Lack Of Adjustment by Reid Shows Difference Between NFL and College FB

McNabb looked like a rookie, Westbrook couldn't get his running game started and it looked at several times as if Romo could have thrown passes from a lawn chair in the pocket his offensive line maintained. Philly looked horrible and played worse.

But let's leave Philly for a second and look at another game, Green Bay vs. Arizona. In much the same way as the Eagles, Green Bay imploded early and let Arizona get up early and build a lead into what seemed like a game ending spread. Then Rogers, the defense and the coaching staff decided that they were going to fight for it. The turning point came with Green Bay down by three touchdowns. Instead of playing the same way they had all game, they decided to do something different. Rogers threw a few key passes, including a touchdown and on the ensuing kickoff, they went for an onside kick, which worked perfectly.

Back to the Eagles, who were down only 20 points at half time. Yet they made almost no perceptible adjustments at the half that may have gotten them back in the game.  I don't think everyone in Eagles country was expecting them to come back and win, but at least show up and Reid's consistently baffling play calls seemed to provide neither team nor fan with hope of a comeback. 

And here's where I have to state that this is why I love college football and only enjoy the NFL. It appeared as if the Eagles were fine giving up on the year and regrouping for next season. This rarely happens in college, where a huge portion of the team graduates yearly, most to non-NFL careers. This means that coaches and players are highly motivated to win every game and are willing to take chances to do so.

Did Texas fold in the BCS championship game when McCoy went out? Gilbert came in and did what a 3rd string quarterback needs to do in those situations, make a lot of attempts down field and give up some interceptions. Texas was playing to win, not just to show.

Did Ohio State come out in the Rose Bowl with the same field position game that had let them beat under-matched opponents for the previous 6 games? No, Tressel changed their game plan because they played to win, not to show. But neither McNabb nor Asante Samuel had to play like it was their last game in green because it was just another season to them. It seemed like Westbrook was the only one thinking that this was his last chance for a championship slipping away as he waited on the sidelines for something to happen. 

The reality is that Dallas is probably better than the Eagles, but we know for certain that Dallas had the Eagles number this season, capitalizing on the lack of any developed running game and a weakened offensive line. It will continue to puzzle fans and players alike as to why Reid refused to see reality and went with what was tried and broken from the previous match ups. 

Here's where I'd regularly go into the coulda-shoulda-woulda part. You probably have these all thought out yourself so I'll leave that up to you. Instead I'll again make the comparison to Green Bay, who looked a lot more like a fighting college team that was unwilling to give up than a money-laden NFL team who's salaries are only loosely associated with post-season success.

It's my position that this starts and ends with a coach that's willing to make changes to put players in a position to be able to get success when they try harder. On Saturday, Reid told everyone in the stadium and in TV land that he was unwilling to do anything of substance to change the game. Putting Vick in to throw a 76 yard TD seemed like a change, until McNabb took the next 20 snaps. Putting Vick in for 3 plays was Reid's plan from the onset and nothing, not even being down 20 points kept him from playing right into Dallas' plans.