It is hard to be too upset and down about your football team when your baseball team is sitting pretty in the MLB “final four”, but alas, we are in Philadelphia and this is still a football town.  Until the Phillies prove the same dominance that the Eagles have in recent years, this will remain a football town.  However, if things continue on the path that they are on now with the Eagles struggling and the Phils on the verge of their first World Series berth since 1993, this will slowly but surely become a baseball town.

On that note, the Eagles are still the king and therefore, they deserve our scrutiny and constructive criticism.  After a disappointing performance versus the Bears, the Birds looked to rebound against a team in the Redskins who were riding an emotional high after defeating the Cowboys in Big D.  Unfortunately, here we are five weeks into the season and the Birds sit at 2-3 after a 23-17 loss at the hands of Washington.

Boy…where to begin?  Well, the easy place to start and quite the recurring theme in why we lost by another slim margin is none other than David Akers.  Kickers are somewhat like offensive linemen in that you don’t hear about them until they mess up.  Well, David, welcome to your fifteen minutes of fame because I am going to lay it on pretty thick here.  You cost us two games this year.  I don’t know what it is, I don’t know why you are playing this poorly, but you need to fix it and fix it fast.  In the Bears game, Akers missed two field goals in a game where the Eagles lost by four points.  Against the Redskins, while he only missed one field goal, it lead to great field position for the Skins and ultimately, they put three points on the scoreboard.  That is a six point swing if you are counting at home.  The Eagles lost by six.  He needs to be held accountable and if I had any say in this, I would present Joe Banner and Andy Reid with two options: 1) Bring back Koy Detmer to hold for Akers or 2) Bring The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon Tony Danza in for a try out.

Beyond Akers, I place much of the blame on the Eagles defense and Jim Johnson.  The defense is simply too inconsistent right now.  They stop Marion Barber, Steven Jackson, Matt Forte, and Willie Parker for close to no yards rushing.  But Clinton Portis apparently didn’t get the memo that we wanted to play two hand touch this week.  I know what you are thinking- “one out of five isn’t bad.”  I agree.  But we haven’t gotten to the pass defense.  Whether it be covering the running back out of the backfield or the tight end down the field, our secondary has been average at best.  Part of this comes right back to Jim Johnson.  I don’t know if it is his age or what, but Johnson is too inconsistent of a coordinator for me.  Year in and year out he does this but rarely catches flak.  Usually Donovan and Andy Reid get the blame (and yes, they do deserve it from time to time), but Jim Johnson gets a free pass.  He let Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell beat us.  Let me say this again- he let Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell beat us.  Jim- bring the pressure, get creative, and cause mayhem!

So where do we go from here?  Well, let’s hope Donovan’s players-only meeting and public sentiments about his embarrassment changes things up.  Are they still a playoff team?  That I don’t know.  Can they still win games and compete with the best division in the NFL?  They certainly can.

Next up- the San Francisco 49ers.  Go Birds…and Go Phils!