It's time for a change, but not where you'd think.


The only thing we really know after this game is that the Raiders are really not as good as the Eagles made them look. Well, that, and there's no way that the Eagles could possibly be as bad as they played against the Raiders.

All in all, this game screams "Aberration!"

This is the NFL, after all, and every team has at least one game where they let down the way the Eagles did. Actually, most teams still win their let-down games. The Eagles, however, always seem to lose those games.

So here's what it comes down to: the play-calling was awful, but the execution of the terrible plays being called was even worse. The line was not blocking, the receivers weren't getting open, and McNabb was having a difficult time hitting an open receiver.

The line play was doomed the second that Jason Peters went down. King Dunlap is far too light to be a lineman in this league, and just did not have the power it would have taken to stop Richard Seymour.

Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles have been disappointing all season, and this game was really a microcosm of their entire year. They just got beat play after play as the Raiders defensive line, which really is not all that impressive, moved the line of scrimmage two and three yards back every play.

It goes without saying, but an offense cannot execute when the defense is playing in the backfield all game long, which is exactly what happened.

The receivers seemed lazy. Many times McNabb was flushed from the pocket only to stare at the back of his receivers. They were not running back toward the line in order to help McNabb, and he was forced to either take the sack, take a chance, or just toss the ball away.

Even with Nnamdi Asomugha out, the receivers could not beat a pedestrian corner like Stanford Routt, and even Chris Johnson, who is a good player, but not good enough to stick with the speed the Eagles have in Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, handled them.

They dropped passes, they didn't block, and they just didn't seem to be in the game.

McNabb was having accuracy issues, but I attribute that more to the lack of protection he was getting all game long. There was always a guy in his face, then add in the lazy play of his receivers and you'll have a long day for any quarterback.

That said, he did miss some throws of his own.

What this really comes down to was the awful play-calling. You've seen the numbers, you saw what happened, and it's just ridiculous. It is absolutely insane. The protection was shotty all game long, and the running game was working. Brian Westbrook was averaging nearly 10 yards per carry on the ground, but still Andy refused to feed him.

It's to the point of disaster with this playcalling. In fact, if I'm Jeff Lurie, I would sit Reid down and tell him that I would love to have him as the head coach of this team for another 10 years, but with one condition. He's either got to find a coordinator that he trusts to call the plays, or he's got to balance it out more.

Simple as that. Do it or move on.

Andy is a fantastic teacher. He can mold a young player into a superstar better than most coaches in the league past or present. However, his play-calling is downright atrocious. He doesn't remember what worked and what didn't, and his affinity for the playaction when he hasn't called a single running play is maddening to watch.

Andy is good for Philadelphia. Eventually, he will get this team where they want to be. But there's a reason he was never an offensive coordinator. He's been doing the same thing now for just over 10 years, and it's not working.