The Philadelphia Eagles are 3-8 now.
Yes, we’ve lost 7 in a row.
Yes, we’re worse than our record.
No, I don’t believe you if you say that we’re gonna win another game this year. As a matter of fact, I’ll tell you that the Eagles are destined for a top two pick this season.
According to this poll, there’s no need to go in-depth about the Eagles woes. The issue with the team this year? They’re not playing to their potential. No one on the roster seems to be playing to their potential. No one even plays with emotion. No one even coaches with emotion, as far as I can tell.
Actually, Juan Castillo coached with some emotion. But I digress. Veterans and fans have been calling out players all year long. This Eagles team is headed for 3-13, the worst record in franchise history (tied with their 3-13 season in 1998).
Last season, defensive end Jason Babin was brought into the team after a 12.5 sack season with the Tennessee Titans, and boy, was it no fluke. In 2011, Babin recorded 18 sacks with the Eagles, only a few sacks short of Reggie White’s franchise record of 21, set in 1987. The 2011 campaign was entirely different from Babin’s earlier 2009 campaign with the team–in 2009, Babin wore #94 and was useless as a player, being cut by the end of his one season.
In 2012, he would be cut again by the Philadelphia Eagles. But this time, with a little less dignity as he would be dismissed before the end of the season and after a 5 tackle, 1 sack performance in a loss against the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football.
Game days have not been good to me, or any Eagles fan, this season. The Eagles haven’t won since September 30th and seeing the team take losses in the range of dramatic to disappointing has turned Sundays into the day we just struggle to get through on the way to another disappointing game the next week. Even through the team’s first three wins (and yes, even that version was entirely different from the current team), it was beyond stressful to get through the games.
Imagine my surprise to see a report about how one of my favorite Philadelphia Eagles–a man who I had affectionately dubbed “Captain America” prior to the season–was released from the team. Cut.
Don’t get me wrong now. Jason Babin, like everyone on the roster, has been underperforming this year. 12.5 sacks in 2011, 18 sacks in 2012, and 5.5 sacks this season through 11 games. He has only registered 26 tackles on the season and has been non-existent in stopping the run game week after week. Babin has surely left much to be desired. My issue with this move is the timing and the purpose.
To begin, I will say that I did not expect Jason Babin to return the Eagles in 2013 regardless of how this season went for him. The Eagles are wary of keeping players longer than need be, and a combination of Babin turning 33 over the summer and a $4.2mil salary he would be owed next season, it wouldn’t have surprised me at all if the team passed up on keeping him in midnight green before too long.
But why now? Is it because of his lack of production? Babin has 26 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season. For the ones supporting Babin’s release, his lack of run support is usually their primary defense But let’s look at the rest of the defensive line. Begin with Trent Cole, who is very close with Jason Babin (they often go hunting together during the offseason). Cole has been an Eagle since 2005 and is one of the most underrated linemen in the league, but this season he has totaled 24 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Brandon Graham, the breakout player earlier in this season who splits more time with Babin this year than last year? Fifteen tackles, 1.5 sacks. The interior line? Cullen Jenkins has 18 tackles on the season and 2 sacks. Rookie Fletcher Cox (a.k.a. Thor)? He currently seems to be the best lineman on the team, with just 29 tackles and 3 sacks.
The lack of production simply cannot be the answer, because no other lineman has outplayed Babin this season, with the exception of Fletcher Cox, who you could certainly put an argument up for. As a matter of fact, the Eagles rank 28th in the League in total sacks. I have never been one to single out players when the unit is the issue.
Babin started slow, but in the last few weeks he had been gaining consistency. His 3 sacks in the last four games compares favorably to his 2.5 sacks in his first seven games. A trivial move to release the man as he starts to get on a roll.
What if it was to send a message? What if the Eagles were simply trying to tell its players that “enough is enough”, and it’s time to kick it into high gear?
Not sure where to even begin with this. If you haven’t realized this, we haven’t been a good team at all this year. No one unit on this team has been playing well. The defensive line hasn’t been able to put pressure on anyone. Nnamdi Asomugha has been a pass interference magnet and an eye-rollingly frequent burn victim, while Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is the most penalized cornerback in the NFL. Rookie Mychal Kendricks is one of the least efficient linebackers in the League. The quarterback position, whoever is taking snaps, has been turnover-happy all year, Jeremy Maclin has been a non-factor the entire season while DeSean Jackson, though having a solid year (improving noticeably on his catch rate this season), has only caught two touchdown passes this season and was placed on IR promptly after the Monday night loss against the Panthers for injured ribs. The offensive line is beyond decimated and Andy Reid likes to let LeSean McCoy take unnecessary hits at the end of blowout victories.
In what way does “sending a message” through Jason Babin making any sense? If this was Nnamdi Asomugha we were discussing, a guy who has been the poster boy for the Eagles’ shortcoming since his first game repping Philadelphia, I would understand. If this was Andy Reid, the head coach of the team whose head people have been calling for this entire season, I would understand. If this was even Michael Vick (check out his fresh outfit, by the way!), this would be a moot point. However, I don’t see the effectiveness in sending a message by cutting Jason Babin when simply, there are a lot more options and significant players to choose from.
Please note that I want none of these players cut. Not before the end of the season, anyway.
The final suggestion for Babin being cut is to make room for the younger players, to give them more time in the rotation and show their stuff on the field. Vinny Curry, in his first start of the season, totaled five tackles against the Carolina Panthers. The Philly faithful have been waiting patiently for him to get his turn, especially with the defensive line looking nothing like their 2011 incarnation.
In that regard, I understand the move. The season is lost, and one would have to be in-denial to see the playoffs at the end of the regular season. The team may as well get young guys in, such as Vinny Curry, to show what they’ve got to finish out the season. Call it an extended preseason.
I would agree with that move, but why not bench Babin, or at least cut his time in the rotation? While keeping Babin in if the Eagles truly are out of any type of playoff contention seems pointless, it’s the timing of the matter that gets to me. In a point in the season where the team is in complete disarray, does releasing Jason Babin inspire any type of hope or assurance that the team knows what needs to happen for next season? I’m not sure. The entire act seems as if the Eagles are looking for a scapegoat, notable to the firing of Juan Castillo earlier in the year which has done nothing but backfire heavily. That firing was similar–showing up in the news almost randomly with no one being completely sure if it was a winning or even positive news. At the time, Castillo’s firing was dismissed as a jumpstart to the Eagles season. This move hasn’t been met with the same reception, but the similarities are too eerie.
To me, Merrill Reese (the voice of the Philadelphia Eagles, the team’s radio announcer since 1977) yelling out “and a sack by Jason Babin!” is the second-sweetest sound to hear, trailing only the “TOUCHDOWN!” exclamation by the same man. I’m going to miss it on Sundays, and I’m going to miss Jason Babin and his million-dollar smile even more.
If Babin truly is a scapegoat, and the Eagles do have a plan, it needs to show, quickly. The team is having trouble doing anything right, and this move doesn’t sit with me well enough to make me feel like this puts us on any road to get better.
Field Notes 
