Does Andy Reid Know Best?

The lifespan of an NFL head coach in one city is usually around 3 years. The one’s with good enough resumes, become coordinators or get another head coaching job the next season.  Some learn valuable lessons  from their previous stops and become more successful.  Andy Reid is in the 14th season at the helm for the Eagles and after watching yesterday’s butt-ugly,  come-from-behind 17- 16 win over the punch-less Cleveland Browns, I’m more convinced that he hasn’t learned how to construct a competent offensive game plan.

I didn’t think they’d light up the scoreboard since Michael Vick had very limited preseason game action, but I did expect a comfortable win. Every Eagles’ fan knows almost verbatim what his post game mantra is after a loss…”I got to do a better job at putting players in a  better position to make plays, blah, blah, blah.”  When is it going to happen? It was shocking to see Vick drop back to pass 56 times coming off and injury. Reid put him in position to get hit almost 20 times in a game that screamed RUN THE BALL!  LeSean McCoy, probably the best and most elusive rb in the league, averaged 5.5 yards per carry. The Browns showed no ability to slow it down and Reid still felt compelled to  place this teams most important player in constant danger. As porous as the offensive line looked most of the afternoon, it’s to Vick’s credit he only got sacked twice. But the amount of hard hits he took clearly had an effect on his decision making. Forcing balls into double and triple coverage made it obvious to me that he’s not 100 percent physically and couldn’t outrun the pass rush. Reid must think he’s coaching a younger Vick, but he’s 32 and clearly lost a step.

I’m going on record as saying that I’m not a Reid supporter. I lost confidence in him after the NFC Championship game loss to the Carolina Panthers. I saw no in-game adjustments and he had no answers for their defense that day and that was after year 5 of his tenure. And I still see those same  issues now. His most adamant supporters will always point out his win-loss record and that he’s the best coach in Eagles’ history, which I agree, but when he coaches against the elite teams his record is a losing one. And that’s because he’s out-coached in most of those games. Reid and offensive coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg, script the plays they want after looking at the film and don’t deviate from it if it’s not working. I know the NFL is a pass-first league now, but a good coach must coach with his eyes during the coarse of a game and react accordingly. That’s what puts players in a better position to make plays.

For me, these 13 seasons under Reid have been mostly disappointing  because I’m  not sure if he’s just too arrogant in thinking his way is the only way or if he’s just that unaware. Either way he better figure it out fast  because the clock is ticking.

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