Remixed Evaluation Argument

The date is February 6, 2005. The Philadelphia Eagles have just lost Super Bowl XXXIX. Thousands of people in the Philadelphia area are devastated, and none of them want to think about football. It takes them a long time, but eventually fans of Philadelphia have recovered from the loss. Fast forward a few months and the Eagles become the topic of conversation once again in every household in and around Philadelphia. Nobody can wait for the upcoming season. The Eagles are going to soar through the regular season and playoffs, and once again compete for a Super Bowl ring! There is only one thing that can bring the spirits in Philadelphia down: a below average start to the 2005-2006 season. At 4-3, the Eagles have underachieved and disappointed thousands of people, and now must battle in order to be able to make the playoffs. Why are they in a position to climb the ranks rather than watch their “competition” fall far below them? This can be attributed to a number of aspects, including their quarterback, their coaching staff, and the rest of the league.

Every team has a “franchise player.” This player must be a leader, both on and off the field. This player takes a loss personally, and takes no credit for a win. The franchise generally invests a lot of money in this player, and by doing so, expresses an expectation of greatness in the player’s performance. Quarterback Donovan McNabb is that player for the Eagles. He is looked upon as the key player for the Eagles, and their success is completely dependent upon his performance. When he plays well, the team plays well. When he struggles, the team struggles. This year Donovan McNabb has had a sub-par season, to say the least. In the first game of the season, McNabb suffered a sport hernia, a nagging injury that can only be corrected by surgery. McNabb chose to put the surgery off to the end of the season and instead play through the pain. As a result, he has not been performing well. The statistic that is often used to judge the performance of a quarterback is his rating, a complex combination of all of the statistics produced by a quarterback. The “perfect rating” is a 158.3; this can only be achieved with a “perfect” game. With a quarterback rating of 87.9, this has been a very disappointing season for McNabb. 87.9 is also a very deceiving number, considering McNabb posted ratings of 155.4 and 103.6 against two struggling teams in the league. Other than those two teams, only one team has allowed a rating of more than 80 (Donovan McNabb Player Card). Perhaps it is McNabb’s injury that is causing his struggles, maybe it is [perhaps] not. The bottom line is Donovan McNabb is not performing to his potential. When the franchise player does not produce, a team will not succeed.

Another problem that the Eagles have experienced this year is in their coaching staff. Head coach Andy Reid and the rest of the coaches for the Eagles have been known for their superiority in the league for years. Great personnel decisions and consistency in production season in and season out have contributed to a high level of respect for this coaching staff. This year has been a disappointment. It is common knowledge that in order to succeed in the NFL a team must have the ability to run the ball. While Andy Reid has always felt the need to pass the ball a little bit more than the average coach, this year we have seen a ridiculous excess of passes. The Eagles have passed the ball 80% of the time. This past week, they actually had a possession that lasted a mere twelve seconds. The average person can hold their breath for longer than that possession lasted. This is unacceptable. When the quarterback is injured to begin with, common sense says to leave him in as little danger as possible. The only way to do this is to take the ball out of his hands. Andy Reid has refused to do this, and as a result, the team is suffering. The decisions made by this coaching staff must change in order for the team to meet expectations.

While problems within the organization have put the Eagles in a position to have to chase the rest of their opponents in the division, externalities exist as well. The rest of the league has played a big role in putting the Eagles in a rut. First of all, the rest of the division has gotten much better. The Eagles are one game over five-hundred, and are in last place in their division. The Chicago Bears have the same record, and are in first place in their division. Due to the fact that the rest of the Eagles’ division has become much more talented, the Eagles are in a situation in which they are chasing teams, rather than being chased. In addition to this division getting better, the rest of the league has “figured the Eagles out.” Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has always been known as a mastermind of the sport. He has been able to create confusion for the other team with much ease, but this year has been different. Other teams have been able to handle his blitzes, penetrate his zones, and run right through his defensive schemes. The only way the Eagles will be able to get out of this hole is to change their game-plans.

The Eagles were expected to not only go to the Super Bowl this year, but to win it. They have been in serious competition for a Super Bowl victory for the past four years, and this year was supposed to be the year they crossed the line. Thus far, the Eagles have been nothing but a huge disappointment. With a record barely taking them past five hundred, the Eagles are now in the basement of their division and are looking at the backs of all three teams [what does that even mean?]. There are several factors leading to this performance, and many pieces of the puzzle must be changed in order to turn this season around.

[This essay is a bit more of a causal argument than an evaluation. That said, it does still manage to do an okay job of evaluation and the essay is well written. Some of the football jargon is also a little too thick, at times, so watch that sort of thing when writing your final project.]

WORK CITED

“Donovan McNabb Player Card”. November 3, 2005. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4650∞


Evaluation Argument

The date is February 6, 2005. The Philadelphia Eagles have just lost Super Bowl XL. Thousands of people in the Philadelphia area are devastated, and none of them want to think about football. It takes them a long time, but eventually fans of Philadelphia have recovered from the loss. Fast forward a few months and the Eagles become the topic of conversation once again in every household. Nobody can wait for the upcoming season. The Eagles are going to soar through the regular season and playoffs, and once again compete for a Super Bowl ring! There is only one thing that can bring the spirits in Philadelphia down: a below average start to the 2005-2006 season. At 4-3, the Eagles have underachieved and disappointed thousands of people, and now must battle in order to be able to make the playoffs. Why are they in a position to climb the ranks rather than watch their “competition” fall far below them? This can be attributed to a number of aspects, including their quarterback, their coaching staff, and the rest of the league.

Every team has a “franchise player.” This player must be a leader, both on and off the field. This player takes a loss personally, and takes no credit for a win. The franchise generally invests a lot of money in this player, and by doing so, expresses an expectation of greatness in the player’s performance. Quarterback Donovan McNabb is that player for the Eagles. He is looked upon as the key player for the Eagles, and their success is completely dependent upon his performance. When he plays well, the team plays well. When he struggles, the team struggles. This year Donovan McNabb has had a sub-par season, to say the least. In the first game of the season, McNabb suffered a sport hernia, a nagging injury that can only be corrected by surgery. McNabb chose to put the surgery off to the end of the season and instead play through the pain. As a result, he has not been performing well. The statistic that is often used to judge the performance of a quarterback is his rating, a complex combination of all of the statistics produced by a quarterback. With a quarterback rating of 87.9, this has been a very disappointing season for McNabb. 87.9 is also a very deceiving number, considering McNabb posted ratings of 155.4 and 103.6 against two struggling teams in the league. Other than those two teams, only one team has allowed a rating of more than 80. (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4650∞) Perhaps it is McNabb’s injury that is causing his struggles, perhaps it is not, but the bottom line is Donovan McNabb is not performing to his potential. When the franchise player does not produce, a team will not succeed.

Another problem that the Eagles have experienced this year is in their coaching staff. Head coach Andy Reid and the rest of the coaches on the Eagles have been known for their superiority in the league for years. Great personnel decisions and consistency in production season in and season out have contributed to a high level of respect for this coaching staff. This year has been a disappointment. It is common knowledge that in order to succeed in the NFL a team must have the ability to run the ball. While Andy Reid has always felt the need to pass the ball a little bit more, this year we have seen a ridiculous excess of passes. The Eagles have passed the ball 80% of the time. This past week, they actually had a possession that lasted a mere 12 seconds. The average person can hold their breath for longer than that possession lasted. This is unacceptable. When the quarterback is injured to begin with, common sense says to leave him in as little danger as possible. The only way to do this is to take it out of his hands. Andy Reid has refused to do this, and as a result, the team is suffering. The decisions made by this coaching staff must change in order for the team to meet expectations.

While problems within the organization have put the Eagles in a position to have to chase the rest of their opponents in the division, externalities exist as well. The rest of the league has played a big role in putting the Eagles in a rut. First of all, the rest of the division has gotten much better. The Eagles are one game over five-hundred, and are in last place in their division. The Chicago Bears have the same record, and are in first place in their division. The fact that the rest of the Eagles’ division has become much more talented, the Eagles are in a situation in which they are chasing teams, rather than being chased. In addition to this division getting better, the rest of the league has “figured the Eagles out.” Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has always been known as a mastermind of the sport. He has been able to create confusion for the other team with much ease, but this year has been different. Other teams have been able to handle his blitzes, penetrate his zones, and run right through our defense. The rest of the league has figured us out. The only way we will be able to get out of this whole is to change our game-plans.

The Eagles were expected to go to the Super Bowl this year and win. They have been in serious competition for a Super Bowl victory for the past 4 years, and this year was supposed to be the year they crossed the line. Thus far, the Eagles have been nothing but a huge disappointment. With a record barely taking them past five hundred, the Eagles are now in the basement of their division and are looking at the backs of all 3 teams. There are several factors leading to this performance, and many pieces of the puzzle must be changed in order to turn this season around.