Next Day Thoughts

Ok, let's do this...

Sav Rocca was better than he looked to the naked eye.  Eagles fans have been wondering where all those booming 60-yard kicks have gone since the preseason, but Rocca hasn't really been bad, just inconsistent.  The one everyone is going to remember was the 33-yarder near the end of the second-quarter that didn't do a good enough job pinning the Redskins deep.  If he'd gotten that down near the end zone, Joe Gibbs might have sent in three straight running days and called it a half.  But here are his punts on the night:

45 yards -- no return
39 yards -- no return (muffed)
33 yards -- no return
56 yards -- 8 yard return
43 yards -- 9 yard return

That gave Sav a gross average of 43.2 and a 39.8 net.  I think he's focusing very much on hang time right now, which is why we're seeing shorter kicks but no returns.  He needs to get a little more consistent -- although it's fun watching punt returners who have no idea where to line up -- but compare those numbers to Dirk's last three years and you'll see it's not that bad.  Maybe he'll be the first guy to break the mythical 40.0 net barrier.

What's it take to get a holding call?  On the list of reasons the Eagles lost last night, this one blown call doesn't make the top 10, but I'm tired of seeing our linemen getting mauled out there with no calls.  Take a look at the big scramble Campbell had at the end of the first half to set up that bizarre touchdown series.

Jamaal Jackson isn't the only guy in the league you can call holding on, Mr. Carollo. 

Something's up with the offensive line.  It's not just that William (Tra) Thomas left the game with back spasms and had to be replaced by Winston Justice.  The Eagles also activated eight linemen for the first time in a while, getting Max Jean-Gilles on the active roster and sitting Tony Hunt.  That may just have been due to pre-game concerns about Thomas' back, but you never know.

No one's complaining about Jim Johnson's schemes right now, are they?  There were all kinds of interesting things happening out there last night.  I saw Sheldon Brown playing the deep middle and both safeties up in the box.  He had coverages where both starting cornerbacks were covering Santana Moss.  He continued to present a moving target by constantly swapping packages and players.  He's also still running that zone-blitz where Trent Cole drops and then has a hard time trying to cover somebody.

Well, three out of four ain't bad.  The defense has looked pretty good so far, but whatever failings they do have are not the fault of the coaching.  Which leads to...

The defensive line has a problem.  The Redskins were playing with a backup right tackle and a backup right guard, and yet the Eagles couldn't get any pressure on Campbell when they just brought the four down linemen.  I plan to focus on Kearse when I re-watch the game, but at first blush, he's not giving them anything out there.  JT Thomas is easily outplaying him right now in his limited action.  And Trent Cole spent most of the night getting stoned too, although Chris Samuels is a pretty good left tackle.

Especially until Lito gets back, the Eagles desperately need to get some pressure up front.  Especially with the folks coming to town next week.

Omar Gaither is coming around, just in time.  After a slow start in the preseason and game one, Gaither last night again looked like the player we saw flashes of last year.  The Eagles middle linebacker had eight solos and one assist, to pace the team with nine tackles.  That's big.  Gocong continues to be mostly invisible.

That Dawkins hit made me sick to my stomach.  I'm grateful he was able to walk off the field.  Just goes to show, even when a guy's been playing football for decades, sometimes mistakes happen.  Thankfully, we're not looking at another Kevin Everett situation.

Finally, McNabb is going to be fine.  Post-game smiles or not, I'm sure he hears the howling that's just now beginning to build.  Here are the facts:

1. He's only 10 months from major knee surgery.
2. During much of his rehab time, he wasn't able to play, practice or prepare.
3. This is a timing-based offense, which means even small issues will cause big problems.

The guy's Superman, but he's not actually, SUPERMAN.  I thought he showed significant improvement over the Green Bay game.  So much, in fact, that I wonder whether keeping him on the shelf for so much of the preseason was a good idea.  He's struggled the first two weeks and the rest of the organization hasn't stepped up enough to bail him out.  Is that a phone booth over there?