NFL Pro Bowl: Philadelphia Eagles Reflected Jekyll-And-Hyde Season

This could be the cynical, beaten down Philadelphia fan inside of me who brought this observation to my attention.

And admittedly, I could be making a mountain out of a molehill, trying to analyze plays from the Pro Bowl and draw concrete observations from half-hearted efforts on the field.

With that said...

Forgive me for noticing, but was the play of the Philadelphia Eagle Pro Bowlers not indicative of the ups and downs of Philly's past season? 

One minute you saw DeSean Jackson streaking through the middle of the field, exploding past defenders en route to a 58-yard touchdown (thrown by fellow Eagle, QB Donovan McNabb).  

Or, just days removed from watching virtually every kicker in the NFL playoffs melt down, you could see Eagles All-Decade kicker David Akers booting a 47-yard field goal straight through the uprights.

The next, you saw Asante Samuel completely whiff on a 33-yard touchdown to Andre Johnson. Or you saw McNabb finish 3-for-10, including one interception to Brian Dawkins, and a 64-yard pick-six.

Again, I recognize that the players aren't exactly giving their all in the Pro Bowl.

Comments like this one from McNabb say everything about a player's Pro Bowl mentality: "Everyone's here to have fun. That's the most important thing. It's an exciting time. No one's trying to get hurt, but everybody's trying to put on a show for the fans."

And NFC coach Wade Phillips confirmed that the game plan didn't call for defenders committing nearly as hard as they would in a regular game.

"They decided the defense was going to put their hands behind their backs, so you are going to have a lot of scoring," Phillips said. "But that is what we wanted to see."

But the inconsistency of the Eagles' players spoke loudly of what plagued them over this season (and the past few seasons). And without addressing these issues going forward, there's no reason to believe that the Eagles will be substantially better when August rolls around, no matter what personnel changes they end up making.

As much fun as McNabb may have been having during the Pro Bowl week (as the "Pro Bowl prankster"), no amount of goofy touchdown dances can hide the fact that he was the only Pro Bowl QB to complete less than 50 percent of his passes.  

He had a collection of some of the best linemen in the game, was throwing to some of the best receivers in the game, and faced little to no pressure from the defensive line...and finished with a 53.3 passer rating.

(Thank God for Vince Young, whose 6-for-12, 47-yard, one-INT day saved McNabb the ignominious honor of posting the worst QB rating in the Pro Bowl.)

Is it possible that we put too much stock into the effect center Jamaal Jackson's Week 16 injury had on the rest of the Eagles' offense in those back-to-back blowouts at the hands of the Cowboys?

Will McNabb be tossing more of his infamous ground balls than catchable passes next year if the Eagles even end up keeping him on the roster?

Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News has me thinking that I'm not the only one who was slightly disturbed by the play of some of the Eagles' Pro Bowlers.  

Yesterday, Domowitch published an article titled, "For Asante, another game of touch football at Pro Bowl," where Domo noted Samuel's...how do you put this nicely...his lack of affinity for tackling.

Domo wasn't so kind. "Samuel isn't a big fan of the art of tackling. Hates tackling the way little kids hate spinach," he wrote. Sad, but true, as anyone who's followed the Eagles these past two years would gladly attest.

Samuel makes his money off making the big-play interception, and he tied for the league-lead in interceptions with nine this year. But by over-pursuing the big play, Samuel often leaves his opponent wide open to make a big play of his own.

(It is worth noting that Samuel did pick off Vince Young in the fourth quarter of the Pro Bowl.)

Chris Johnson exploited Samuel's tackling allergy in the first two offensive plays the AFC ran, as he took screen passes 12 and 13 yards headed right at Samuel. As Domowitch (hilariously) notes: "On both plays, the PA announcer wound up closer to the Titans running back than Samuel. The Eagle looked like George Costanza in that 'Seinfeld' episode where he was knocking over little kids at a birthday party in his rush to get out the door when a fire broke out."

And it's that type of inconsistency and lack of toughness that seemed to define these Eagles this year (and last). You don't know what to expect out of this team each week.

One week they lost to the middling JaMarcus Russell-led Raiders. Two weeks later, they went and thrashed the NY Giants, who were looking like serious Super Bowl contenders mid-way through this season.  

The Eagles finished 25th in the NFL in consistency this season, according to Football Outsiders. (They finished behind the Titans, Giants, Panthers, Bills, Bengals, Cardinals, and Jets, in that order.)

You can attribute their lack of consistency to a number of problems: an inability to establish continuity on the offensive line, a constant rotation of middle linebackers, a rookie safety trying to replace Brian Dawkins. Whatever you blame, realize it all boils down to one fundamental problem.

Without Dawkins, the Eagles lacked toughness. Without toughness, they lacked consistency.  

Without consistency, the Eagles were capable of putting up 30-plus points on the board one week...and capable of being shut out in the most important game they played (Week 17 vs. Dallas) this season.

Samuel and McNabb were two of the biggest culprits of inconsistent play this season. Lo and behold, guess which players on the Pro Bowl roster fluctuated between looking brilliant and baffling?

DeSean Jackson went there and makes nothing but big plays (six catches, 101 yards, two TDs). David Akers drilled a long field goal (and after this postseason, consistency from a kicker might be the biggest news of all).

Samuel whiffed on the A.J. touchdown. Safety Quintin Mikell finished with one tackle and could be seen lunging (and missing) at Vincent Jackson on his 48-yard touchdown. Fullback Leonard Weaver didn't get a single carry. (Although after the Eagles' final two weeks of the season, he should be used to being neglected.)

While inconsistency is the "buzz" word flying around Philly's basketball team currently (talk to any Sixers fan about coach Eddie Jordan's rotations, and prepare to have them laugh in your face)...the Eagles might not be too far off from having similar problems with consistency.

If the Eagles are to truly compete for a Super Bowl next year, they'll need to start expecting regular exemplary production from their supposed team leaders.  

If this Pro Bowl was any indication whatsoever, that may not be possible with this group.