Now We Have to Pass

Here's the thing.  Whatever you think about McNabb overall, you can't argue with the fact that when he's hot, he's hot.  A defensive game plan that focused on taking away the run and seeing if McNabb could beat you wouldn't be very smart.  The Pats might have been just crazy enough to try it; but that doesn't mean it would have been a good idea.

On the other hand, as much as AJ Feeley is a legitimate NFL quarterback, he isn't McNabb.  Which means if you're a team with a very good pass defense and a fantastic offense, it wouldn't be crazy to say you're going to focus on stopping Westbrook at all costs and dealing with the passing game points by scoring your own. 

All of which is to say that the people who are assuming the Eagles are going to come out run-heavy because Feeley will be starting in place of McNabb may only be doing a first-order analysis.  Mandy Mornhinreid will be asking the next question...

What Will Belichick Do?

Bit of a paradox, really.  Lesser quarterback = more passing.

Comments

[Dan]

Yes, #5 is erratic. And part of being erratic is games where he goes 25 for 28, with 300+ yds, and 3 touchdowns.

So your idea is to take the Patriots by surprise.

I like that idea, and it shows you're working the problem.

I need the Eagles need to go out there and play this game like it was revenge for the Super Bowl, play it to drive a stake through the Patriots' 19 and 0 hopes.

Play it to spoil Belichick's "lay waste to the NFL" approach, and play it for all those appalled by what Belichick did to win, id est, cheat.

Play it with anger, play it with revenge, play it with fury, and go out there and look to smash somebody in the face as hard as you can.

If they do that, maybe they'll show us this team isn't just ready to be blown up, scattered to the winds, and used for trade bait.

If they win, if they hang, if they force the Patriots to score points in the final 4 minutes to win the game, that would show something.

[Dan]

You've heard of the: "What would Jesus do" line.

Well, let's ask: "What would Buddy Ryan do" in this situation.

And old Buddy would put a bounty on Brady.

Let's make this game "the Bounty on Brady game."

Brady is out there skewing his stats throwing for touchdowns when his team is up 35 pts, he's out there faking spikes of the ball, then rearing up and throwing touchdowns.

Now Unitas never did that, nor Starr, not Staubach, nor Favre, nor Sammy Baugh, nor Norm Van Brocklyn.

But Brady, heeding the creepy instructions of his coach who is in a snit because he was found out, because his accomplishments now have an asterisks attached to them, is going out there and trashing teams. BRADY IS NOW AS BLAMEWORTHY AS Belichick. He's repeating the talking points, he's wide eyed thinking of his stats.

A man would have told his coach, to his face: "NO, I'm NOT going to go out there and throw a touchdown against a team we're beating by 28 points, in the 4th quarter." That's what a man would have done.

But instead Brady gets wide-eyed and tosses out "Well my coach doesn't send me in to punt."

SO BE IT BRADY.

Put a bounty on him. Go ask LT what LT would have done to somebody trying to humiliate, mortify and embarrass you on national television.

LT would have laid that clown down and out.

And so would Buddy Ryan.

If that's what Brady wants to do, if that's what he intends, then take him out, end the Patriots fantasy of 19 and 0, end their fantasy of the Super Bowl this year, end it all, and take Brady out.

And just a couple of weeks ago, I actually liked and respected Brady, but not after that Buffalo game.

Take him out. End his season now.

Tell him this IS Philadelphia, and if we could, we'd drag him out and tar and feather him. I'm not happy with what New England is doing to the NFL, all because Belichick was exposed as dirty.

[BrianS]

Don't hurt any Patriots. We'll be rooting for them when they play Dallas in the superbowl.

[Jake]

Sorry Dan but you might have major issues with the Patriots but they don't care. He'll play his three quarters and then come out of the game whether you want him on the bench at 1:30 or not.

And put a bounty on Brady all you want. In order to collect it, someone would have to actually be able to get to him. Unless you want someone hitting him with a car in the parking lot, its not going to happen.

[Dan]

No car in the parking lot. Nothing like that.

No knee capping by shadowy types in his hotel room.

Just keep pounding him, before the whistle, during the play, after the whistle.

And if it comes to the Patriots v. the Cowboys, and there's NO guarantee on that by the way, I'll be rooting for the Cowboys.

Romo and company are less objectionable right now than Brady, Moss and their inflated statistics.

Not to mention Belicheat, whose name should go down in infamy.

Can't possibly root for Belicheat, Brady and company during a year when the guy is going off on some snit because he was rightfully exposed. He should be thankful he wasn't run out of town by the League. Any other coach, and that might have happened.

Not to mention what he did TRULY casts a shadow on his trophies.

There's no way I'll root against the Cowboys if they have to matchup against the Patriots, not to mention the Cowboys will be clearly the underdog, and America likes underdogs.