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Eagles’ Herremans may have a future in standup comedy
Todd Herremans is either a really good joke-teller or a really bad liar.
The sixth-year offensive tackle came on 97.5 this afternoon to talk with Michael Bradley and Dan Schwartzman about the Eagles recent struggles and the team’s approach moving forward. He said that the team’s primary focus is to establish a commitment to the run game.
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Sorry, had to pick myself off the floor from laughing too hard. Who does Herremans think he is fooling with these comments? In the decade of Andy Reid the Eagles have never fully committed to the run game and I would bet my last dollar that it won’t start now.
Sure Reid will tease the fans by letting his backs touch the ball over 20 times every now and then, but after a week or two he gets bored with it, so it’s back to the full-time passing game.
Listen, it would be great to see the Eagles become a more aggressive, running team. Fans have been begging — pleading — for it to happen.
But it never does. And it won’t. It is just not Andy’s style.
Sorry Todd, you haven’t fooled anyone. Now go back to working on how to get your running back in the end zone on 1st-and-goal on the one and stop trying to get the fans hopes up.
A tip of the hat to Vai Sikahema
Vai Sikahema did something very few players-turned athletes ever do — he turned on his former employer.
Boy was that refreshing.
Sikahema, who was a return man in the 80s-90s, including a stint with the Eagles in 92-93, was a guest on the Mike Missinelli’s show on 97.5 fm this afternoon and openly said that he believed it was time for the Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era to end. He was tough on both the coach and player, ultimately saying that their tenure has run its course and the best thing the franchise can do is move on.
Do you think Ron Jawarski would ever be so critical? Heck no. That’s like Lou Hultz picking against the Irish one Saturday. It just doesn’t happen.
Sikahema, who is a sports anchor for NBC is loved in his town, part because of his time with the Eagles (who can forget the goalpost punching) and part for his refusal to dish out any PR spin on what is going on with the city’s sports teams. That is a rare quality these days. Fans have no problem speaking their minds, but alumni don’t dare do such things.
It should be noted that he also said that despite his opinion, he believes a contract extension is already done between Reid and the Eagles and they are just waiting for the right time to announce it. He expressed how much the Eagles’ brass loves Reid and that even a 9-7, no playoff season wouldn’t keep them from brining him back.
Sikahema is usually good for his word, so Eagles fans can expect more of the same coming their way for the next 2-3 years.
Hey Mike, nobody cares….still !
This week Michael Vick came out to state he is not happy with his role as the “wildcat” option with the Philadelphia Eagles. Wow, is this a news flash. Maybe Vick needs to understand he is not ANY option with the team, and were it not for the respect McNabb has from team ownership and Andy Reid he probably would be not involved with professional football at all. I mean, this is a team with a proven winner in McNabb and his heir apparant in Kolb who said hello to the NFL with record back to back 300 yard passing games for his first two starts in relief of an injured McNabb.
I have been a Vick non-supporter since the signing, have waged my own personal wars with friends and readers regarding his skill set, his status, and his moral fiber and past choices. I have heard the “Everyone deserves a second chance” arguments, and listened to people try to make this about race, about heritage, and about upbringing. The bottom line is, this is a pro athlete, who is remarkably immature, and not really as good as he perceives himself to be. What we heard when he stepped up and mildly complained about his playing status and team role was the sound of reality hitting the “ex superman” from the Atlanta Falcons, and hitting him hard.
McNabb on the other hand, is mature, hard working, dedicated, and obviously a much bigger man as he did what he could to give a fellow athlete the chance to return to glory. All McNabb has done in his career is pass for 30,000 yards, 200 touchdowns, lead the team to parts of 4 NFC East titles, and a superbowl. His statistics are better than any Philadelphia quarterback in history, a list that includes the likes of Ron Jaworski and Randall Cunningham. But HE gets NO respect, after an ugly loss to the Cowboys, a game they should have won, I hear most of the criticism getting heaped on Reid’s decision to go for three late in the game, and McNabbs statistical performance.
During preseason, I said the Eagles were a 10-6 team, maybe 11-5 if they focused and beat the teams they were supposed to beat. Here at the halfway mark of their season they have proven to be exactly that; at 5-3 they are average for the NFC East, a division that will most likely require 11 wins to lead that may also field a wildcard team. Were it not for the Giants near total collapse, the Eagles would be in third place and so far back as to have no shot at either of those playoff spots. As it is, they have gotten some help and can still salvage the season. In order to do so, they need to stop worrying about the wildcat and Vick’s future, and get back to playing some NFC East football.
They have several new weapons in Weaver and McCoy, good young recievers in Jackson and Maclin, and a proven quarterback that can get it done, with a young replacement wating in the wings. It is time to end the “Vick experiment” and get back to playing football. With a 2-1 record in their division, they need to win 5 more games and then focus on some new plays and formations that will shake up the competition in the playoffs.
Now that the Phillies are near the top every year, and the Flyers show serious promise, the Eagles need to do more than just be perennial also rans. Reid has been here long enough and McNabb is in the twilight of his career. I feel both these men deserve a championship, and I believe they can still bring it home to Philadelphia. I just don’t think Vick is a needed piece to the puzzle. I never did.
Vick should take his 16 million he doesn’t deserve, and the 1.6 million or so he didn’t earn this year, and quietly retire.
Playing the blame game
Over the last two days blame has been spread everywhere regarding the Eagles. While some of it is overreaction from a fan base that is still smarting from a World Series loss and never takes losses to the Cowboys well, much of it is justified. Sunday nights 20-16 loss to Dallas was the type of loss that the team has suffered so many times.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the loss so we will dish it out to the deserving parties.
Andy Reid — 35 percent: Kicking a field goal down seven with 4:30 left and no timeouts in inexcusable for someone who has been around as long as Reid. It is hard to blame him for being out of timeouts when two were used on failed challenges that could have – and should have been overturned. That said, Andy Reid was a big reason the Eagles lost on Sunday. You have one of the best fullbacks in the league, how about using him in short-yardage situations.
Donovan McNabb – 30 percent: Another big game and another shortcoming by McNabb. He threw two picks and again failed to rally the team from behind in the fourth quarter. When is the last time McNabb led a comeback? McNabb is a very good quarterback but never seems to be at his best in the biggest moments.
Eagles defense – 15 percent: The unit certainly played well enough to win on Sunday, but never produced a big turnover to swing the momentum in the Eagles favor. Sheldon Brown biting on the double move will be what is remembered most.
Jason Peter’s injury – 10 percent: Peters missed a little bit more than a quarter and boy did the Eagles miss him. McNabb was under heavy pressure with Peters out and the offense ad big trouble moving the football as a result.
Eagles front office – 10 percent: Something was missing from the Eagles Sunday Night. They didn’t seem to have the energy we have seen from them so many times in primetime games. Why? Brian Dawkins is playing in Denver. Dawkins wanted to stay an Eagle but the front office had other plans. If I hadn’t been clear before that the decision was a mistake, it certainly was on Sunday.
It all adds up to a 100 percent frustrating loss.
Eagles pick wrong time to go for three
It’s going to be a long week in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles are once again looking up at a team in the NFC East standings. That team is the Dallas Cowboys.
One week after demolishing the New York Giants, the Eagle could only muster up 16 points in a 20-16 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. There is plenty to talk about in this game, including a rare two-interception night by Donovan McNabb, bad spots by officials and failed challenges. Then there was the Eagles’ secondary, which completely shutdown breakout wide receiver Miles Austin until it mattered. Miles made one catch in the game and it was the difference – a 49-yard touchdown reception in which he beat Sheldon Brown on a double move. That play came after the Eagles turned the ball over on offense when they appeared to pick up a first down on foruth-and-1 but the officials ruled that the Eagles were stopped short. TV replays appeared to say otherwise, but the play was challenged and upheld.
Then came a decision that is sure to be talked about to death over the next week.
With 4:30 left in regulation and trailing by seven, Andy Reid elected to send David Akers out for a 52-yard field goal instead of attempting a 4th-7. Akers hit the field goal, but it left the Eagles trailing by four points without any time outs.
The Cowboys received the ensuing kickoff and proceeded to pick up two first downs to run out the clock.
This one can just be filed under bad. Bad coaching, bad quarterback play, and bad defense when it mattered the most all played a part in this loss.
At home, against the Cowboys, that simply can’t happen. Let the blame game begin.
Westbrook won’t start against G-men
The Eagles are about to go up against their primary NFC East competition and they will be doing it without Brian Westbrook, who is still feeling symptoms from last weeks concussion.
I applaud this move on the part of Reid, the coaching staff and Jeff Lurie. While the Eagles have a much better record playing with their star running back over the past decade, they have a perfectly good replacement in McCoy. It probably didn’t hurt that commish Goodell was recently involved in hearings regarding concussions and their long term effects on NFL players but I believe this would have been the decision no matter what. The Eagles have a reputation for being conservative both in their play calling and personnel decisions.
What that means is that today’s game will essentially rest on the performance of Donovan McNabb and his two key receivers, Jackson and Macklin. The Eagles need this win to keep their NFC East record undefeated. A win will say a lot about how they match up the remainder of the year. They beat the Giants twice last year, and rarely does one NFC East team go 3-0 or 0-3 against a direct competitor. Even when a team is down and out, this division is so tough, to win three in a row is rarely done. Add that to the fact that the Giants have lost 2 in a row after starting the year 5-0 and it is more improbable the Eagles can pull this off.
If Donovan brings his A game, the Eagles will win a close one, in the 30-29 scoring range. If Donovan is ineffective the Giants can blow this one out. The Eagles traditionally start slow, so it might be the second quarter before we see how this one will play out. I personally think McNabb will pass for 300 yards and three touchdowns, Witherspoon will have 3-4 sacks and a takeaway and Assante Samuel will pick Eli twice as the defense steps up to help the Eagles win a close one in Philadelphia to set the stage for the second game being hosted in the city of brotherly love, World Series game 4 where the Phillies NEED the victory to have any hope of defending their title.
Brian Westbrook to be game-time decision
Eagles running back Brian Westbrook will be a game-time decision for Sunday’s contest against the New York Giants, announced had coach Andy Reid on Wednesday.
Westbrook has not practiced all week after a head injury knocked him out of the Eagles 27-17 win over the Redskins on Monday Night Football.
The Eagles head trainer sad that Westbrook’s eyes cleared up soon after the play that knocked him out and that he remembers everything that happened. Right now he is still dealing with headaches, though.
If Westbrook can not go it will be LeSean McCoy that gets the start.
I think the Eagles should and will use caution on this one and give Westbrook the week off. The NFL is already taking heat from congress about concussions and other head injuries NFL players have suffered and the league, so you can bet the league will pressure teams to chose the safe-side of things.’
I think many fans would also be a little excited over the thought of McCoy starting against the Giants. The first-year back out of Pitt had an impressive preseason and has played well in spurts when Westbrook has been out. In his lone start against Kansas City, McCoy rushed for 84 yards on 20 touches with a touchdown
Facing a tough Giants defense, McCoy could make a big statement that he is in fact the Eagles future at the position.
DEPTH: The Eagles signed running back P.J. Hill off the Saints practice squad on Wednesday. Hill was signed by the Saints as a rookie free agent out of Wisconsin. He scored three touchdowns and had 128 yards on 26 touches in the preseason.
Eagles back with pack in NFC East race
The Eagles started their first MNF appearance of the season with a bang. It came in the form of DeSean Jackson running virtually untouched for a 66 yard end around touchdown and 7-0 lead on the opening drive. On Saturday I would have guessed this would be a close game but by gametime 8:42 EST Monday night it was obvious the Eagles had arrived in our nations capital with something to prove.
It seemed evident that Reid heard the criticisms as he came out running, with Westbrook, McCoy and Weaver all seeing action early. Eagles fans held their collective breath when Westbrook went down early after a short gain.
Will Weatherspoon, playing in his first game after coming over from the St Louis Rams, picked off a tipped pass by Quinten Michel at the end of the first quarter and scored to make it 14-0. On the Redskins next offensive possession the 2 defenders traded roles, with Weatherspoon stripping the ball and Michel recovering the fumble to give the Eagles offense the ball in Redskins territory. That turnover led to an Akers field goal and a 17-0 Philadelphia lead.
The Redskins scored toward halftime, with quite a bit of help from the Eagles who committed 2 major penalties to help sustain the drive. Then the Redskins forced the Eagles into a three and out and at 17-7 it seemed as if momentum had changed. Then Antoine Randel El muffed the punt and the Eagles scored a quick field goal without gaining any offensive yards at all and it was back to a 20-7.
On the next drive McNabb broke two marks throwing his 200th touchdown and breaking 30,000 yards with a 58 yard bomb to DeSean Jackson for the 27-7 lead going into halftime. This came on a 3rd and 23 and showcased exactly how capable McNabb is when he is in sync with his recievers. DeSean became the first Eagle in 60 years to score on a 50+ yard pass and a 50+ yard rush in the same game. Washington did recover enough to get a last second field goal and close to 27-10 going into halftime.
There was no scoring in the 2nd half until the game clock was down to 1:38 when the Redskins scored a basically meaningless touchdown after a fairly decent 78 yard drive. The first 28 minutes of the half was the Eagles playing safe and protecting the lead, and the Redskins getting great field position but being so inept at all aspects of football they stopped themselves as frequently as the Eagles defense did. Every few minutes another player went down and fortunately for Eagles fans most of the attrition was players in red and gold. With the exception of Westbrook and his concussion early, the Eagles escaped tonights game relatively intact.
Jason Campbell dropped back 48 times and got sacked 6 times and hit the ground 26 times overall. The Redskins kept playing and trying to score til the end, but the Eagles also kept coming and harrassing Campbell like they were protecting a 3 point lead instead of a 17 point one. The final score was 27-17 but the game was no where near that close at any time from the middle of the first quarter on.
The win closed the NFC East front runners back into a pack, especially in light of New York’s loss yesterday. Now the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants are all tied with 2 losses apiece, with the Giants having a half game lead overall by virtue of not having their bye week yet.
Next Sunday the Eagles continue their quest for NFC East dominance when they face those NY Giants who now have a two game losing streak. Next weeks game has gone from a traditional rivalry to potentially a contest to decide the NFC East leader at mid point of the season. The Redskins may be done early as they play one of the toughest schedules in the conference for the rest of the season.
Next Sunday will be Philly/New York, in football and then in baseball as the Phillies face the Yankees after the Eagles-Giants game 6 days from tonight. If they both win their respective games, that will be a great night in Philadelphia sports history.
I am ready for some football, enough with the soap opera already !
All right. UNCLE. NFL Gameday, 13 minutes coverage on Michael Vick, 2 minutes coverage on the upcoming Eagles game. I have been anti Vick since his signing, in part because of what his personal choices were, and in part because I don’t feel he is that good of a QB. He is a great runner, a below average passer, and an average team mate.
This team was highly touted BEFORE the Vick signing, why have they been relegated to road kill on the side of the road, hardly worth a mention? I know they are a disappointing 1-1, but all you “sports know it alls on useless TV shows” How about showing our team some respect?
We have guys besides Westbrook, McNabb, Jackson, and yes Vick, how could I forget Vick?!!! If you came here from another planet you would think the three injured Eagles and the one ex-felon were the entire team. What is happening to our world, when a regular, hard working football player can’t rate a mention unless he is on Inside Edition or a team medical report?
I was going to boycott the Eagles because of their poor choice of off season pick ups, but even I realized this would be unfair to all the other hard working anonymous Eagles that give it their all week after week. I came around. Now can we finally talk about some football?? I honestly hope Vick comes in, has his first NFL regular season appearance since going to jail, and STINKS! Then we can forget about Reid’s school girl crush on the wildcat and get back to playing some shove it down your throat and defend the goal-line like the “pack of wild jackals Eagles old school football” that all the fans are accustomed to.
I pick the Eagles to win today, only because the Chiefs suck so badly. Then the bye week and I pray McNabb recovers in time to come back and start so we can put Vick where he belongs, on the sideline, to be trotted out occasionally, a curiosity at the freak show he has made of his life.
If everyone would STOP talking about him to the detriment of the team, maybe I could get over his signing and enjoy watching him play. Now the talking heads are all commenting on how he won’t be a starter here. Wow! News flash. They are unsure why Reid signed Garcia but is starting Kolb. Maybe it is because Reid came to his senses when McNabb got hurt (on an illegal hit that got NO coverage by the way) Reid knows Vick is not a starter or a mentor for Kolb, hence Garcia. I have said this since Vick was signed and had several internet skirmishes in defense of this position. Now all the pros are jumping on MY bandwagon? I don’t think so.
GO EAGLES! And leave Vick behind like the road-kill he should be, and win this without him and maybe you will get back some of the respect you so richly deserve.
My Advice To Andy – Sit McNabb
Let me clarify that headline before people are blogging all over the place that the Eagles are going to bench McNabb. When he is recovered fully he is the starting QB for the Philadelphia Eagles. Notice that I used the word fully.
Yesterday Reid said that McNabb could possibly play on Sunday depending on how the quarterback’s ailing rib feels by the time practice resumes tomorrow. I’m not sure why the Eagles would bother pushing McNabb into the fire considering that the Chiefs (0-2) certainly aren’t the Saints and the Eagles have a bye the following week. Kevin Kolb was hardly the reason for the Eagles 48-22 loss to the Saints on Sunday. I could go on forever about missed tackles and opportunities that cost the Eagles a victory, but I can’t point the finger at Kolb. He was a mere 31-51 for 391 yards in his first NFL start and he deserves for his coach to remove all doubt and announce right now that Kolb is the starter while giving McNabb two more weeks so he can come back 100% after the bye with the Eagles either at 1-2 or 2-1 after three games.
We’ve seen McNabb less than 100% before when he came back two years ago and it wasn’t a pretty site. Why take a chance on McNabb further injuring himself in a non-conference game? Kolb proved he can handle the offense and with another week under his belt and the possibility of inserting Vick into the Wildcat formation I would think Kolb would be better this week. Sitting McNabb now gives him three weeks of rest.
The Eagles have home games against the Chiefs and then after the bye week they host the Bucs before going on the road to play the Oakland Raiders. After that the Eagles have a tough run with a Monday night road game against the Redskins before home games against both the Giants and Cowboys. We will need a fully recovered McNabb to have any chance of winning those tough division games. Seriously, how would the coach spin it if McNabb plays this week, takes a hit and is hurt again and has to miss two to three weeks? That would mean his return would come for the Monday Night game in Washington. If he sits McNabb now he has the Bucs and Raiders games to shake off any rust before the three week NFC East tour. Anything can happen in the NFL, but I’d take my chances against the Bucs and Raiders after letting McNabb sit three weeks. I think the risk of playing him too early puts the season at jeopardy.
We’ll see if Andy heeds my advice. History says he will do what he wants to do.
No second chance as starter for now
Donovan McNabb is a trooper. He has played ten years in Philadelphia since being drafted in the first round, and he has yet to get any real respect. In the preseason, his team signed Michael Vick and Donovan did the right thing, he claimed to have lobbied to get him here. Any normal person would realize that to do so simply wouldn’t make sense for you and me. Do YOU want someone younger than you standing behind you but getting all the spotlight, waiting for you to mess up or get hurt so he can take over YOUR job ? I think McNabb said what he did to make sure there would be no quarterback controversy. Just another sign of him being a class act.
With his latest move, Andy Reid shows he has his star quarterback’s back. In the day after McNabb’s injury, the blogging world has been full of McNabb leaving, retiring, optioning out his contract, demanding to be traded or being replaced by the “better younger” Vick when he comes off his suspension. The types that relish controversy and drama have been drooling at the news that McNabb will probably miss some time
Reid however, maintains Kolb is the backup, and Vick will never be the starter here. I believe Eagles management reinforced that assertion by signing Jeff Garcia.
The pundits now proclaim, “Vick simply isn’t ready, so Reid is getting an insurance QB.” Why is it that prior to the season you were trying to convince us of how well Vick could play, when you knew he would not start, and now you are proclaiming the Garcia pickup is to protect Vick because he is not ready to start ? These fans, like Michael Vick, seem to want to have it both ways. I am tired of hearing this felon’s name. Do a Google search on the Philadelphia Eagles and you get more “Vick” hits, then sports news. Do we still HAVE a football team ?
Jimmy Johnson posted on Fox Sports that McNabb had a so-so day before getting hurt. How about, McNabb threw for 2 touchdowns and ran for another, and was injured on the play by an illegal tackle after he was down in the end zone? He is now one of only 6 QB’s in history to accomplish this feat in over a dozen games. How come every other QB in the league gets protected, and McNabb is left hanging out there exposed ? How come the Panther who hit McNabb and stirred this pot didn’t get flagged or sanctioned ? Do you think our defensive tackles or ends could hit an opposing team’s QB when he was down on the ground stretched out with the ball and the TD call had already been made ? NOT !! In tonight’s Monday Night Football a legal hit on Brady by the Buffalo defense drew an immediate flag. Why ? They were protecting the QB. That is what they do in this league, unless the QB happens to be McNabb. So is he really injury prone ? Or prone to getting unfairly hit? Am I the only one who feels this is nuts ?
McNabb has the best career stats of any Philadelphia QB, ever. I had a “fan” rebuke me by saying McNabb played longer than the other Philly QB’s against lesser teams. Actually both Jaworski and Cunningham had more starts for the Eagles, but they had fewer yards passing, a lower QB rating, fewer touchdowns, fewer wins, fewer quality wins, appeared in fewer championship games, and had better players surrounding them during their tenure and the Cardinals were in their division giving them 2 games a year of easier division play than Donovan ever had.
I for one am glad Reid picked up Garcia, he is a class act and I don’t believe Kolb is ready to start even for two or three games if that is necessary. More importantly than that, I don’t think Reid or Lurie or anyone who knows anything about football every seriously considered Vick a starter. He is a publicity stunt, nothing more. He is a player who has made bad judgment calls his entire career and never been reprimanded until now and now that he has paid his price, he wants it all back just because he is remorseful. The question is is he remorseful because he feels bad about what he did, or is he remorseful because he got caught ?
And it is obvious with the Eagles playing two relatively easy games and then having a bye, that McNabb can heal in that time, and if anyone had any faith in Vick, they would not have gone out and gotten Garcia. Garcia is 39 years old, played one season with the Eagles and has not taken a meaningful snap with the team in over two years. Yes he played in Tampa Bay while Vick was in jail, but didn’t all you Vick supporters exclaim he was in football shape upon his release ? So if it is a matter of conditioning, timing, and knowledge of the play book, shouldn’t Vick have the edge over, 39 year old, hasn’t practiced with the team in two years, Garcia?
For Garcia to be picked up at his age to run this offense in McNabb’s absence is a lot more difficult than it would be for Vick to do the same thing, if these QBs were equal. Obviously they are not. Garcia is head and shoulders above Vick, and that is why he is here, and Vick will continue to sit the bench until they want to trot him out to spark the crowd, or the team.
I for one don’t rule out Donovan returning to the field before Vick’s suspension is over. He already stated he intends to practice Wednesday and see how he feels. I hope he comes back and shows all you Vick lovers what a real QB is capable of and finally gets some of the respect he deserves.
If he doesn’t or can’t, we have Garcia, a class veteran QB and Kolb, who will one day be a class younger QB and WE DONT NEED VICK. And Donovan deserves and has earned our respect. I have been saying this for a month, maybe now somebody will listen.
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