Mid season post-mortem

Les Bowen writes an unusual mid-season post-mortem looking back at all the "signs" since the Saints loss last January and suggests that there were plenty of hints that the optimism for the 2007 season was overblown. Of course, its easy at 3-5 to look back and see bigger troubles now than appeared back then.

In particular, Bowen cites the McNabb canceled press conference last January under still ambiguous circumstances as exhibit 1 in the early stage rupture and diverging interests between head coach and franchise QB. He cites the questionable draft, a disgruntled Brian Westbrook, and Andy Reid's personal problems. Indeed, i think he gives too much weight to Reid's distractions and not enough elaboration on "the failure to add an impact receiver or defensive player high in the draft as a bigger deal than it looked to someone on the outside." Surprisingly, he doesn't mention Jeremiah Trotter's shocking termination from the team as an indication that all was not right at One Novacare Way.

But what is particularly jarring is his suggestion about how fluky bad luck - like a couple of muffed punts and a 97 yard game winning drive - can quickly turn into a season long malaise. Jarring because Eagle fans saw it happen first hand and jarring because it is entirely conceivable it could happen this year. (Though one of Reid's greatest strengths as coach has been his ability to keep seasons from unraveling and two the Eagles already had a season like this in 2005).

Anyway, here is what Bowen writes:

"Whenever I think of fluky outcomes, though, I think of 2003, and Brian Westbrook picking up a bouncing punt just as the Giants were about to put the finishing touches on a 10-7 victory that would boost them to 3-3 and drop the Eagles to 2-4. The Giants were the better team that day in just about every measurable category; they outgained the Eagles nearly three to one. But Westbrook took the punt back 84 yards for a touchdown, with 1:16 remaining, and the Eagles somehow escaped the Meadowlands without being arrested for theft.

For the Birds, the gift victory started a nine-game win streak. They finished 12-4. The Giants went 2-8 the rest of the way, finished 4-12, and got their coach fired. At the time, it was a fluke. By the end of the season, when the Eagles were a good team and the Giants were a bad team, it looked more like the hand of karma, or something - bad things happen to bad teams.

The point of this digression is, the Packers, definitely not the better team back on Sept. 9, are 7-1 now. The Eagles aren't. Maybe they just never were going to be."