How Far Will the Eagles Fly in 2012?

Ready or not, here they come!

After a disappointing 8-8 2011 season, which featured many calls for Andy Reid’s head, jokes about Juan Castillo’s incompetence, Michael Vick injuries, annoying DeSean Jackson moments, turnovers and failed Red Zone attempts, it’s time to finally look past all of that turmoil and look forward to what should be a better and brighter 2012 NFL season in Philly! Let’s look at some of the factors that will contribute to the team’s success or demise this fall.

Key Losses and Additions 

The Eagles naturally have undergone a ton of player movement this offseason. They of course traded away Asante Samuel for a 7^th round draft pick, and traded away a few other pieces. But, the team’s biggest loss for the 2012 season wasn’t due to player movement. Very unfortunately, the Birds lost Pro-Bowl offensive lineman, Jason Peters to a re-injured Achilles. Peters will be sidelined for likely the entire season. This gigantic loss, both figuratively and physically (I mean Jason Peters is a BIG BOY), called for one of the Eagles’ biggest additions, former Bills’ OLineman Demetress Bell. Bell was ironically Buffalo’s replacement for Peters when they lost him to the Eagles. Additionally, the Eagles have brought in former Pro Bowl Middle Linebacker and imminent heart of the defense, DeMeco Ryans.

Coaching

There’s no surprise that Head Coach Reid is still on the hot seat. After tragically losing his son during the preseason, Reid decided to deal with his grieving by returning straight to football. With that, he’s given himself room for no excuses and he will still be held accountable for his decision to promote Castillo to Defensive Coordinator. The big names, including, Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, Special Teams Coordinator Bobby April, Defensive Line Coach Jim Washburn and Offensive Line Coach Howard Mudd, have all returned to the Eagles coaching staff this season. But, all eyes are on the Eagle’s new Secondary Coach, Todd Bowles. Bowles is entering his 13^th season as an NFL assistant. He is expected to severely improve the play of the Birds’ highly paid cornerbacks and inexperienced safeties. But, we’ll get more in a little bit.

Rookie Class

This offseason, the Eagles had a truly incredible draft. Their incoming rookie class is arguably the greatest of the Andy Reid era. This talented group of youngsters should truly impact the team right away this season, and primarily on defense. First, the Birds definitely bolstered their front 7 with the additions of DT Fletcher Cox from Mississipi State, DE Vinny Curry from Marshall and LB Mychal Kendricks from California. During the preseason, all three of these pass rushers were physical and effective. CB Brandon Boykin from Georgia will definitely be a great addition as well. He will battle for playing time in the nickel and dime packages and should be one of Bobby April’s favorite players on Special Teams. And, last but not certainly not least; Nick Foles has entered the minds and hearts of Eagles fans. After the team grew very cautious in protecting Michael Vick’s ribs and Mike Kafka’s injuries gave him a free trip to the unemployment list, Foles stepped right into the backup quarterback slot and shined. While starting the final 2 preseason games for the Eagles, and playing almost all of Game 3 at Cleveland, Foles showed great poise and collectiveness as he passed for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns with only 1 interception in his first professional start. Even though it was only in the preseason, he was still very impressive. 

Offense

Michael Vick. Shady McCoy. DeSean Jackson. Jeremy Maclin. Brent Celek. We know how high potent the Eagles offense should be. Now, it’s only a matter of they can get the job done. Even with Vick only taking a limited number of snaps in the preseason, there have been reports after reports about how busy the star QB has been preparing for this season. He says he only has his thoughts set on the Super Bowl, but it’s time for him to stop talking and being covered by First Take and prove something on the field.

Defense
Many people and experts are saying that the fate of the Eagles’ season relies on the health of Vick. I think that this team will go as far as the defense takes them. Shady is going to run for 1000+ yards and the offense will score at least 17 points a game. If the defense can do their job, this Birds club could be playing deep into winter. It was truly a treat watching Castillo and Washburn send 8 into the box and punish quarterbacks and running backs left and right in the preseason. I really enjoyed seeing them get past multiple offensive lines with tremendous ease. But now, they have to do it in the regular season when the lights are really on. I’m not too sure that Castillo will be able to put together a complete 16 game season of defensive excellence, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Special Teams

The Eagles have brought back Chaz Henry and Alex Henery to star in their kicking game one again. Chaz beat out former Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl punter Mat McBriar during preseason. And again, coach Bobby April has a lot of talented young players who are looking to contribute in any way possible. The Eagles should also be very effective in the return game this season, bringing back DeSean Jackson and adding Boykin as well as Demarious Johnson.

Prediction
While all eyes are on Michael Vick to see if he can stay healthy, my attention is again focused on the Eagles front 7 or 8’s success this season.  Will the Wide-9 prove dominant? Will Demeco Ryans be the savior of the line backing corps? I think the answer is yes to both of those questions. With the defense being successful and efficient, they will allow Michael Vick to have the most opportunities possible to put up points. With more time and more plays, Vick might just be able to play a little more cautious and smart knowing that his defense will go back out there and stop the other team when he steps off the field. Regardless, it’s pretty much guaranteed Vick will only start 14 games at most this season. And, Nick Foles and given a lot of Philly faithfuls hope for those games that Vick will miss. With everything clicking right for this team and facing a pretty difficult schedule, I think the ceiling for this team is an 11-5 regular season but they will probably win 9 or 10 games. 10 wins will probably win the NFC East division this season. The Redskins are a shoe-in for 6-10, the Cowboys are going to be around .500 and the Giants should be around 9-7 as well. If the Eagles defense can take care of business and save Juan Castillo’s job, look for the Birds to be playing a home playoff game come winter.