Philadelphia Eagles, David Akers, and Andy Reid Do It Again!

Dan Wing — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:37:01 -0400

So here we are on another Monday, asking ourselves a question that we've asked way too many times in recent memory.

Why can't the Eagles win the games they are supposed to?

Why can't this team finish off a weaker team?

How is it that we can move the ball so well at times, and then not be able to punch it in from a yard out?

These questions—and many others that come along with them—have echoed in the heads of Eagles fans far too many times over the past few seasons.

I'll start this by talking about kicker David Akers.

The David Akers that we have all come to know and love is gone. What's left is a kicker who is great with chip-shots and decent on kick-offs.

Gone is the guy who was one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL. Akers has hit only three of his last 14 FGs over 40-yards. He has missed nine straight FGs over 45-yards.

His shortcomings as a kicker in today's NFL were most apparent yesterday when Akers, who in Head Coach Andy Reid's eyes is still one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL, missed a 50-yard FG that killed all offensive momentum that the team had built in the first quarter. To make matters worse, Washington's Shawn Suisham, an average kicker, hit three FGs—one of 41-yards, a second of 48-yards, and then a 50-yarder.

Those three FGs gave the Redskins offense some life and kept them in a game in which they were already trailing 14-0.

A game that should have been 17-0.

But instead, the Redskins used what life they got from that third FG as the building block to dominate the third and fourth quarters.

To me, Akers' problems go back a few seasons to a game against Oakland. In that game, Akers pulled a muscle on the opening kick-off and could no longer kick in the game until a critical FG at the end.

Immediately following that kick, Akers and his incredibly accurate leg were never the same.

While we're on the subject, I'm going to put the blame for last Sunday's loss to the Chicago Bears squarely on the foot of David Akers as well.

If Akers was able to connect on one of the two FGs that he missed—both over 40-yards—then the Eagles would never have been in the situation to rest the decision of the game on a goal line stand against one of the league's best rushing defenses.

So get as fired up as you want about the team's seemingly inability to punch the ball into the end zone from a yard or two out when it matters most.

But to me, it all comes back to the Kicker.

Head Coach Andy Reid said in his post game press conference that he is still confident in his kicker. How?

All of the statistics say your confidence should be shaken.

But as Reid took questions from the reporters, he was unwavering in his support for his kicker. At first, this hardheaded approach is something that is looked at as a positive for a head coach.

But after ten years of the same answers—I've got to do a better job with that; It starts with me; I've got to put them in a better position to win—you have to wonder if the game has passed him by.

His play calling is great in the opening series, but when it comes time to make adjustments on the field, they just never happen.

That points directly to the head coach.

So here we are Eagles fans.

Another Monday following a game that we should have won, asking ourselves those all too familiar questions.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Dan Wing

Philadelphia Eagles, David Akers, and Andy Reid Do It Again!