Eagles must fix offensive problems tonight

November 05, 2012|Nick Fierro

PHILADELPHIA — — Most NFL teams run a no-huddle offense at least part of the time.

The Philadelphia Eagles, on the other hand, have run a no-offense huddle nearly all the time through their first seven games.

One hundred and 20 points. One hundred and 20 lousy points. That's all the Eagles have scored heading into tonight's game against the New Orleans Saints, owners of one of the NFL's all-time worst defenses.

When head coach Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg started putting this current collection together in the spring, they thought they'd have scored around twice that many by now. If they had, we might be talking about this game as the first of two trips to New Orleans this season.

But a funny thing happened on their way to the Super Bowl. The Eagles suddenly can't find Broad Street, much less Bourbon Street.

They've tried everything, even firing their defensive coordinator. That didn't work either.

Put it this way: Through their first seven games a year ago, they had underachieved with 179 points. But at least they had surpassed 30 three times.

This year, the Eagles have yet to get to 25 once.

The Eagles' highest output, 24 against Baltimore in Week 2, matches the Saints' lowest amount allowed in any game this year.

In other words, if they can't score, say, 30 against the Saints, they're in trouble, win or lose.

Quarterback Michael Vick talked this week about becoming aggressive again, after a conservative approach against the Atlanta Falcons last weekend resulted in a 30-17 defeat that wasn't that close.

Though he didn't throw any interceptions or lose any fumbles to keep his season turnover total at 13, Vick didn't do much else either as the Eagles finished with 17 points, exactly their average.

So Mornhinweg and Reid are right there with him on that one.

"Our whole offensive team, you know our mentality, we've talked about that before, we want to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive; unafraid to make a mistake," Mornhinweg said. "When we make a mistake, we admit it, we find a solution, we correct it and we move on and it's that simple.

"Now, there's reasons why these things occur. Excellence is all about attitude and a certain mentality, and so we've discussed that as a unit and that is important."

Mornhinweg did notice that component of the offense and Vick's mindset as lacking, which played a huge role in what happened against the Falcons.

"You understand, I'm disappointed because we hung in there and hung in there when things aren't going right, and that's typically what you do," Mornhinweg said. "Then you give yourselves a chance to win at the end, and we didn't get that thing done.

"So right there is where you need it. You need it all the time, but right there. I'm not talking just about me; we're all disappointed as an offensive unit about that."

No better time than the present to get well. The Saints have given up an NFL-high 474.4 yards per game while accumulating just three interceptions.

The Eagles can't wait to bust out of this thing, and they have the perfect opponent for that to happen.

They're closer than they've appeared, according to wide receiver Jason Avant.

"When it comes to this past week, we had maybe about six plays where it was a wrong step and then the guy went to block, or me on a play where I kept a route too high [and] the guy knocked the ball down," Avant said. "So it's the little small things that get you off the field on third downs, the little small things that can break a run or not.

"I think that a lot of it is the whole offense. You can't be hit or miss. If one guy makes a mistake on a play, the other team can make up for it."

Left guard Evan Mathis offered a similar perspective from the offensive line, which often is criticized for broken plays in which it functioned perfectly.

"You can have a perfectly blocked play, and if you're only 10-for-11 on that play, that could be a huge breakdown," Mathis said. "Sometimes you can get lucky with missed blocks, but you can't count on that. You've got to do your job.

"If you run 11 plays in a row, and one guy on each play happens to make a mistake, that could be detrimental to all those plays."

Conversely, if all 11 do their jobs on one play, it can be a quick six points for a team with this kind of offensive weaponry, even more so against the Saints.

The Eagles will take a win any way they can get it, but their offense must respond tonight for them to have any hope of salvaging this maddening season.



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