Missed Opportunities are Behind the Philadelphia Eagles Empty Trophy Case

This is the image that came up when I googled "Eagles empty trophy case"...

Painful, I know.

It's amazing that in all my years as a Philly sports fan the only Championship parade I've seen was amid a sea of red and white.

Not Midnight Green. Not once.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Phitin's and they look poised to make another deep run in October as they get healthier, but I'm an Eagle fan first.

Maybe it's because there aren't many places in North Philly to hone your base-running skills. Or the electric plays I've seen by the men in Kelly and now Midnight green.

As exciting as the the Harry Kalas "Struck 'em out!" call was the "they stopped him again!" 4th and 1 call has a special place in my heart.

At any rate, I've followed the Philadelphia Eagles closer than any other Philly based franchise.

And like many in Philly I consider myself a fairly proficient arm chair GM so here's my attempt to uncover the reasons for the Andy Reid era never producing a Super Bowl trophy...

FAIL: Not Capitalizing on a (Then) Weak NFC East

Ah... the days of Dave Campo and beating up on the Cowboys...

When Andy Reid came aboard at the end of the 90's the NFC East was up for grabs. Aikman was on the decline, the Redskins were even more directionless than they were last year, and the Giants were a tough team but not unbeatable.

As an organization, the Eagles were in position to really separate themselves from the pack:

Plenty of cap room, a defensive coordinator with an aggressive and innovative system, a solid offensive coordinator and a supremely gifted quarterback from Syracuse University. Most front offices would look at this situation and look to add pieces to take a good nucleus to the championship level.

Most. Not the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles, put together 11 win seasons with a fairly mediocre core of players.

Sorry, but look at those early rosters and tell me I'm wrong. In their eyes, there was no need to make any big moves, when those teams were always in contention.

Leading to the content to contend mantra.

Whether that's fair or unfair is not being debated here; in Philly perception is reality.

This wouldn't have been an issue if it weren't so obvious in the playoffs that the Eagles were simply not at the level of the better teams.

The Eagles made short work of the NFC East, and were often "favored" to win in the playoffs; but still came up short.

For whatever reason once they advanced deeper into the postseason, the Eagles were no longer Nelson Muntz, bullying their way past teams.

They turned into Martin Prince.

Had they been aggressive early in the Reid era, maybe Philadelphia could have been showered with green and white confetti once or twice. By the time the 2005 season came around the balance of power in the NFC East shifted, leading to seasons of 6-10, 10-6, 8-8, 9-6-1, and 11-5. Much different from the previous five years where they went 11-5, 11-5, 12-4, 12-4, and 13-3.

NFL success follows the same pattern for every team: 1) win your division 2) win in the playoffs 3) win the Super Bowl.

When it was easy to meet the first challenge, the Eagles did nothing to ensure the latter two.

FAIL: Never Bringing In Enough Elite Players

The player in the picture is Na Brown a former Eagles wide receiver with 34 career receptions to go with his two touchdowns.

The football in the picture is bouncing off his hands, a familiar sight for Eagles fans.

And somewhere, someone is blaming Donovan McNabb...but that's another story.

Na Brown is one of many very average players to start for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Yes there was a Brian Dawkins, but there was also a Blaine Bishop. Jerimiah Trotter (pre-Redskins defection) was partnered with the likes of Barry Gardner.

Antonio Freeman and Terrell Owens both had the "pleasure" of lining up opposite Todd Pinkston. Chad Lewis and LJ Smith...you get the point.

Playoff teams exploited this with abandon; throw the ball away from Dawkins, run the ball away from Trotter, jam the frail Eagle receivers until McNabb is forced to throw a bad pass, run, or get sacked.

Early on the offense was predicated on McNabb extending plays long enough for someone to get open. Which is why his early rushing numbers were so high. If McNabb couldn't run or throw for a first down, too often there was no plan B.

After coming up short, so many times, logic dictates that a team excellent at cap management would bring in more skilled players.

It's not as if the Eagles intentionally drafted bad players (although Freddie Mitchell in the first round and Reggie Brown in the second were extreme reaches) everyone knows the draft is a crap shoot.

And they did try to bring in free agents...sort of. They just signed guys that were two or three years past their prime.

It's long been believed that on offense and defense the Eagles could, more or less, just plug in players and go. A philosophy that has been behind many a loss.

Whether it was the fault of scouting, talent evaluation, or just plain arrogance the Philadelphia Eagles front office never seemed to make that big move to push them into the elite.

Maybe more recent history is indicative that the lesson has been learned...?

FAIL: The Odd Couple

Anyone who visits my page will notice right away I am a big Donovan McNabb fan.

And I can proudly say I didn't want the cross-dressing, pot-smoking, fatty from Texas.

Still...

He was never the right quarterback for Andy Reid's offense.

Not that he can't make all the throws required, just that it doesn't play to his strengths. Five yard slants are not McNabb's strength, he is more of a downfield QB. He can throw a 15 yard post better than a seven yard curl.

Reid tried to force Donovan to be a three step drop, pocket passer when his abilities didn't lean towards him being proficient at that.

To the credit of both men, they made things work, but both would have been more successful; i.e.; win rings, had they both made compromises.

Reid should have changed his play-calling tendencies in certain situations (translation: run the ball more!!) and taken some of the load off of his quarterback.

McNabb should have worked on speeding up his release more and trusted his receivers more.

Reid should have allowed McNabb free reign with the offensive play calling.

McNabb should have been more vocal about having more of a say in the play calling.

I could go on all day but in the end (despite popular opinion) both men are responsible for the "so close" roller coaster that has been Eagles football.

McNabb was without a doubt great as a Philadelphia Eagle quarterback, Andy Reid has been great as the coach; but the two will likely be remembered more for what they didn't do, than what they did.

FAIL: Front Office

The problem in the NFL, more than any other sport is the definition of the term "contract".

The NFL definition of the word is that:

1) Once two parties agree, the only thing that is guaranteed is the signing bonus (to be paid in two or more installments)

2) The financially responsible party may terminate that contract at any time by paying out the remaining bonus money due.

There's much more to it, but these two points cause the most contention between player and employer.

The player, knowing that the contract is not guaranteed outside of the signing bonus, feels that anytime he outperforms (is his opinion) the yearly monetary compensation that it is time to renegotiate.

The Organization, especially this one, believes in "Shut up and play for what you agreed to play for".

And really both parties are right.

The problem is not the stance this organization takes, but rather the way they take it. There's an overt smugness in their demeanor when it comes to player contracts. They're smarter than us remember? So they allow no wiggle room, no breaks, no exceptions excluding the most rare of cases.

Did Terrell Owens go about asking for a raise the wrong way? No question about it.

Did the Eagles Front Office make matters much worse by denying to even entertain a compromise? Absolutely!

With such a long list of other players similarly dissatisfied, common sense dictates there may be a need to change their policy. Maybe be a little more flexible in some cases.

But of course they know better than us how to run an organization, look how full their trophy case is...

Cheap shot I know, but there's some evidence here.

They let Trotter defect to the Redskins and had been looking for a serviceable middle linebacker up until two years ago.

They let Brian Dawkins go and still are not set at the Free Safety spot (although Allen looks very good so far).

Derrick Burgess left and for years the Eagles have been looking for a Trent Cole compliment.

They traded Sheldon Brown, who played his heart out for this team and their second corner opposite Asante is... Hobbs? Hanson? Are we more confident in those guys than Sheldon?

And that's just on the defensive side of the ball.

The Eagles Front Office has ruled their cap space with an iron fist, in keeping the gold standard.

Gold is nice, but Eagles fans would prefer silver.

If you're puzzled by the reference, silver is what the Lombardi Trophy is made of.

FAIL: Predictability

"We knew exactly what was coming and we knew we could stop it."

How often in the last five years has an opposing player uttered a similar phrase when talking about the Philadelphia Eagles?

Of course, NFL teams study a ridiculous amount of film for that very reason; to pick up on the other teams tendencies. So really is it a big deal that players have made such statements about the Eagles?

Read: YES!

Here's a follow up question: How many times Philly faithful, have you sat at home watching an Eagles game and correctly guessed the offensive play call?

For fun last year during the playoff loss to the Cowboys a friend and I tried to guess the Eagles 2nd half play calling. I won 16 to 14.

Neither of us have played professionally, watch film or even really watch preseason, yet the two of us managed to correctly guess 16 of the Eagles plays.

The saddest part?

There are probably a couple thousand fans who would do better than we did.

The offense, more than the defense (But not by much) has been the most guilty of stagnation.

Sometimes it seems as though there are only four or five plays in the playbook with personnel variations being the only real changes. The philosophy in part has always been that it doesn't matter if the other team knows what's coming, if you execute. But that type of attitude leaves very little room for error.

If a receiver gets off the line late, a lineman misses a block, or any of the other million things that can go wrong happens, then the defense is now in perfect position to capitalize.

It could be why the so many times at critical moments the offense has come up short.

It could be why the offense of late has struggled in the red zone.

There's more to the problem; like clock management and in-game adjustments (or lack thereof) but nothing kills like predictability.

Had Enough Negativity? Here's the Positive Spin

Enough talk about the past, let's re-focus on the here and now.

However haunted I am by the list of missed chances this past decade, there is reason for optimism going forward.

There is talent on this team now.

For the first time I can remember, EVERY position on the field has a solid to great player. Yes the team is young, very young, but that bodes well for the future.

In the NFC there are now eight teams that could be playing in February (I know the eight I think have a shot, how about you?) increasing the sense of urgency.

We're in the midst of a "economic downturn" Joe Banner and crew know that even the most faithful fan will not continue to pay for a mediocre product. Not with NFL Sunday ticket, NFL redzone and Comcast Sportsnet out there. The time for being satisfied with getting there is over.

The number one scapegoat of all time is now in DC, so the default excuse is gone.

A fresh start was long overdue and although I was more in favor of a new coach than a new quarterback, I'm not naive enough to think that they both could have stayed another season.

One of them had to go, if for no other reason than to see who really deserves the ire of Philadelphia fans.

With the now insurmountable evidence in front of them, this regime has to realize that changes need to be made.