Eagles Getting What They Deserve

My tweet right after yesterday's latest Eagles debacle was quoted in the weekly NFL wrapup on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog. In case you missed it: "I'll keep saying this til someone listens: Eagles' woes due to bad karma for not addressing DeSean's anti-gay slur."

Obviously there's no scientific proof of this, but it's as good a reason as any. DeSean Jackson called somebody a "gay-ass faggot" on Sirius/XM radio during the summer, while the NFL lockout was still on, offered only a half-assed phony "apology" afterwards, and neither the league nor the Eagles took any action in response -- even after the lockout ended and teams were free to talk to their players again. (I hope you're not tired of reading my posts about it.) Sure, there are lots of problems, but there have been a few bad bounces as well, so why couldn't it be bad karma?

The much-hyped "Dream Team" is floundering. The only sure thing right now on offense is LeSean McCoy, and too often the Eagles don't get him the ball often enough. Michael Vick is struggling (and now has two broken ribs) and the offense is at times fine and other times pitiful. The defense is kind of a mess, especially in the fourth quarter of games. FIVE games lost after having the lead in the 4th quarter is shameful. Andy Reid is his usual arrogant-while-saying-nothing self (although he's somehow 6-for-7 in coach's challenges). And Jackson was suspended for the game yesterday for missing a meeting Saturday because he overslept.

There were reports that Jackson, unhappy with his lack of a contract extension, actually missed/was late for multiple meetings during the week and other players were also late. If that's true, then Reid has lost control of the team. Suspending Jackson might be seen as a good disciplinary reaction but I can't help but wonder what the Eagles would have done if their opponent yesterday had been, say, the New York Giants instead of the Arizona Cardinals. Would Jackson have been out for the game, or maybe just the first quarter?

The Eagles are now 3-6 and it would take a miracle for them to make the playoffs now. And, sad to say, I'm kind of happy about it. I was laughing at their follies a few times yesterday. I don't root for the Eagles to win or lose right now, but I can sure enjoy their troubles since they refused to address DeSean's comment during the summer. You might think that makes me a bad fan, but we'll have to disagree on that one. I'm just on hiatus until...well, I don't know. The media ignored the DeSean story except for a perfunctory report immediately after the story was broken and, even with his current T.O.-like behavior, shows no signs of mentioning it now. There's no pressure on the Eagles to do a thing. So I don't know when my stance will change.

Eagles 2011: Meh

That's right. I said, meh. M-E-H, meh.

I'm supposed to be so excited for the 2011 Eagles' season because the lockout ended and they signed a bunch of free agents and one of them said the Eagles were the "Dream Team" and they gave Michael Vick a contract extension and the other teams in the NFC East suck and on and on and on. Super Bowl! Wooooooo!

As I see it, while they have a lot of promise, they also have question marks. Potentially major question marks. The offensive line. The linebackers. The safeties. Rookie placekicker and rookie punter. The offensive line coach-turned-defensive coordinator. Not to mention the same old head coach with the same old playcalling issues and the same old clock management issues and the same old "time's yours" demeanor.

So I see it as just another typical year: 10 or 11 wins, another NFC East title or at least a wild card, eliminated in the playoffs early. And with ownership still not inclined to replace Andy Reid, it's more "lather, rinse, repeat."

Beyond that, neither the Eagles nor the league have bothered to take any action or even so much as comment on DeSean Jackson's "gay-ass faggot" radio interview from before the lockout ended. It's been over two months since it occurred and nearly a month since I last wrote about this issue. Until something happens beyond the weak non-apology that was released via statement, I can't root for this guy. I don't want him to get that reworked contract he wants so badly. Frankly, if he got hurt I'd probably chalk it up to karma. And if the team and the NFL are going to ignore this, then I'm not sure how much I want to support them.

There you have it. My raison d'meh, if you will. Enjoy your football season.

Sticking With Stewart Bradley

So, in the wake of Stewart Bradley's signing with Arizona after the Eagles decided to let all of their own free agents go, I asked a simple question on Twitter...and got an answer from the man himself:

See? We're buds now! Okay, sure, he doesn't follow me back or anything, but still...so, yeah, I'll keep following him. And if he wants to leave me tickets at will call when his Arizona Cardinals come to the Linc that'd be cool. (For some reason I've spent the whole summer thinking that the Eagles were going to Arizona this year, not vice versa. I have no idea why.)

In all seriousness, I'm not quite sure why the Eagles didn't want Bradley back. The linebacker corps is a pretty weak group now. Lots of rookies. One, draft pick Casey Matthews, is listed as the starter on the depth chart over one of the holdovers. Under Andy Reid the Eagles have never given much importance to the LB position and it's cost them at times. Of course, they now have cornerbacks up the wazoo after their surprise signing of Nnamdi Asomugha, the consensus jewel among the free agents, so maybe they're hoping that opposing teams won't be able to take advantage of the linebackers. We shall see.

Eagles Finding Scapegoats

That may be a cynical title for this post, but it may also be accurate. The Eagles have fired two coaches in the last two days, and neither of them are named Andy Reid. Today it was defensive line coach Rory Segrest. Segrest was in that job for the last two years. Before that he was special teams coordinator, and we know how horrendous special teams were during that time (although they're not exactly stellar right now), so the fact that their D-line has been similarly subpar can't be much of a shock.

Yesterday it was defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. Reid said on Monday at his final post-game press conference that McDermott would be back. Why say that, only to dump him five days later? Some of the media pundits thought that if anyone should take the fall it was Segrest, so it's interesting that he actually lasted one more day than McDermott. (Is it that hard to fire more than one person at a time? Other teams do it.)

I was interested to hear today, on WIP, that former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter mentioned speaking to a current player who said that McDermott was the worst defensive coordinator he'd ever had. Perhaps that sentiment was shared by many players and they made their feelings known to Andy Reid.

This is fine, but barring something shocking, it's going to continue to be the same story with the Eagles. For all his success, Reid has enough flaws that it's hard to imagine him winning a Super Bowl here after all this time. The formula just doesn't work any more.

My Pool's Alive, Eagles Alive, Kolb's Career On Life Support

Here's an update on my previous post regarding the Eagles and the 610WIP Suicide Pool: before Week 1, there were 26,100 contestants in the suicide pool. After two weeks, only 11,989 remain. More than half the contestants have been wiped out. The losses by Dallas and Minnesota that had me so ecstatic were the main cause this week. I, on the other hand, am still alive in the competition thanks to my pick of the Eagles.

The circus atmosphere that surrounds the Eagles took another twist. Tonight they suddenly announced that Michael Vick was their new starting quarterback even though Kevin Kolb has been cleared to play after the concussion he suffered in the first half of the opening game. This, despite Andy Reid repeating over the last week, after Vick replaced Kolb in Week 1 and gave the offense a lift and after an even stronger performance this past Sunday in beating the Detroit Lions, that nothing had changed and Kolb was still the starter.

The Eagles traded their 2007 first-round draft pick to Dallas for some lower picks. With their first pick in the 2nd round they unexpectedly drafted Kolb, essentially anointing him Donovan McNabb's successor. They ended up spending three seasons grooming Kolb for the job. Although some fools said that McNabb's benching in a 2008 game marked the end of McNabb's Eagles career, it actually didn't occur until the 2009 season ended in infamy at Dallas (and Kolb, substituting for an injured McNabb, became the first QB to throw for 300-plus yards in his first two career starts). The Eagles finally sent McNabb to Washington in April, then signed Kolb to an extension through 2011.

What Are The Eagles Thinking?

The Eagles finally traded Donovan McNabb, and still managed to screw it up. After an offseason of speculation that came to a full boil in recent weeks, McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins for the Redskins' 2nd-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft (37th overall) and a conditional (either 3rd- or 4th-round) 2011 pick.

As I've previously said, the combo of McNabb and Andy Reid was never going to win the Super Bowl. Reid has never put together an offense that completely maximized McNabb's abilities. Whether it was the lack of a running game, a meager receiver corps, lousy playcalling or absymal clock management, something was usually missing at critical times -- the Tampa Bay and Carolina NFC title games, the Super Bowl against the Patriots -- and that was never going to change with Reid still in charge and McNabb at quarterback.

And with the Eagles not only not making efforts to sign quality free agents but, in fact, releasing or trading players and stockpiling draft picks, leaving the team right now in even worse shape than it was after the  season-ending double debacles at Dallas, it was clear that keeping McNabb with an Eagles team that is obviously rebuilding (though they refuse to say so) would be unfair to him.

So There Was Some Tiger Woods Thing Today...

One of the benefits of not being employed is that, on days when one stays in bed listening to sports-talk radio until noon and then gets up to shower, dress and greet the afternoon, one manages to avoid certain unpleasantries. Those unpleasantries are known as Andy Reid Monday-after-the-game press conferences. Now, one doesn't avoid said press conferences entirely, but only hears the audio. (And by now you should have figured that when I use the term "one" I am referring to myself.)

I find it helps to not actually see them because when I hear Reid not answering questions or otherwise being disdainful of the media, I'm less angry when I only hear his remarks than when I see him making them.

The reason I bring up the Eagles' head coach is because today Tiger Woods decided to go public today in an even more controlled environment than the typical Reid briefing. Only certain members of the press were allowed to attend. He took no questions. He was joined in the room by his mother, some business associates, the PGA tour commissioner, and selected others -- although, to my surprise, his wife Elin was not present.

Since today was one of those radio-in-bed days I didn't actually see Tiger make the statement, but I heard it all. And what struck me from listening but not seeing it was that the entire time he read his statement, he sounded like he was reading it. The only time he sounded like he had any feelings was when he attacked the media -- explicitly, for following his family around; and implicitly, in his denial of reports that Elin attacked him on that Thanksgiving night when he crashed his SUV and then decided not to explain in full to the police what happened, starting the chain of events that led to his sluttiness and sordid infidelity becoming public knowledge.

And other than to be seen in public, I'm not sure of the point of this. If all he wanted to do was give a statement, he could have just posted it to his website, as he has twice before. He didn't say anything really new. He didn't announce his return to golf, as one might have thought (and the PGA desperately needs). Why go to the trouble of gathering the group of supporters around him, not to mention interrupting "The Price Is Right" and "The View"?

Granted, I wouldn't have expected a detailed account of every time he cheated on his wife. But the fact that he saved his emotions for the media speaks volumes. Instead of "I'm sorry" it came off more like "I'm sorry I got caught." Perhaps he's sincere in his apologies, or he's at least working towards that sincerity in his therapy, which is ongoing. But if he truly wants to get on with his life, and get the media off his back a little, he'll need to say a little more than he did today, and not just in a speech.

Shut The Hell Up! Two Things I'm Tired Of Hearing On WIP

Presenting a pair of rants on topics that I no longer want to hear discussions about on our sports-talk radio station, WIP:

One: the endless Donovan McNabb debate, which goes a little something like this: The Eagles should get rid of him and give the starting QB job to Kevin Kolb. The Eagles should keep McNabb, Kolb sucks and/or isn't ready to be the starter. McNabb is a lousy quarterback. McNabb is a future Hall of Famer. McNabb isn't an accurate passer. McNabb throws interceptions much less often than almost every other QB. McNabb isn't a good team leader. McNabb's teammates love him. McNabb doesn't win the big games. McNabb's won plenty of big games. McNabb can't let go of the booing he got when he was drafted. McNabb always says how he loves being an Eagle and wants to remain an Eagle. McNabb threw up at the end of the Super Bowl...and on and on and on...enough! This is the one compelling reason I have for hoping the Eagles do part ways with McNabb: so this debate will end once and for all. Over a decade of this, thanks to Andy Reid (the one who really should be going, but isn't) -- I'm sick of it! Shut the hell up!

Two: the continuing occasional comments (and, with the recent signing of Joe Blanton to a 3-year deal, plus spring training being less than a month away, we'll hear this more and more) about how the Phillies should have kept Cliff Lee as well as acquiring Roy Halladay, especially because they're paying Joe Blanton almost as much as Lee is getting for 2010. If I could call the station and make this point without being interrupted or disconnected, I'd say the following: "Listen up, morons: in an ideal world, yes, it would've been great for the Phils to keep both Lee and Halladay. But this is NOT an ideal world. Time to face reality. Lee's ability to become a free agent after 2010 means he'll be likely to get upwards of $15-20 million per year after 2010. That's much more than the Phils will be paying Blanton, who is now signed through 2012. The Phillies are NOT the wealthy teams the Yankees and Red Sox are, and can't afford to pay top dollar to every single player. There was no way the Phils could afford to give up more minor league talent in exchange for Halladay, especially after giving up some players to get Lee last year. You have to keep some talent in the minor leagues to replace older players and to use for future trades when a need suddenly arises due to an injury. And with the salary Lee is expected to get in his next contract, the Phils would be almost guaranteed to lose him after 2010. That's why the Phils traded Lee after getting Halladay. It was the right decision. Now shut the hell up!"

Eagles...Speaking Of Debacles: The Sequel

You can't say I didn't warn you. The Eagles' stay in the playoffs was brief. Officially it lasted one game but for all intents and purposes they were done before halftime, losing at Dallas 34-14. The game wasn't even as close as that.

The only reason the first quarter ended scoreless was because the Cowboys kept committing penalties. They stopped themselves on two drives into Eagles territory and had to punt both times. But the Eagles' offense, so prolific most of the year, was completely useless -- they couldn't even string together more than four plays in any first-half possession and had the ball for only about 7 minutes.

Even when the Eagles tied the game at 7-7, the TD came on a 76-yard pass from Michael Vick out of the wildcat formation to Jeremy Maclin, and the scoring "drive" lasted two plays and 46 seconds. Their final two first-half possessions ended with turnovers. The defense, already shorthanded and struggling, wore down quickly and it was 27-7 by halftime. The entire second half was garbage time.

So Groundhog Day (the movie scenario, not the holiday) continues. The Eagles show signs of promise, make the playoffs, fall short of the championship. Change continues to be needed. Andy Reid isn't going anywhere, though, so the biggest question will be whether the Eagles will bring back Donovan McNabb. He's only under contract for one more season, but they may not want to risk 2010 with Kevin Kolb at quarterback. There are certainly pieces on offense. Do they want a less-experienced QB handling the offense? The defense needs help at every position, but particularly at linebacker (they can't just rely on Stewart Bradley's return from injury) and in the secondary.

A look at the 2010 opponents: besides the division opponents, the Eagles will have home games against Green Bay, Minnesota, Houston, Indianapolis and Atlanta, and road games against Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, Tennessee and San Francisco. Rumor has it that the San Francisco game may be the league's annual London game.

Lather, Rinse, Eagles Make Playoffs, Repeat

It's back to the NFL playoffs for the Eagles, for the 8th time in Andy Reid's 11 years as head coach. Today's somewhat lackluster 27-13 win over San Francisco clinched the postseason appearance. The Eagles remain one game ahead of Dallas in the NFC East, with two games left; first place in the division will most likely come down to the season finale in Dallas in two weeks.

For the Eagles, it's familiar territory. The only thing they lack is a Super Bowl victory. Five NFC title games, four lost; one Super Bowl appearance, a loss -- like so much with the Eagles, the song remains the same. Can they change the tune this year, the way the Phillies did in 2008? Because otherwise it's hard to get excited. The good news is that even the teams with the best records don't seem unbeatable (New Orleans finally lost for the first time last night, while Indianapolis hasn't lost yet but could have lost any number of games).

While the order of finish of the playoff teams is still in question in the NFC, there are only 3 teams -- Dallas, Green Bay and the NY Giants -- alive for the final 2 NFC playoff berths. In the AFC, on the other hand, only two teams have clinched the playoffs, there are two 8-6 teams in the Wild Card slots and six 7-7 teams right behind them.

Eagles Show Some Life

I mentioned in my "Coming Attractions" post that the Eagles were a combination of frustrating and boring. The frustrating part is obvious: inexplicable losses caused by the same problems over and over -- poor clock management, wasted timeouts, wasted replay challenges, a cavalcade of penalties, inconsistent quarterbacking, atrocious playcalling, mediocre special teams coverage, subpar punting, failure to make proper in-game adjustments, failure to overcome 4th-quarter deficits, failure to win close games, failure to score touchdowns in the red zone, failure to convert on third-and-short...what have I forgotten?

The boring part is that many of these problems have been occurring for just about the entire Andy Reid era, and have been discussed and discussed to the point where I can't stand listening to it. He is not going to radically alter what he does. Sure, for an occasional game the Birds will run the ball more often, but it will never be a long-term change. And he's not going anywhere soon (the Eagles are likely to give him a contract extension before much longer). I'm just tired of it. It's almost impossible to keep hearing and reading and seeing the same old things. Some people call for Reid and/or Donovan McNabb to go; others defend one or both, and so on. Round and round it goes, and where it stops...well, it never stops, does it? Thank God for the Phillies' success the last two years, because otherwise this ongoing Eagles discussion would be enough to make me jab my eardrums with an icepick.

Having said all that, the Eagles broke the mold a bit tonight in their 24-20 win over the Chicago Bears. They won a close game, coming from behind in the 4th quarter. They rushed the ball effectively, and almost as often as they passed. Of their three touchdowns, two of them were scored from the red zone. (The other, a TD catch by DeSean Jackson, is notable because at 48 yards, it's the shortest of his 7 TDs this year.) Despite a boatload of injuries to their linebackers and secondary, the defense forced the Bears to settle for field goal attempts five times and blocked one of the kicks, which kept Chicago's lead at 20-17 and set up the Eagles' drive for the go-ahead TD.

And despite it all -- the aforementioned defensive injuries, the fouled-up offensive line, the concussion issues sidelining Brian Westbrook, the poor losses to Dallas and San Diego the last two weeks, the incomprehensible loss to the pathetic Oakland Raiders -- the Eagles are 6-4, one game behind Dallas in the NFC East and (thanks to tiebreakers) one of the NFC Wild Card leaders. The playoffs are certainly not a done deal, but they're not a pipe dream, either. Of course, the Eagles usually do find themselves in the playoffs. It's what happens after that, the chase for a Super Bowl win, that is another of those issues that are discussed ad infinitum...

Philly Sports Update: The GBU

"The GBU" stands for, in case you haven't figured it out, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Bad and Ugly are pretty much interchangeable, though.

Good: The Phillies, a team that seems to be able to shake off adversity with no problem. Lose Game 2 of the NLDS and then have to play two in frigid Denver? No problem. Blow a 1-0 series lead in the NLCS due to poor managing, poor fielding and poor relief pitching? Meh. Just send Cliff Lee out there to pitch 8 shutout innings and roll to an 11-0 win to take a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers. The Phils are two wins away from a second consecutive World Series appearance. This is unprecedented, given their history. The Phillies have only been to the World Series 6 times, and in four of the previous five, they didn't even make the playoffs (of course, the first two times there were no divisions and no postseason other than the Series).

1915 -- lost World Series; 1916 -- 2nd place in NL
1950 -- lost World Series; 1951 -- 5th place in NL
1980 -- won World Series; 1981 -- 1st place in NL East pre-strike, lost in Division Series
1983 -- lost World Series; 1984 -- 4th place in NL East
1993 -- lost World Series; 1994 -- 4th place in NL East

Bad: The Flyers. After two strong wins to start the season, they split a pair of high-scoring games against Washington and Pittsburgh. After that they blew a 2-0 lead late in the game and lost in a shootout to Anaheim. That was a week ago Saturday. Since then they're in an 11-day stretch where they play once, despite the tighter schedule caused by the 2010 Olympic break. That one game was a lackluster 4-2 loss to a Florida team that came into the game 1-4-0. For all the hype, so far it looks like the same inconsistent, ultimately underachieving Flyers team from last year.

Ugly: The Eagles. Oh, where to begin after a 13-9 loss to the lowly Oakland Raiders, a team that lost to the Giants 44-7 a week earlier? No touchdowns; 52 pass attempts to 14 running plays; two missed field goals; wasting all three first-half timeouts early and then, after driving deep into Raiders territory, calling a timeout when they had none left; six sacks allowed by their offensive line, just two sacks for their defense; 2-for-16 on third downs...one of the more disgraceful, embarrassing losses in the Andy Reid era.

Eagles, Vick and Hypocrisy

At today's press conference where the Eagles introduced their newest player, dog-killer Michael Vick, the spin -- from Vick, coach Andy Reid, owner Jeffrey Lurie, and Vick's "mentor," former NFL coach/supporter of anti-gay causes Tony Dungy -- has been that Vick deserves a second chance. The phrase "second chance" has been thrown around more often than the excuses people made (and still make) for Vick's dogfighting involvement.

Yet, earlier this year, the Eagles had an opportunity to give one of their own employees, someone who worked for them for six years, someone whose "crime" was much, much less important than those of Vick, a second chance. The Eagles' response, in a nutshell: go to hell.

In March, in a mind-boggling display of incompetent negotiating, penny-pinching, stubbornness and cold-heartedness, the Eagles allowed Brian Dawkins to become a free agent and sign with Denver. Dawkins, although not the player he once was, was still considered the unquestioned leader on defense and the heart and soul of the team.

The Dawkins reaction from the fan base was pretty intense, although it's nothing compared to what's going on right now. One fan, Dan Leone, who worked as a game-day employee for the Eagles, was so incensed that he, like many others, posted an opinion on Facebook: "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!" That posting got him fired within days. This Philadelphia Inquirer column, written shortly after the debacle, tells the story in full.

So, a guy with a physical impairment who was lucky enough to work on game days at the stadium for his favorite team, makes a stupid comment on Facebook and is coldly and swiftly fired. His comment wasn't against the law. It just made the thin-skinned Eagles mad. In their eyes, he doesn't deserve a second chance but someone who spent two years in jail for his involvement in the mistreatment -- and flat-out murder -- of dogs does deserve a second chance.

During the press conference, one reporter actually tried to ask about the treatment of Leone compared to the acceptance of Vick, and was brusquely shut down by Reid. "This press conference is about Michael Vick," he blustered.

Thinking about this hypocritical stance, and so many other issues the Eagles have mishandled over the years -- the Dawkins dismissal, the Terrell Owens circus, calling themselves the "gold standard," the time the Eagles tried to use 9/11(!) as an excuse to ban people from bringing their own food into the then-new Lincoln Financial Field rather than paying outrageous concession prices -- I can only come to one conclusion:

Dam Eagles R Retarted!!

Gee, I hope they don't fire me.

Eagles and Vick: What The...?

When I got home a short while ago, turned on the TV and saw the news on the screen, my initial reaction was to yell "What?" about a dozen times. I'm completely flabbergasted. The Eagles have shocked everyone by signing dog-killer Michael Vick to a one-year contract with an option for a second year. He's been conditionally reinstated by the NFL -- he can play the last two preseason games; once the regular season starts he can participate in all team activities except the games, with a full reinstatement by commissioner Roger Goodell possible no later than Week 6.

I think the opinion of a majority of people is that Vick, having served his sentence for the crimes he committed, ought not be barred forever from playing football. And there were a few rumors about teams that might be interested in signing him because they were desperate for a quarterback and/or eager to use the Vick sideshow to sell tickets. But the Eagles? The EAGLES? With squeaky-clean disciplinarian head coach Andy Reid? A team that went through the craziness of Terrell Owens a few years ago? A team that recommitted itself to Donovan McNabb as their starting quarterback and still considers backup Kevin Kolb as the future QB? A team that sells out every game instantly once tickets go on sale?

I can't imagine what they're thinking. Is Vick going to replace Kolb or, more likely, A.J. Feeley as a backup QB? Is he going to play in the "wildcat" formation that's become so en vogue last year? Is he going to be a wide receiver? Are the Eagles ready for what could be a circus atmosphere at every road game, if not home game? Are they ready for what will undoubtedly be a huge publicity hit?

I just got home a few minutes ago, so I didn't get to see much of the Eagles' first preseason game. The NFL preseason is a monumental bore and a tremendous ripoff for those who are forced to buy tickets as part of a season package, so I wouldn't really have watched or paid close attention at any rate. But after the Vick news, no one is paying attention to that game.

On the Eagles' new defensive chief...

This is my first Eagles post here, and it's about news that is all at once sad, strange and worrisome. The Eagles announced today that Sean McDermott has been named the new defensive coordinator. The move is understandable, as longtime coordinator Jim Johnson has been battling cancer since January after a tumor was discovered on his back.

What's odd is the way they announced it. They didn't say Johnson's decided to retire, although that seems likely. For a while he was continuing to work even while undergoing treatment; he even was at a minicamp in early May, using a cart to get around. Shortly after that it was announced that Johnson was taking a leave of absence. Is there some reason Johnson couldn't stay on that leave and maintain his title, with McDermott continuing to act as coordinator on an interim basis? I can't help but wonder, absent any specific statement from the team, whose decision this was. It would seem pretty classless to make this move if Johnson didn't consent to it. Then again, the Eagles occasionally have difficulty with public relations issues. I guess we'll see what happens when McDermott and head coach Andy Reid address the media.

The worrisome part of this, and considering Johnson's health status it's really a minor issue, is how this will affect the defense. Johnson's defensive playcalling -- keeping opposing quarterbacks off-balance with a dizzying array of blitzes -- has been as much a key to the team's success as the system itself. Now someone who's never been a coordinator is in charge. Is McDermott up to the challenge?