The Eagles should touch ground more in 2006

By Anthony Carroll  |   Sunday, April 02, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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They were third from the top and third from the bottom: number three in the NFL in passes attempted and 30th in rushes attempted.

…620 aerial flights and 365 ground travels.

They lost their starting quarterback to injury in November and their number one wide receiver to suspension after week seven.

Their passing completion percentage at season-end ranked 27th in the NFL; and they had a running back finish off the year with just one extra rushing yard than receiving yard.

They finished 6-10-last in the NFC East.

Andy Reid, coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, has certainly heard the cliché: "learn from your mistakes." Before the 2006 season, however, he'd better make sure that he has attended to that message loud and clear. The run, pass, pass, and punt routine utilized by Reid and the Eagles' offense in 2005 needs quickly to be converted into a run, run, pass, and repeat scheme for 2006.

The ineffectiveness last season of the heavily-weighted ratio should be reason enough for Reid to make changes heading into the 2006 campaign, but this offseason has added even more cause for conversion.

To start, the big man on campus, Terrell Owens, has been transferred to the University of Parcells. Owens played just seven games with the Eagles last season and still managed to lead the team in both receiving yards and touchdowns. Behind Owens, a tight end and running back trailed in yardage. This means that with Owens out of the picture, RB Brian Westbrook and TE L.J. Smith are statistically the top ballcatchers in Philadelphia next season.

At wide receiver, 25-year-old Reggie Brown and 26-year-old Greg Lewis seem respectively to be the one and two wideouts for next season. So, if Reid still wants to throw up 620 passes he should prepare himself for a 2005 clone-especially in an even stronger NFC division. At any rate, this does not mean that Brown and Lewis cannot be effective threats in the Eagles grander scheme of things. In fact, both showed tremendous upside in 2005, as Brown hauled in 43 passes for 571 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie; and Lewis grabbed 48 passes for 561 yards and a touchdown in his third year.

Up to this point, Reggie Brown actually appears to be locked into the number one wide receiver slot for the 2006 season. Andy Reid recently commented: "He did a nice job for us. He runs great routes. After a bit there, we just put him at one spot and let him concentrate on that. He improved throughout the season. He's tough, he's fast and he's quick."

Sounds great. He could easily get over 1,000 yards…

If the offense runs the ball more.

You hear it all over the place: "Brian Westbrook is a great pass catcher." He probably is, but catching passes should come second to gaining ground yardage if you are a starting running back in the NFL. And, when I say "come second" I mean by more than a just single yard (617 rush yards and 616 receiving yards in 12 games last year).

For the Philadelphia Eagles offense, the 2006 season should end with numbers closer to 490 carries and 510 passes. So, subtract 110 pass attempts and add on an additional 125 runs.

Then, hopefully the extra carries should help to bring about more of those 120-yard performances, such as the one Brian Westbrook enjoyed in Week 11, and those 114-yard standouts, such as the one backup Ryan Moats posted in Week 14.

A healthy Donovan McNabb under center will undoubtedly help the Eagles prevail in more games next season. But if Andy Reid plans to head into the 2006 season with the same week-by-week gameplan as last year, "more games" could mean just one or two. And in the NFC East division, 8-8 won't furnish you with a bid to the playoffs.

In short, the only running that is allowed to stop in Philadelphia next season is the running of Terrell Owens' mouth.

-Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal ...
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