There was no cheering in the Eagles locker room late Sunday afternoon. No rah-rah speeches, no pom-pom waving. Nothing.
If the scoreboard didn’t read “Eagles 31, Rams 13,” the casual observer would have looked at Andy Reid’s menacing scowl and thought the team had dropped its season opener.
Maybe that’s because the expectations are so high. Or maybe it’s because this team sees itself as a real-life video game. Either way, the common mantra is simple: We will get better. We will correct our mistakes.
“As coaches, we are a little greedy,” Reid said. “I want every run covered from the defensive side and every run play to be tackled at the line of scrimmage. We will go back and keep growing as a football team.”
Reid was referring to missed tackles on Steven Jackson’s 47-yard TD run; the eight penalties, including two delay of game calls; and that would-be touchdown bomb that bounced off DeSean Jackson’s hands.
“The type of talent that we have, we can do so much better,” LeSean McCoy said. “It’s just the little things. There’s some stuff that I need to get better at, and down the line. But the fact that we know that makes us a better team.”
Last year, the Eagles offense finished No. 2 in total yards (6,230). After Week 1 in 2011, they are fifth (404). Poll the players and the unified response is … not good enough.
“We understand we’re an explosive offense. We understand we can put up points in spurts,” Jeremy Maclin said. “But we know we can do better … [Reid] knows that. He understands that.”
Perhaps Mike Vick summed it up best Sunday. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win.”
