PHILADELPHIA - A little short of its goal, after a draining of timeouts, with a penalty and ultimately with fan apathy.
Such was the way Andy Reid's final Linc game ended Sunday.
With the next great NFC East quarterback winning, with the Eagles dropping deeper into last place, with a blast of turnovers and other mistakes.
Such was the way Andy Reid's final Linc game ended Sunday.
The Eagles no better for his efforts, more than half of the fans already gone, with a mismanaged clock. Such was the way Andy Reid's Linc career ended Sunday.
With a 27-20 loss to the Washington Redskins. Such was the way Andy Reid's final Linc game ended Sunday.
With arrogance.
See above.
"Are you asking me the question?" Reid said, when asked about fan speculation that he will be fired after the Eagles' final regular-season game, next week against the Giants at the Meadowlands. Assured that was the case, Reid replied, "I don't know that. I have nothing to tell you on that. I am the coach right now. And I am just coaching - the best I possibly can."
The reaction was mutual. For after his 242nd game, with his owner having all but promised a coaching change with anything shy of a nine-win season, whatever remained of the originally assembled 69,144 essentially let Reid walk out of the stadium to exactly what he'd deserved: Silence.
Were there some boos? Yes. Was there a supportive "Andy Reid, Andy Reid" chant near the tunnel to the locker room? Yes, apparently. But neither demonstration was overwhelming when the refs ran the final second off the clock as punishment for the Birds having attempted an illegal forward pass. There was no rollout from Sign Man. Nothing, fortunately, was heaved onto the field. There wasn't a sing-song "Goodbye, Andy" taunt. There wasn't a "Thank you, Andy," chant. There was no honking of horns ... nor of noses choked with melancholy.
No, after 14 years, Andy Reid was treated as if he had never been there at all.
"I wasn't thinking about that," Brent Celek said. "When you are on the football field, you don't think about anything else out side of the stadium. You are thinking about what you have to do to beat that man across from you. That's it. I don't get into all that other stuff."
Technically, Reid was not fired. So he still has work to do, and, darn it, he has to do a better job in Week 17. But he won't be back in the Linc again, at least not on the home sideline. Yet ... he acted like he was the only one in football not to understand that.
"Those are good stories," he said. "But when you are in the process of getting ready for a game, your mind doesn't go there - especially a game like that, where it comes down to the last second. So that's not really where I am at."
The Eagles almost won Sunday, but didn't, stalling at the Washington five. For that late effort, at least, Reid was spared the public humiliation of a fan revolt ... and might have even earned a way-to-go or two.
"Listen, we have great fans," he said. "I've always said that we're kind of on the same page. When you stink, they let you know you stink. And when you're doing good. They're going to let you know you're doing good. I got it. I understand. I understand the situation. I appreciate everything."
Reid will return to work Monday to prepare for the Giants. He'll be asked all week about his final Eagles game, but he won't break. Not now.
"I feel like Coach Reid doesn't get too high or get too low," Brandon Graham said. "He's just a man with a straight head. He's a tough guy. I know that. We wouldn't want this to be his last game. So let's go to New York and win, and try to make that his last one."
It won't matter - not to the owner, and definitely not to the fans, who have spoken ... or more to the point, have not.