Bill Conlin: Andy Reid keeps singing same old timeout tune
'TIME KEEPS ON slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future . . . "
'TIME KEEPS ON slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future . . . "
Ironically, that line is from the classic rock anthem, "Fly Like an Eagle." And it is hard to believe that the performer who sang it was Steve Miller and not Andy Reid.
On the first day of Eastern Standard Time, Andy's watch stayed on EDT - Eagles Delay Time.
If Reid had been Frederic Chopin, the "Minute Waltz" would have run out of clock.
In a week when Tea Party candidates helped rearrange the national political landscape, coach tossed a "T-Party" of his own.
Thanks to a lost Reid challenge and a TO called by quarterback Michael Vick as the play clock was about to run out, the Eagles were out of timeouts with 7:14 left in the first half. DeSean Jackson had lost 8 yards on a quick out pass that was blown up by strong safety Aaron Francisco.
When Vick began the first-half 2-minute offense with 1:58 on the clock, he had a 16-14 lead and the wind at his back. But time was not on his side. He had to work the sidelines, lost 10 yards on a first-down sack and faced a third-and-20 from his own 20. Fullback Owen Schmitt's reception left him 8 yards short. But he wisely stayed in bounds, forcing the Colts to use a timeout.
Sav Rocca's wind-influenced punt went just 18 yards and Peyton Manning had the ball back at midfield with 1:04 to move into field-goal range. With the clock at :07, Adam Vinatieri drilled a 37-yarder and the Eagles trailed 17-16, despite totally outplaying the team that lost to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.
Hard to believe, Harry, but despite more shaky time management - including Reid's second lost challenge of the game - the Eagles continued to dominate. They hung on for a 26-24 victory that could have been a blowout, were it not for the lost timeouts and three defensive penalties that kept the game's most feared passer in business.
Once again, Vick was the best football player on the field, however, throwing lasers through the gusting northwest wind and outrunning even the wind in his first start since becoming a ribeye sandwich on the goal line against the Redskins 3 weeks ago.
He even ran out of bounds to the sanctuary of safety a couple of times, instead of flinging his cruiserweight's body into the nearest defensive back or linebacker.
"I was really fired up about that," Reid said. "He's making a little progress."
But wait . . . Here's Ilsa Laszlo at Andy's postgame presser.
"Time's yours . . . Ilsa?"
"Play it once, Andy. For old times sake . . . "
"I don't know what you mean, Miss Ilsa . . . "
"Play it, Andy. Play 'As Time Goes By.' "
Reid's first challenge was on a Manning pass to a diving Reggie Wayne. It was ruled complete on a day where the incompetence of the officiating crew needs to be reviewed by the same NFL sheriffs who will no doubt levy a big fine on safety Kurt Coleman for the perfectly legal hit that concussed second team wideout Austin Collie. You can't require a defender to hold back on a tackle when the receiver appears to have caught the football. A lousy interpretation of a rule that "protects" a receiver until both feet have landed to complete a catch.
What's next, flag football?
But the replay on the Wayne play, didn't show conclusive evidence the catch was not made. Scratch one TO.
Nor did the replay on Reid's second timeout-costing challenge of a Vick pass to Jason Avant on the 1-yard-line show conclusive evidence that the receiver crossed the goal-line plane. That upheld call cost the Eagles their second timeout of the half with a long 13:58 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Eagles took back a nine-point lead on a 44-yard David Akers field goal and Vick's 1-yard sneak at the end of a pretty, 10-play, 80-yard drive. Time did not become a factor in the end game. The Colts used their final timeout with the Eagles in possession and 54 seconds on the clock. Manning's long throw to Blair White was picked by Asante Samuel, his second of the game, at the Eagles 36. The specter of a 27-26 last-seconds loss was chased into the chilly evening by the howling Linc mob.
This team has to get the time-management gaffes straightened out. Six teams have two losses (seven if the Steelers beat the Bengals tonight) and eight have three losses. Which puts the 5-3 Eagles in a 15-team mix.
They could be playing the increasingly formidable Giants for the NFC East lead here 2 weeks from last night in NBC Prime Time.
And the deeper they drive into the season, winning games despite a daunting injury list, the more critical it becomes to not squander timeouts on marginal challenges or burning timeouts because a play is called late or puts the Birds in a wrong formation.
Here we are in the 2-minute drill and there's Billie Holiday in the background, singing, "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," with the throaty, poignant tone of somebody with 90 yards to drive against a speeding clock. And no timeouts.
In football's unique space-time continuum, it is a game of inches. And time.
Send e-mail to bill1chair@aol.com.
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