Eagles control their own destiny, notch 2nd win in a row.

Sunday November 29, 2009 • 1 Comment 

The Eagles dominated every single offensive and defensive category in todays game and in the process managed to just barely win.  They had more total plays of offense, more yards passing, more yards rushing, had better yards per pass and rush attempt, had more time of possession, better 4th down efficiency, allowed fewer turnovers, and barely escaped with a win !!

Yes they were not as good on third down, thanks to the Redskins being unnaturally good at that, but they did everything they could to give the Redskins the game until the 4th quarter, from the initial onsides kick they misplayed, allowing Washington to have a 24 yard field, quickly shortened to a 19 yard field with the 5 yard penalty, to repeatedly being called for offensive penalties that negated many of their better plays.

They had a touchdown called back that turned into a field goal, they brought Vick in every time the offense gained any momentum and he promptly disrupted the rhythm of the game, they had countless passes dropped including three in a row by Brett Celek, they lost DeSean Jackson after another touchdown catch due to injuries,  yet they won the game to go to 7-4 and put their fate in their own hands for the first time all season.  Jackson’s catch was his shortest of the year, a mere 35 yards.  This guy is clutch and the best reciever we have had in years, and I hope he is recovered in time for next weeks contest !

Simply put, if the Eagles win out, and beat the Giants and Cowboys in their final meetings, they win the division.

If they beat the Giants and Cowboys and win 1 of their other three remaining games, they will win at least the wild card.

A couple positive observations, the one two punch of McCoy and Weaver was productive for the second week in a row.   The halfback/fullback tandem rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries and Buckley came through with the first touchdown of his NFL career to pull the Eagles within 2.  Then McCoy performed a balancing act to tie the game up with the 2 point conversion allowing Akers to win it with his field goal on the ensuing drive as the Eagles scored 11 unanswered in the fourth quarter for the win.  Assante Samual overcame an average first half with 2 interceptions to keep the Eagles in the game.  And the Eagles finally appeared able to convert a third and short with their running game, a quality they had been seriously lacking over the past 6 weeks.

Through the first three quarters fans had to be worrying about the Eagles repeatedly driving the length of the field and having to settle for field goals.  A 90 yard 10 play drive for the tying touchdown followed by a 10 play drive for the go ahead field goal hopefully put some of these qualms to bed, at least until next week.

One can only hope Reid won’t overplay Vick in the reunion next week with his former team, the Atlanta Falcons.  I think enough has been seen this year to confirm the “Vick experiment” is a dismal failure, it is time to let McNabb run this team for the final 5 games, and if not satisfied with his judgement and performance, you have Kolb chomping at the bit to have a go at it next year, I repeat for the millionth time this year……WE DON’T NEED VICK !!!

OK, got it out of my system, for now, on to next week.  We dodged a serious bullet against the Redskins, hopefully we will fare better against the Falcons.



Past stars return as Eagles dominate Bucs

Sunday October 11, 2009 • 2 Comments 

The Eagles started today off with a bang. Donovan McNabb came back to start and immediately ran the ball for a first down, and followed that up with a 51 yard touchdown bomb to Jeremy Maclin.  For a moment it appeared as if a rout would be underway.

Then the officials started to play a supporting role for the Buccaneers offense.  The Bucs could not gain forward yards on 3/4 of their first half plays, and Cadillac Williams actually had -3 yards rushing at one point and ended the first half with 0 yards on 7 rushes.   The Eagles did commit several fouls, but the Bucs did as well and seemed immune.  Josh Johnson threw several passes after the play clock expired, but was not flagged for delay of game and the Bucs repeatedly held the Eagles defenders as they came exploding through the non-existant Tampa Bay offensive line and no flags were thrown there either.

The Eagles stopped the Bucs twice on fourth downs.  Tampa actually had one drive with 6 negative plays where they somehow gained 40 yards in field position.  Fortunately the officials only affected the field position in the first half, not the scoreboard.   Tampa Bay was pushed back for a loss on the first fourth down and the second time the Eagles forced a fumble that was run back for a touchdown but after review, the play was called back even though I saw no CONCLUSIVE proof Johnson had secured the ball.  It was probably the right call, but that is not the way the rules are actually written or designed.  After making a bad call, there has to be conclusive proof of the error for the call to be overturned.   This was a game played on our home turf and we could not buy a call or escape any we probably deserved.  Based on talent and statistics alone, the game should have been a 35-0 first half blowout.

On the Eagles second drive of note, McNabb connected on a 38 yard pass to Celek who ended his run with a high hurdle over the Tampa defender.  He then connected to Weaver who had a masterful run up the sideline and hurtled into the end zone for touchdown number 2.  The Eagles settled for a 14-0 lead with 5 minutes to go in the first half.  Weaver got held on the ensuing kickoff, and a flag was finally thrown against the Bucs, but the referee crew decided to disregard this flag as it was not something that could be called against the Eagles.

On the next Tampa Bay possession Johnson again allowed the clock to expire, but with no flags forth coming, they drove down inside the Eagles 20 as they reached the two minute warning.  The Bucs Kellen Winslow scored on another close but not definitive play that was reviewed and NOT overturned, again favoring the Buccaneers.  Again, it was probably the right call, but it was very suspicious how no call that COULD go the Eagles way did.  So it was 14-7 just like that with 1:55 to go in the first half.

Fortunately, McNabb rose to the occasion again, taking the first play of the next drive and running for 17 yards, and following that up with another long pass to Maclin for the touchdown, this time for 40 yards.  and suddenly it was back to a 14 point lead at 21-7.   Akers then set the Philadelphia record for PAT’s with his 365th.

Josh Johnson had a number of his passes dropped but he was also under siege the entire game and hurried the majority of his throws.   Linebacker Donald Penn took advantage of one batted ball and rumbled for a first down to the Eagles eight,  Assante Samuel stopped the final Bucs offensive threat of the first half with an interception in the end zone.

After a little give and take to start the scond half, Assante Samuel picked off his second Johnson offering and secured great field position for the Eagles.  Westbrook got involved at this point and made a beautiful catch of a wobbly McNabb pass and followed it up with a slashing touchdown run through the middle reminding us of Westbrook of old to make it 28-7 and put the game all but out of reach.  The thing about  Westbrook; he may play an entire half and have no effect, but the more often he touches the ball, the more likely he will explode and then he is nearly unstoppable.  The third quarter of todays game showed there are some miles left on those tires yet !

Johnson marshalled his troops and engineered a drive in the face of constant blitzes down inside the Eagles 20 where he promptly threw another interception, his third, this time to Sheldon Brown.

On the following drive, Maclin made his fourth catch to get his first 100 yard game.  The Eagles settled for a field goal on this drive to extend thier lead to 31-7.  Tampa Bay drove back down the field on their next possession and Johnson threw a 2nd touchdown to Winslow when the score was just about meaningless.  The score stood at 31-14 with 7 minutes to play.

The Buccaneers surprised the Eagles with an onside kick and got another possession, but the Eagles defense immediately started to push them back with a sack, a short gain and a tipped pass to bring up a fourth and 18,  Tampa Bay was 2-3 on fourth downs so they punted the long one away and effectively gave up the game.  McNabb finished with a 157.2 passer rating.  Vick came in to mop up for Donovan and had a nice run or two and showed a little arm as well.  He underthrew Maclin late  or the Eagles would have had a late touchdown to increase their lead.

The only real issue I saw the Eagles as having was the 100+ penalty yards they gave up, but I also put some of the responsibility for that on the officiating. This just means the Birds will have to play as near perfect as possible the rest of the season since they know the tendency to throw flags against them on every opportunity exists.  The special teams were solid and the defense supercharged.  The Eagles ran their record to 3-1 and kept pace with the rest of the NFC East as the Giants, and Cowboys won their games as well. A late safety concluded the scoring for the 33-14 win.  Next up the Oakland Raiders, another weak opponent the Eagles need to be sure not to dismiss too lightly.