The team that Howie Roseman helped build was good enough to rank third in the NFL in offense and eighth in the NFL in defense.
It just wasnt good enough to get to the playoffs.
Despite winning seven of their last 11 games, despite being the only NFL team ranked in the top 10 on both sides of the ball, despite going 5-1 in the NFC East, the Eagles season ended in failure with an 8-8 record, one game out of the playoffs, a third straight season without a postseason victory.
The big job facing Roseman, head coach Andy Reid and the rest of the Eagles coaching and scouting departments this off-season is determining to what extent those positives were a mirage and to what extent the negatives are major issues facing a franchise thats now gone 51 years without winning a championship
The Eagles blew five fourth-quarter leads this year, and if they had just hung onto one of those five leads, they would have been in the playoffs, and the Super Bowl-bound Giants would have been out.
But you wont hear Roseman talk about how close the Eagles were. He knows the only thing that matters is the bottom line.
I dont like to talk about, What ifs, Roseman said Tuesday. We were 8-8, and we have work to do. Weve got to look at everything were doing and make sure we evaluate it honestly and learn from our mistakes. Well study everything around the league, the way everybody else does things, and well get better.
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Im not going to sit here in a bubble and say, Were so great. When we look back, there are things we wish we had done better. I can get better, we all can get better.
Roseman, named Eagles general manager two years ago this week, doesnt do interviews during the season, but spoke with CSNPhilly.com by phone Tuesday from Mobile, Ala., where the Eagles coaching staff -- minus Andy Reid -- and personnel staff are evaluating some of the top college players in the country.
Roseman declined to comment on Reids coaching staff or the status of Juan Castillo, who spent the past year as defensive coordinator. Reid has not commented on whether Castillo will continue in 2012 as defensive coordinator, although Castillo is in Mobile and working with the Eagles coaches.
Roseman did discuss the Eagles recent drafts, the current state of the roster and several other issues facing the team with free agency two months away and the draft three months away.
Obviously, when were sitting here at the Senior Bowl and not the Super Bowl, its not where you want to be, Roseman said. So we have to get better, and well look at every facet of the team and every avenue possible to improve and make sure next year is different.
The biggest criticism Roseman has faced is that the Eagles havent drafted a Pro Bowler on defense in six years, since defensive end Trent Cole in the fifth round back in 2005. The last Pro Bowl defensive player the Eagles took in the first three rounds was Lito Sheppard in 2002.
Roseman has only overseen the last two drafts, which have generated at least seven starters (Danny Watkins, Jason Kelce, Brian Rolle, Brandon Graham before his injury, Nate Allen, Jamar Chaney and Kurt Coleman), along with kicker Alex Henery, who had the most accurate season of any kicker in franchise history this past year.
When you evaluate the draft, you normally evaluate after three years and you feel like you have a pretty good idea by then, Roseman said. Players take different amounts of time to get to where theyre going to be, and some guys get there faster than others, and sometimes it takes a few years for guys to click.
But you look at the last two drafts, last years group is going into their first off-season, and the 2010 class didnt have an off-season with the coaches, and you normally see a big jump from the first year to the second, so you feel like some of those guys are going to make that jump (in the next year).
In Kelce and Watkins, the Eagles did find what should be 40 percent of their offensive line of the future. Allen and Graham both had disappointing second seasons but were coming off serious injuries. Guys like Chaney, Coleman and Rolle are late-round picks whove all shown some positive things.
But the stars? Theyve certainly drafted them on offense -- Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek, etc.
But not on defense.
Obviously, we want to be great, and we want to be great in the draft, Roseman said We feel like were having success, and if you get five or six players in every draft who make the team and three of them are starting, youre drafting pretty well.
Do we want impact guys in the first round? Of course we do. We want to draft those Pro Bowl guys and hit on every guy in the first round, but were going to look under every rock for impact guys, and if we get them in the sixth round or from the CFL or in free agency, the main thing is getting good players who can help us win.
Graham, the Eagles 2010 first-round pick, is entering his third year and has yet to make the kind of impact the Eagles hoped. He had three sacks as a rookie before suffering a knee injury and was a non-factor in 2011 coming off surgery.
Fans love to focus on the Eagles decision to draft Graham ahead of Jason Pierre-Paul as a symbol of their personnel moves, but its important to remember that Graham was a big-time player at Michigan and had three double-digit sack seasons in college. Pierre-Paul started only half of one season at South Florida after spending time at two junior colleges.
As rookies, Pierre-Paul (4 12 sacks) and Graham (three sacks) had similar production. This past year, Pierre-Paul blossomed while Graham rehabbed.
That was a pretty significant injury, and Brandon had microfracture and ACL surgery, so we knew he wasnt going to be 100 percent this year, Roseman said. Hes a talented guy. Hes got great ability, and this is going to be a big year for him, and he knows that.
Conventional wisdom says the Eagles this year will focus on defense in the draft, in particular the linebacker and safety positions.
Roseman wouldnt speculate, but did say it would be a mistake to assume the Eagles wont draft to an area of current strength.
In the NFL, you can never anticipate your needs three years out because of the nature of the league and the way things change, he said. You just want to make sure youre true to your board and really do draft the best available player.
Hitting on any draft pick is a 50-50 proposition in the first round and that number goes down in each round. If you try to limit who youre drafting to a certain number of positions, youre hurting your odds even more. You have to be careful. If you come out of a draft saying, We filled all our needs, you probably didnt have a very good draft.
As the Giants prepare to play in the Super Bowl for the second time in five years, where does Roseman draw confidence? Why does he believe the Eagles can make a Super Bowl run in 2012 after three consecutive disappointing seasons?
It always starts with your head coach and quarterback, and we are so fortunate to have Andy Reid and Michael Vick in those spots, and we feel like that gives us a chance, he said. We need to get better, but I do feel like we have good players, and in the next few months, well have the opportunity to upgrade in all the areas we feel like we need to.
Theres a lot of optimism here. Everybody in the building (NovaCare Complex) is very excited about where we are.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com