Loss is Reid’s Low Point—Not His Legacy

I BLAME MY HANGOVER ON YOU, DREW ROSENHAUS!

Monday night was my company’s holiday party. Apparently, my president wasn’t concerned about ruining my Monday Night Football plans. But she did me the favor of ending the party at nine, so I figured I’d get out of there, find a burger joint with a big TV, and resume my normally scheduled programming. But by the time I got there, it was already too late for small pleasantries like food—it was time to throw down a few drinks and cope with the chaos unfolding at the Linc.

Monday night might have been the worst the Eagles will play in my lifetime—or at least I hope so. But the fact that it came as such a shock to me is the good news: Despite uncountable injuries and poor play so far this season, I expected my Eagles to play hard and put the Seahawks (who I thought overrated) in their place.

Why should I be so bold as to expect such things? 1) For the last five years, the Eagles have been good. 2) They’ve succeeded before despite injury—two years ago when Donovan McNabb went down, they kept finding ways to win; last year when T.O. went down, they found their way to the Super Bowl. Monday night they didn’t find much—least of all the pride to compete—but I expected them to win, and I will expect the same thing this upcoming weekend.

Calls for Reid’s dismissal are ludicrous. In 1999, the Eagles went 5 and 11. They were outscored 357-272. Since then, they have gone 64 and 28, won the NFC East three times, won the NFC once, and played in their first Super Bowl since Ron Jaworski was the NFL’s top QB. The have succeeded because as a franchise they maintain a steady vision of how to achieve success. Monday night was an abomination, but it was also a game played without Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens, Lito Sheppard, Correll Buckhalter, Hank Fraley, Todd Pinkston, Tra Thomas, and Jerome McDougle, among others. An injury problem is one thing, but this is more like the Black Death.

Should they have lost 42-0? Absolutely not. Should Reid be fired during this season or directly after it? Absolutely not.

There is a fundamental disagreement on the editorial board here at the Broad Street Journal. As you know, Andrew believes the Eagles blew the T.O. situation; I believe T.O. blew the Eagles situation. But at this point, T.O.’s absence is just one of many problems. The Eagles’ ship took on a whole lot of water Monday night, just as I took on an unwise amount of alchohol. But Andy Reid will right this ship. A steady presence at the helm, he’s steered this ship straight for five years and he’ll do it again. So, while I secured yesterday’s hangover while cursing Reid and the boys in green and black, I also dedicated at least one of those drinks to the better days in the future—with Reid still in charge.