Eagles Punt Returners Lose First Game of Season

>>Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed Lose Season Opener [FanHouse]

>>live 1st half thoughts | live 2nd half thoughts [The 700 Level]

>>My 2007 Season Preview in which I tell you that you didn't know the special teams coach's name.  Now you should.

Comments

[phillyfan1028]

F*ck the eagles returners, who the hell in the NFL runs 20 yards up to catch a fair catch, o yeah i forgot the best player ever, JR Reed. what happend to bethal johnson, jeremy bloom, even reno mahe, at least they knew what they were doing!

[Gaze]

Bullshit.... Andy Reid lost this game. With 2 minutes left, Westbrook or Lito should have been back there taking punts. Big Red made shitty decisions today!

Someone needs to call Bloom and get him off the slopes!!!

[Kulp]

This is completely on the hands of Andy Reid. It goes right up there with a rather long list of opening day losses where Andy has largely been the guy to blame.

Even besides all the issues in the return game, why did he decide to stop running the ball in the second half? I thought Westbrook had been pretty effective at giving the offense short distances for first downs. Instead, they came out of the locker and let Donovan take a beating.

[enrico]

I agree Andy deserves a lot of blame, mostly for throwing in GLew as the PR at the last minute. The guy hasn't practiced back there.

Also, while I agree they didn't give Westy the ball enough, Marty is now calling the plays.

[Matt]

Next week, no returner at all. Send 11 after every punt. If we had done that today, the Eagles win this game.

This is by far the worst Eagles loss since the last time there was a game they definitely should have won if they hadn't f-ed everything up.

[Jake]

... where have you gone, Reno Mahe
a region turns its lonely eyes to you ...

[ryan]

Andy Reid doesn't coach the special teams, so to blame him for having Greg Lewis returning punts is retarded. Almost as retarded as Greg Lewis being out there to return punts. We don't have a punt returner on our team, and that's what cost us. Greg Lewis might get cut to bring in someone who can actually field a punt though.

This loss isn't really devastating though, the defense played well, the offense was troubled by a few mental mistakes, but lost too many opportunities to make something happen because the special teams kept costing them possessions. Let's hope next week we have made some wholesale changes on special teams, including a roster move or two, and we have a nice beat down in our home opener. I have some shitty SRO tickets, so I hope so.

[enrico]

Andy Reid decides who makes the team and who doesn't.

[Ian]

This is on Reid and Tom Heckert for not picking up a punt returner. When I was tracking who was available last weekend I had hoped they would handle the situation like rational human beings. Around Monday and Tuesday I had this chilling feeling that they were going with Greg Lewis. Then Spadaro ran an article confirming this, with Lewis saying "You know, I don't know what attributes you need to be a return man. I know you have to catch the ball and gain as many yards as you can." That was frightening enough. These guys have played football too long not to know fundamentals, but it is the responsibility of the coaches to realize when a slow learning curve is going to lead to a loss.

Rory Segrest seems like a loudmouth assistant high school coach. It his job to make sure that his players know the fundamentals of the game. The special teams have been rife with problems throughout the preseason. His poor performance merits an emergency request for Harbaugh to man the special teams another year before he can move onto his next job on defense.

My laptop search for a punt returner turned up sereral names, none of which was picked up.

http://www.the700level.com/2007/09/eagles-cut-22-p.html
http://www.the700level.com/2007/09/report-dirk-joh.html

When you scratch your head it means you don’t have an explanation for someone’s decision. Maybe they were trying to save money by not picking up a player before opening game, which means they have a pay him a years’ salary. Overall it is a personnel team with many strong points, including strong scouting and a vision for how to build a team which seems to have learned from its erroneous ‘workout warrior’ approach that got them Mamula et al (and Greg Lewis, who’s on the team because of timed speed). They seem to be victims of their overconfidence, unwilling to admit a mistake and draft the same position they drafted the previous year or grab a player off the scrap heap because they are overly enamored of the guys they’ve signed already. Like Reid, a guy who does so many things right and then goes and punts the ball against the Saints.

[Ian]

Hopefully the success of the d will translate to games against better offensive teams. That's the one silver lining in this cloud - everyone on the d stepped up and Jim Johnson's risks are paying off so far.

[West End Kid]

One game, one loss, one reason, the coach!

[Joe Manning]

We cannot go into Week 2 with either of those two returning punts.

What are our options ?

[Faircatchplease]

That was the first time I have ever saw someone dive to catch a punt.

[Adam B]

Bring back Reno Mahe.

Bring back Dexter Wynn.

Also, did they sign Reggie Brown mid-game, or was Al Harris blanketing him?

[Ian]

I’m guessing Reed believed that when a kicking team downs a punt they retain possession, as is the case with a kickoff.

[gootman]

Horrible way to lose a game.

The Good: Westbrook looked good, the defense looked good (or the pack offense looked bad, hard to tell). McNabb looked healthy.

The Bad: McNabb's was lucky he only has 1 INT, he threw right at the defense a few times. Couple of his throws bounced off the turf. Where was Reggie Brown all game?

The Ugly: Greg Lewis, JR Reed, and the play calling on the Eagles last possesion.

[Big Tom]

The Phillies won if anyone cares. Look, its the first game of a long season, everyone needs to calm down a bit.
Speaking of which, I have to question the loyalty of Philly fans. The Eagles start and all of a sudden nobody mentions the baseball team anymore. Two weeks ago, nobody would shut up about the phillies. So here is an idea for all "until the eagles" start phillies fans. Shut up, talk football and when April comes around, stay talking football. The phillies don't need you.

[theKrisheim]

@ Big Tom.

Your stance on "fans" is even worse than any fair weathered fans that the Eagles or Phillies may have.

Get a clue.

[Big Tom]

@ The Krisheim

A clue? Obviously you are one of those fans that abandon the Phils when the second week of September rolls around. Don't challenge my Phillies loyalty. I was trying to convey the fact that once the Birds start, the Phillies get swept under the rug.
If you want proof, tell me who owns the majority of coverage in all the local newspapers and web blogs. The fact is this city is unable to pay attention to two teams at once.

[Chamomiles Davis]

The punt returning unit gave me agita, but the other play that upset me was running that damned swing pass five yards from the end zone. At that part of the field, why not plow forward instead of risking a loss of yardage or even worse, a turnover?

That play failed for them in the playoffs against New Orleans, and it failed twice yesterday. The defense isn't falling for it, coaches. Scrap the swing pass.

[Kulp]

@ Big Tom

Just because the Eagles take center stage doesn't mean nobody is rooting for or paying attention to the Phillies. But you're being unrealistic as there are two points you are missing:

#1, this is a football town, friend. The Eagles take center stage because people just care more about football. We like it better. It's more exciting. Hell, the Eagles only play 16 games where as the Phillies play 162, so one loss is kind of a big deal. Doesn't mean everybody suddenly forgets the Phillies are playing.

#2, the Eagles actually play in the post-season, whereas the Phillies, um... don't. Of course I'm pulling for them all the way, but how excited can I get about a team with no pitching? Even if they sneak into the playoffs, how could they possibly win a World Series while Jose Mesa and Antonio Alfonseca continue their reign of terror?

The truth is, the Phillies historically fade this time of year when their games even matter at all. But if they get hot, I can assure you that everybody here is going to notice- because we're already watching.