Hewson said:
Its an odd situation as Reid coached them to 4 straight NFC title games, and now seems to have lost them. The talent level hasn't dropped off as much as the on field performance has. I don't see it as much first hand, but it looks to me like they need a coaching change to shake things up, regardless of the Reid family issues.
I think Andy Reid was alright in his first few years: he wasn't spectacular, as they've always been careless with penalties and a poor play-calling team, but they had a few good drafts. His main problem comes from stubborness and arrogance. I'm about to go into a full-fledged rant in the next paragraph, so those who want the short version can just read the last sentence and be done.
He cares about winning, but not as much as he cares about things going his way and his way only. This really shows in two things: his play-calling and his personnel moves. For the personnel moves, my biggest beef is that he loves to get players and plug them in and try to make it seem like he's some kind of genius finding diamonds in the rough. It started with Five, who he drafted in 1999 and clearly is done. He was hurt going into this year, and he's played poorly. It's time for Kevin Kolb. But that would be admitting a mistake. He can't do that.
He's had others too, with lesser-known guys. He acquired an under-sized linebacker a few years ago named Mark Simoneau, who couldn't play at all. He started at MLB for two years because Reid was so arrogant and convinced he'd found a gem just because Simoneau wasn't completely worthless. He was a small guy who wasn't fast, and really had no upside.
He also loves the undrafted free agent. There's been a guy named Greg Lewis (aka The Tuba Player) who's been around for four years without a speck of athletic ability. Why? Undrafted free agent who Reid tries to pimp as some great spectable because HE found him and no one else did.
The worst, I've found, are more in line with McNabb, though: his draftees. See: Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley, Matt McCoy, Sean Considine, Todd Herremans, Reggie Brown, Correll Buckhalter, Roderick Hood (until last year). All guys who stuck around playing positions that they were under-achieving in or flat out sucked in. Why? Because Reid needs to have them in there to show his genius. The most frustrating have been the defensive tackles Patterson and Bunkley, who have single-handedly destroyed the defense this year. The team can't stop the pass because they get no pressure EVER on the QB. Neither of these guys can play. AND they are out-of-shape (see 97-yard game losing drive against Chicago).
Reid's stubborness with personnel has caused them to have a bunch of under-achievers in there. They don't sign free agents. They always try to fix it with poor draft picks and the undrafted. Which doesn't work unless you know how to draft. Which Reid doesn't.
His playcalling is similar. He loves the screen pass even though Donovan can't throw it. Whenever they throw incomplete on first down, they run on second down. Always. They never run on first down. The run-pass decisions just never add up for the situation, and yet somehow manage to simultaneously be extremely predictable.
Overall, he's an incredibly frustrating coach, because he's stubborn as anything and doesn't have a good system in place do be that stubborn about.
