in the starting position, but it’s not his job on the line if this team continues to spiral out of control. Andy Reid needs to step up and yank Kelce out of there. Jackson has shown time and again he is a quality starter, and Kelce has shown nothing short of incompetence in every aspect of the game.

So far then we have Peters at left tackle, Herremans at left guard, Jackson at center, a question mark at right guard, and Justice at right tackle.

Doesn’t that already look like a much better group of guys, even leaving the question mark at right guard?

Ideally, that question mark will be answered by Watkins, but who knows if he’ll ever be ready. So in the meantime, I’m comfortable with Mathis at that spot, even if he is only one notch above being a scub. At least then the team knows who the weak link is and knows where to tell LeSean McCoy or Owen Schmitt to focus in pass protection.

So there, we’ve fixed the offensive line. On to the rookie kicker.

Well, the team is stuck here. The kid is going to be the kicker come hell or high water. He was a fourth-round pick which, for a kicker, is the commitment of a first-round guy at any other position. Perhaps even more so because no team is benching a kicker and wasting his roster spot to bring in another guy. It’s just not happening.

Alex Henery was just too good in college to think he won’t turn it around. Outside of the increased pressure that comes with kicking in the NFL, I truly believe it’s much harder to kick in college with the widened hashmarks. And as far as the pressure goes, this kid did not do his kicking at some Divison II school in Iowa, he did it at Nebraska.

He knows pressure.

Chalk this up to a bad game, but the point is the team had to know it was coming sooner or later. It just happened to come at a time when his misses wound up being the difference. But had the offensive line been in order, had we seen any production from the linebackers, and the playcalling made any sense at all his missed field goals would not have been the headline they’re bound to be Monday morning.

I have always been a supporter of Reid and will continue to support him until this team is officially eliminated from the playoffs. Mainly because he’s not getting fired midseason, and because we’ve seen his teams have miraculous turn-arounds. There is far too much talent on this roster to think they won’t eventually gel and make a push.

After all, they could still finish 13-3.

Or 1-15.