The Eagles are having one of those seasons that get people fired. And who usually gets fired, the people who put it all together or the people who could not make it all work?
This is business, nothing personal — well, OK, it’s at least a little personal for the Giants whenever the Eagles are concerned. The Giants really have no reason to harbor any ill-will against Philadelphia coach Andy Reid other than hoping his team loses every game in excruciating fashion as some sort of cosmic payback for The Fumble in 1978 and The Meltdown in the Meadowlands just last year. Reid, though, could be some very round collateral damage if the Giants on Sunday put this dreadful Eagles season out of its misery.
A 3-6 record? This was unthinkable barely three months ago, when the 2011 endgame for Reid seemed more likely to culminate in him getting hoisted up and toasted, finally, as a champion as his Eagles fulfilled their presumed destiny with a Super Bowl triumph. After all, hadn’t the Eagles absolutely, positively won the Offseason Championship — unofficially known as the Dan Snyder Trophy — with a stunning free-agent shopping spree that prompted even the staunchest wait-and-see advocates to offer a salute?
These were not the sort of willy-nilly, look-what-we-did expenditures the Redskins have specialized in under Snyder’s ownership. The moves, highlighted by the addition of top-notch cornerback Nmandi Asomugha, plucked from right under the Jets’ noses, appeared to be smart and clever while also stretching the salary cap in unimaginable ways just as the Giants were being handcuffed by their own cap constraints.
The entire balance of power in the NFC East was shifting in seismic ways, and the Giants were going to drop into one of the resulting craters. It is impossible to forget general manager Jerry Reese in mid-August trying to fend off the accusations he was sleeping while the Eagles were chugging Red Bull.
“How many big, sexy moves did the Green Bay Packers make last year?’’ Reese asked. “I don’t remember a lot. Who won before? Pittsburgh? How many big sexy moves did they have? You develop players. The making a splash, the big, sexy moves, I don’t know if that always works.’’
Reese conceded the summer title to the Eagles and kept quiet when his decidedly unsexy maneuverings — the return of Ahmad Bradshaw, importing punter Steve Weatherford, getting center David Baas (“The guy touches the ball every offensive play,’’ Reese explained.) in free agency and the truly unsexy move of re-signing offensive lineman Kevin Boothe — were either ignored, mocked or used to illustrate how much further the Giants were falling behind the Eagles.
Coming off a 27-20 loss in San Francisco, this might as well be a hand-picked scenario for Giants coach Tom Coughlin. The very sight or mention of the Eagles gets those wearing blue all lathered up and not one of them forgets DeSean Jackson dancing and prancing with that awful Matt Dodge punt through the end zone and hearts of the Giants.
Justin Tuck on the radio recently delighted in recounting, “When they put it together, the thing I was quoted saying is, ‘You can’t buy championships.’ And what I meant by that is, you’ve got to build chemistry.’’
The Eagles this weekend enter MetLife Stadium after a horrid loss to the Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field, and their terrible record is not tinged by a barrage of injuries. They have, however, blown five games after leading in the fourth quarter, and now the Giants can turn out the lights to 2011 on the self-proclaimed Dream Team.
Michael Vick has two broken ribs, Jackson was benched for sleeping through meetings and Asomugha is showing that if he’s the second-best cornerback in the league he’s far, far behind Darrelle Revis, who is the best.
The Giants provided the first hint of Eagles vulnerability on Sept. 25 when little-known Victor Cruz beat Asomugha not once, but twice on touchdowns that punctuated a 29-16 victory at the Linc. The Giants now can go for the kill, strengthening their hold on first place in the division by slapping the Eagles with their seventh loss, sending them home a bunch of overcooked Birds the week before Thanksgiving.
Smith move not so bad
The Eagles’ free-agent shopping spree really jabbed at the Giants when, one day after Steve Smith enjoyed a reunion at the team’s practice facility, he pulled a fast one and signed with the Birds.
There was immediate disagreement as to Smith’s physical condition coming off December microfracture knee surgery. The Giants felt he probably would spend the first six weeks of the season on the physically unable to perform list. The Eagles insisted he was good to go, and Smith was active for the very first game, making the Giants look bad.
But Smith has been a shell of the player who in 2009 set a Giants record with 107 receptions. In the first six games, Smith had five catches and he dropped to No. 5 on the wide receiver depth chart.
Last week, after Jeremy Maclin went down with a shoulder injury, Smith caught five passes for 47 yards but caught hell from Eagles fans for sliding for safety one-yard short of a first down after a third-and-20 reception. He caught two passes for 27 yards in a cameo role when the Giants beat the Eagles back in week No. 3. With Maclin hurting, Smith could start against his former team on Sunday.
* Barry Cofield started 85 games at defensive tackle with the Giants before taking big money to sign with the Redskins this offseason. Eli Manning was the starting quarterback in all 85 games, including the playoffs.
Cofield’s new team started 3-1 with Rex Grossman at the helm — including a season-opening 28-14 beating of the Giants .
The Redskins have lost five straight, Grossman was benched for John Beck, who has been benched for Grossman.
“There’s no guarantee that we can win another game,” Cofield told reporters a day after a 20-9 loss to the Dolphins. “We just don’t have a team on our schedule that’s just going to lay down and, you know, let us beat them. If we don’t play better, there’s no reason to expect to win any games.”