The Takeaway: The Perfect Andy Reid Goal Line Butchering

Welcome to The Takeaway, where we take away the three key points from the Eagles previous game, in this case the team's 29-16 loss to the Giants.

1. Witness now, the ultimate Andy Reid goal line play-calling sequence! See, this is why Eagles fans want to tear out their hair any time a sportswriter or broadcaster declares Andy Reid one of the best coaches in football. Let's take you back to the 2:40 mark in the third quarter yesterday -- with the Eagles down 14-13. You have Michael Vick, who I'm told is quite elusive, despite the fact that he will finish this season WITH EVERY BONE IN HIS BODY BROKEN, and a brilliant young back in LeSean McCoy and a blazing fast wideout in DeSean Jackson. What do you do if you're Andy Reid? You spread out the Giants and give Vick the option to run or throw, yes? Oh ho ho! No, you don't. No, if you're Andy Reid, what you do is bunch up your offense very tightly. So tightly, that there's no room to run anywhere! Then you run Owen Schmitt up the gut for no gain. Then, on the second try, you have your ailing QB get mashed into the turf on a QB sneak. Only, when the defense gets flagged, you try the EXACT same thing -- getting your QB crushed a second time.And  with your last chance before the field goal unit trots out, what do you do? Oh, you guessed it. MORE SCHMITT.

'Twas a masterpiece of horrible Andy Reid play calling, I tell you. I couldn't have drawn it up worse myself. I don't quite know why Reid goes into complete brainlock when his team is within sniffing distance of the end zone, but it sure is fun to watch if you're the kind of person who likes biting through his own hand.

2. Kevin Kolb trade remorse begins RIGHT NOW. Remember during the lockout when the Eagles were rumored to have finished a deal with the Cardinals for Kevin Kolb and you thought to yourself, "Gee, that seems a bit hasty!" Well, you thought right! Because despite paying for all that talent in August, the Eagles bafflingly let their quality backup QB go when Michael Vick is the most injury-prone starting QB in football. Now I know that Kolb isn't exactly lighting the world on fire down in Phoenix, but do you have ANY faith right now that Vick will be alive when this season is over? I don't. He's getting ruined out there. And he can complain about the officiating all he likes (he had every right to on that Chris Canty hit), but HE is the one who refuses to slide and constantly jets out from the pocket on other plays. That's on him. And between Vick's recklessness and the wishy-washy manner in which the Eagles have handled him the past two weeks (He's benched. No wait, he's in!), this whole thing is quickly becoming a disaster. They didn't HAVE to trade Kolb. But they did, and now they're paying dearly for it, just as we feared they might.

3. No one told me that Nnamdi would get pantsed like that by Victor Cruz. That was NOT in the contract language.

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