Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Vick or Andy Reid? Who Should Eagles Fans Blame?

"Dream Team." Two innocuous words, except when put in this particular order.

As an Eagles fan, I knew that this moniker was a soul-crushing anchor as soon as I heard it. It's been such a storm cloud hanging over the Eagles that Mike Vick basically had to say a eulogy to the press. It's amazing one of the local sports talk radio stations hasn't had a "Dream Team" funeral yet. Although the Andy Reid funeral might be coming soon.

The most underreported fact about the "Dream Team"? The Eagles were bestowed the honor by Vince Young via Twitter. The same Vince Young that had just signed with the Eagles to be the BACKUP quarterback. In fact, he might be the third-string QB for the Eagles.

But why were the Eagles a "Dream Team" in the eyes of Vince Young? Because they'd just signed Vince Young of course! As a BACKUP even! This is because Young believes that he's so good that if he's going to be the backup, the team must be unbelievably good. Perhaps this was why no other team tried to sign Young as a starter.

The problem was that the Eagles didn't try to shy away from the "Dream Team" label. Sure they said the right things for the most part. But it was a half-hearted effort. The Eagles believed deep down that they WERE a "Dream Team". And that's where the problem begins.

Do you really think that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick would let the Patriots players believe they were a "Dream Team" no matter what the Vegas odds or analysts said?

Expecting to win is healthy exercise. If you expect to lose or fail, you probably will. But there is a difference between believing you will win because of how you've prepared, and believing you will win because you should.

How many times have you heard people say the phrase "That's a game that they should win." Slightly under a million times, right? Professional athletes read the papers. They go on the Internet. They listen to the radio and watch television. It becomes an unconscious, shared thought. "We should win this game."

That is exactly how the Giants lose at home to the Seahawks. It's why the Chargers usually begin the season so slowly. It's also why the Patriots never let up on the gas, no matter who they are playing or what the score is. All it takes is one injury. One bad spot. One missed tackle. One stupid penalty.

The difference in most NFL games is just a handful of plays. Some NFL teams are more talented than others, but the talent levels of most teams are closer than you think .That's why we see so many "worst-to-first" teams in the NFL every season. When teams start assuming they will win, maybe one or two of those handful of plays go in favor of the less-talented team.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Philadelphia Eagles. Even at 1-4, the Eagles were just a handful of plays from being 4-1, or even 5-0. If the Eagles had made a few of those plays, we wouldn't be talking about the Eagles' flaws and how to fix them. Even though the flaws would still be the same, we would be able to overlook them in favor of a good win-loss record.

So here we sit at 1-4 and EVERYBODY in Philadelphia has a problem and a solution. Most are in favor of firing Andy Reid for Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher. Because of course one of those guys will just come in midseason and win with the current roster, right? Then the city is split two ways. Those who believe in Michael Vick, and those who don't.

You can't put all of the Eagles problems on any one person or group. The coaching staff has had their share of problems. Andy Reid continues to struggle with his in-game management. The Eagles constantly waste timeouts and struggle at the end of halves and games.

The move of Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator has not looked good. Both the offensive and defensive lines are running new schemes this season. The Eagles are playing more zone defense, which is most definitely NOT the strength of big offseason signing Nnamdi Asomugha.

Michael Vick is turning the ball over. He's been dinged up injury-wise. In other words, he looks like the Atlanta Michael Vick on a better team who attempts more passes. And what did everybody expect? That Michael Vick was REALLY going to play like Peyton Manning (with RB skills)? That's not who he is. But the Eagles need to help Vick.

Late in 2010 a blueprint was established to beat Michael Vick. You send blitzers off of the left side of the offensive line and force Vick (left-handed) to roll to his right. That generally flusters Vick and he tends to either tuck the ball of force a bad throw across his body.

Multiple times in Week 5, the Bills sent multiple blitzers at the left side of the Eagles offensive line, where backup King Dunlap was starting in place of Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters. The only way the Eagles ever compensated was to leave LeSean McCoy in to block. He's a good pass blocker, but he can't block two or three players at once.

Andy Reid used to be a brilliant offensive play-caller. He schemed his way to victory with average players like Todd Pinkston, Deuce Staley, James Thrash and L.J. Smith. Now the Eagles' offense is just a mess of downfield bombs and awkward-looking play fakes and reverses. It's such a jumble that it's no wonder the Eagles can't establish any offensive rhythm.

This is a collection of talent, not a cohesive offensive unit.

It's obvious that the Eagles need a ton of help at linebacker, another offensive lineman or two and maybe another safety. That's not bad. They can fill those needs next offseason. Can they win with these flaws? Yes. Teams win every week with far more fatal flaws. Then the only question is the obvious one. How?

There's something to be said for having a crop of homegrown players who are drafted by a team and have never played for another franchise. They become the core of the locker room, the constant that all of the other players can depend on. Most of the veteran starters on the Eagles were signed via free agency or arrived via trade. Here are the Eagles' starters who were drafted by the Eagles and have been on the roster for at least five seasons:

OFFENSE
Brent Celek
Todd Herremans

DEFENSE
Trent Cole (injured)
Mike Patterson

That's it. So exactly where is the veteran leadership in this locker room? Where are Andy Reid's "guys" who will stick up for their long-time coach in the locker room? The Eagles are where they right now for two simple reasons: 

POOR DRAFTING. For all of their trading and draft-pick stockpiling, the Eagles haven't drafted well in recent years. That has created a need for the Eagles to go outside of the organization to fill the holes they failed to fill via the draft. There's a reason that consistently good teams consistently draft well. Or that teams improve dramatically only a season or two after having an excellent draft. 

LETTING VETERAN LEADERS WALK. You might as well call this the Brian Dawkins Rule. Right now the Eagles could really use Dawkins. And they would probably be better of with Brian Westbrook backing up LeSean McCoy. And wouldn't Donovan McNabb (or any accomplished veteran QB) be a better backup than Vince Young? Michael Vick needs a veteran QB who can help him. Vince Young is not that guy. Even having a guy like Sheldon Brown around wouldn't hurt. And let's not even get started about how much retaining Quentin Mikell would have helped the Eagles defense.

The philosophy the Eagles use is the one you have to use to have extended success in the NFL. You have to draft well, draft often and never pay for past production. That means letting some talented players go and depending on unknown young players to fill their roles. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You only need to look to the Patriots defense to see similar problems. Not to mention the Colts and their poor drafting in recent seasons.

This is what Eagles fans really wanted. This is how you have your cake and eat it, too. You use the draft to stock up on young talent and generally try to acquire the best available players. You keep your "window" open by constantly rebuilding on the fly, never missing the playoffs for more than a season or two at a time.

But you're never quite as good as you could be. The Eagles are not the type of organization to make an "all-in" type of move. They would never trade draft picks for veterans, re-sign aging players and make a splash in the free agent pool all at the same time. Because you have to eventually pay the toll for such moves. But those are the moves that will maximize your ability to win it all for a season or two.

So which way would you rather have it Eagles fans? Or even just NFL fans. Because this is most likely just a "blip on the radar" year for the Eagles. They might go 6-10 or 7-9, but they will be right back in the playoff hunt next season.

Is that what you would prefer? The chance to win every season? Or would you prefer that the team made a couple of dramatic moves in order to maximize their chances of winning it all in the next season or two? Even if that meant that you might have to deal with multiple rebuilding seasons before having another chance to have a winning team?

Personally, I would rather have my team have a shot to go to the playoffs every season. Even if that means they're maybe not quite as good as they could be. Andy Reid has always managed to right the ship, so I will keep the faith and hope that there's really some sort of plan the Eagles are sticking to. I hope.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter.