Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

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.

- - - - - -

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.

- - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - 

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?

More Game Thoughts

You know, it's funny.  I've made the point a million times that fans the last couple of years have been unnecessarily down on McNabb not so much because of what he's done on the field, but because the team as a whole hasn't won enough games.  Our perception of performance is always colored by the actual results.

I've just never thought about making the point in the opposite direction.

Last night's game was terrible.  The special teams were generally abysmal (save for Sav Rocca), the first team offense went from dink-dunk to drop-drop, the team generally seemed to lose its focus after the rain delay, and through three quarters people were saying things like: "There's no way I'm going to be able to check out the Eagles message boards until after our next game." 

But because the 8th team offense finally put some points up in the fourth quarter (aided greatly by a blown coverage and a badly-missed tackle a powerful run by Tony Hunt) and the Eagles "won" a meaningless game against a bad team that has no impact in the standings, we're all about 10 times happier today that we would have been otherwise. 

Me included.

- - - - - -

A good way to remember the early mood is to check out the write-ups by the beat writers who were there.  These guys have to write their stories throughout the game if they have any chance to make their crazy deadlines, so you can see how things progressed.  Take Les Bowen, for example:

LIGHTNING STRUCK much more forcefully and consistently than the Eagles' first-team offense, in the home fans' first preseason glimpse of their 2008 team last night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Normally, you hate to see the starters leave. In this 24-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers, it was a relief, as each first-half Eagles' possession after a 58-minute, first-quarter thunderstorm delay seemed a little more futile than the one before.

...

Donovan McNabb sat down for the evening at halftime with a dreary 11-for-24, 98-yard stat line, spiced by several ugly drops and a dumb decision on his part to throw a third-down pass when he was at least a yard past the line of scrimmage, with open field in front of him and no more than 2 yards to go for the first down.

...

Brian Westbrook gained all of 14 yards on five carries, behind a scrambled offensive line. It's probably time to drop the illusion that the Birds will somehow be OK if right guard Shawn Andrews doesn't shake his bout with depression and return to Pro Bowl form.

There's plenty more in there if you want all the gory details.

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One of the hard parts about evaluating the preseason is that we have no idea how good the opponents are.  Last week, the starting defense got a little run over by Pittsburgh.  This week they looked a lot better.  How much of that is due to the fact that the Steelers are going to be pretty good and the Panthers could legitimately be passing over a top 10 pick to the Eagles next year?

No way of knowing for a few weeks, at least. 

- - - - - -

I actually thought the starting offensive line the Eagles threw out last night did a pretty good job, all things considered.  They weren't flawless, but that would have been a lot to expect, given all the shuffling.

Scott Young, in particular, looked a little quicker than I remembered.  I'll have to watch him again.

- - - - - -

The receivers really let the rain mess with their heads last night.  They were wearing gloves, then they took them off for a series (not coincidentally the one where Curtis and Jackson had back-to-back drops), then they were back on. 

Too much thinking about the rain, not enough thinking about catching the football.

- - - - - -

Let's see how we did with the expectations game:

Downside things to watch out for:

• Donovan looking a little bit more like Donovan and not Super Awesome Man. CHECK
• DeSean Jackson looking like a rookie.  NOPE
• The starting offensive line -- with two backups and another guy out of position -- looking a little ragged. 50-50

And on the upside:

• Brian Dawkins looking like he actually could beat Shawn Andrews in footrace.  INCOMPLETE
• The starting defense selling out to stop the run early.  DIDN'T NEED TO

Things we'd like to see but I'm worried we won't:

• Some semblance of a pass rush. PLEASANT SURPRISE
• Asante Samuel leaving the field without a limp. "TIGHTENED UP DURING THE DELAY"
• Sav Rocca punting with his right foot again (only possible explanation I have).  VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE

Hmmm... not sure how to grade that one. 

What I will say, though, is that I thought about including Booker in the first section, then realized he didn't have that great a game last time around if you factored in special teams.  Well, he went from "not that great" to "seriously, what the hell" pretty quickly in this game.  He probably should have made the list.

Booker appears to be closing in rapidly on the TCD 2008 designation.  We should really have seen that coming.

- - - - - -

Reid had a humdinger of a quote in his post-game press conference:

"We have to cut down on the penalties. It's good that they're happening now, so that we can get them corrected and worked on so that they don't happen during the season."

On second thought, you know what would be even better?  Not having those things happen at all.

Other things that are good to have happening now:

• Dropped balls.
• Terrible kick returns.
• Poor clock management.
• [Gratuitous joke re: close-up shots of a couple cheerleaders who didn't look to be in, er, regular season form redacted so I don't have to sleep on the couch tonight.]

- - - - - -

On that McNabb penalty where he crossed the line of scrimmage, it wasn't that smart a play, but do you really think it's one he makes in the regular season?  I kind of doubt it.  He seems to be treating these preseason games as a chance to work out the kinks, rather than worrying about moving the chains with his feet.

- - - - - -

One last shout-out to Sav.  He really handled the conditions well last night.  Maybe the Eagles should always try to wet down the punting balls before he uses them.

I wonder if he could also give some pointers to the receivers?

- - - - - -

If I were Reggie Brown, I'm not sure I'd make too leisurely a return from that hamstring injury.

Unfortunately, that's probably exactly how he's thinking, which means the training staff needs to be ultra-careful with him to make sure he doesn't push it too hard and end up costing himself some real time this season.

- - - - - -

Finally, I appreciate all the video rewind requests.  Due to recent staffing cutbacks, I may have difficulty addressing all 27 of them, but I'll do my best :)

Steelers Game Recap

This is going to be a little lot shorter than what I usually do in the regular season.  Mostly that's because it's Friday night and, really, if you're hanging around to read this right after a preseason game, you have even less of a life than I do.  But also, I plan to get the video rewind knocked out this weekend.  And since preseason games are all about that kind of in-depth evaluation, rather than big storylines, they're more about the rewind anyway.

With that said, let's go positive/negative. 

Bad stuff first:

• That first defensive series sure was rough.  I covered the attacking-the-edges point below, but I want to add that on first viewing the linebackers looked really tentative out there.  I'll have to watch again to be sure, but that was my first impression.
• Brian Dawkins looked really, really slow on that touchdown he gave up.  That was disconcerting. 
• Really disconcerting. 
• The special teams still look terrible. 
  • The return men seemed fine, but the coverage and blocking still wasn't there.  Nice return by Demps on that last punt. 
  • Akers had two good kickoffs and then a really, really weird one that seemed to not spin at all -- or go very far.  That was strange. 
  • Rocca put two balls in the end zone.  Good touch. 
• Front four -- no matter the mix -- seemed to get no pressure until we got down to the Jerome McDougle's.  That's disappointing.
• Ryan Moats is still fast as hell, dumb as ...

What I liked:

• DMac.  Obviously.  He looked great.  I especially like the way he chose to throw the ball away a couple of times rather than risk possible sacks when the play wasn't there.  He's going to have to do that more now to stay healthy.
• DeSean Jackson.  Five catches, 51 yards.  Seemed to be open the whole time he was on the field.  Great reach-back catch on a poor throw by McNabb.  The only thing we didn't see from him was any real attempt to get down the field deep.
• Booker.  I'm a Booker Believer now.  We knew, based on all reports, that he could play well as a receiver, but I was most impressed tonight by how good he looked carrying the football.  Four carries, 16 yards, may not seem like much, but he showed nice patience and seemed to be really following his blocks.
• Tony Hunt.  Still looks like the running back I remember.  Didn't see a trace of the "heaviness" some observers have suggested he was lugging around this year. 
• Starting offensive line.  They looked pretty solid.  They should, of course.
• I was going to put King Dunlap here, but he just picked up that late holding call.  The big man looked like he was holding his own out there for the most part, however.
• Jerome McDougle.  Yes, he was feasting on third-stringers, but he looked quick and strong.

Other observations:

• Guys who look like football players:  Joe Mays and Andy Studebaker.  Be interesting to see some more of them.  
• All those bottom of the depth chart WRs are really small.
• A.J. Feeley seems to really be enjoying entering the who-gives-a-crap phase of his career.  The best teams always have slightly unhinged third QBs, I think.

Finally, I've been telling you for weeks that FB Jason Davis was going to be the key to solving the red zone issues.  Didn't I?

More later this weekend.  Good night everyone.

You Had a Better View that I Did

Still on vacation, which means I "watched" today's game on a seriously low-rez slingbox feed.  As much as I enjoyed the result, trust me, you had a better view of the game today than I did.

- - - - - -

I think It's fitting that the final tackle of the season came from a defensive end (Juqua Thomas) chasing down a wide receiver 20 yards downfield, while the winning touchdown came on a fumble recovery in the end zone by a hustling Kevin Curtis.  Also, the deep pass call on the last clock-killing drive was vintage Andy Reid.  These guys never stopped trying, they never stopped hustling, and they never stopped playing aggressively. 

- - - - - -

I tivoed the last two games while I was gone and I do look forward to re-watching the games to really look hard at the young guys who finally got some snaps.  Not sure when that will come, what with everything winding down, but I'll get on it after I get back home.

After that, things are likely to slow down a fair amount around here.  Maybe not quite as much as last year, but with a new baby on the way and some other things I need to start spending some time on, the blog is going to head to the old back burner. 

As always, thanks to everyone who read, emailed or commented throughout the season.  I think we've got a good thing going here, and I look forward to continuing the conversation through the offseason and again next year. 

Thanks again.

--Derek

Down, Down Go the Cowboys

After last year's game against Tampa Bay, Ronde Barber let slip a little tidbit about Donovan McNabb.  It seems at some point during the offseason, McNabb had told a few of his friends on the Bucs' team that he thought their defense was kind of, well, predictable. 

McNabb won't ever say that again.

During today's broadcast, Buck and Aikman told us that Romo had said much the same during the run-up to this week's game.  Seems Jessica Simpson's new beau thought the Eagles were a bit predictable in their blitzes.  Maybe even easy to read. 

How you like that Eagles defense now, mister 13-of-36 with three INTs and two fumbles?

This is such a weird team.  Almost without fail, these guys play up or down to the level of their opponents.  I don't think there's a team in the league that they're not capable of beating on or losing to.  (Maybe the Steelers, since that's not a good match-up for us.)

But enough about that stuff.  None of it changes the fact that this was an under-achieving season and we're all really just waiting for 2008 to begin.  Let's wallow in some schadenfreude for awhile instead...

• The Cowboys are now only a (virtual) half game ahead of the Packers for home field advantage and so have to play out their starters for as long as Green Bay keeps winning.  No early rest for your boys, Phillips.
• At one point, Terrell Owens had been thrown to nine times with one catch to show for it.  His final numbers were two catches for 37 yards.  He slipped on the ball Dawk intercepted to set up the final non-scoring drive. And we can only hope his little first-half freakout was a sign of things to come.
• Owens is and always will be a front-runner, Dallas fans.  Never forget that.
• Tony Romo had had one game all season where his passer rating was below 91.0.  Today he tossed up a 22.2.  Bet you didn't predict that, dude.
• Dallas was 1-for-13 on third down.

I'm just rambling now, but I would also like to mention that the official gamebook has at least one error, when it lists Tony Hunt as a "did not appear" in the game.  Unfortunately, approximately 10 million people saw him run such an effective play action fake at one point that he forgot to block the blitzing linebacker coming right up the middle to nail McNabb. 

Man, that game felt good. 

New Ways to Lose

Who says the Eagles aren't creative?  They keep coming up with new ways to lose every week. 

C'mon, a terrible no-call by the refs, a three-and-out forced by the defense, a snappy(ish) drive down the field and then one of the most painful misses in Akers' career?  That's a new one. 

I mean, that kick would have been good from 65.  It just cut a little too far right at the last second.   

Of course, if he'd made it, who thinks the Eagles would have won in OT?  As bad as their coverage units were playing, they probably would have lost the toss, kicked to the Giants, and given up a 50-yard return that put the Giants in one-first-down-and-kick-a-field-goal range. 

There's just something off with this team.  After two weeks of the A.J. Feeley experience, it was nice having a quarterback who remembered which color jersey his team was wearing, but the results still weren't pretty.  They kept showing replays of the guys running their routes with Moose saying, "There's just nowhere to go with the ball."  Well, to me, there looked like there were lots of places to go with the ball.  Those guys were a lot more open today than they were against the Patriots.  McNabb just wouldn't pull the trigger.

Dawk played his butt off today, jawing at everyone from the first snap to the last, trying to get everyone else to play with some fire for a change.

Didn't work.

Westbrook put up 154 yards from scrimmage and made something out of nothing on play after play. 

Wasn't enough.

Reid and Mornhinweg even obliged all the folks (like yours truly) who have been arguing that the best gameplan for the Eagles was to run run run and only pass when the running game had opened things up downfield.

Nope, that didn't work either.  The Eagles couldn't get anything going downfield.  I think I can remember one play -- ONE -- before the last desperation drive where the receiver caught a ball when he wasn't coming back to the quarterback.  Everything was herky-jerky, there was no fluidity.

Honestly, I'm going to be a little disappointed if Reid doesn't bring up the whole playcalling balance issue in his press conference this week.  "Happy now, guys?  You wanted us to run and look what happened, we still can't score."

Damn.

Damn.  Damn.  Damn.

'Tis the season to start thinking about the draft.  Maybe this time we can draft at least one guy who can contribute next season.

Damn.

Well, that one hurt

I just ... I mean ... um.  Wow.  That kind of hurt. 

They kicked to Westbrook.  How can you kick to Westbrook? 

The only way the Eagles were going to be able to move down the field was if Westbrook ran the ball back.  And he did.  All the way to the 14-yard line.

Of course, the only way the Eagles were going to win is if he took it all the way in for a touchdown.  Or at least took it down to the one yard line and fell down, to allow the Eagles to score a touchdown while taking more time off the clock so that the Seahawks couldn't drive all the way down the field.

Although, given that the Eagles couldn't punch it in from the one at the end of the first half, that might not have worked either.

Now, the story everywhere else tomorrow morning is going to be the piss-poor performance of A.J. Feeley ... as it should be, since he played like a drunk blind man who owed Donovan McNabb $50,000 from a plane-ride poker game.  How can a guy who played his college ball in Oregon be that incapable of throwing a spiral in wet weather?

I'm pretty sure this is the worst loss for the Eagles since the infamous Cowboys game two years ago when Donovan McNabb threw the killer Roy Williams interception, followed by the attempted tackle and final rip of the groin.  I'm willing to hear arguments that this was the worst since Tampa Bay, but I don't think I'd go that far.

There's a lot -- a LOT -- to discuss about this game, but, well, the season just ended and I feel like crap. 

[string of unprintable obscenities]

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 :-) 

Deserve's Got Nothing to Do With It

Tomorrow, the good folks in the greater Washington area are going to comfort themselves with the fact that even though their Redskins lost to the knuckle-dragging Philadelphians, their quarterback of the future Jason Campbell had another solid game against a division rival, completing 68 percent of his passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia there will be an awful lot of fans who, though grateful for an out-of-nowhere win that (perhaps briefly) keeps the season alive, will be concerned/vindicated by the erratic performance of quarterback Donovan McNabb, who completed 71 percent of his passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns.

Wait for it...

Two things are exceptionally clear at this point.

1) McNabb isn't perfect.
2) These days, perfection is the only thing that will even momentarily silence the braying jackals.

As to the first point, that fourth-quarter fumble, after the Eagles had miraculously stopped the Redskins and given the offense a chance to win the game, was an awful play.  It would have been an awful play for a rookie, let alone a nine-year veteran like McNabb. 

Me of little faith, I thought that was the ballgame. 

McNabb also missed a wide open receiver in the end zone on the second two-point conversion attempt.  He threw behind Baskett on a slant into the end zone on the first conversion attempt and missed an open Brent Celek on a big thid-down play down the sideline. 

Unless I'm forgetting anything, that pretty much wraps up the "plays McNabb messed up" list today.  (Should McNabb have taken that big sack earlier, either?  No, but I'm not sure blaming a quarterback every time he gets sacked from quick pressure up the middle is really the most realistic way of parceling out blame.)

To counter-balance his four mistakes, you have four touchdown passes, 33 points from the offense and a 20-point explosion in the fourth-quarter after -- let's be honest -- pretty much everyone in the tri-state area had written them off for the day. 

Atta boy, Donovan.  Now how about a good old fashioned blowout next week against Miami?

(Oh, and just a second ago, as I typed this, Tony Romo held the ball too long and got stripped in the pocket.  Jerry Jones should see if he's signed that contract yet.)

- - - - - -

Having gotten the McNabb crap out of the way ... HOW 'BOUT THAT VICTORY!!

Damn.  Wow.  Amazing.

This was exactly the kind of game I wasn't sure these guys could win any more.  Sure, if they kept things close and ran the ball a lot, maybe they could make a couple of plays and hang on for a win.  But 20 points in the fourth quarter?  Three huge friggin' stands by the defense when it looked like this thing was going to slip away??  Another outstanding grab by Reggie Brown on a chuck-and-pray ball by McNabb???

The weirdest thing about this game was how for so long it looked like the same old story we'd seen all year.  The defense played pretty well, the offense scored some points, but in the end the sum total would be just enough to lose. 

Honestly, I think the Eagles were only three plays away from having that happen. 

1)  The illegal contact penalty on second-and-20 when the Eagles really had no chance of converting.  That penalty set up the 46-yard bomb to Reggie.

2)  The fourth-quarter how-do-you-not-have-six-guys-covering-him screen pass to Westbrook.

3)  The ball to Randle El on the sideline when the Redskins were trying to drive in the fourth quarter.  To me, it looked like he secured the ball with his feet inbounds, despite the initial bobble.  The Redskins were out of timeouts (doing their best Eagles' clock management impression) and couldn't challenge the play.  If that play happens one minute later it's a booth review and who knows what happens. 

That's it.  That's the difference between winning and losing.  And yeah, I don't want to take anything away from Westbrook or McNabb or Reggie Brown or the defense for that great fourth-quarter stand, but none of that would have mattered if not for one huge screen pass and two fluky plays.

Which doesn't make me even one percent less happy about this win.   

As for the Redskins, I'm not sure what was up with their fourth quarter playcalling.  All game Campbell had looked perfectly comfortable picking the Eagles' formerly-vaunted secondary apart.  Then it looked like Washington got too conservative, trying to run the clock out rather than trying to score.  I don't think that defensive stand happens if the 'skins aren't so predictable with the play-calling down by the goal line late.

Hopefully the whole Campbell looks like a world-beater against the Eagles thing doesn't continue for the rest of his career. 

Man, what else?  So much happened in that game.  On the other hand, I'd really like to focus on the day's other big NFC match-up, so for now I'll just mention one last thing.  James Thrash. 

Three points:

1)  Getting blitzed by former Eagle Terrell Owens is one thing.  Getting blitzed by former Eagle James Thrash is another.

2)  Why do career backups always seem to have career days against the Eagles?

3)  When you can't cover James Thrash by yourself, maybe it's time for you to join Jevon Kearse on the bench.  Unfortunately, since one of Lito or William James pretty much has to play, we'll go ahead and flip a coin next week.

Ok, crap, two three four more things.  How critically important is LJ Smith to this offense?  If the Eagles don't sign him next year, I'm going to be twice as pissed as I was about the Stallworth thing and even slightly more annoyed that I was by the Paul Posluszny thing.  (Gaither looks great out there, doesn't he?  How does a guy go from "undersized, but great instincts and playmaking ability" to "couldn't tackle his mom in the open field"?  Is it just a confidence thing?  Like he's on his heels and rather than just driving through guys he's being too tentative?)

Two, Tony Hunt had one carry and played the bare minimum the Eagles could use him.  Speaking of confidence, the coaches clearly don't have it in him just yet.

Three, Victor Abiamiri started in place of Jevon Kearse.  No one saw that coming.  VA responded by completly avoiding the stat sheet.  Did the Eagles even bother putting a left defensive end on the field today?  You wouldn't know it from their numbers.  Against the third-string right tackle.

Four, I just noticed 12 tackles from Spikes.  Nice game. 

Pathetic Effort

Let's get this out of the way right up front: the refs fucked the Eagles today.  There's no other word for it.  From the first play to the last -- when Juqua Thomas was held -- the refs absolutely sucked today.  Complete bailout job.

With

   that

      said

This was a pathetic effort by the Eagles today.  The Bears are not a good team.  At all.  The Eagles dominated them in the first half and ended up with nine points.  Three field goals.  No touchdowns.

And when the offense finally stepped up and scored to put the Eagles ahead, the defense allowed the Bears to march easily down the field, 97 yards, for the game-winning touchdown.

This team is not making plays.  That's the difference between the good teams and the mediocre teams in the NFL.  The good teams have guys who make plays, the mediocre teams don't.  (The great teams and the shitty teams are another matter.) 

Right now, there are 1.21 guys on the Eagles who make plays.  The 1.0 would be Westbrook.  The 0.2 would be McNabb.  The 0.01 would be everyone else. 

There's a real and serious problem with this team, one that has nothing to do with playcalling, red zone efficiency or rolling over like ------- ------- when all you need is a three-and-out to win the game. 

The problem is that these guys are losers.

Week in, week out, they play just well enough to lose.  In fact, they often play better than their opponents, but they still end up finding a way to lose. 

L

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And that's a humongous problem, because while it may not be easy to establish a culture of winning in the NFL, it's 10 times harder to reestablish it once it goes away. 

That was a pathetic loss today, and for once, there really aren't any excuses.  Yeah, they're still missing LJ and Dawk, but every team has injury issues right now.  This team is healthy enough and they've been together long enough that there's no defense for an effort like that. 

With this loss, the road to the postseason just got insanely difficult.  Even the most optimistic fan would find it hard to argue that the Eagles can beat the Pats and do better than a split with the Cowboys, so that's your six losses right there.  No other margin for error.

Something has to change this week.  Whether it comes from the players or the coaches, something needs to be done.  A .500 record and waittilnextyear isn't what we signed up for this season.

What a waste.  And now this week is going to suck. 

Fucking Eagles.