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Philadelphia Eagles By: Lester The Philadelphia Eagles fans are probably happy that the 1998 season is over! The Eagles laid a bunch of bad eggs during the 1998 season. The Eagles finished the season 3-13. This was the franchises worst winning percentage since 1972 when the team went 2 - 11 - 1. The Eagles three wins this year came against the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions and the St. Louis Rams. The Eagles beat the Redskins when both teams were 0 - 5. They beat the Lions by 1 point and they beat the Rams in overtime. The major problem in 1998 for the Eagles was the play of the offense. During a game on Dec. 20 versus the Cowboys, the Eagles offense ran 38 plays inside the Cowboys 34-yard line and didn't reach the end zone. They definitely didn't fly like an Eagle! The offense finished dead last in total yards/game (261.8), passing yards/game (150.8) and points/game (10.1). As a matter of fact, the most points they scored in a game this year were 21. The next highest total points in a game were 17 (they did this 3 times). The Eagles finished 29 in 1st downs and 23rd on 3rd efficiency. The main reason that led to these poor offensive ratings was the inconsistency at the quarterback position. They started the season with Bobby Hoying. Because of poor performances in the first 10 quarters of the season, he was benched after halftime of the team's 3rd game for veteran Rodney Peete. Rodney Peete made is first start of the young season against Kansas City and held the starting position until he was hurt (laceration in the index finger on his throwing hand) in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. Back came Hoying, who was eventually benched again in game twelve for Ty Detmer's younger brother, Koy Detmer. Koy finished as the starting QB for the rest of the season. Three quarterbacks, three victories? Each QB won a game. Hoying's victory came against Detroit. Peete's victory came against the Redskins and Detmer's victory came against the Rams. Hoying's season ending QB rating was a poor 45.6, while Detmer did a lot better at 68.2. To make matters worse, RB Duce Staley was the Eagles leading receiver with 57 receptions. Irving Fryar was the team's second leading receiver with 48 and Jeff Graham was third with 47. I think it's fair to say that the Eagles passing game was nonexistent. The bright spot offensively was the running game, which was lead by Staley. The Eagles finished 14th in rushing yards/game. Duce Staley finished the season with 1,065 yards on 258 attempts and 5 TDs. He became only the 6th RB in Eagles history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Fellow RB Charlie Garner finished the season with 381 yards and 4 TDs. Garner was also injured for the majority of the season. The Eagles were also very poor in the Red Zone, finishing with a ranking of 26th (.406). Defensively, the Eagles fared a lot better. They finished 1st against the pass (170yds/game) and they finished with 42 sacks. They also were 12th on 3rd down efficiency. Hugh Douglas was the teams sack leader finishing with 12.5 sacks. Wallace finished with 6.0 and Greg Jefferson had 4.0. Douglas and Jefferson were able to calculate these sacks despite playing with groin and ankle injuries. The weak spot on the defense was stopping the run. They finished 27th in rush defense (151 yard/game) and 21st (.547) in the Red Zone. Teams had 53 possessions in the Red Zone and scored 29 TDs and 14 FGs. Injuries to the defensive line were the main problem in their rush defense. They lost Mike Mamula with a season ending injury during the preseason. DT Rhett Hall, Hollis Thomas and Bill Johnson all were eventually placed on IR. Because of these injuries, they were forced to start a rookie, Brandon Whiting and a 3rd year player, Steve Martin at DTs. The Eagles didn't do to well on special teams play either. Allen Rossum was their leading Punt and Kick returner averaging 8.3 yards/punt return and 24.6 yards/kick return. The team's punter, Hutton, had a net average of 34.9. Kicker Chris Boniol was 14 of 21 on field goals. He missed 6 FGs from 40-49 yards. The best thing the Eagles did on special teams in 1998 was their punt and kick off coverage teams. They finished ranked 9th and 4th respectively. Finally, the Eagles were poor in their Turnover-Takeaway ratio. They were minus 9 in this category with 26 turnovers and only 17 takeaways. As you can see, the Eagles didn't and don't have much to be happy about on their accomplishments of the 1998 season. The only thing that is good is the fact that they can only get better in 1999. Free Agency and Off Season Before the season even ended, the Eagles started making some moves. The best one was signing CB Bobby Taylor to a 6 year contract extension that runs through the year 2004. They also signed DE Greg Jefferson to a 4-year contract extension, DE Hugh Douglas and FS Brian Dawkins was signed through the year 2003. Once the season ended, the Eagles wasted no time on going in a new direction with the team. They fired head coach Ray Rhodes on Dec. 28. Some say that Rhodes stepped down. Green Bay, who in turn lost their QB coach Andy Reid, hired Rhodes. Well, Andy Reid became the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles on January 11th signing a 5-year deal. Reid became the 3rd head coach under owner Jeffrey Lurie since 1994. Lurie feels that Reid will bring and instill an atmosphere of optimism. Once Reid was hired, he wasted no time in putting together a staff or signing players. Offensive line coach Juan Castillo was re-signed and David Culley was named the WR coach. Culley comes to the Eagles from the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he coached their receivers for the past three years. On January 12th, the New York Giants QB coach Rod Dowhower was hired to be the Eagles Offensive Coordinator. On the same day, Brad Childress was hired to the Eagles QB coach. Childress recently was the Offensive Coordinator/QB coach at Wisconsin. Two days later, Pat Shurmur, the nephew of Seattle Offensive Coordinator Fritz Shurmur, was hired to be the teams TE coach and assistant with the offensive line. Shurmur was the offensive line coach (guards and centers) at Stanford during the 1998 season. Also, Tom Melvin was hired to be the team's offensive assistant in charge of quality control. Melvin spent the last 7 years as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Occidental College in Los Angeles. The very next day, January 15th, Reid retained a few of the Eagles coaches. He kept special teams Coach John Harbaugh, running back coach Ted Williams and strength and conditioning Coach Mike Wolf. The Eagles also signed such players as K David Akers, WR Kotto Cotton, P Tony Martino, WR Harvey Middleton, LB Patrise Alexander and S Kenny Harris. It's hard to say exactly what Reid and the Eagles will do in free agency, but they will be very active. None of the Eagles FA are players that they must sign. They must next make a decision on what to do with DE Mike Mamula, who has been a major disappointment. They also have to answer the question on what they will do at the QB position. Hoying and Detmer are both free agents. Director of Football Operations Tom Modrak thinks Hoying is salvageable and he doesn't think that Detmer is a NFL prototype QB. They most likely will still tender Hoying a qualifying offer since he is a restricted free agent. It has also been said that the Eagles may go after an offensive right tackle to compliment rookie LT Tra Thomas. The Eagles free agents are as follows:
OG Ian Beckles Exposed to the Expansion Draft
WR Jeff Graham Needs via free agency or the Draft As stated earlier, the Eagles may go after an offensive RT. They will not do this with their 2nd overall pick in the draft. The Eagles will entertain offers of trading this pick. It has been said the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams and the New Orleans Saints have shown interest in acquiring the second pick. If the Eagles keep this pick, they will most likely select 6'0'' 230lb Texas RB Ricky Williams. Williams would be the safe pick for the Eagles. Staley and Williams would turn out to be a pretty good backfield. The Eagles do have a quality RB in Duce Staley. Therefore, they could trade down to the 5th (Redskins) or 6th (Rams) pick and still acquire the QB that they desperately need. Either Central Florida's QB Daunte Culpepper, Syracuse's QB Donovan McNabb or Oregon's QB Akili Smith will still be available at the 5th or 6th pick. The Eagles really like McNabb because they feel that he has the upside of a Brett Favre. Most likely, the Eagles will use their 1st round pick on RB Williams or trade down no lower than 6th and select NcNabb. They will probably use their second round pick on either a RT offensive tackle or a QB. There are rumblings that they would use their second round pick on UCLA's QB Cade McNown if he is available. Other needs for the Eagles are a big play WR, a receiving TE, a better all-around DL, a weak side LB and a Strong Safety. With WR Irving Fryar retiring; WR Jeff Graham on the expansion draft list and WR Freddie Solomon being a free agent and on the expansion draft list, the Eagles will place some priority on getting a receiver as well as keeping Graham or Solomon. Word is they would rather keep Solomon. Some FA targets that the Eagles will bring in for visits are QB Rich Gannon, WR Leslie Shepherd, WR Charles Johnson, WR Rocket Ismail, TE Mark Bruener, OG Adam Timmerman, OG Orlando Brown, OLB Roman Phifer, LB Todd Collins, S Carnell Lake and S Lee Flowers. Charles Johnson may follow Coach Culley, who was his receiver coach at Pittsburgh. Other possible draft picks are WR D'Wayne Bates, WR Troy Edwards, WR Tai Streets, TE Rufus French, OG Derrick Fletcher, OT Jay Humphrey, S Marquis Smith and S/OLB Larry Atkins.
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