2011 was yet another “Close but no cigar” season for the Eagles. We’ve had seasons in recent memory that got a lot closer to the cigar. But the end result is the same. We’re on the outside looking in yet again.
But it’s okay. The anticipation of a national championship (our first since 1960) will make the realization that much sweeter…
We fans often make it harder than it has to be. We become obsessed with the autopsy reports performed upon last year. I’m as much to blame for that “looking back” habit as anyone. But in the spirit of “It’s always sunny…”, I want to change that mindset.
The future looks bright to me. And that’s no pie in the sky, Moonbeam. The pieces are falling into place. The stars are aligned.
Dan Graziano of ESPN.com agrees. This week’s question for Hot Button was “Which team that did not make the playoffs is in the best position for 2012?” John Clayton picks the Carolina Panthers , while Ashley Fox takes the side of 2011’s biggest flop — the Philadelphia Eagles, who she says “should have no trouble being a playoff team in 2012”:
“The Eagles still have issues. No. 1 is what to do with [Juan] Castillo, the longtime offensive line coach who was overmatched earlier in the season. Will they franchise [DeSean] Jackson and then trade him or negotiate a contract extension? With Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the roster, will they re-sign Asante Samuel? And will they go against past performance and use their first-round draft pick on a linebacker or safety?
Surely this team will benefit from offseason workouts and minicamps, and from this rally that was too little, too late.”
Yeah, there’s a lot to like about the Eagles as you look ahead to 2012— and the memory of how brutally inept they were in so many first-half 2011 games fades a bit. Ashley’s points about the way the team has jelled around Andy Reid in December and played better on defense are good, and this surely isn’t the last time these points will be made between now and next September. The 2011 Eagles looked great on paper too, though, and they buried themselves under a mountain of turnovers and fourth-quarter meltdowns.
Fact is, we won’t know a thing about the 2012 Eagles until we see them play. And we won’t be sure they’re for real this time until we see them play a lot differently than they did when they were still actually playing for something in 2011.
“It’s tough, because you don’t want to start looking at next year because it’s so far away, but we’ve played some good football as of late,” cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “It’s encouraging for what we can do in the future. Just the way we grew throughout of the year, coaches and players. Toward the end of the year we started playing the way everyone expected us to play, but I guess it was just a little late.”
If you happen to follow Michael Vick on Twitter, you probably saw the following tweet on Sunday, Jan. 1:
“Next season will be totally different. I promise!!!!”
It’s no secret that the Eagles were not a good team for the biggest part of the 2011 year. They started with a 1-4 record, then managed to make it 3-4, only to fall to 4-8 five weeks later. Going undefeated in the last quarter of the season allowed them to avoid a losing season and finish at 8-8.
Is that a real consolation for the Eagles? Even though it soothed the suffering, I don’t really think it was enough. The Birds went all-in back during the free agency harvest, signing Cullen Jenkins, Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin and Vince Young among others, but failed to reach the playoffs.
And so, here we are… alone again, naturally. In other words, the Eagles showed no W-L improvement; in fact, they made a backward step.
Vick also mentioned that this past year (2011) should be a motivation for everyone in the team to work harder in 2012. You could see the disappointment in his eyes in a recent TV interview, and despite that disappointment, he chose to speak of the future—like an inspiring leader does. Vick also talked about staying healthy next year and his plans to play in all 16 games of the regular schedule:
“I’ve got to get away from trying to do too much, and understanding that waking up Monday morning (not) sore doesn’t mean that you didn’t go out and give it your all. I think it means you played smart, and I went into the game (Sunday) with that mind-set. That’s how I want to play this coming season – protecting the ball, playing smart, not taking unnecessary hits, and being there for my team.”
The road of failure is not only paved with good intentions; it’s also surrounded by excuses. I won’t be the one to offer excuses for Philadelphia’s 2011 slump. But Vick didn’t seem to do that either. He simply said: “It is what it is.”
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