Perhaps right about now would be a good time for the 1-4 Iggles to suggest the lockout cost their high-priced roster proper time to prepare? Hey, that’s the excuse I’d be scrambling for after a putrid start to the 2011 season, the sole saving grace of which is that it takes just a little bit of heat off Charlie Manuel. How bad are things for head coach Andy Reid? The Inquirer’s Phil Sheridan has taken to comparing him to Rich Kotite.
This has the look and feel and especially the smell of Reid’s final season. He has burned through the equity he built with his first six seasons. He must be judged now on the product on the field and the decisions that led to its utter failure.
Reid decided on the unheard-of promotion of Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator. The defense is a mess.
Reid was fooled by Michael Vick’s stretch of midseason performances and committed the franchise and millions of dollars to the quarterback. Vick is a turnover machine on the brink of breaking down at any time.
Reid has final say on drafts that have not produced a difference-making defensive player since Trent Cole in 2005, and he was a fifth-round accident.
Any coach in the NFL would be fired after Reid’s last three, declining seasons. There is no reason left not to hold Reid to that same standard.