Next Day Thoughts -- Lions

"Like I've said before, you're never as good as you think and never as bad as you think in the NFL."
-- Andy Reid

Eagles fans who refused to believe the second half of that statement last week should pay special attention to the first part this week.  There's still a long way to go.

As enjoyable as today's game was -- especially given the annoying buzzing all week of never-been-there Detroit fans -- it was just one win against one not very good team.  A really big, huge, how-ya-like-the-Eagles-now win, but still, just one win.

Ok, enjoy it for one more minute.  Swirl it around a little.  Savor the aroma.  Mmmmm, tasty.

All right, that's done.  Time to put that aside and get to the game review.

McNabb is back.  I'm not even gonna say it, but you know who you are.  How'd the first game of the Kevin Kolb experience (six plays, two sacks, one fumble) treat you?

Here's an early video for you.  Lots of people say -- and it often seems to be true -- that McNabb's not a fiery, rah-rah kind of guy.  But check out how amped up he seems on the second play of this series (keep the sound off if you're at work):

Seriously though, he looked to be pretty fired up in there.  I'd love to see one of the Philly beat writers follow up on this one.  (Here's the original on that audio, that guy is awesome.)

Who needs Dawk?  Um, actually, we do.  McNabb had perhaps the finest statistical day of his career and still Kitna managed to throw for more yards than he did -- 446(!).  If the team can just make it through the Giants next week, hopefully we can get Dawk and Lito full-speed after the bye week.  Not sure how we're stopping Burress in the meantime though.

The sack attack is back.  Because you read this blog, you weren't suprised while watching the Eagles take turns stomping on Jon Kitna's head:

Mike Martz wants to air it out and get the ball down the field.  His guys need time to run those routes, which means Kitna's going to have to sit there and wait awhile for them to get open.  Maybe the Eagles' banged-up secondary struggles in coverage all day, but this week there should be plenty of time to get to the quarterback.

(I'd take credit for pointing out that Detroit's pass defense sucks as well, but that might be moving into Chad Johnson / Terrell Owens territory.)

Curtis' big day.  I think one thing that's been left out of a lot of discussions about what happened in the first two games was recognition that the Eagles have faced some pretty good secondaries so far.  You had Al Harris and Charles Woodson in the first game, two guys who are among the best in the business at playing man coverage.  The following week it was Washington, with it's much-noted four first-round pick secondary.  It's not always going to be easy to throw against guys like that.

There did seem to be some changes in how the Eagles attacked in this game, however.  I'll have to go back and re-watch the game to be sure, but on first viewing it appeared there weren't as many times that we just called those fades down the sideline for the outside receivers. 

In particular, on one of Curtis' TD receptions he actually ran a triple move, breaking outside, inside and then outside again before McNabb hit him with a beautiful ball down the sideline.  The pass protection has to be pretty good to run that kind of route.   

Westbrook needs more protection.  I understand you do what you have to do to win.  But the Eagles are absolutely going to run Westbrook into the ground this year if they're not careful.  The whole point of having backup running backs on the roster isn't just to have a guy you can plug in after Westbrook gets hurt.

The split was actually much better today.  Westbrook had 14 carries, while Buckhalter and Hunt combined for 11 (with three more for Tapeh).  But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why we were still riding our most indispensable player that late down the stretch. 

Credit where it's due, though.  On a day when everything worked, Reid/Mornhinweg called 29 pass plays and 28 runs, not counting the kneeldowns at the end.  Ahhhh, the sweet smell of offensive balance. 

Rocca improving.  He's not there yet, but there's definitely a progression:

	Punts	Avg	Net Avg
Green Bay	7	40.4	35.7
Washington	5	43.2	39.8
Detroit	3	43.7	41.7

(I also like the progression in the Eagles' offense, based on number of times they have to punt.)

I guess Andrews is eventually going to move to tackle after all.  Max Jean-Gilles got into the game today after Shawn Andrews had to leave with an eye injury (and maybe he should get a face shield).  With the way the depth is shaping up with Justice and Jean-Gilles rising to the top, it seems pretty clear at this point that Andrews will some day be this team's starting right tackle.  With Andrews and MJG, that's gonna be one seriously scary combination over there blocking for Kevin Kolb and Tony Hunt.

Around the League. 

• So Pos might be done for the season.  Perfect capper to a crappy weekend for Penn State football. 
• I guess Ken Whisenhut isn't screwing around down in Arizona.  Rex Grossman might have to shoot someone to lose his job in Chicago, but the first-year Cardinals head coach had no problem going to Kurt Warner when Matt Leinart wasn't getting it done against Baltimore.  Wonder what kind of repercussions that move will have.
• How does Minnesota, with the best run defense in the game, lose to a team that can't do anything but run the football?  Just when I think Childress has that thing turned around, too.
• I have a feeling we might end up looking back at those first two losses and feeling a little better about them when it's all said and done.  Green Bay actually looks pretty good this year.
• It's hard not to root for Jeff Garcia.
• I don't understand how LaDainian Tomlinson can have fewer yards rushing that Najeh Davenport. 
• The Bears are still going to win games with that defense, but it's difficult to see them taking the next step with Anthony Morelli at quarterback.  I guess Tommie Harris was right...
• The Cowboys look like this year's version of the crown-'em-in-September team.  Not that you want to take them lightly, but hot starts often lead to fizzle finishes in the NFL.
• I still think Jason Campbell is going to be a good quarterback for a long time in this league.
• I still hate the #%@#$% Giants.  I despise having to pull for them for positional purposes.

Finally, New Orleans is due, but I just have a funny feeling about Vince Young on Monday Night Football...