Where 3-5 Is

I will give Reid a pass on the line. Any team that is playing 4 of 5 second string linemen can't be good and the depth only goes so far (historically, Reid has been good with linemen line Jamaal Jackson stepping right in for Fraley, etc.).

I thought Gruden's most telling observation was "everytime the Eagles go empty backfield, the Saints blitz and the line can't block them all." Uh, maybe the Eagles shouldn't go empty backfield.

I think the red zone problems aren't that that hey aren't running the ball, but that they can't run the ball in such close confines with the lousy line they have.

The Castillo firing just becomes more terrible by the day. BTW, the knock against Castillo was that he had never "called" the defense on game day before last season (overlooking that he did it for 16 games last season and 5 this season). Only to be replaced by Todd Bowles who was never a defensive coordinator himself before getting the promotion and thus also never having "called" the defense.

Let's not forget that Andy Reid's son died of a heroine overdose in August. Can a coach be so singleminded that he can compartmentalized that unspeakable tragedy.

I was struck by Reid's appearance in the presser after the Saints game. He's always been phlegmatic, but he looked incredibly worn and exhausted. Maybe some of it is that unadvised growing out of his Wilford Brimley mustache, but judging by the look of him i wonder if Reid is close to physical and emotional collapse.

Also, Mike Vick is a tough son of a bitch. Maybe too tough. I worry that Vick brain is getting beaten to a pulp.  Is it me and my fixation on concussions or are there multiple times per game where Vick takes a hit and he looks a little foggy getting up and getting back to the huddle?

More Post-Saints

My brother's take:

The fact that we have no depth is appalling.  We NEVER have had depth.  Our line simply can't block.  How about Gruden at one point saying – "well that guy there just didn't block anyone on that play".  then he just killed Bell for being lousy.
 
I believe the red zone problem is just a fundamental problem with the offense.  We could run, but partly because of our deep threats.  Inside the 10 there is no longer a deep threat.  Vick can run and extend plays to go deep – not inside the 10 because there is just too much congestion.  This problem will never go away as we are currently designed. 
 
Have we ever tried a fade to a wideout?  I mean it's been 14 years!!
 
Wasn't Maclin good at one point?  Is he still on the team??
 
Doesn't the kick return embody everything you need to know about this team.  It was carefully constructed, it was unique, it was fantastic and pretty much worked, but didn't and we began our drive on the 3 yard line.
We are a team of bobby abreu's.  For you non-philly guys – that's not a compliment.
 
We have one of the best running backs in the league.  At a time when running backs could be one of the least valuable things on a team.  That's just unfortunate.
 
I think we were inside the 25 6 times.  6 times!!! And that got us 6 points.
 
We actually held drew brees to 21 points.  Despite looking terrible on D we held them to 21 points.  That should beat the saints every time with their D.
 
Outside the falcons game our d hasn't been terrible (and maybe saints because they were dreadful at times last night).  Yes – 5 minutes against the lions and the final Steelers drives, but that's it.  Just no one ver makes a play.
 
Lastly – raise your hand if you knew the eagles were going deep on first play.  I looked at my son and said.  They have 2 TE's in to block they are going deep to Jackson here.    I said "he always does this on Monday night".

Post-Saints

My friend PK writes:

Final thought: the great football-ism of the last 15 years is, we are what we are. 
After the NYG last-second FG attempt, we were 3-1 in complete control of our destiny. As good a start as realistically possible. But we all noted we were 3 plays away from being 0-4. The assumption then was, we are what we are - a 3-1 team because good teams win close games. Now we've lost 4 straight games and we are what we are. 
We're 1 or 2 plays against Pitt and Det from being 5-3. We're also just a couple plays from being 1-7/0-8. Instead, we pretty much are what we are: a team playing good enough to only win 6 or 7 games.

Saints game in review

Just an endless loop of nightmares: 2 timeouts burned early in each half. Had 1st and goal 3 times, they have 6 points to show for it, but also gave 7 to the other team in a pick six, so we're a -1 from our 1st and goal situations, in which for some reason we just can't run the ball. 

And just a defensive meltdown that continues.