Reid, Mornhinweg, Vick: What’s Next for the 3-4 Philadelphia Eagles?

The Eagles were embarrassed on Sunday by a very good Atlanta Falcons team after falling 30-17. Kudos to the Falcons having a good game plan and sticking to it. It didn’t take them long to take a 14-point lead and inform the Eagles how this game was going to play out — their way. There is no easy way to say this, the Philadelphia Eagles are a 3-4 football team after eight weeks of regular season play in the NFL. Hopes and expectations have gone from through the roof to out the window, and now Philadelphia fans are left to wonder what the next move is. During the bye week Andy Reid stated that everything and everyone would be evaluated by the all-mighty himself. Those evaluations led to the firing of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo in a cut-throat move to try and rattle the players within the organization. It clearly didn’t work. So what’s the next move? Who will fall victim to Reid’s scapegoating next? Andy Reid is running out of options — in fact he really has two immediate people who he can rest blame on for the Eagles below average performance so far. Those two men are offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterback Michael Vick. It isn’t likely that Mornhinweg is going to be replaced before the end of the season. As much as fans would jump out of their seats if the move would be made, there really is no point putting a band-aid over a decapitated limb to stop the bleeding. Allow me to elaborate. Yes, there is a good chance that Marty Mornhinweg could be removed as the Eagles offensive coordinator, but it will not happen until after the season if at all. This makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, there aren’t many offensive coordinators readily available to replace Mornhinweg, at least not yet. Waiting until the end of the season to make such a move would be the best practice…at least in my opinion. Next there is the fact that making a coordinator change at mid-season isn’t the best practice. Last but not least, anyone who thinks that immediate changes would be made in the performance department by bringing in a new coordinator is sadly mistaking. Those improvements come in time such as during the offseason when the players can adapt to the new playbook and the tempo of the new coordinator just to name a couple. The only real benefit to such a change would be allowing the players to make those adjustments I just mentioned sooner than later. This brings  us to Michael Vick. While some of the losses the Eagles endured this season are at the hands of Vick, Sunday’s loss to the Falcons is not. Still, there is the potential of a quarterback change in the city of Philadelphia. If a change at QB is in the books within the NovaCare Complex the question is when would such a change occur. Most experts believe that Vick gives the Eagles the best chance at winning due to his backup, Nick Foles, is a rookie and needs time to learn the playbook. So, if Andy Reid decides that making a change at quarterback is the best option, when would it likely happen? There’s a very simple answer to this question and that is when the Eagles are mathematically out of the playoff hunt. With nine games remaining in the regular season, nobody is out of the race just yet. But if the Eagles have dreams of seeing a post-season things will need to change in a hurry. However, once, and if, the Eagles get eliminated from any chances of making the playoffs that will be when the decision is made to sit Vick and implement Nick Foles. If Philadelphia does not make the playoffs Vick’s chances of returning to the Eagles nest in 2013 are slim to none…with more of a tilt to “none”. He will have had ample time to prove his abilities as a starting QB to the Eagles brass, and with the exception of 2010 Vick has failed to showcase much. I understand that many of Vick’s errors stem from the horrific play along the offensive line. But that does not excuse him from the countless mistakes he has made. I’m referring to the INTs, fumbles, inability to read a defense and rookie mistakes that no veteran should be making. None of this is what die-hard Eagles fans want to hear. I don’t have any inside information or anything like that. I’m merely making a judgement call based off what I see from the Eagles every Sunday. The lone problem with all of this is the one thing Andy Reid should be concerned with — if the Eagles fail to make the playoffs — Reid will likely become Lurie’s  scapegoat!