Is the Eagles’ Offensive Approach Sustainable?

Andy Reid doesn't apologize for Sunday's loss against the Cardinals, but the Eagles coach did admit (again) that he needs to do a better job.

"All-in-all, we obviously need to do a better job," Reid admitted.  "I need to do a better job as the head football coach. It’s my responsibility if there are failures on both sides of the football. It obviously comes back to the head coach there. Getting a team prepared is very, very important, and I take full responsibility for that. We need to coach better, we need to prepare better, and we need to play better."

Reid stated during his Monday press conference that he needs to take a look at some things along the offensive line in order to limit mistakes and maximize efficiency in quarterback Mike Vick, admitting that turnovers are hurting the team.

“We’ve got to look at a couple of things, but I thought we had a few things set up there," Reid explained.  "We've got to do a better job with protection and I’ve got to make sure I put the guys in the right position to start with and make sure that we get the right routes and the ball out on time and all those things.”

Vick has six interceptions on the season but ranks third overall with 905 passing yards. One would think with Philadelphia's defense playing as well as it is, Reid would be content with playing it safe on offense to try and keep Vick healthy and give time to allow him to gain more confidence in his line - oh yeah and it will allow you to use LeSean McCoy more.

However, Reid didn't seem to think his offensive play-calling was an issue and didn't seem to suggest that it was about to change anytime soon.

“Well, we’ve got explosive players," Reid stated.  "So, with that, you’re going to take your shots. I mean, that’s what we do. I’m not saying take your shots on the quarterback; I’m saying take your shots down the field. That’s one of our strengths and has been over the last few years. We’ll continue to do that. The high-wire part of it, you want to think that you can do both and do them well, but I can’t sit here and tell you that we’ve done that consistently this year. I’m saying put long drives together like we need to. We’ve done it at the end of halves; we haven’t done it during regulation play there."

Reid shared similar thoughts when he talked about Vick and the subject of holding the ball to long.

“Everybody’s got a little piece of this,"explained Vick.  "To say that there’s not a play here or there that he might hold the ball too long, I can’t tell you ‘no’ on that and he’d be the first to tell you. That’s not the case every time he throws or gets hit. That’s not the case.”

How much longer can Reid continue to dial up pass-after-pass and risk his quarterback getting killed, with an offensive line that can't protect and a quarterback who is holding the ball to long?

“I’ll tell you, he’s getting hit way too much," Reid admitted.  "That’s what I can tell you. At this point, it’s way too much, so that part’s got to end. We’ve got to limit that.”

So is Reid thinking about making a change at the quarterback position?  “Right now we’re with Michael and that’s what we’re doing. We’ll evaluate as we go.”

So will we, stay tuned.