Sunday, January 16, 2011

Eagles fire McDermott

Eagles coach Andy Reid is disliked in this town for his perceived stubbornness but to be fair, Big Red has been anything but this year.

In started after Week 1 when Reid quickly changed gears to board the sanity train, choosing Michael Vick over Kevin Kolb. Now, after supporting Sean McDermott earlier this week Reid, or someone in the Eagles' organization, did a 180 and fired the embattled defensive coordinator.

Asked if McDermott would return on Monday Reid said...

"Yeah, you're dealing with a guy who is a tremendous worker and a very smart individual," the coach said. "I look at it a little different than what [the public does] in that, I've seen him work with young guys, and I've seen him work through injuries, I've seen him stay positive through those situations and still put us in a position to win football games. And knowing that he is going to do nothing but improve as a coach -- just like all of us -- with experience."

After evaluating his work the rest of the week, the Eagles made the decision to cut ties.

The struggles in the red zone likely doomed McDermott. The Eagles allowed their opponent to score 78 percent of the time and those problems were amplified in the playoffs against Green Bay, which cored a touchdown on all three trips inside the Eagles' 20-yard line.

McDermott's defense also gave up a franchise-high 31 passing touchdowns this season.

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