Reid Offers ‘Simple Synopsis’ Of Loss

Listening to Andy Reid after Monday night’s loss to the Saints, it seemed clear that he’s run out of answers.

“Pretty simple synopsis of the game. When you’re 0-for-5 in the red zone, give up seven sacks, and your tackling is terrible, then you’re going to struggle to win football games in this league,” Reid said.

From here on out, every loss will lead to increased discussion about Reid’s future as the team’s head coach. By now, everyone knows that Jeffrey Lurie said 8-8 wouldn’t be good enough. The Eagles have lost four in a row and five of their last six. They would have to go 5-3 the rest of the way just to get to 8-8; 6-2 to get to 9-7.

So how does Reid block out the conversations about his future?

“I coach,” Reid said. “That’s what I do. I coach. Make sure I’m teaching the fundamentals and coaching the players to achieve and to win football games.”

With the team falling apart, that seems easier said than done.

Reid fired Juan Castillo during the bye, and the defense has been a mess under Todd Bowles the past two weeks. Offensively, the Eagles went 0-for-5 in the red zone and managed just 13 points against a defense that had been allowing over 30 points per game. The offensive line was getting abused all game long, allowing seven sacks.

“The guys keep working at it and getting themselves better,” Reid said. “And some of the sacks, you can look at coverage, you can look at play-calls, you can do the whole thing, but the bottom line is we’ve got to block the guys and do a better job.”

In the third quarter, the Eagles got a special-teams turnover and had a chance to cut the deficit to four points. They called three straight passing plays and had to settle for a field goal.

“That’s what we chose to do, and I stick with that,” Reid said.

And finally, Reid left no doubts about who the starting quarterback would be next week against the Cowboys.

“Michael Vick will be the quarterback,” he said.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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