Who is the fuel? Where is the fire?

Former Philadelphia Eagles' leader, Brian Dawkins with his teammates.

        The Philadelphia Eagles have a plethora of talent all across their team. The talent, and 'potential' is never really in question, the mental toughness is the thing that this team clearly does not posses. Over the past two seasons their struggles have been mental breakdowns, penalties, coaching errors, calling out other players etc. They seem to have a "me-first" attitude, and no leadership that this team can build around. Eagles fans like myself remember the recent years of success, and how great leaders like Brian Dawkins, Jeremiah Trotter, Brian Westbrook and Jon Runyan could inspire the team and get them out of anything. From the runs in 2002 and 2006 with A.J. Feeley and Jeff Garcia (respectively) replacing Donovan McNabb due to injury, to the improbable 2008 run to the playoffs with McNabb being benched and then reinstated, in which the Eagles overcame miraculous odds to achieve success. But these days, the best Philadelphia can do is have Jason Avant call out the team's undisciplined play, although it takes a lot more than that to get fired up - and Juan Castillo's questionable firing can not do it either.

        After the Eagles blew a certain win over the Detroit Lions on October 14th, Avant made his frustration perfectly clear. He called out Philadelphia for its lack of discipline and protection, which most of us fans have been doing for the last six weeks. But he added that there is an attitude in "certain instances" of a "me before the team" mentality. One can only guess at what and who those instances are - and we have two weeks to do so before the next game. But aside from who is causing this kind of attitude, the bigger question is who is going to get the Eagles out of it. Andy Reid should be able to stop these problems before they fester, but he is doing a rather poor job of it in recent years. When Philadelphia had all its problems last season, it just kept boiling over until it looked like Reid had lost total control. A late four-game winning streak got it back and saved Reid's job, yet letting a second straight Eagles team collapse on his watch wouldn't help him save his job again.
If Reid can't get the Eagles under control, can any of his players? Avant may have called them out, but doing it this way might have been hurt Philadelphia more than helped it. In any case, the Eagles need one of their major leaders to answer Avant's call and lift the team back up. However, one has to wonder if they have players and leaders who can do that.

         Vick has been more of the problem than the solution, so he can't be counted on to save the Eagles until he can save himself from getting benched. DeSean Jackson has been criticized as being a "me before the team" guy before, so he might not be an option either. And while Philadelphia has other stars like LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Babin and Nnamdi Asomugha, we don't tend to think of them as the reincarnation of leaders like Dawkins. Someone such as Dawkins would have squashed this attitude before it started, or at least kept it from being this toxic - or so we would think. But there hasn't been that kind of leader in the Eagles locker room for some time. If there is one now, he is either keeping pretty quiet or hasn't been listened to - which wouldn't make him much of a leader to start with. Having someone like Avant call people out, publicly, doesn't do much for the team, especially considering he's the #3 wide-receiver. Granted, he is likely well respected based off his gutsy play, we need an established star veteran to take control and become a leader. The obvious problem there is that there are no real long-time Eagles on this roster. Trent Cole and Todd Herramans have been here the longest (excluding LS Jon Dorenbos for obvious reasons), but they seem to be the more "lead-by-example" type guys. Dawkins was that type of player as well, but he had that vocal instinct that leaders posses. It's tough to ask a new guy like DeMeco Ryans to take control, but he is the best option in my opinion. He is the unofficial captain of the defense as the middle-linebacker, and one of the more productive players so far this season.

        We don't know just how accurate Avant was in diagnosing the Eagles' mindset. If he was close enough, then Philadelphia and especially Andy Reid are in trouble, since it does not seem like players are jumping all at once to be a leader for this team. Reid knows this is a make-or-break year for him, and his time will be all to himself if he does not find someone to emerge or show up very soon.