Since When Is 19 Points Not Enough?

Not to be an ungrateful wretch, but I wasn't all that fired up about yesterday's effort.  Am I turning into just another Negadelphian?  I don't think so, and here's why.

You can't quibble with the result.  Throw out the one dumb play by Lito "I clearly believe my next contract will be directly proportionate to the number of INTs I have this year" Sheppard, and the Eagles were up 26-0 in points and 419-143 in yards.  That's a butt whupping of such completeness that the local papers in Seattle are writing things today like this:

NOT SINCE JIMMY Buffett failed to find his lost shaker of salt has anyone in pop culture seemed as bewilderingly forlorn as was Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren on Sunday.

Aside from his years-ago power struggle with former president Bob Whitsitt, Holmgren is as low as he's been in his decade in Seattle.

Final season, no veteran quarterback, no rushing game, spotty defense, 2-6 at midseason and no prospects of beating a good team.

"They are trying hard. ... It breaks my heart," he said with a soft heaviness in his voice. "It breaks my heart."

At least it came at the hands of an old friend, right coach?

So why am I underwhelmed?  Because it's clear the Eagles can play even better.

McNabb is streaky, we all know that.  So you have to take the handful of "where was that ball going" drives along with the ones where every throw is an on-the-money laser.  That's why the sideline reporter in last week's game said she talked to Reid at halftime about what he needed to do about his offense and Reid told her he just wanted to see McNabb keep firing.  He knows that a slow start often just means a hot finish.

But the problem is that when things aren't going well for the offense, the result is just really, really ugly.  It's not like they run the ball for four yards, have an imcompletion, then pick up a short first down before then going three-and-out from there to punt.  Nope, it's incomplete, stuff, incomplete, punt.  And it's maddening to watch.

When that comes against an opponent like the Seahawks, it's no harm, no foul.  You could spot 'em three touchdowns and still come roaring back.  But against the good teams, that approach will get you buried before half time.

Consider this:  the Giants are clearly the class of the conference right now.  They couple a dominating pass rush with a powerful rushing attack -- a combination that makes it very, very hard to come back against them once they get ahead.  You won't have the ball that often because they'll control the clock, and when you do and have to pass, they'll release the hounds and break down your protection.  Slow start = death in those games. 

So yeah, the effort yesterday was more than adequate to beat the Seahawks.  But apply that template to some of the other good teams around the league and it doesn't look as good.

- - - - - -

Other notes on the game.

The Eagles wide receivers are back to their problems with man coverage.  It was great to see some offense from the tight end position, but until Curtis got things going late, we saw a lot of the same "separation" problems on the outside that we've seen before. 

I'm not sure how much to read into Celek's big day.  On the one hand, you set the franchise record for receiving yards at your position, you've had a pretty good game.  On the other, he was basically uncovered on the first two big catches (44 and 27 yards).  I know the town's going to get really excited, since the majority of folks here have been itching to get rid of LJ for a long time, but if Celek can match the numbers in this one game over his next three games, I'll be very, very surprised.  Still, I've said all along that I thought Celek looked like he knew what he was doing, but he'd had every opportunity to make an impact with all the time LJ's missed the last year and a half and he'd never done it.  Yesterday, he did it.

Yes, yes, the red zone thing sucks, but I don't think we can overrate the importance of what we're seeing with David Akers.  Look, I don't know if it's leg strength or technique or getting a better feel for the wind or whatever.  All I know is that early in the season, Akers came to the ball looking like he hoped he'd make the kick and now he's coming to the ball looking like he knows he'll make the kick.  Even the short kicks he was making early in the season were often to one side or the other.  Yesterday the goal posts could have been four feet wide and he still would have made 'em.  This is a very good sign for January.

This should be the Westbrook/Jackson show.  On the Eagles first three drives, Westbrook got two handoffs, Jackson had one ball thrown his way ... and Curtis was the target of four incompletions.  I'm not blaming Curtis for not coming up with those terrible throws -- and did you think maybe McNabb had a hand injury after the first couple drives like I did, sheesh -- but I'm not sure "establish Kevin Curtis" should be our number one priority while the guy's coming back from his injury. 

It's time to ditch the power short-yardage running game.  For whatever reason, it's just not happening this year.  I'm guessing Reid doesn't want to send his guys the message that he doesn't have faith in their ability to control the line of scrimmage, but look at the line he's got right now.  Tra Thomas does great work outside with DEs, but he's more of a turn and move blocker than a power guy.  Herremans is a tackle trying to play with leverage inside.  Jamaal Jackson does a nice job with the line calls but doesn't win many individual battles.  MJG can be beaten inside with quickness, but is a power blocker.  Jon Runyan doesn't have the same mauling ability he did five years ago.  None of the tight ends is a dominating run blocker.  And the fullbacks ... yeah. 

So let's stop trying to play 1950's football inside.  On third and two, start going to three wides, shotgun, or even five wide formations with Westbrook able to motion back in.  Ditch the WWI offensive mindset, spread the defense out, and let Westbrook and Buckhalter use their ability to explode through small creases instead.

- - - - - -

Last note for now.  Here's a scary number for you:

Factoid. The early Vegas line last night made the Eagles (5-3) a three-point favorite over the Giants (7-1) in Sunday night's showdown in Lincoln Financial Field.

Hmmm...