NFL Week 12 In Review

When basically every game this week, save for two, are blowouts, and only one of those was really a good game (Indianapolis 23, San Diego 20) it’s time to shake things up around here. Despite mounting evidence, that does not mean I will not provide an extensive breakdown on the Bills utter domination of the Chiefs. No, instead below please find an open letter to Eagles coach Andy Reid.

Mr. Reid,

As an outside observer I have watched as you have taken a team whose glory days had been mostly realized through QB sweeps on Tecmo Super Bowl and turned them into a perennial playoff team. You coached through the Terrell Owens debacle, through your own personal family issues with your sons, and even won over the infamous Philly fans in the process. You took this team to within one score of winning the Super Bowl, and got them to the conference championship four years in a row. All this begs the question, what happened to you? It’s like there’s an inverse relationship between your waistline and your coaching prowess. You’ve never been much for the run game, but, now, gaining one yard has become the most difficult play for your team to execute. You have a 240 pound quarterback who can just fall forward and gain a yard. That is to say you did have a 240 pound quarterback.

What you did this past Sunday is beyond ridiculous. Down 3 to the Ravens on the road, who thanks to some local fans here at SB Nation, I have learned have a pretty good defense, and you pull McNabb? I know his play for the last six quarters has been awful. Trust me, I have him on my fantasy team, I’m well aware of his recent struggles. But how can you justify that move?

On the road, with no practice against a top 5 defense, what can Kevin Kolb gain from this experience? You’re still in the playoff race. I know that many of the NFL rules seem to escape you -- overtime, challenges, the fact that you’re allowed to run the ball, but you should have someone on the coaching staff who can get their hands on a newspaper and realize that you’re team is 1.5 games out of the wild card thanks to that tie last week.

If you can put together a winning streak you are right back in this thing, and you still play everyone in the East one more time. Isn’t the point of playing this game to try and win? This is what you used to do. You have Brian Westbrook, use him. You have Donovan McNabb, not Joe Montana. Don’t make him throw the ball 50-60 times a game. Look at the waiver wire and pick up a big running back for those third and one plays. You just have to look down the road at what the Steelers did with that kid Gary Russell who they picked up off the street to grind out some tough yards. It can be done.

Maybe you got confused and saw all those pictures of Mike Holmgren announcing this year would be his last, so you stopped coaching too, but there’s still time for you to turn this around. You don’t want your legacy to be that of the guy who couldn’t get over the Super Bowl hump, ran McNabb out of town, and ruined any chance Kevin Kolb had to be successful in the process.

This letter is being posted on a Giants blog where I’m sure everyone could not be happier to see you floundering like this. That is if they even care anymore. You and the Eagles are so far in the Giants’ rear view mirror, I’m not sure they can see you anymore. If you want to phase out the Donovan McNabb era, go for it, but do it the right way. Destroying both McNabb’s and Kolb’s confidence is not going to help you or your team in any way.

Thank you,

The Greek

P.S. take the Packers in the Monday night game. Might as well win something this week.