Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Reis

Should Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb Stay Or Should They Go Now?

Chris Reis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:35:33 -0500

What a season this has been so far for the Philadelphia Eagles.

They started off great against the Rams, dismantling that defense right from the get go and getting this season off to a quick start.

From there things started to get shaky.

They lost close games to the Cowboys, Giants, Bears, and were shocked by the Redskins, back when people thought they were all of a sudden a top dog in the NFC (look how that is ending up).

Then they won great games against the Steelers, Falcons, 49ers, and Seahawks.

Then there was that thing against the Bengals that happened, that I would rather not talk about right now, because yes, we all know what happened.

Next there was the game against the Ravens. The game that seemed to mark the end of the Donovan McNabb era in Philadelphia, when Kevin Kolb was brought into the game in the second half. While a healthy McNabb was only down by a touchdown.

Everyone thought that was it for Mcnabb... but wait. Reid decided to go back to Mcnabb for the Thanksgiving prime time game, against a Cardinals team that was looking to clinch the NFC West.

And what did McNabb do when faced with adversity once again?

He shined.

Four touchdown passes, 27-39 passing, and the more important thing: no turnovers.

So with that big win, the Eagles moved ahead to 6-5-1 and had the light idea of playoffs still in their mind.

Next task for this team was the Giants, and once again, McNabb and the rest of his team showed everyone they still are for real, and can play that top notch football they were expected to be playing all year, winning the game 20-14.

Now the Eagles are at a 7-5-1 record and are a half game out of the last wild card spot, with losses by the Cowboys, Falcons, and Redskins this week.

But what about McNabb and Reid? What does all of this mean to the two guys who everyone wanted out of Philly just over two weeks ago, after the dismal loss to the Ravens?

These last three weeks will decide a lot for what will happen with these two guys, but either way I believe both should stay in Philadelphia. Not just because of the records, or stats these two have had over the past ten seasons, but because of what is available right now in the rest of the league.

First the quarterback position. Donovan McNabb, still is a top notch quarterback who holds the record for touchdown to interception ratio, and many Eagles franchise records. This season he has 10 interceptions, but take out the games against the Bengals and Ravens, where he threw five picks, and he is still in the single digits. Also McNabb has thrown 19 touchdowns, and for 3,221 yards, without a true number one receiver.

In the league right now there is really no one that could come right in and lead this Eagles team. People will say Matt Cassell, but with receivers like Randy Moss that can help you out, definitely makes you look like a good quarterback. Plus, if he goes on to lead that team to the playoffs he is going to want big money to be a starter somewhere while McNabb is still capable of performing just as well.

Drafting a quarterback right now in the first round would not be a bad idea, but keeping McNabb around for at least another two years to mentor the kid will make the transition a lot easier.

Kevin Kolb is not the answer, and never will be. Out of the run and gun offense in Houston, he is never going to perform at the top level of a NFL quarterback and showed that in a half of football against the Ravens, throwing three interceptions.

So, in the end there is nothing out there right now that the Eagles could do to improve this team, so keeping McNabb as the starting quarterback is the only smart option.

Now onto the head coaching position. Andy Reid has led the Eagles to winning seasons in every year but his first, and the year after the super bowl loss. He will go down as one of the most successful coaches in Philadelphia Eagles history, and possibly even the most successful.

Looking around the league what coaching positions are going to become available to the Eagles to replace Reid? None.

Bill Cowher is the only real coach who should even be considered to be given the head coaching spot, and he wouldn't take the Eagles job. He has a house down in the Carolina's and it seems he is quite comfortable with his countdown position for now.

Marty Mornhinweg obviously is not the answer at the head coaching spot. He had his shot as a head coach with the Lions in the '01 and '02 seasons, and if you only last two years as a head coach, you obviously are not cut out for the job, no matter what team your coaching for. He is a much better fit to stay at offensive coordinator. He has been a very successful coordinator with the Eagles, and the 49ers. The Eagles always have a solid offense if he is calling the plays. In '98 with the 49ers, he led them to become the first team since the Bears in '41 to lead the league in gross passing and rushing yards.

So going into the game this week people may be thinking, "If they lose this game, THATS IT! McNabb and Reid are outta here!!" But before thinking that, first think, "Who would replace these two guys if they were to leave this season?" and that will have you thinking for awhile because the answer to that question is no one.

Philadelphia Phillies' Left Fielder in '09? Take Your Pick

Chris Reis — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:43:33 -0500

As Pat Burrell led the Phillies down Broad Street in their World Series parade, many fans were chanting, "Stay, Pat, Stay!"

Right now, Burrell is still unsigned, and is in talks with the Phillies' management to get a new contract. But with the money Burrell is asking for, that might just not be a possibility.

He was second on the team with 33 HR's and third on the team with 33 doubles. He batted .250, out of the fifth spot in the lineup, for the greater part of the season. His mobility in left field is becoming a huge factor though, as he is developing more and more back problems, which makes it even tougher for him to get to the ball quickly.

Now with the free agent signing period under way, the Phillies have a multiple possibilities of players that could possibly take the spot of the career long Phillie.

Right now, Raul Ibanez, Jim Edmonds, and Rocco Baldelli are three guys who could possibly be players the Phillies will look to replacing Burrell with.

Ibanez just got out of a two year $11 million deal with Seattle, and is looking for another two year deal, most likely for less money. He had a fairly good season in '08, batting .293 with 23 homers and 110 RBI's.

There are two problems with Ibanez though. Firstly, he is starting to get older now at the tender age of 36. With Werth and Victorino being younger guys with a lot of experience now, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the Phillies to develop a young player into the left field position.

Secondly, he is a left handed batter, which is something the Phillies just don't need right now. With Utley and Howard both being left handed batters, a right handed hitter would compliment them, and make it harder for other teams to come up with strategies for pitching against the Phillies.

Coming off a year where he played for two teams, Jim Edmonds is another older player that is looking for a decent contract. He started the season with the Padres, and finished it with the Cubs. His stats for the season were also just average, as he only knocked in 20 homers and 55 RBI's.

Edmonds also started the '08 campaign with one of the worst hitting slumps of his career, where he only had 16 hits after joining the Padres in 90 at bats. Edmonds too, is a left handed batter, making it a tougher decision for the Phillies to sign him. He is even older than Ibanez as well, having been in the league for 15 seasons now.

The other name the Phillies could be interested in, is a player they became quite familiar with in the World Series. Rocco Baldelli's name was thrown around a lot in the Series. He had what everyone thought would prove to be a costly home run for the Phillies. He is a fairly young player however, and is a right handed hitter.

The main question with Baldelli is his health. In the past three seasons, he has only been able to play in 127 games. He is still uncertain of exactly what his illness is, but it fundamentally tightens up his hamstrings and makes it tough for him to stand the entire nine innings.

This could be alright for the Phillies though, because they have a few names like Greg Dobbs, and Matt Stairs who could step in for an inning or two a game, if they needed to.

Another possibility for the Phillies, that is very under looked is a player they just traded for. John Mayberry Jr. was the Rangers' top pick in the 2005 draft, and the Phillies just traded away Greg Golson to get him.

Mayberry is a player who is still very young, but has a lot of potential. He played in the minors last season and hit 20 homers in 135 games, while having an on base percentage of .371.

Mayberry is probably the Phillies last thought right now obviously, but signing one of these older guys, even Burrell, would be a way to give him two years or so to mature into a great player.

All of this said, the Phillies will have a lot to look at in the upcoming weeks. And come opening day of next season, there could be someone new taking the field for the Phillies in left.

Looking to November: Will We See the Early or Late October Flyers Team?

Chris Reis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:07:57 -0500

When the Philadelphia Flyers started their season 0-3-3, everyone was ready to press the panic button.

Then all of a sudden they decided to play defense, and they went on a four game winning streak to end the month of October.

Now with their loss to the Oilers to start this month, will we see that team from the first six games again? Or was this just a game they should have won? And will turn it around in the rest of the month?

Here is a preview of the Flyers next five games in the month of November, and how I think they will fare in each game.

Thursday November 6th: at the Ottawa Senators

The Senators right now are 4-5-2, and are in 12th in the East, one spot behind the Flyers, who are in 11th.

Dany Heatly is off to a great start this season with 13 points already, scoring seven times.

The Senators also have four players who already have 10 points or more.

And now their defense is starting to play well; they have allowed no more than two goals in the last three games.

The problem with the Senators right now is the fact that they are having trouble scoring goals. They are 18th in the league right now with 30 goals. If they want to beat this Flyers team, they are going to have to put up at least four goals, which is something they have had trouble doing.

The Flyers on the other hand are first in the league in goals with 43.

Prediction: Flyers win 6-3

Saturday November 8th: vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning

Right now the Lighting are 4-3-3, 10th in the Eastern Conference.

This team has had its struggles on offense so far, only scoring 22 goals all season, and not having a single player who has broken the 10 point barrier so far.

The only lucky thing for the Lightning is that they have been able to stop the other teams from scoring thus far, only allowing 24 goals on the season.

The Lightning right now are also struggling on the power play, scoring only five goals this season. This could come as a big problem vs. the Flyers, since they have scored that many goals shorthanded already.

Prediction: Flyers win 3-2 in OT

Tuesday November 11th: at New York Islanders

The Islanders now are in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 3-7-1 record. However, they did just barely lose to the Flyers last Thursday, losing 3-2 in OT.

The Islanders have somewhat put points on the board, scoring 29 goals on the season.

Their defense though has been struggling greatly, having allowed 40 goals already in only 11 games.

If the Flyers want to win this game, they are going to have to put the Islanders down quick and not give them any chance of staying in the game.

Prediction: Flyers win 6-2

Thursday November 13th: at the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins as of now are 6-4-2—good enough to keep them in seventh in the East. The Penguins defeated the Flyers in their first match up of the season on October 14th, in a 3-2 OT victory for the Penguins.

With the high-powered offense the Penguins appear to have, they are only 18th in the league so far in goals with 31.

They are however, doing well on the power play right now. They have 11 power play goals on the season—good enough to put them in seventh in the league. The Flyers though, are second in the league in that same category with 14 goals.

The Penguin defense, even without their best two defenders, Whitney and Gonchar, are seventh in the league, allowing only 28 goals. The upside for the Penguins with all of this is that the Flyers are 26th in this category allowing 40 goals.

Prediction: Flyers lose 5-3

Saturday November 15th: at the Montreal Canadiens

The Flyers finish off their three game November road trip, traveling to Canada to take on the 8-1-1 Canadiens. That record is good enough to put them in fourth in the Eastern Conference.

This could be a game where the Canadiens are looking for some revenge. The Flyers were the team who knocked them out of the '07 playoffs, even though they were the No. 1 overall seeded team.

The Canadiens are playing good offense again this season, having four players with 10 points or more, and have scored 35 goals this season.

Their defense has also been very good, only allowing 23 goals thus far—good enough for third in the league right now.

Something that could be positive for the Canadiens is that the Flyers have allowed 12 power play goals this season, and the Canadiens power play, which has been just average so far, is looking to get it going soon.

Prediction: Flyers lose 4-3

So, with these games coming up, the Flyers will be looking to regain some ground in the Eastern Conference.

The way they are going to have to do that in every game is to have the continued solid play from the defense and goaltenders, and to keep scoring goals.

With Danny Briere out for the next couple of weeks, Glen Metropolit has to step into the first line already and play with Gagne and Knuble. If he can keep up the scoring in that line the Flyers should be fine, since Richards, Lupul, and Carter have all been playing excellent hockey.

Being No. 1 in the league in goals, but only having a .500 record so far, just goes to show you no matter how many goals you put in the net, if you don't have the defense to stop the opponent you still won't go anywhere.

Defense wins championships.

Philadelphia Phillies 2008: How They Got Here

Chris Reis — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:55:49 -0400

Opening day has finally come, and the crowds all are joining together around the league to watch their respective favorite teams play their first game of the season—first game that actually means something. It's a day everyone in baseball loves—because of the ceremonies—and it is the first time you get to see your team in real action for the full nine innings.

It's when we get to see which teams are going to have potential, with so many question entering the regular season. Also, it is when we find out which teams are going to have their normal struggles like the Tampa Bay Rays. I mean, how could they turn that ship around down there and put together a good season?

Could the Mets rebound after that terrible collapse in '07? Well, it would seem that they want revenge, with the signing of the big named Johan Santana in free agency.
And those Phillies, even though they made the playoffs last year, they are just a bunch of your average Philly choke artists, aren't they?

It looked like it could go that way for them this season, as Ryan Howard was barely batting .100, and the team was not able to put runs behind their ace pitcher Cole Hamels.

Chase Utley was the only real star for the team in the first part of the season, as the Phils started the season 3-5, getting beat twice each by the Nationals and the Reds. At this point, a fan just has to be thinking.. "Here we go again."

Something happened though, when the Phillies got that third win on Apr. 7. A guy by the name of Brad Lidge, the newly-acquired closer from the Houston Astros, got his very first save in a Phillies uniform. Could this guy actually do some damage for this team with that devastating slider of his?

Midseason quickly snuck up on this team for some guys, as they couldn't turn their stats around. The All-Star Game of last year that hosted four Phillies players would only be seeing two Phils suit up this season, one of which was not even on the team last year.

So let's take a look at some of the Phillies' midseason stats, as even though they were struggling, they were still holding a 0.5 game lead over the Mets for the division.

Three of the Phillies' five starters were over .500, with Brett Myers and Adam Eaton struggling greatly, only being able to win three games a piece in a combined 36 starts.

Cole Hamels was only 9-6, not bad for an average pitcher, but after the year, Hamels had in the '07 campaign, this was looking to be just a subpar season for him.

Perhaps the biggest and most welcomed surprise for the Phillies in the first half was 45 year old Jamie Moyer. He was 8-6 going into the All Star break, getting all of his moving pitches to work very well against batters.

The now turned All Star closer, Brad Lidge was 20-20 at this point in the season in saves, and had only given up five runs all season.

On the batting side of things, they were a little more on the downside. The Phillies were somewhat producing runs, but the only batter hitting over .300 was the pinch-hit specialist, Greg Dobbs.

Ryan Howard was batting .234 at this point, which looked terrible to most people, but he also had 28 HRs and 84 RBI.

Chase Utley was the team's golden boy at the midway point, batting .294 with 25 HR and 69 RBI. He also had 106 hits on the season already.

Looking towards the second half of the season, the Phillies had to fix some things obviously, but they weren't in too bad of shape at the time.

Right before the trade deadline then, the Phillies made what turned out, in the end, to be a huge trade. They were able to get innings-eating pitcher Joe Blanton from the Oakland A's. With that, they were also able to quickly demote Adam Eaton to the minors, as he was only hurting the team.

Jump now to the beginning of Sept., with just one month of the regular season to go, and on Sept. 1, the Phillies were down two games to the Mets in the division, and this time it was the Phillies who had blown a huge division lead to the Mets.

On Sept. 11, that downfall quickly turned around for the Phillies as they started a four-game series with the wild-card leading Brewers. At the time, they were four games out of the wild-card race and went on to sweep the Brewers and tie that race up. Also, the division lead was cut down to one game.

So, with just over two weeks to go now, the Phillies were right back in the race.
From there, they never really looked back and ended up going on a late-season tear to win the division by a total of three games.

In back-to-back seasons now, the Phillies have done this to the Mets—let them think they were going to win the division for a little, and then make them realize they are not even that good, and make them look foolish in the late weeks of the season.

Once these Phillies got into the playoffs, we all know what happened from there. Cole Hamels gave one of the most terrific pitching performances of all time in the playoffs, going 4-0 in five starts with 30 K's, also winning the NLCS and the World Series MVP.

Jamie Moyer, Brett Myers, and Joe Blanton all played tremendous roles in the other wins the Phillies had, with Blanton still being unbeaten since he was traded to the team.

Every single Phillies hitter played a even more important role in the wins, not always hitting with runners on, but doing something at the plate, even if it was just making the pitcher throw more pitches for an early exit.

7-0 was the Phillies record at home, the first time that was ever accomplished.

Now, let's look at Game Five.

44,000 fans screaming their heads off, as Brad Lidge finished off his perfect season to lead the Phillies to their first World Series since 1980. They did it in dramatic fashion also, winning the final game that took three days to complete.

So, even after everything they went through all season, and all they have worked for in the tough seasons of the past, Phillies fans can finally look at a television screen and see their team on the floats down Broad Street with banners everywhere saying, "HERE ARE YOUR 2008 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES!!"

Phillies Rays: Game Two Full of Philadelphia Blunders

Chris Reis — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:23:57 -0400

1-28?

That is what the Phillies have been so far this World Series with runners in scoring position. The only hit didn't even score a run; it just advanced a runner from 2nd to 3rd.

That 0-13 in the first game carried over to game 2, as the Phillies went 1-15, in a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays got off to a quick start in this game, getting the very first batter of the game on base. Right after that B.J. Upton came up and hit a single to right that looked routine for Jason Werth, but something happened where it came off his glove awkward, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd and Werth being credited with his first error of the playoffs.

Two sacrifice grounders followed after that, letting the Rays jump to a 2-0 lead right away. After that Myers was able to settle down a little.

After a questionable call in the 3rd with a check swing on a full count, the bases then were loaded for B.J. Upton to hit a single to score run, but in a way making up for his first inning error Jason Werth gunned down Rocco Baldelli at the plate.

Tampa Bay's scoring finished on a 1st and 3rd safety squeeze by Jason Bartlett to score their 4th run. That’s all they would need from there with Shields shutting the Phillies down.

In six of the nine innings, the Phillies started off with a lead off hit and three of them were doubles. After each of those though they could do nothing then to bring those runners home. Shields was very productive once those runners got on, giving the Phillies batters nothing to hit, and hitting his corners very well.

Greg Dobbs who didn't seem to able to read the ball out of the pitchers hand all night, struck out two times with runners in scoring position.

Myers stayed in the game and pitched until the 7th inning, with Romero coming in with a shutout 8th inning. Myers had a solid performance really considering the fact that only one of the four Tampa runs were scored on a hit, and the rest were sacrifices.

One lone shining spot for the Phillies in this game was that Eric Bruntlett recorded the first ever World Series pinch-hit home run for the Phillies in the 8th.

The Phillies looked to be putting together some type of rally in the 9th, but that ended quickly after a pitch seemingly hit Rollins but the home plate umpire called that off.

With Ruiz on second with his second lead off double of the night, Rollins went on to pop the ball up to shallow left. Utley then struck out swinging and Howard grounded out right into the shift to finish this game.

Now the Phillies look to game three where they will be playing a long awaited home World Series game. Jamie Moyer is scheduled to start against Matt Garza who in the '08 playoffs is 2-1 so far with a 3.32 ERA in 19 innings. Moyer on the other hand is 0-2 this postseason with a 13.5 ERA in only 5 innings of work.

This Phillies have yet to lose at home this postseason beating the Brewers and Dodgers the first 2 games of each series at home.

If the Phillies want to win at home in this series though they are going to have to get the bats going with runners in scoring position, or else it could be a long rest of the series for them.

What's So Wrong With The Flyers?

Chris Reis — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:03:27 -0400

Last year the Philadelphia Flyers ended a excellent season losing in the conference championship series to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was a surprise that they were even there after being the second worst team in the NHL just one season earlier.

Now coming off their tremendous performance last season the Flyers once again find themselves at the bottom of the NHL totem pole. They are off to a terrible starting losing every game so far this season, 3 of which were in overtime and one in a shootout.

Obviously Philly fans aren't too focused on the Flyers yet with the Phillies playing in the World Series, but once that is over fans will turn attention to hockey and realize that right now the Flyers are in some trouble.

But the real question right now is how can the Flyers be this bad?

The Defense:

Right now the defense is terrible.

There is nothing they can do right out on the ice to help the goalies out. They are letting teams skate right in the zone with no pressure and letting guys post up out in front of the net and just wait for a shot to deflect in.

The reason for all this is that defensemen for the Flyers are just not that good. They have one line of solid defending then the other lines are out there on a hold your breath basis just hoping they get the job done.

Koburn and Timonen are both good defense men and shut down teams very well and play the blue line great on the power play. People forget how important of a role that is but its up to these defense men to keep the puck in the offensive zone on a power play, and other than these two the rest are just not doing that right now.

How to fix it:

The way to possibly fix the defensive issues for the Flyers is mix up Koburn and Timonen. Instead of having them playing on the same line have each of them play with someone different so at least one of them can be on the ice most of the time.

This will make the other defensemen look better out there having one of these guys with them. Also when a team comes into the offensive zone they need to do a better job of pressuring them up top and not letting them skate right in.

Letting players sit out in front of the net is also unacceptable. They need to get other defensemen in there who can get those big guys out of the middle. That was something Hatcher was always good for, but it's looking like he won't be making any kind of return any time soon.

This defense also has to stop allowing so many shots on goal. In 3 of the 6 games this season they have allowed over 30 shots on goal and 28, 27, and 27 in the other three.

The Offense:

Of course one thing that is never surprising about the Flyers is their inability to convert power play opportunities into power play goals and that is holding true this season. The Flyers have only scored five times on 31 chances. Two games this season they had over five power plays and did not come away with a man advantage goal one time.

They are being shoved around by these bigger and faster teams and they aren't holding the puck long enough in the offensive zone long enough to do anything. Anytime the offense gets into going past the other team's blue line they either have to do something quick or sure enough you see the puck getting knocked back out to center ice.

It's not even that they aren't scoring goals, because they have at least 2 goals in every game this season, it's that they are turning the puck over far too often. Richards is proving to be a good choice at captain for now as he is tied for the team lead in goals.

Simon Gagne also seems to be back after missing almost the entire last season with concussions. He is the only Flyer right now to be in the positives with the +/- ranking. He also has 4 goals on the season.

How to Fix it:

The Flyers need to be more productive on the power play. There is no excuse for having so many chances and doing nothing with them. If they are going to start winning some games they have to start keeping the puck in the offensive zone longer and make more chances to get goals.

Also the 3rd and 4th line need to start being more productive. In those two lines, not one play has recorded a goal this season. Its all about the first and second lines right now and if the Flyers look to make this season into anything they have to get a good showing out of the entire team, not just the first half.

The Goalies:

In the playoffs last Martin Biron was a wall. His goals against average was the lowest in the playoffs and he saved the Flyers in plenty of games. This season it's a completely different story so far.

In the 4 games that he has played in he has allowed 15 goals and is GAA is 5.00. He has not really done much at all for the team to call him their for sure starter as of now.

Antero Nittymaki has been playing right now like a backup goalie can be expected to play, but if Biron doesn't get it going he could be a possible full time starter soon.

How to fix it:

Of course not all of the goals are in the fault of the goalie, but he still is expected to stop them. The defense in front of Biron has been playing bad, but on 96 shots faced for Biron that's not acceptable to allow 15 goals.

The defense has to put some support for Biron though and keep the defenders away from the net for the goalies to start being successful again.

It's not time to press the panic button yet for the Flyers, but if these struggles continue don't be surprised to see plenty of Philly fans going crazy and wanting change soon.