Final Cuts Made

Here's the list.  Only a couple of surprises:

• Jerome McDougle -- I guess the team just had no faith in his ability to stay healthy.  He sure looked good this preseason though.
• Kris Wilson -- IgglesBlog readers won't find this surprising.
• Andy Studebaker -- I'm not sure about this one.  This kid looks like a football player.  Interestingly, his description isn't in the past tense: "Small-school defensive end learning linebacker spot."  That's in contrast to most of the other guys on that list (had, was, etc.).  Wonder if there's a handshake deal there on the practice squad?

Tony Hunt is your starting fullback, at least for the next 48 hours.  I guess we're going to see a lot of one-back / split backs in the early part of the season. 

Two rookie offensive lineman (Dunlap and Gibson) stashed on IR.  Neither one mentioned in Andy's post-game injury report on Thursday.  I'm sure that was just an oversight...

Cut Day: Mostly I ’ m pulling for McDougle

I'll be offline for the afternoon, but let me drop a final shout-out to Jerome McDougle: here's hoping you make the team. I dunno, I guess I was just a sucker for this story all through camp.

Godspeed.

Matt Mosley stays on Philly ’ s good side (barely)

I've been following Matt Mosley's NFC East blog at ESPN with some trepidation.  Whilst I certainly have appreciated a handy roundup of NFC-East-focused news stories, I of course have been routinely offended by the lack of relative attention/ respect paid to the Eagles in said blog.  And it isn't just because Mosley is a Dallas guy; he ran a mailbag column the other day that contained one sentence on the Birds and didn't even mention Philly as a contender for Anquan Boldin (he focused his Boldin talk on the Cowboys).  Ew.

Still, his decision to rank the Illadelph faithful fourth (4th) amongst NFL fans (and tops in the NFC East) shows that he is at least capable of comporting himself like a gentleman if need be. He notes that the season-ticket waiting list is 70,000 people strong (on which I'm apparently number 898, if an e-mail from the Birds is to be believed!) and that we do an excellent job with loyalty and tailgating.  The excerpt:

No other team dictates a city's mood like the Eagles. It's a loyal group of fans, but don't confuse it with blind loyalty. When the Eagles play poorly, they face the wrath of the fans. That rattles some guys, but players such as Jeremiah Trotter and Brian Dawkins have thrived on that tough love. Fans of opposing teams should tread lightly in the Linc.

Mosley also includes some generic quotes about Philly fans, which has only solidified my belief that I'm completely bored/ tired of reading hypotheses regarding why we like the Eagles so durn much; to be honest, I'm a bit bored with the "Philly fans are CRAZY" trope amongst the national blatherati:

"You could drop a Martian into Philly the day after a game, and within three minutes, he'd know if the Eagles had won or lost," said Glen Macnow, a sports radio talk show host for the wildly popular WIP and co-author of "The Great Philadelphia Fan Book." "When they win, you'll meet the friendliest cab drivers, CPAs and newspaper sellers. Whey they lose, it's like a five-day hangover."

Unlike places such as Dallas and Miami, Philadelphia isn't home to a lot of transplants. People aren't trying to leave, and potential newcomers aren't arriving any time soon. It sort of creates this bunker mentality that seems to fuel passion for local teams -- but mainly the Eagles.

No transplants?  Bunker mentality?  Sure.  Your bullshit is just as valid as my bullshit on this topic.  But we appreciate the theorizing!  Maybe next week we can make the mailbag.

Did I Mention I'm Out Today?

Yeah, the "grandparents" came into town last for a visit the holiday weekend.  Haven't even watched the game yet.  Glad to see no major injuries. 

I'll check in at some point when we hear the cuts, but won't be around much the next couple days. ave a great weekend everyone.

DeSean Jackson at least as good as Corey Simon

Didn't see the game tonight (was on the road in my former home out in the Pacific Northwest), though I followed the first couple quarters on the web.  So I pretty much have no idea what happened out there, save for the following:

(1) DeSean Jackson didn't play.  So he's that good, huh?  Doesn't need to show in the last preseason game?  Andy Reid admitted as much, saying in his post-game presser that the last Eagles rookie he sat in the fourth game was Corey Simon.  Huh.  Might we even go so far as to suggest that DeSean needs to be fitted for his very own protective bubble-wrap cocoon? 

(2) Jerome McDougle played the whole game.  Huh.  Guess they wanted to get a good long look.  I'm definitely pulling for him to make the team, my rationale being that "the dude got shot." 

(3) Victor Abiamiri threw an incompletion?  Wha?  This is a typo, right?  Double-you Tee Eff, nfl dot com?

Oh Those Rookies

Today's DeSeanism:

For fans that enjoyed watching Reno Mahe fair catch punts for the past five years, new Eagles returner DeSean Jackson has some bad news.

While Mahe was good at his role, those days are long gone.

"I really don't like to fair catch too much," Jackson said. "As you've seen, I haven't fair caught it yet. That's not really my deal. But if somebody runs up into my face, I'll be smart and fair catch it so I don't have to take a big hit. But that's not my deal. I don't like to fair catch it."

So I guess we can count on that crucial fumble after he gets laid out by an NFL-caliber linebacker coming by, say, week three?

“And the ball is up in the air … and Carpenter HAS IT … and he’s at the 20, the 10, TOUCHDOWN COWBOYS!”

Ugh.

Truly Fantastic Article

BGN linked to this last night, but it's such a good article it's worth a follow-up post:  Defensive masterminds have turned up heat on NFL offenses.

Really deep.  Really good.  This is a must read.

Of course, there are a couple of points I'd nitpick on.  Jim Johnson certainly wouldn't agree that there's anything inherently less safe about his pressure packages.  A big point of emphasis for him is just how sound they are.  It just looks a little more reckless because he's middle of the pack (15th) in terms of bringing five guys, but way up near the top (3rd and 2nd) in bringing 6+ or 7+.  (All stats from PFP.)

And it's not just that the Tampa-2 "demands" that almost all the pressure comes from the front four.  There are also differences in responsibility.  JJ's system requires the line to be sound against both the run and the pass.  The Tampa-2 linemen basically only play the run if it comes up on their way to the quarterback. 

But it's still a really, really good read.  And I'd especially like to hear more about how JJ tries to get offenses "[d]oubting where the Mike (middle linebacker) is so they are unsure how to read his defense."  That's something we saw last year when Brady was mic'ed up for the game and he kept saying things like "24 [Sheldon Brown] is the MIKE."  Then it turns out he wasn't and the protection was off.

If anyone's got a link to an even deeper discussion of that stuff, I'd love to see it.

Chance of Super Bowl? Four Percent

With a couple minor exceptions (NCAA pools, fantasy, random sportsbook run in Vegas), I don't wager on sporting events.  It's a self-preservation thing more than anything else.  I'm not a good game picker.  I have a tendency to fall in love with storylines, which clouds my judgment on the actual nuts and bolts of the match-up. 

Good for writing, bad for the pocketbook.

With that said, I appreciate what Vegas has to tell us about the games in a "wisdom of the crowds" sort of way.  I'm not fluent in the language, but I still like reading that stuff.

Yesterday, a publicist for Bodog emailed me a bunch of relevant odds for the upcoming season.  (He happened to be a Philly guy -- "Born in Philly, raised in Cherry Hill" -- we're like Red Sox Nation but so much less annoying, I'm telling you.)  

I saw the numbers posted somewhere else, but I thought I'd go through it with a bit more commentary:

Season Results

Odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII
Philadelphia Eagles 25/1

Odds to win the 2008
NFC Championship Philadelphia Eagles 10/1

Odds to win the NFC East Division
Philadelphia Eagles 7/2

The first two numbers seem about right to me, that last one doesn't.  The Cowboys are the clear favorite, but I'm not seeing how the other two teams are pulling much away. 

Still, I know what Philly fans are thinking.  "You're saying we've got a one in 26 chance to win a championship?  Well, we've had 25 years of failure, so that must make this the year!"

Wins

Philadelphia Eagles Regular Season Wins
Over 8.5 -180
Under 8.5 +150

See, this is where the language of sports betting gets beyond me.  They've got that 8.5 number sitting there just to annoy you, but then you have to wager a heck of a lot for not much payout if they go over it.  Seems fishy as all get out to me.

Miscellaneous

Will Andy Reid be head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for week 1 of the 2009 NFL season?
Yes -170
No +140

I'd say this is free money, but again, given my track record, I don't want to jinx the big guy.

Player Performance

Donovan McNabb Passing Yards
Over/Under 3200

Donovan McNabb Passing Touchdowns
Over/Under 18.5

Donovan McNabb Starts
Over/Under 14

If McNabb actually starts 14 games, he's going to obliterate those other numbers.  Seems like there's a hedge opportunity here that one of my far more financially savvy friends could exploit.  I'm hoping one in particular emails me to enlighten me on how that could work.  You know who you are, Mr. Throat.

Brian Westbrook Rushing Yards
Over/Under 1230

Brian Westbrook Receiving Yards
Over/Under 700

Brian Westbrook Total Touchdowns
Over/Under 11.5

High, high and high.

Lorenzo Booker Rushing and Receiving Yards
Over/Under 475

Also seems high.  Buckhalter isn't dead.

LJ Smith Receiving Yards
Over/Under 600

LJ Smith Touchdowns
Over/Under 4.5

Both low.  McNabb is going to feed LJ this year, I can just feel it.  (See, there's that storyline thing again.)

Trent Cole Sacks
Over/Under 11.5

Will look like a sure thing after September, will not look nearly as good after November.

Asante Samuel Interceptions
Over/Under 4.5

Book it.  You can't just avoid Samuel because the other corners aren't chickenscratch.  Samuel -- if he stays healthy -- is our new Ronde Barber, except this time he's on our side. 

Wow, This Is Dumb

I try to avoid getting caught up in this kind of link-bait stuff, but just got this email from Kevin at Them's Good Eaton passing along an SI.com link:

Hey Derek,

I know it's just an opinion piece, and I know it's based on who he thinks fits the system, blah blah, but come on...

Don Banks: Ranking each team's No. 2 quarterback

My favorite part is where he explains that Kolb is at No. 24 because there isn't "much of a body of work" on which to judge him -- and then he goes ahead and puts guys like Brady Quinn (No. 8), Chad Henne (No. 14), and the esteemed Brett Ratliff (No. 22) ahead of him.  To that I say: come now, Mr. Banks.  Weren't you an extra in Invincible?  Shouldn't you cut us Iggles fans some slack here?

Anyway, just thought I'd pass this along...

--Kevin

I'm honestly not as concerned with where he lists Kevin Kolb.  The truth is that we really haven't see much of the guy, and he hasn't looked overwhelming when he's been out there.

But ... some of those other picks are real head-scratchers.  Right now Kyle Boller can't even lift his arm.  And he's lost 22 of those 42 starts, many on pretty good teams.

Whatever.  I would, however, like to point out the number of Redskins alums on that list.  Todd Collins, obviously, but also Sage Rosenfels, Trent Green, Brad Johnson, Gus Frerrotte, Mark Brunell and Patrick Ramsey. 

That's just from memory, but even if I'm missing a guy, that's an absolute murderer's row of backup quarterbacks. 

It's Bill Belichick's Fault!

Will this man's reign of terror never end?  

Per Spadaro:

Ryan Moats was injured on the final punt of the game last week in New England when Patriots coach Bill Belichick called three timeouts to give his return man a shot [sic] another shot. Sav Rocca's punt was great and on the sideline, but somehow Moats got hurt and won't have an opportunity to carry the football 15 times in a game he needs to get on film and show the rest of the league what he can still do.

Also, in case you were worried about Bryan Smith:

Smith, by the way, is going to be a very good end. He just needs some time.

So that's settled.

(I will say, in Smith's defense, that I don't think he was 100 percent in that first game he played where he looked Reno Mahe slow out there.  He's been much quicker in the later games.)