You know the gory details: The Eagles ranked 30th in the league in giveaways. They had 15 of 'em during a 1-4 start to the season. They were the gang that Couldn't Hang On To The Football, and all of those mistakes came back to haunt them in a playoff-less campaign.
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg talked about it with the media every day, harped on it every practice with his players and, well, he hopes his message got through.
Of the issues that face the Eagles looking ahead, minimizing turnovers is one of the most perplexing. How does an offense play football just as aggressively, but more intelligently? How can you coach players to protect the football with even more care and still have them fight for an extra yard?
From a coaching standpoint, how can Mornhinweg and his X's and O's aid the cause?
Clearly, the Eagles have to reduce their turnovers next year or the NovaCare Complex is going to be an unhappy football palace.
So what do the Eagles do? They're going to start with quarterback Michael Vick, who turned the ball over 18 times (14 interceptions and 4 lost fumbles) in the 13 games he played. It is a theme that has been hammered home with Vick.
"I think he understands, and not that every one of them (interceptions) was Michael Vick's (fault) but there were too many," said head coach Andy Reid in his press conference last Tuesday. "I think he would tell you the same thing, not to say anything different than I think he would say and how he feels.
"I think this offseason will give him an opportunity to go back and study those things and what you can do and what you can't do, how to move subtly in the pocket to make throws so the ball might not be tipped whether it's a screen, whether it's a short intermediate pass, the timing of each route and getting it coordinated with your two receivers that really didn't have training camp, how important that is, absolutely important.
"And then one thing I thought he really learned this year was how to utilize the tight end and we gave him more opportunities to do that as coaches, which I thought was important - Brent (Celek) ended up having a pretty good year. But there are some things he can, specifically, attack this offseason and he's in the right frame of mind to do that.
"He's been in constant communication with me since the season's been over and he is ready to go. Now we have some new rules in the three different phases that we can have in the offseason that are a little different than seasons before, but he's ready to get in and get better."
It's not all on Vick, of course, but it sure would help if his ball security running with the football and in the pocket improves, and if he decision making and accuracy got just a little bit better. The Eagles have a standout group of skill-position players to go out and gain big yards, and Vick's just has to be more of a distributor rather than as a dominating big-play maker. He will make his plays, but Vick doesn't have to do it all. The Eagles get into trouble when that happens.
The coaches can help out here, too, and this is where it bears watching.
In LeSean McCoy, the Eagles have a running back who is physical enough to gain tough yards, to run between the tackles and to score six points. He needs the football more in the red zone, where the Eagles had so many of their turnover troubles. And if the opportunity presented itself, and if the Eagles had a running back land in their laps in free agency or in the draft, they would be wise to bring him onboard.
Can you imagine, for example, pairing Alabama's Trent Richardson, a certain first-round draft pick, with McCoy in the backfield? Would the Eagles consider such a scenario should Richardson be there at No. 15? They would be able to hand off a few more times and keep the ball -- and a chance of injury -- out of Vick's hands. They could minimize the risk of a turnover. They could establish the offense as one capable of playing smash-mouth football from anywhere on the field.
Hey, maybe the Eagles do that anyway with second-year man Dion Lewis, who has a very bright future and who opened eyes by slicing and dicing the Redskins in the fourth quarter of the season finale when he gained 58 yards and a touchdown in those 15 minutes. Maybe the run/pass ratio moves just a smidgen, and with it the risk of injury to Vick and of turning the football over ticks down.
However they do it, it must be done. A reduction in turnovers means nothing but good things for the Eagles. It is on the coaching staff first, and the players second, to secure the football and protect it for 60 minutes every week.
A season depends on it.
