Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Things Needed to Turn the Team Around

With five losses in eight games, the Philadelphia Eagles are clearly a team in turmoil. The team has no realistic chance to make the playoffs this year. So what needs to be done to turn things around?

It might be tempting to say that three of the losses were by four points or less, so just a little tweaking or luck will change things going forward. That would be wrong.

There are serious fundamental personnel and scheme issues that need to be addressed. It won't be easy and it won't happen overnight. But if the plans are put in place, maybe the Eagles can return to the playoffs in 2012.

Replace DeSean Jackson with a Large Wide Receiver

The Eagles have had little success scoring in the red zone. One of the reasons is the size of their wide receivers.  Other teams can run a fade route where the quarterback throws the ball to the corner of the end zone, hoping that their receiver can out-jump the defender and come up with the ball.

But with DeSean Jackson at 5' 9" and Jeremy Maclin at 6' even, the receivers are too small to be effective in the red zone.  Add in the fact that Michael Vick is also 6' even, and you can see why so many passes are tipped at the line of scrimmage.

The Eagles need to replace Jackson with a Howard-Carmichael-like wide receiver.

It has become clear this year that the only thing that Jackson can do well is run very fast in a straight line. He is so concerned about getting his long-term contract that he is doing everything he can do to avoid contact and possible injury.

The last few games he has looked like Todd Pinkston with his alligator-arm approach to pass catching. After eight games, Jackson is averaging around three catches per game and a paltry five yards after a catch has been made.

The one very smart thing the Eagles did this year was to not extend his contract. I realize that Jackson gave Eagles fans the most memorable play of a decade or more, but it is time to move on.

Obtain an Experienced Defensive Coordinator

It is pretty clear that the Juan Castillo experiment has failed. In the five losses this year, the defense has given up 56 points in the fourth quarter. When the team has needed a big stop, the defense has been unable to deliver.

Castillo has been an offensive line coach and is ill-prepared to be a defensive coordinator. Even against a mediocre Chicago Bears offensive line, Castillo could not find a way to get any pressure on Jay Cutler.

I have recently written that Steve Spagnuolo, currently head coach of the St. Louis Rams, would fill the bill nicely. He learned defense with the Eagles under the legendary Jim Johnson. He was defensive coordinator for the New York Giants when they defeated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. After a second dismal season as head coach of the St. Louis Rams, he might be looking for a job soon.

Get More Beef on the Lines

The Eagles defensive ends give away almost 50 pounds per man against the offensive tackles of the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, as two examples.

This has forced the team to use the Wide-Nine technique to try to get pressure on the opposing quarterback. The technique supposedly gives the defensive end a running head start to he can brush by the larger offensive tackle, but there are several fatal flaws in the approach

1) The offensive team always knows where the pressure will come from, so they can assign a fullback or a tight end to help out the offensive tackle if necessary. Pressure on the quarterback is most effective when it comes from unexpected places, not expected places.

2) The defensive ends playing so far outside opens up a vulnerability to running plays up the middle. With Eagles' weak corps of linebackers, this is especially problematic.

On the offensive line, the smaller but quicker linemen supposedly can get outside and downfield quicker to block on running plays. OK, maybe that is true, and is why LeSean McCoy is having such a good year.

The penalty you pay, however. is that your quarterback gets hit on a large percentage of pass plays, because the larger defensive linemen just muscle past them on the way to the quarterback. It really is a miracle that Michael Vick has not suffered a more severe injury than he has this year.

You'd think a big guy like Andy Reid would want more big guys on his team. Apparently not, so go figure.

Draft a Linebacker That Opponents Will Fear

When the Eagles had Darryl Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter during their prime years, opponents would be afraid to run into the middle of the field.

Now the Eagles' opponents seem to live there. The linebackers always seem to be in the wrong place to deliver a hit, and the defensive backs don't want to deliver a hit.

Take a look at the video of Vontaze Burfict of Arizona State. That's the kind of dude you want on your team. He is projected to go as maybe the ninth or 10th pick in the first round. Maybe the Eagles can lose themselves into that position.

If not, there is a drop off to the next two linebackers, Manti Te'o and Luke Kuechly. So if the Eagles manage to win too many games in the second half of the season, they might need to trade up to get to Burfict.

Yes, I know, Andy Reid doesn't like to take linebackers with high draft picks, and the team certainly shows it. Maybe after this nightmare of a season, Reid will change his mind. Alternatively, he might be gone and someone else can make Burfict their first draft pick as head coach.

Trade Asante Samuel for a Good Draft Pick

Asante Samuel has been disgruntled ever since the Eagles obtained two other very good defensive backs. Apparently the Eagles tried to trade him just before the trade deadline, but a deal could not be made because of his high salary. Also, at that time, the Eagles wanted a player back, not a draft pick.

Samuel doesn't look interested in making a tackle, and he isn't doing all that good of a job in pass coverage. You just don't need three top defensive backs on your team.

During the offseason before the draft, the Eagles need to unload his salary and trade him for a draft pick good enough to help address one of the issues discussed here.

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