Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Fun Game Day Gallery

Excellent job by Daily News photographers David Maialetti and Steven M. Falk capturing the emotions of the day in this online gallery.

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...

Well That Was Fun

Facing one of the league's best passing offenses with a banged-up secondary, the Eagles took care of business by dropping 56 points on the Lions in a game that proved Donovan McNabb and the rest of the Eagles' offense would be just fine this year, thank you very much.

The defense also did its job, providing just enough resistance to get off the field and give the Eagles' offense chances to score.  You can't get too excited about giving up 436 yards passing, but when you match that with only 38 rushing yards, nine sacks and two forced turnovers, it's not terrible.  Particularly because they did it without Dawk and Lito. 

Beyond that, I mean, really, what else is there to say?  You want my honest reaction to the game today -- here it was:

"SWEEEEEEEETYYYYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAHHH
HHHHHHHHHDDDDDDOOOOOOONNNNNNNIIIIIIIE
EEEEEEEEE'SSSSSSSSSSSSSBAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWW
WWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTT
TTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As for that "OOHHHH," it came on the one negative moment of the day.  I'm not sure why Westbrook was still being asked to carry the load so late in the game, and of course, it came back to bite the Eagles, as he left the game with banged up ribs.  There's a reason the Eagles carry three running backs (four if you count Reno) on the roster.  If you can't ease up on Westbrook's workload when you have a three TD lead, when are you going to do it?

But there's no point in dwelling on that now.  On the day the franchise celebrated its 75th anniversary, the team scored more points that it had in over 50 years. 

Maybe that'll shut the rest of the league up for awhile.

The Eagles are back, baby.

White Lightning

I told you it wasn't the receivers, Jaws. 

Here's a fun stat for you.  Best performances as an Eagle [for our most recent big-name free agents]:

	Rec	Yards	Ave	Long	TD
Terrell Owens (2004)	8	161	20.1	45	1
Terrell Owens (2005)	11	171	15.5	30	1
Donte Stallworth (2006)	6	141	23.5	42T	1
Kevin Curtis (2007)*	11	221	20.1	68	3

And this game isn't over yet.

Long way to go in this game, though, with the way the defense is playing.

EDIT: The game is over and I've updated that chart with his final numbers.

Plan A or Plan B?

It's fair to suggest that no one foresaw Donovan's struggles in the first two games.  He looked fine -- if a bit statuesque -- in the preseason.  He's come back from major injuries before without much problem -- notably, just last year.  And he's a veteran guy who no one suspected would need this long to regain his timing.

All of this makes the failure to adjust the gameplan in the first two weeks to match the current McNabb reality at least understandable.  What's a little harder to understand is why there was no Plan B.  Basically they carved out 'X' percent of the offense for Brian Westbrook, then handed the rest to McNabb and said "make it happen."  When he couldn't, they had nothing to fall back on.

Unless somethiing strange happened overnight, Westbrook will play today, but he may not be full speed and even if he is, one uncertain step could sideline him immediately.  This is a very dangerous game for the Eagles, against a fired up young team with a veteran quarterback and a dangerous passing attack.  I still can't see them making the playoffs with that defense, but there are better teams to be facing right now.

All of which is to say, the coaches better damn well have a Plan B in place in case McNabb starts off slowly again. 

Of course, if you accept the analysis so far, your next question might be, why bother making it a Plan B at all?  McNabb hasn't looked great so far and this is a must-win game, so we shouldn't be waiting around to see how everything plays out. 

Against most opponents, I'd be inclined to agree.  It's well past time to diversify the running game by getting Buckhalter and Hunt more involved, especially down in the red zone.  But in the Lions you're looking at a team that allowed opponents to complete more than 66 percent of their passes last season.  And this year, despite playing Oakland and Minnesota, the Lions are still mediocre to poor in all the league's passing defense stats.

So I think you have to come out firing.  Lord knows a little balance would be great, but you know Detroit will be looking to take advantage of our banged up secondary.  The Eagles should try to return the favor.

And if it doesn't work?  Well then, I imagine Tony Hunt is probably pretty pissed at the state of Michigan right about now anyway... 

Penn State Loses -- Again

What a waste of a championship-level defense. 

Two of the last three weeks, Penn State has faced a freshman quarterback.  In both cases, that guy looked better than Morelli. 

Morelli ain't the future, and he sure as hell ain't the present, so what say we get someone else out there who gives them a chance to win, Joe.

FINALLY

L.J. finally sits out for awhile.  Note that it required surgery to keep him off the field.

The handling of L.J.'s injured groin has not been a bright spot for this organization.  Give the man credit for being a gamer, but frankly I'm a little disappointed that the team didn't seem to be as concerned about his health as it should have been.

Detroit Game Preview

I think we'd all feel a lot better about this game if Lito Sheppard were healthy.  Having Dawk at 100 percent would be nice too.  And it sure would be great if Sean Considine could be completely healed by the time he takes the field Sunday.

Other than that, heading into a game against the league's number one passing attack, the Eagles secondary looks great.

There are lots and lots of ways the Eagles could lose this game.  Their offense could stagnate again.  They could lose a shootout.  A depleted secondary could force Jim Johnson to stay conservative in his calls, opening up a lot of room in the running game when the Eagles get too spread out.  An 0-2 start means we can see the spooks around every corner.  Nothing's taking us by surprise at this point.

There are, however, two things about this game that are different from what the Eagles have faced so far.  Both provide reason for hope.

The first difference is that the Lions really don't have a very good defense.  Both the Packers and the Redskins rolled out above-average defenses with very good secondaries.  The Lions are the opposite: a well-below-average defense with a very poor secondary.

Now, with as many points as that offense can score, the defense doesn't have to be great.  They just need to slow people down every once in awhile.  But facing this team should still be enough to allow the Eagles' offense to get on track.  (And by the way, I've always been convinced that it was "on track," not "untracked."  But see here for a counter-thought.  If the New York Times said it in 1927...)

Obviously, the big concern will be Brian Westbrook's knee.  If he's in any way hobbled, that's an enormous hit against the offense, particularly since LJ Smith might finally agree to pull the plug for awhile.  But if the offense can't get it going this week, no one will be able to claim that it was because the receivers couldn't get open.

On the other side of the ball, the Lions' receivers are obviously very, very scary.  The thought of Joselio Hanson or Nick Graham matching up against Roy Williams or Calvin Johnson is almost too terrifying to contemplate.  But there's good news as well.

As mentioned in the Redskins video rewind, the Washington coaches did everything possible to take the pressure off of Jason Campbell.  Lots of quick drops, no standing around in the pocket.  This neutralized the Eagles' pass rush and frustrated the big guys most of the game.

The Lions aren't going to do that.  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.  Because that's really the type of defense the Eagles like to play, I think that's a good sign.

---------------------------

As for how this game is going to play out, who knows?  I don't think you can definitively say which Eagles' team is going to show up Sunday.  Hopefully they come out firing and it's a good, formative experience for the young guys.  Hopefully.

Eagles -- 34
Lions -- 31   

Redskins Video Rewind

With all due respect to Ron Jaworski -- and I mean that sincerely -- it's not the wide receivers.

Let's not pretend for one moment that I know one-tenth of what the former Eagles quarterback does about football.  Jaws is flat-out the best X's-and-O's commentator in the business and brings to bear decades of experience when he's analyzing a game.  I wouldn't be disagreeing with him if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes.

But he's wrong about the receivers.

The Eagles don't have anyone on the roster now who is as good as Terrell Owens.  That's obvious.  But you simply can't lay the blame for the Monday night loss at their feet.  They were good enough.  McNabb wasn't.

In re-watching the game, it's clear the Eagles have a number of issues.  Todd Herremans and Jamaal Jackson aren't playing up to last year's standard.  Brian Dawkins is still recovering from his injury and has lost a step.  And if you think McNabb looks slow out there, try watching L.J. Smith run a route.  I still can't figure out why he's on the field.

It's certainly true that there were some plays where the receivers didn't get open.  No one, least of all Kevin Curtis, seemed able to break open on anything deep down the sideline.  But on most of the plays that didn't work, the problem was with McNabb.  He missed a number of open receivers throughout the game, checking down a few times when he had someone open deep.  He completed 60 percent of his passes, but the ones he missed were not good.  Reggie Brown is lucky he's still alive after some of the balls he tried to go get.  I was also wrong in my initial read on this play:

Consider that one pass McNabb rifled to Reggie last game on either a slant or post down by the end zone.  It was a Nolan Ryan fastball and Reggie couldn't hold on to it...  What I think actually happened is that McNabb got off the timing in his progression of reads.  Because he was a little late recognizing it, he tried to make up for it by gunning the ball in there. 

Bzzzt.  Wrong.  Reggie ran a great route, he was wide open, McNabb saw him all the way ... and he just missed the throw. 

In case there are any Redskins' readers still around, let me preface my next remark by saying I don't think the officiating was the difference in the game.  But do you realize that the officials only called seven penalties all game?  And only one of those was a judgment call?

It's true, there was one holding call, one offsides, one delay of game and four false starts.  That was it.  And let me tell you, all the credit in the world for the Redskins cornerbacks playing good physical coverage in that game, but there was plenty of contact happening downfield that didn't get called.  Reggie Brown was clearly held coming out of his break on one third-down play without a call.  On a number of sideline routes, it appeared the Washington cornerbacks had their hands all over the Eagles receivers well past the five-yard limit, but nothing was called. 

I'm still not convinced about Kevin Curtis' top-end speed, but on the other hand it's tough to beat a guy when he's using his left arm to come along for the ride. 

But the bottom line is that for most of the game, guys were open.  McNabb just didn't play very well. 

On the defensive side of the ball, I wanted to better understand what was going on with the defensive line.  Was Juqua really outplaying Kearse?  What happened to the pass rush?  Should the rotation be mixed up a bit?

What I saw was in some ways encouraging, some ways not.  The most important takeaway from last week is that if an NFL offensive coordinator wants to neutralize a pass rush, he can do it.  The Redskins did a fantastic job game-planning for the Eagles.  When Campbell was in the pocket, everything was coming out right as he hit the top of his drop.  There was no waiting around -- just one or two reads and go.  They also did a great job moving him around, with some play action that also took some of the edge off the pass rush. 

With the exception of a few plays, not even Reggie White was going to be getting to Campbell on Monday night.

This was actually a disconcerting thing to re-watch.  It's the same thing the Saints did to the Eagles last year with Brees.  They went about it a little differently, but all the reads were quick, Brees didn't sit in the pocket and the Eagles' pass rush was effectively neutralized. 

If Lito Sheppard and Brian Dawkins are healthy, I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be.  But with Lito out and Dawk not at full-strength, the Eagles had some issues in coverage.  You also have to hand it to Campbell.  The guy played a really nice game.

I do want to point out one particular play that I think is interesting.  On the second play of the game, the Redskins ran play action right at Jevon Kearse.  He seemed completely lost, spent most of the play jumping up and down, and never got to Campbell, who unleashed a perfect throw down the sideline that was miraculously dropped by Chris Cooley. 

In the second quarter, the Redskins ran the exact same play, but this time Juqua Thomas was in the game.  JT dropped Campbell for a two-yard loss.  I think that says something.

JT was also the guy most responsible for forcing that Campbell interception.  Jaws was jumping all over the young quarterback for not throwing that ball on time, but on the replay it was clear that JT had jumped right at the point when Campbell wanted to throw the ball.  He had to wait for him to come down and by the time that happened, William James had jumped the route.

Monday night also provided a couple of excellent arguments against the people who argue that Jim Johnson's blitz scheme no longer works.  For example, at 3:36 in the first quarter, Campbell came out in the shotgun on third-and-two.  Johnson left his starting tackles in because the down-and-distance favored a running play.  On the snap, Bunkley and Patterson ran a stunt, with Bunkley slanting hard left and Patterson zipping behind him.  Two beats later, Omar Gaither crashed the gap between the two stunting linemen on a delayed blitz.  The center and left guard had figured they had perfectly picked up the stunt and were in the clear.  They never saw Gaither coming.  Omar flew through the gap and forced a bad throw.  It was excellent play design and just another example of how Johnson's scheme frees guys for unblocked runs at the quarterback.  (As an aside, Gaither looks like a guy with good blitzing instincts.)

The run defense looks so much better than last season that it's hard to criticize the mistakes that were made.  But you can run at Trent Cole, and I expect more teams to do so as the year goes along.  He did a poor job keeping contain and also got blown off the line a few times. 

As painful as it was to re-watch this game, I'm actually a lot more positive about the upcoming matchup against Detroit than I was before.  In the Friday game preview, I'll explain why.   

Time to Pick a Fight

One thing veteran players always say is that guys shouldn't need other people to get them motivated.  Which is true, but motivation is a complicated thing.  It's not just about wanting to go out there and do well, it's also about having the confidence to believe you can and the courage to stare down the fear that stops you from doing your best.

Pardon me for sounding like a successories poster there for a minute, but it's true.  In football, the all-business approach can work if you're a talented, veteran team with a track record of success, but you still can't strip away the emotional part of the game.

I share the concern a number of commenters and other fans have expressed that this team seems to lack some fire this season.  Somehow that's gotta change, but who on the roster can pull it off?  Here's my list of 10 guys who might be able to get this team going, in reverse order:

10. Chris Gocong -- Nah, just kidding...

10. Trent Cole -- As long as he doesn't kick anyone.

9. David Akers -- Feisty for a kicker.  Could surprise people.  Could also hurt himself.

8. Brian Westbrook -- The strong, silent type.  Maybe this is the week he gets more vocal.

7. Brian Dawkins  -- He's always fired up.  Hasn't been enough so far this year.

6. Donovan McNabb -- The next facemask he grabs will be his first, but he's the one guy who can get everyone going just by the way he plays.  Also, if he's the victim of a cheap shot, watch how fast everyone jumps to get his back, too.

5. Sheldon Brown -- Lays the wood out there.  Maybe.  Also should have a chance at an INT this week.

4. Omar Gaither -- Vocal guy.  Future leader of the defense.  The future is now, man.

3. Takeo Spikes -- Needs a big play.  He was brought in to provide some vocal leadership, but it's hard to do that when you're not making plays.

2. Sav Rocca -- Think about it.  He's huge.  He would surprise the heck out of someone.  And he's used to tackling people.  One good kill shot on a punt return would get the crowd -- and potentially his teammates -- going nuts.

Which leaves #1...

1. Jon Runyan -- The biggest, meanest, nastiest guy on the field.  If I'm Andy Reid this week, I might suggest to the old warrior that maybe a 15-yard penalty for picking a guy off who's standing around the pile wouldn't be the worst way to go.  Nothing dirty, mind you, just good old fashioned finish-your-block-and-keep-your-head-on-a-swivel football.  A little chippiness would get the crowd pumped too and take care of the sitting on their hands problem as well.