Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

A Tale of Three Seasons, So Far

When NFL Films does its review of the 2006 Eagles season, only a five-disk special edition will be able to capture all of this year's amazing storylines. 

Disk #1 will be the team's 4-1 start, which would have been 5-0 had the Eagles not bonked an easy win against the Giants with a legendary second-half collapse.  Call it "McNabb for MVP."

Disk #2 will be the middle stretch, during which the Eagles lost five of six games, their franchise quarterback, and most of their fanbase.  We'll call that one, "Reid's Darkest Days."

Disk #3 will tell the tale of the team's rebirth under backup quarterback Jeff Garcia, who ripped off five straight wins and guided the team to an improbable NFC EAST CHAMPIONSHIP.  The capper was a meaningless victory over the sorry Atlanta Falcons, "The Laugher at the Linc."

We don't know yet what will be on Disk #4, but with what we've seen so far, you have to believe that anything is possible.  (Disk #5, of course, will be outtakes of the McNabb family responding to criticism, real and imagined -- brought to you by Campbell's Chunky.)

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Random thoughts, because it's New Years Eve time:

• Hey Reid, you know that whole "We wanted AJ thing"?  Let's just agree we were both right.
• In the second half, the Eagles didn't run the ball once until 8:50 left in the fourth quarter.  That's 16 straight second-half passes if you're scoring at home.
• Surrounded by backups, Dhani Jones still doesn't look that good.
• Surrounded by backups, Matt McCoy still doesn't look that good.
• Surrounded by backups, AJ Feeley looked friggin' awesome.  I mean, stick with Garcia and all, but AJ put up better numbers than Garcia has in any game this year.
• Brodrick Bunkley looked like a guy who can really contribute as he gets more snaps. 
• Ryan Moats kinda didn't.

And you know what?  That's all I've got.  I'm ready to go, um, "enjoy" this Eagles season tonight.  This should be a fun week, though, with a lot of interesting storylines.  I don't relish the chance to play the Giants again, but at least we're at home. 

In the meantime: 

E...A...G...L...E...S... EAGLES!!

It's Official

2006 NFC East Champs

Thanks, Detroit (and Dallas)!

Bird Battle Preview

The comforting thing about being a Philly fan is you know that anything good will inevitably end with complete and crushing disappointment. 

Let me rattle off a few names.  Eric Lindros, Richie Ashburn and -- now -- Allen Iverson.  Or maybe Lance Parrish, Gregg Jefferies and Ricky Watters.  Or even Joe Jurevicius, Joe Carter and who-the-hell-is-Ricky-Manning?

These aren't just names.  They're a convenient shorthand for a legacy of failure.  Just hearing one of them spoken out loud makes me twitch like a Muggle on the wrong end of a Cruciatus curse. 

As I've said before, I don't really go for the woe-is-me fan stuff.  I find the "our town has it worst" crap to be a little pathetic.  But that doesn't change the truth that a lifetime of following teams that came justthisclosebutfailed has left real scars on the local fanbase.  We don't want to wallow in our misfortune, but we've gone stimulus/response with hope/disappointment so many times that we can't help but drool when we hear that bell.

What would happen, however, if all hope was lost?  Say we had a season of no expectations, where we gave our team up for dead, and everyone knew they didn't have a shot.  Like maybe they were mired at an ugly 5-6, with losses to a number of bad teams, a brutal late-season schedule in front of them and -- for good measure -- having just lost their MVP-caliber starting quarterback?

In that case, would the normal rules apply?  If even a backed-into playoff position was gravy, how would we feel about a possible division title or even a little January run?  If all hope was gone, wouldn't that mean there would be no room for disappointment?

What I really want to know is this:  How #$%@^! excited am I supposed to be here??

On the one hand, I'm watching a hot team coalescing around a fiery veteran quarterback who just wants one last shot at a title, laying waste to an entire division and surging into the wide-open playoffs where even the "best" team in the conference has major and perhaps fatal issues.

On the other hand, our best offensive and defensive players are on the shelf with injuries, our fiery veteran quarterback is perhaps only one maybe-overly-fiery downfield scramble from getting his head knocked off and I have the sneaking suspicion that this great late-season run is coming at the expense of a convenient string of crapulent opponents.

So, um, which is it?

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer, but I do have a proposed test: this week's game against the Falcons.  It's been a while since the Eagles played a game they really had no excuse to lose.  The Redskins, Giants and Cowboys were all divisional opponents on the road, and you can't look past those.  The Panthers aren't a good team, but at that point the Eagles weren't either.

This week is totally different.  We've already got people saying things like this and whistling past the graveyard like this.  So now it's put up or shut up time.  I don't even care if the Cowboys somehow lose the early game against the pitiful Detroit Lions, making the result irrelevant.  Atlanta is a beaten-down, split-apart team that needs only the flimsiest of excuses to pack this one in. 

This therefore is the test.  A real contender would come out strong, stomp on their throats and say, "maybe next year, boys."  If our Eagles do that, then I'll be convinced. 

If we don't, well, when they crash in January we can't say we didn't see it coming.

Travel Day

Back tomorrow.

Second and Ten

You can't trace the resurgence of the Eagles to any one factor.  Credit has to be shared by Jeff Garcia, the coaching staff, the offensive line and all the other players who have stepped up their games since the moment McNabb's knee injury seemed to doom the team's season.  But you can't underestimate the importance the change in play-calling strategy has had.

Let me say right up front that I don't totally buy this whole "Well, it's just Marty calling the plays" story line.  I know Mornhinweg is now calling the plays.  I also realize that Andy said after the Redskins' game that Marty had called the plays, and that most people assume that was the week the switch was made.  But Ron Jaworski is on record saying he thinks the switch happened long before that point.  And when Marty was asked about the switch in the week after the game, his response was: "I was surprised that he talked about it.  We keep things pretty tight in this organization." 

I doubt the video is still online, but in the interview, his body language seemed to suggest that this wasn't exactly a new development.  It wouldn't be unlike Andy to wait for a game when things went pretty well to make that kind of announcement.  He's certainly not one to offload blame on a week when things don't work.

But whatever the real story, it is undeniably true that the Eagles changed their offensive philosophy after McNabb went down.  In the five games Garcia has started, the Eagles have averaged 29 rushing attempts vs. only 25 pass attempts.  Some of that is due to Garcia's greater willingness to take off and scramble.  Everyone thinks of McNabb as a running quarterback, but he only had 32 rushing attempts in 9.5 games.  In 5.5, Garcia already has 25. 

The passing game has changed as well.  McNabb was averaging 8.4 yards per attempt, better than every quarterback in the league with the exception of Mr. Carrie Underwood (8.47).  Garcia is only at 6.9 yards per attempt, despite the fact that he's completing 62.2 percent of his passes (vs. 57 percent for McNabb). 

There's one game situation where this newfound commitment to ball control really shows up: second down and 10+.  First of all, by taking fewer deep shots on first down (which often fall incomplete) the Eagles are facing many fewer second-and-10 situations.  Secondly, when they're in that down and distance, they are much more likely to make the traditional move of running the ball to try to get into a manageable situation like third-and-six.

I'm still on Christmas "break," so I don't have time to run all the numbers for all the games, but I was able to look at the four games against the Giants and Cowboys.  The Eagles won three of those games (and should have won the fourth).  The first two games the Eagles were led by McNabb, the second two by Garcia.  Here are the numbers:

	2nd & 10	Passes	Runs
Giants - I	15	10	5
Cowboys - I	5	5	0
I	20	15	5
Giants - II	4	2	2
Cowboys - II	4	2	2
II	8	4	4

Wow, that first Giants really was crazy, wasn't it?  The Eagles blew out early to a huge lead, but they still ended up in 15 second-and-10 situations.  No wonder they couldn't hold on to the lead.  The Cowboys game was more reasonable, but in the five situations where the Eagles faced second-and-10, they passed the ball every time.

The two late season games were a complete reversal.  The Eagles only put themselves in second-and-10 on eight occasions, and they were just as likely to run as they were to pass in those situations.  That's a big deal for a couple of reasons, both because it makes the team much less predictable and also because it means less is required of Jeff Garcia.  He's playing great football, but the coaching staff is doing a great job not putting him into tough situations.  (We saw with Mr. Underwood this past weekend what happens when a formerly comfortable quarterback starts getting knocked around a bit). 

It also helps the defense by giving the offense a better chance to sustain drives and control the clock.  And though the defense is playing better these days, I think they'll still take all the help they can get.

The World According to Terrell Owens

I know, I know, I shouldn't care about this guy anymore, but I just can't help myself. 

According to TO, the reason he didn't have much of an impact yesterday wasn't that the Eagles did a good job on defense, or that he was struggling with an injured hand, or even that he couldn't catch the dang ball.  Nah, it was the coaching:

"I need to get involved early in the game instead of late in the game," he said. "That's what I've been doing throughout my career. Everybody knows what I do. Every team I've played on, I've been involved early and often. It's hard to get in a flow when I'm getting a ball here and a ball there, and then late in the game they start throwing the ball to me late. By that time, it's too late."

The fact is, however, both of Owens' catches came in the first half, and his touchdown, a 14-yard reception from Tony Romo, pulled the Cowboys within three at 10-7 just 36 seconds before halftime.

The facts didn't stop Owens from laying the blame for his ineffectiveness at the feet of Bill Parcells and the Dallas coaching staff, saying the offensive scheme isn't geared toward getting him the ball enough.

"I don't think it's necessarily anything Tony [Romo] and I need to talk about," he said. "He knows I'm going to try my hardest to make plays for him. But when the plays aren't designed for me to get involved in the offense, he's going to go with the plays that are called, and so am I. I just feel like I need to get more involved in the offense. I really do.

"I'm giving my full effort. I want to be involved..."

The big drop wasn't his fault either:

Owens claimed Dawkins bumped him illegally down the field, throwing off his timing.

"I tried to regroup, and by the time I looked up and located the ball, it was right on me," he said. "I didn't really get a chance to focus on the ball. I thought they were going to throw a flag once he bumped me down the field."

Dare We Suggest?

Jeff Garcia has now been the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles for five weeks.  His first start wasn't one to remember, as the Eagles ended up on the losing end of a 24 point blowout.  The next week, the Eagles eked out a three-point win over the Carolina Panthers and we saw the first signs of life.

Since that point, the Eagles have won by three over the Redskins (now 5-10), by 14 over the Giants (7-8) and tonight by 16 over the Cowboys (now 9-6).

Dare we suggest that this team is now playing its best football of the year?  After all, they're winning by larger margins over better teams every week.  This win over the Cowboys, though by no means a blowout, was really a dominating performance.

The Eagles even started to take some of the luster off of Tony Romo (who from henceworth will be known on this blog as Mr. Carrie Underwood).  Woody looked OK in the first half, as the Eagles committed to first stopping the run, but in the second half he crumbled before the pressure Jim Johnson's defense was finally able to generate.

He also wasn't helped by two big drops by Terrell Eldorado Owens.  Yeah, we noticed.

I feel strangely ... contented by the results of today's game.  Not at all as elated as I expected to be after such a huge win over a hated division rival. 

I think this can mean only one thing.

I'm bought in.  I'm no longer happy with moral victories or great regular season wins.  I want a division title.  I want some playoff wins.  And I want the Eagles to be making some noise in Chicago or New Orleans a few weeks from now.

Enjoy the win, but don't go stubbing your toes against the Falcons, guys.  Please. 

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• Today's game should finally put to rest this idea that the Eagles are not a good running team.  Philly ran for more than 200 yards on 41 attempts.
• This is the best Eagles offensive line I can ever remember watching.  I'm not going to say we were wrong, necessarily, but while the fans were obsessing about wide receivers and linebackers, Andy Reid was quietly rebuilding a very good, very deep offensive line.
• I loved the first playcall after the Eagles' huge first-half goal-line stand.  Garcia dropped back and completed a 35-yard pass to Donte Stallworth, immediately extricating the Eagles from what could have been a difficult position. 
• You can't underestimate the power of lucky bounces.  For weeks, the Eagles seemed unable to catch a break, now they're forcing fumbles that pop right up into their hands, seeing opposing receivers drop easy completions, and generally looking like a team that's being smiled on by karma.
• Today's Wingheads line of the day, regarding Owens: "He makes Pinkston look surehanded sometimes."  Sweet.

Home Sweet Home?

Back in April, right before the NFL announced the schedule for the upcoming season, there was a rumor that the Cowboys would be traveling to Philly on Christmas Day to play the Eagles.  The Daily News even carried an item (no longer online) to that effect.

But then the schedule came out, and while the Eagles were indeed playing the Cowboys on December 25th, the game was in Dallas as part of a three-game NFC East road trip that many at the time assumed would be a killer stretch in the Eagles' schedule.  The NFL rumor site, profootballtalk.com, speculated at the time that then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue had pulled a last-second switcheroo after contemplating the likely outcome of Terrell Owens playing in front of a hostile Philadelphia crowd ... in a rivalry game ... on Christmas Day ... with snow maybe on the ground.

If this indeed how things went down, it wasn't a very fair outcome for the Eagles, since three-game road trips are rare in the NFL and aren't an easy thing to handle.  But maybe it was actually a blessing in disguise.

Consider all the distractions of the holiday season.  Family is in town, kids are running around, last-minute presents need to be purchased, etc., etc., etc.  Teams on the road this weekend might actually have an advantage, since "Daddy's not home" and doesn't have to balance the responsibility of work and home life.

So far this weekend, home teams have gone just 3-10.  And these weren't cupcake games -- home teams were favored in 10 of the 13 games.  Eight road underdogs have already won.  Could the Eagles be next?

And if that's the case, Merry Christmas, Mr. Tagliabue, and thanks for caring more about the league's image than competitive fairness. 

Merry Christmas

This Monday night will mark the first Eagles-Cowboys game I've watched in-person with my dad in many years.  When I was a kid, football season usually meant Sunday lunch in front of the TV, with mom sleeping on the couch and the guys rooting for the Eagles.

Except during Cowboys weeks. 

You see, my father is a Cowboys' fan.  Has been for a long time.  Started following the team because of Staubach and loved Landry, but didn't mind rooting for Johnson and his boys. 

The weeks the Eagles played the Cowboys, things often got pretty heated, and we generally ended up watching the game in different rooms.  I imagine we used to argue about lots of different things while watching the games, but the main point of contention that I remember was the question of whether or not that bastard Michael Irvin had just pushed off yet another Eagles defender to catch yet another out route from Aikman. 

In hindsight, I think it's pretty clear who was right.  Unfortunately, at the time it didn't much matter, because the refs just kept letting him get away with it.

Over the years, my dad's enthusiasm for the Cowboys has waned.  As an ardent Penn State / Joe Paterno man, he didn't take the Switzer era all that well.  (Come to think of it, as a Cowboys fan he wasn't that fond of most of it either).

Then he took a liking to Andy Reid, and the Eagles are always the local game, and Jerry Jones is Jerry Jones ... and the next thing you know, he was starting to waver.  I wouldn't say the break has been made yet, but if any man can sever that attachment, it will be the hated Terrell Owens. 

So Monday night's game won't be like the old days.  Dad will probably still be rooting for the Cowboys at some level, but he won't want to see TO do anything special and he knows how much this game means to the Eagles, and their fans, aka my parents' friends and neighbors and offspring.

The odds are therefore pretty good that we'll be able to watch the whole game in the same room.  Which is good, because we're probably getting too old for arguments about football, anyway.  And it's Christmas, the season of family and togetherness, so that's a time for coming together, not splitting apart.   

Not to mention, I don't think they have cable upstairs in the new house.

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Merry Christmas everyone.  I'll be back on Monday.  Safe travels if you're headed anywhere this holiday season.   

The Wave Theory of the NFL

My brother and I have a theory about the NFL.  It's not particularly original, but on the other hand, we've never heard anyone else try to claim credit for it.  It goes something like this:

"In the modern NFL, the team that peaks last, wins."

Like I said, not particularly original.  But it works.

There are a couple of assumptions underlying the theory.  The first is that all NFL teams are -- in some important ways -- flawed.  When a team is riding its wave it simply means that the coaches who are working to hide those flaws are a step ahead of the coaches looking to exploit them. 

Look at this year's two early-season wave riders, the Colts and the Bears.  In some ways, these teams are like mirror images of each other.  The Colts have a Hall-of-Fame quarterback and a PeeWee-level defense.  The Bears have a dominating defense coupled with a quarterback who makes Eli Manning look clutch.  You can hide these things for awhile, but sooner or later, opposing coaches figure out how to take you down.  And no, five straight wins to close out the season against Minnesota, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Green Bay won't prove anything for the Bears.

That's why you can't peak too early.  Because other teams will eventually figure out how to attack your weakness.  And when that happens, other coaches won't think, "Gee, they're not really that good, we can just play our game to beat them."  No, they'll say, "We're going to do exactly what those other guys did to see if you can stop it."  And that's when you go down.

The second assumption is that flavor-of-the-month teams don't count.  Take this year's Miami Dolphins.  They lost six of their first seven games, clearly establishing that they were not a good team.  Then they shocked the Bears and managed wins over the Chiefs and Vikings at home and Detroit on the road.  That caused SI's Peter King to rank Miami as the 12th-best team in the league and write:

12. Miami (5-6). What a November: 31-13 win at Chicago, 13-10 win over the Chiefs, 24-20 win over the Vikes, 27-10 win at Detroit. Four wins, 19 days.

So what happened next?  The Dolphins lost two of their next three, including a 21-0 pasting by Buffalo.  Don't worry, guys, he'll stick pick you for the Super Bowl again next year.

Given those assumptions, here's what the theory predicts:

1. The early-season wave-riders will eventually come back to Earth.
2. It is hard to sustain a peak for more than a couple of months, so the best time to start is right around Week 10. 
3. If too much of a team's success is due to the performance of a single guy, and that guy isn't the quarterback, watch out.  It's much, much easier to take a non-quarterback out of the equation.  That's one reason why "peak" teams with dominant defenses are better than "peak" teams with dominant offenses.
4. If you peak too early, you won't be able to peak again late.

So what does this theory tell us about this year's NFL?  First of all, you can toss out the Colts and the Bears.  They both peaked way too early (although the Bears might back into the Super Bowl simply by virtue of playing in the awful NFC).

Secondly, be wary of the Chargers.  Not only have they not lost a game since Week 6 (possible premature peaking), but they're doing almost all of this on the legs of the incredible LaDanian Tomlinson.  You shouldn't need a guy to put up 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns to beat Buffalo by three.

And third, you don't need to worry about the Eagles having peaked too early...