myerstownherald.com

By ERIC FISHER
To borrow an infamous line from former NFL coach Dennis Green, maybe “they are who we thought they were.”
Penn State and the Philadelphia Eagles both lost critical games last weekend. Both games were at home. Both were against archrivals.
The similarities, however, don’t end there. These losses may also have revealed these teams to be what many of us expected.
The football season is filled with peaks and valleys. A monumental victory provides us with a one-week high. A loss sends us tumbling down into the depths of despair.
Our teams rarely are as good as we think they are after an exhilarating triumph. And they’re rarely as bad as we think they are after a bitter defeat. The truth often can be found somewhere in the middle.
Penn State is not as bad as it appeared during Saturday’s 24-7 loss to Ohio State. If the Nittany Lions were that bad, they wouldn’t be 8-2.
The loss, however, did expose problems. The Nittany Lions, much like the Eagles, aren’t consistent on offense. Also like the Eagles, the Nittany Lions’ problems on offense start with their offensive line.
Continuity is a huge factor for offensive lines. The line must work as a cohesive unit. The longer the members of the offensive line play together, the better the line usually performs. The more players are shuffled in and out of the lineup and shifted from position to position, the more difficulty the offensive line has in developing consistency.
Penn State’s offensive line consists of five players new to their starting positions. Even the two returning starters, center Stefen Wisniewski and left tackle Dennis Landolt, are playing new positions, with Wisniewski moving from guard and Landolt flipping from right to left tackle to protect quarterback Daryll Clark’s blind side.
The offensive line has played well in stretches, but it hasn’t developed consistency. Several players have started at guard and right tackle. All those elements make it difficult to develop consistency. That’s why the line looks good in stretches, but struggles against better opponents.
The offensive line’s struggles are evident in the running game. Even if Stephfon Green’s ankle problems are taken into account, the running game has declined since last season. That makes it easier for opposing defenses to focus on Clark and the passing game. Clark doesn’t have as much time to make a play, which makes it more difficult for the receivers to get open.
Remember, the Nittany Lions lost receivers Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler to graduation. They lost starting offensive linemen A.Q. Shipley, Rich Ohrnberger and Gerald Cadogan. They lost defensive ends Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines, as well as the entire starting secondary.
So maybe two losses is about right for the Nittany Lions. I thought they had an opportunity to be a one-loss team and qualify for a BCS bowl, but a two-loss season is probably about right. In other words, the Nittany Lions are who we thought they were.
Whether the Eagles are who you thought they were depends on who you thought they were. If you had Super Bowl aspirations or envisioned the Eagles as a 12-win team, you’re probably disappointed (and a bit delusional).
If, however, you viewed the Eagles as an inconsistent team that may struggle to sneak into the playoffs, as they did last year, then the Eagles are who you thought they were.
One week, as against the Giants, the Birds look terrific. Another week, as against the awful Raiders, the Birds look like roadkill. That is why they are 5-3 despite a first-half schedule that included Washington, Oakland, Kansas City and Tampa Bay.
The Eagles’ inconsistency was not unexpected. As I wrote before the season, “The Eagles have too many changes, from defensive coordinator to middle linebacker to most of the offensive line, to be consistent.”
Like the Nittany Lions, the Eagles’ problems begin with their offensive line. Three of their five projected starting offensive linemen were different than last year. They replaced veteran tackles Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas with Jason Peters and Shawn Andrews. That plan lasted until Andrews hurt his back during a conditioning run on the first day of training camp.
The situation got worse when starting guard Todd Herremans suffered a stress fracture in his foot. Stacy Andrews, Shawn’s brother, has struggled in his return from a knee injury and is now a very expensive backup guard.
Center Jamaal Jackson has been the only constant on the Eagles offensive line. Is it any wonder that the offense has been inconsistent?
The team has been inconsistent, but some of the problems experienced during Sunday night’s 20-16 loss to Dallas are constants. The Eagles still have difficulty converting in short-yardage situations and covering tight ends, time management is an ongoing problem and the Michael Vick/wildcat experiment is a bust.
But the inconsistency wasn’t unexpected. The only thing you can expect with the Eagles is that you never know what to expect.
Like the Nittany Lions, the Eagles are who we thought they were.