Reno 911

There are five things that I know about the Eagles 2007 season opener versus the Packers in the not so frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. First and foremost, the Birds lost 16-13. Second, the Eagles offense didn’t prove themselves to be elite and the defense performed sufficiently. Third, all-ESPN quarterback Brett Favre started his 257^th consecutive game. Fourth, muffed punts suck and special teams matter. Fifth, like a high school couple that breaks up one week and gets back together the next, Andy Reid and Reno Mahe are a couple once again.

The few things that I know, however, are far outnumbered by countless mysteries. But that really comes as no surprise given the history of management’s less than forthright communication strategy.

As close as he normally holds his cards, Reid seemed to clench them a little tighter to his man boobs this off-season. With a healthy, or at least 75-90% healthy, Donavan McNabb at quarterback and the elusive and electric Brian Westbrook at running back, would the once potent and high-powered offensive machine score 27 points per game again? How serious are the injuries to Shawn Andrews (ankle) and LJ Smith (hernia, not sports hernia)? I don’t know the difference between a regular hernia and a sports hernia, but I have to think that they are neither comfortable nor pleasant. Can the average receiving corps make extraordinary plays, or even create enough separation to get open?

Sunday’s game by no means provided definitive answers to these questions, but it did reveal some trends worth mentioning. McNabb looked rusty completing a mere 16 of his 33 attempts for 184 yards and one TD. He threw one bad interception and should have had another, but fortunately the defender flat out dropped an easy pick. He shifted around in the pocket adequately to his credit; however, Super Five didn’t have much time thanks to a notably poor performance from left guard Todd Herremans. When McNabb had the opportunity to turn tuck the ball and run to pick up yardage, he seemed hesitant and a step slow.

In the running game, B West had a fair performance with 20 carries for 85 yards. While those numbers aren’t outstanding, it appeared that he was on the cusp of breaking off a big run. But as is usually the case with the playcalling under Reid’s tenure, once the game got tight in the second half, the running plays were discarded. The most frustrating part of this strategy came in the fourth quarter. After the defense forced a Brett Favre fumble, the offense was given great field position at the Green Bay 38 with a little over four minutes remaining. After the game, Brian Dawkins said that given the offense’s weapons, he had no doubt that they would put the game away.

A closer look at the playcalling and execution at this crucial moment leaves this so-called powerful offense with much to be desired. On the first play, Buckhalter got the call with a run up the middle that was stuffed for a four-yard loss. Why wasn’t the Eagles most explosive weapon, Brian Westbrook included in this package? He wasn’t in until the next play, when a Shotgun draw play was called and he picked up two yards. On 3^rd and 12 at the 40, McNabb was flushed out of the pocket and managed to get two yards before KGB tripped him up. That would have set up Akers for a 57-yard field goal attempt, but Herremans was flagged for a ten yard holding penalty. The penalty moved the ball back to midfield and left the Birds with a long 3^rd down and 22 situation. McNabb was pressured, again, but managed to heave a bomb to Kevin Curtis that was off target and fell incomplete.

Overall, it’s difficult to gauge just how out of sync the offense looked. I n preseason, it looked as if the Packer defense was in position to be one of the better defensive squads in the NFC. They have an aggressive defensive line led by Kampen and KGB that repeatedly beat the Eagles offensive line off the ball. They have athletic linebackers in Nick Barnet and A.J. Hawk (with a name like that he should be an Eagle) and a pair of decent corners in ex-eagle Al Harris (whose dreadlocks have gotten ridiculously long) and former Heisman trophy winner Charles Woodson.

As the for the Eagles defense, the biggest move the Eagles made was the release of Pro Bowler and team leader, Jeremiah Trotter. There’s no denying that Trott’s knees have deteriorated faster than Britney Spears’ career, but wasn’t he good enough to produce for at least one more year? At least he was valuable enough as a locker room presence to keep him on to be a veteran role model for the younger and untested group of linebackers. Will the D-line tandem of Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley play up to their first round draft pick expectations? Will Sean Considine prove that he can play a full game without getting run over?

Although the defense didn’t allow Brett Favre’s offense to score one touchdown, it would be hasty to conclude that this year’s defense will be as dominating as the Gang Green. I say that because aside from Favre and Donald Driver, the Green Bay offense does not have much in the form of game breakers. Ahman Green got out of Packer country in favor of the Houston Texans, leaving rookie Brandon Jackson with the starting running back role. The Eagles, who struggled to stop anyone from running all over them, held young Jackson to 40 yards on the ground and only allowed a total of 48 rushing to the Pack.

While the run D looked good for most of the game, the most concerning part about the defense’s performance was the poor tackling in critical situations. Specifically, the play that had made all the highlight shows and added to the vast library of Brett Favre’s miracle plays should have resulted in a sack and possibly a fumble if not for poor wrap and tackle technique. It was 3^rd and 10 on the Eagles 42, a sack for a six yard loss would have halted the Packers drive that eventually led to the game tying field goal. Instead, I had to listen to Moose Johnson and Tony Siragusa drool all over how after 16 years, Brett Favre still has that “gunslinger” mentality where he is always looking to make a play. I hate Brett Favre more than I hate Ben Stiller in “There’s Something About Mary.” But I hate how the media treats him even more.

These issues aside, at least there was some semblance of consistency on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. John Runyan suited up in his 161^st consecutive game as a starter. Brian Dawkins patrolled the secondary with the intent to cause turnovers and jack up the opposition with thunderous hits. Special teams, however, had less stability and even less certainty. Longtime coach John Harbaugh moved on the coach the secondary, leaving Rory Seagrest in charge of the often forgotten and overlooked third aspect of football. While David Akers decided to put his Nascar career on hold for at least one more year to split the uprights, veteran punter Dirk Johnson was released in favor of the Aussie rules lead footed footballer Sav Rocca.

It was believed that Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom would take over the kick and punt returning duties, however, after his pedestrian preseason showing in which he injured his toe and failed to elude any defender, he was released. The most disturbing part of the failed Jeremy Bloom experiment is not that the Eagles kept him on the injured reserve last year due to a sore hamstring, it’s that the Eagles brass were so arrogant that they didn’t have a contingency plan of bringing a dependable veteran if Bloom wasn’t exactly what they thought he could be. Andy Reid and Tom Heckert assumed that they could just plug in Greg Lewis into the punt returner role even though he never fielded a punt in his career. Then they went out and searched the waiver wire long and hard for a player that a) was an ex-Eagle; b) was recently released; and c) sliced open his knee on a barbed wire fence running away from a dog. The player that fit that description could only be JR Reed. Given their lack of experience in the return game, hoping G Lew and JR Reed would be dependable, or at least catch the ball clealy, was a giant leap of faith.

It’s obvious that the two special teams turnovers cost the Eagles the game on Sunday. The muff punts by Lewis and Reed directly resulted in 10 points for the Packers. In a game in which the final score is 16-13, it doesn’t take a Fields Medal Winner to deduce that those 10 points were the deciding factors in the outcome. It should also be clear that special teams can’t be taken for granted. In fact, a 2005 USAToday.com poll listed NFL special teams player the 8^th worst job in sports. Horse racing groom was listed as the worst. But it brings up a good debate. Would you rather be knee deep in manure all day or be a wedge buster? I’d actually choose wedge buster. After all, Mr. Invincible, Vince Papale parlayed his career into a movie deal and an executive position with Sallie Mae. Steve Tasker is now the Buffalo Bills GM and was recently enshrined in the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame. I’d take those career paths over being smothered in horse feces any day.

The emotion and fire that special teamers play with can set the tone for the entire team. But don’t get the wrong idea Andy, returning kicks and punts is no easy task. Some might say that it’s one of the hardest things to do in sports. A return man must possess particular athletic skills to even have a chance at succeeding in one of the most challenging positions in football. He has to have a boxer’s fearlessness to not be afraid to take the opponent’s best punch, a point guard’s intelligence and vision to anticipate the play before it takes place and an outfielder’s ability to instantly judge the path of a ball in flight and quickly get into position to field it.

If a player has these characteristics, then there are five steps that he must follow step by step to be successful at returning. First and foremost, catch and protect the ball. This cannot be stressed enough. Second, when returning punts, call for a fair catch if you will not have more than five yards of space between you and the nearest defender when you catch the ball. Third, the rules for fielding punts are different than fielding kick returns. Specifically, on kick returns, once the ball crosses ten yards, then it is a live ball that both the kicking and receiving team can recover. For punts, the receiving team cannot recover a punt unless a player on the receiving team touches the ball first. In other words, the receiving player does not have to catch the ball. (If you are JR Reed, please reread the previous sentence.) Fourth, when receiving a punt, know where you are on the field. Do not field a punt inside your own 10-yard line. Chances are it will bounce in the end zone and your team will start at the 20. Fifth, if and only if, rules 1-4 have been followed in order, use your athleticism and speed to make defenders miss and try to gain positive yards.

Andy Reid and Tom Heckert made the critical mistake of trying to reorder the steps and have #5 become #1. Even that effort was critically flawed in that the personnel that they tried to use role didn’t have the requisite skills. If you are going to base your entire return game on putting someone with blazing speed and supernatural juke moves, then go with someone like the human joystick himself, Dante Hall, not G Lew and JR Reed. Hall was a free agent in the offseason before he signed with the Rams. Although he only returned one punt for a touchdown last year, his performance in speaks for itself. Playmakers like Hall, and especially Chicago’s Devin Hester, can be an equally effective weapon in the return game as any player on offense. In Hester’s case, it could be argued that he is a bigger threat than the entire Bear offense. Factoring in Grossman’s penchant for turnovers, Chicago’s best chance at scoring is with the ball in Hester’s hands.

In accordance with the necessary skills and the mental capacity to grasp the 5 rules, there is only one man on the Eagles roster who fits the bill. And his first name isn’t the name of a city. If watching 80’s movies over and over again has taught me anything, it’s that “there are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.” Andy, please heed coach Finstock’s advice, do not gamble this season with Reno Mahe. He is not as sure handed as advertised (he’s fumbled 7 times in his career) and he has never taken a return to the house.

The Eagles should put their best player in a position to positively impact the game. Let Brian Westbrook return punts. When Eagles opponents’ game plan against the Eagles, they focus on one theme, stop 36. What better way for the Eagles to create an opportunity for Westbrook to showcase his elusiveness in the open space then by letting him field punts? The main critiques to this notion claim that it’s too risky to have Westbrook return punts. He could sustain an unnecessary injury, they say. Guess what, he could get hurt on any play, not just punt returns. That being said, one of the ways Westbrook has evolved as a veteran is how he positions his body to minimize the impact of a tackle. When all other options to gain more yards are exhausted, he manages to get lower than would be tacklers to avoid the big hit.

Not only does Brian Westbrook have the physical and mental capacity to return punts, he knows the fives steps one by one. No Eagles fan will soon forget Westbrook’s punt return in the 4^th quarter against the Giants in 2003 propelled the Birds to a come from behind 14-10 victory that day and on to a 13-3 season. And if it hadn’t been for an injury to his tricep against the Redskins late in the regular season, Brian’s contribution in the playoffs could have been the difference in the NFC Championship game versus the Panthers. Recall that the Panthers D feasted on McNabb as they knew that the Eagles had no running game without Westbrook. By the way, Westbrook’s injury wasn’t sustained on a special teams play, it happened on a run play in which he has dragged down by Jeremiah Trotter.

Game changing, season altering feats of athleticism can happen on any given play in a professional football game. Muffed punts and losses, however, happen when poor planning (no Jeremy Bloom contingency plan) and incorrect personnel decisions lead to putting incapable players (G Lew and JR Reed) in situations that they are not prepared to handle (punt returns). On again, off again high school relationships never work out and they often end badly, especially if one them has the first name of a city. Andy, it’s time to grow up, make the educated decision and cut ties with Reno Mahe and let Brian Westbrook return punts.