What Game?

Would it bother anyone if we just pretended the Miami game never happened?  I guess the defense should be happy about the faux-shutout.  And Westbrook had a career day in the sense that he played exactly the same way he always does but Andy/Marty actually let him carry the ball as many times as he should.  But beyond that, anyone else?  Nabby?  LJ?  Kearse?  The fans?

We're all losers for being a part of that mess.

Believe me, I understand the value of a win, any win, in the NFL.  If we hadn't wasted two prime chances for easy victories earlier in the season, this team would be 7-3 and still in semi-contention for the division title.  That would all be a mirage, of course, since the Cowboys are a good team and the Eagles are not, but we wouldn't know that right now. 

Wisdom came early this year.

Beyond the victory, however, there was nothing redemptive about that cold, ugly, stuttering mess of a game.  I'd be happier never thinking about it again.

On the other hand, the Patriots are coming to town this week.  And despite the sudden optimism of everyone's favorite commenter -- probably due to McNabb's qustionable status for the game -- the rest of us are a lot more realistic.  There's about a 99 percent chance the Eagles are going to lose this weekend and an 80 percent chance that it's going to be really, really ugly.  Not sure what else there is to say beyond that.

The unfortunate reality of the game passed and the game upcoming is that there's nothing that we really want to talk about.  Both games suck in their own ways. 

Therefore, to prevent a conversational quagmire for the next seven days ("McNabb YES!!" / "McNabb NO!!"), your trusty blogger is here to help.  Here's a list of 10 fresh-off-the-shelf issues to discuss so we don't have to talk about the Dolphins, the Patriots, or why McNabb will never win a Super Bowl until he gets traded to Chicago.

1)  How bad does this draft look right now? 

2)  Did even the boo birds at the Linc seem kind of listless this afternoon?  Frankly, I expect more than that when there are so many bad plays. 

3)  Is Tony Romo far, far less likable than Brett Favre was back in the day simply because Romo plays for the Cowboys?  Or is it something else?

4)  Could Inquirer writer Ashley Fox be any more transparent in her efforts to make people forget she chaired the committee that left Brian Westbrook off the Eagles' 75th Anniversary Team?

5)  If you could pick only one, would you kneecap Tony Romo or Tom Brady?

6)  Can someone at Fox please show Troy Aikman the tape of all the Dallas games he's done this season where he's said things like, "I really think you just have to let the players play there," (for penalties on the Cowboys) or "To me, that's an obvious penalty," (for infractions committed -- or not -- by Dallas opponents)?

7)  Would it be strictly legal for the judge in the Reid kid's cases to set as a condition for early parole a 50-50 run-pass balance in their father's game-planning?

8)  Shouldn't the Eagles hire some patsy to wear a Patriots' cap and stand on their sideline this weekend with a video camera?  Who's the league going to believe?  Belichick?

9)  Not to have a bad attitude or anything, but if next week the Pats said, "Hey, we feel bad about that whole cheating in the Super Bowl thing -- here's a list of all the plays we're going to run tonight, in the order we plan to run them," would it make any difference?

10)  Shorts, spikes and a fast track, Rocca's running what -- maybe a 5.5-second 40?  For all the Aussies who stop by on a weekly basis to check on Sav, this is why Americans don't take it all that seriously when fans from other countries, who don't realize how good these athletes are, talk about how American football players are just overweight slobs:

Now obviously, the play itself wasn't Sav's fault.  He boomed a 46-yard punt with a hang time of of 5.1 seconds.  That's a fantastic kick that should be easy to cover.  He just didn't look that good when everything else broke down :-)