Did I Say "Downside Only Game"?

That, folks, is what we call a complete failure of imagination.

I think we can safely say that while only the preseason, this exceeded even the rosiest scenarios of how I expected the offense to look without the two starting wide receivers.  Heck, I'm not even sure our most dangerous wide receiver wasn't on the field tonight. 

Kevin Curtis has far more polish than Jackson, but McNabb and the kid looked like they'd been playing together for years.  That early throw McNabb made on (if memory serves) a mid-range post pattern?  Don threw the ball not just before he made his break, but before he'd even engaged with the CB.  That's just an incredible amount of trust in a rookie. 

(And it seems to support the theory of WR athletic superiority we've argued for a long time, by the way.  Give McNabb a guy he knows will get separation -- real separation, not a half-step -- and McNabb will get him the ball early and often.)

Everyone did his job tonight:

• L.J. continues to show that even if he's maybe not an elite tight end, he's mastered the most important part of this offense:  catching McNabb's ball no matter where's it thrown -- up, down, or behind him. 
• Jason Avant flashed those terrific hands on that touchdown catch, which was much harder than he made it look.
• Djax...nothing more to be said.
• Westbrook.  Same.
• Buck/Book, 5 for 22 running the ball. 
• Tony Hunt looked like he knew where to be and mostly engaged the right man in his first game as a fullback, even though he certainly wasn't burying anyone out there and got blown up on at least one run block.  In other words, he looked pretty much like Thomas Tapeh. 
• Even Baskett chipped in a play, if he tried to do too much at the end of it. 

Offensive line also looked dominant, even though as we know the Pats didn't get too tricky. 

And McNabb is McNabb.

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Special teams finally showed some life.  I don't want to jinx it.

Good on ya, Sav, though.  Guess he was just a little rusty that first game.

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On the defensive side, everything I said before the game still holds.  Yeah, they looked good.  But Matt Cassel is not an NFL quarterback.  That tends to make things easier.

Glad to see Trent Cole finally got a holding call though.  About time.

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And just to throw this out there ... is anyone else starting to get a little concerned about Omar Gaither?  He seems to be missing a lot of open-field tackles.  I'm beginning to wonder if he's the classic tweener.  Too small for the middle, too slow for the outside. 

What's the wisdom of the crowd on that one?

Comments

[Eric]

Baskett looked good on quite a few blocks. Especially the DeSean screen.

[Tracer Bullet]

I noticed the same thing about Gaither. He just whiffed (and showed a shocking lack of effort) on Cassel's scramble and got beat, badly, for a first down by the backup (3rd string?) TE. Bradley and especially Gocong had good games, though.

[Eagles Fan in San Fran]

Now paging:

A) Reggie Brown: You are in danger of (if not already are) being out of DMac's "Fav 5" to throw to - I peg it at:
1) "Fraction Jackson" (kind of a lame nickname if you ask me, but what do you expect from the NFL Network - I'll wait 'till "Boomer" comes up with one on ESPN)
2) LJ
3) Westbrook
4) Curtis (even while he's out and standing on the sidelines in street clothes)
5) Avant/Baskett/Lewis all rolled into one.
As a result, Reggie, you might just want to double-check on that hammie to see if it's suddenly feeling better.

B) Sean Considine: Pending the outcome of Dawk's MRI, get ready to be tied to Eagles Fans' whipping post once again. I strongly suggest you send Dawk a "Get Well Soon" card in the meantime.

C) Asante Samuel: That one play on Moss made that slightly queasy feeling in some Eagles fans' stomaches about you go away. Thanks!

D) Quintin Demps: Welcome to the team!

E) Rory Segrest/Jerome McDougle: Stop packing your bags and stay awhile.

F) The gaggle of FB wannabes: Start packing your bags - Mr. Hunt will show you to the door.

G) AR: Looks like you may have pulled one out of your #$% with the Jackson pick. That will only semi-balance your previous pick of FredEx, however.

[Eric]

Here's a thought. Does Gasperson deserve the last receiver spot over Lewis? I watched him at training camp and he was catching everything and he's made some great catches in these preseason games. Plus, he's taller. I don't know his speed compared to Lewis, but do we need more speed guys?

[Andrew2]

Does speed really seem to be Gaither's problem? Or is it tackling ability on the edges? It's almost like sometimes he's moving too fast to make the tackle.

Can we start playing the 53-man roster game now?

http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/5839124/10042181

DeSean Jackson interview- Can you imagine Freddy Mitchell answering questions this way? (Maybe the double negatives)

Just sounds like he's got it together. Nut high preseason for Jackson.