| Tom Lee. 6th February, 2009 - 11:09 am
 As I sat in my comfortable red recliner -- the wife won't let me get a green one because it doesn't match the décor of the family room -- watching Super Bowl XLIII with envy and still upset that the Eagles were on the golf course, I started to wonder what separates the Eagles from the Cardinals and Steelers.
After all, the Eagles have been to five NFC Championship games and made the playoffs in seven of the last ten years. As I watched Arizona and Pittsburgh battle it out in the first third quarters, I would analyze each play and ask myself, "Could the Eagles play like that?"
The answer was "yes" until the last three minutes of the game. What stood out was that both the Cardinals and Steelers had wide receivers the came up big at the end of the game. That is something that Philadelphia's receivers were unable to do at the end of any game the entire season, including the playoffs.
There are two standing arguments as to why the Eagles receivers do not come up big.
One is that Donovan McNabb chokes in the last two minutes of halves, which I personally don't buy. McNabb threw for the second-most yards in the playoffs despite playing one less game than Kurt Warner. He also threw for more yards than Ben Roethlisberger.
The second argument is the Eagles' receivers are just not top-level type players. I back this argument more and there are statistics to prove it's validity. I researched all over the internet to find the stats on dropped passes, and I'm assuming they define dropped passes as balls that hit the receiver in the hands.
The Eagles were fourth in the league in dropped passes behind Jacksonville, Cleveland, and the New York Giants.
Since the last two minutes of the half seems to be the thorn in the Eagles' side, I did some research to compare the Eagles receiver's performance to some of the premier receivers in the league during the final two minutes.
Some of the stats were astounding. Let's start with the two Super Bowl teams. The Steelers' Santonio Holmes was thrown to 11 times in the last two minutes of a half. In those games he caught 11 passes for 136 yards, seven first downs and two touchdowns. Hines Ward was targeted in final moments of 10 games. He caught 11 passes for 96 yards, eight first downs and two touchdowns.
The Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald was thrown to in this situation during eleven games. He caught 10 passes for 108 yards and six first downs. Anquan Boldin was only thrown to in the last two minutes of just five games, but he had 5 catches for 78 yards and four first downs.
I then selected who I feel are the Eagles top-two wide receivers, DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis. Jackson was thrown in the last two minutes of 11 games, but only caught seven balls. He did have 96 receiving yards, but only four first downs and zero touchdowns. Kevin Curtis had 5 catches in two games for 56 yards and two first downs. No other receiver even came close.
The disparity is even more prominent when you compare the Eagles receivers to other premier receivers, such as Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Andre Johnson, Randy Moss and Andre Johnson. Without going into all of the details, their stats in the last two minutes of games are comparable to Ward and Holmes, and in many cases even better.
Another thing that makes these premier receivers great is that I'm sure defensive coordinators lose sleep at night and design schemes specifically to stop these playmakers, but they still manage to come through at crunch time.
On the other hand, a team playing the Eagles, could probably give defensive backs a second bye-week prior to the game.
Lastly, being the football junkie that I am, I have watched these premier receivers over the years and they all seem to have a "that ball is mine, I don't care what I have to do to get it" mentality, where the Eagles receivers seem to have a "if the defensive back doesn't want it, the stars are all in alignment and it hits me in hands, this could be my lucky day" outlook when it comes to catching passes.
I will run down my street naked the next time I see an Eagles receiver go up in the air take a pass away from one or two defenders, or catch a pass that appears to be uncatchable.
Whether through the draft, free agency, or the current roster (highly unlikely, but Jackson has a chance), the Eagles must develop one or two receivers that have the mentality to demand the ball in two-minute drills. |
