Eagles Fall Flat to Cowboys

The Eagles lost their final game of the season on Sunday in disappointing fashion 24-0 to the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles were dominated in every facet of the game, and to be honest, the score could have been a lot worse.

The offensive line was terrible, the running game was non-existent because they didn't run the ball, McNabb was not very good, the receivers were bad, the defense was terrible, and the coaching was terrible. All of that combines for the disappointing loss. With the loss, the Eagles drop from what could have been the #2 seed and a first round bye to the #6 seed and a 2nd straight trip to Dallas to play the 3rd seeded and NFC East champion Cowboys.

I don't understand why the Eagles don't try to get the ball in their playmakers hands. I personally would like to see McCoy and Weaver touch the ball a lot more than they did this game. Running back is a position on the team where you usually have your most athletic, quickest players. These guys are weapons, and Reid did not use them on Sunday. Westbrook looked bad in my opinion, and they Eagles need to get back to what won games for them down the stretch - getting the ball in the hands of McCoy and Weaver a lot more.

Of course, it would also help if the Eagles weren't dominated up front on both sides of the football. The offensive line was bad from the start, and McNabb was under pressure most of the day. The Cowboys were getting pressure when they didn't even blitz. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles couldn't even get in the Cowboys backfield. Even on rushing plays, Marion Barber, and Felix Jones were getting past the line of scrimmage with ease. On passing plays, Tony Romo had all day, and he is too good to allow to sit back and throw all day with open lanes. The Eagles have been responsible for a lot of Romo's worst games of his career, so they know what happens when you get pressure on him. The Eagles did not blitz a lot, and that might have been because they did not want to show the Cowboys anything in the 2nd half, I'm not sure.

Costly mistakes also were key. McNabb missed DeSean Jackson on a fly route early in the game which would have made it a 7-7 game. Jeremy Maclin dropped a wide open pass that went through his hands on a 3rd down. McNabb fumbled a snap down at the Cowboys 10 yard line.

The Eagles will need to put that loss behind them, and get re-focused and come in with a different attitude if they do not want their offseason to start next weekend.

Eagles Hang On to Beat Broncos

The Eagles survived a sloppy 2nd half, and a Broncos comeback to win with a game winning David Akers field goal with 4 seconds left.

The Eagles came out of the game and looked unstoppable in the first half. McNabb barely threw an incompletion, and was picking apart the Broncos, and had almost 250 yards passing and 2 TD's at halftime. Brent Celek had 121 yards receiving and a touchdown at half. The Eagles also got the ball to start the 2nd half, and instead of putting the Broncos away, McNabb threw an interception. Sometimes it seems like McNabb struggles when he has too much time in the pocket, which is what happened on the interception. McNabb tends to play his best when he just makes plays, and reacts to what is happening. He made numerous passes right on the money in the first half with pressure in his face.

After the Broncos settled for a field goal, the Eagles scored another touchdown on a pass from McNabb to Avant, who made a nice catch concentrating on a tipped ball. The Eagles were up by 17 at the point halfway through the 3rd quarter. The Eagles offense really struggled at this point, and the Broncos took advantage of a Macho Harris fumbled kick return, and eventually tied the game at 17. The Eagles defense however buckled down in the 4th quarter, and held the Broncos deep in their own territory late in the game, giving the Eagles the ball back at the Broncos 42 yard line with 1:41 left to play in a 27-27 game. After a McCoy 2 yard run, McNabb found Jeremy Maclin at the 13 yard line for a 27 yard completion. This play was initially ruled incomplete right along the sideline, but after reviewing, was called a completed pass. Akers would kick the field goal after 3 runs, and the Eagles move to 11-4 on the year, and still a shot at the #2 seed, and hopefully wrapping up the NFC East with a Redskins win tonight.

Because McNabb was picking apart the Broncos in the first half, the Eagles rushing attack never really got going. McNabb threw 35 passes, and the Eagles called 23 runs between Westbrook, McCoy, and Weaver. McNabb ran the ball 5 times as well, including a 27 yard scramble on a 3rd and long. Westbrook ran 9 times for 32 yards, McCoy ran 6 times for 27 yards, and Weaver ran 7 times for 20 yards. McNabb threw for 322 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT.

For some reason the Eagles seem to be able to do whatever they want in the first half of games, and lead the NFL in almost every statistical scoring category in the first half of games. However, they seem to really hit a wall at halftime. When the other teams' defense adjusts to the Eagles offense after halftime, the Eagles offense doesn't seem to adjust. I'm not sure what it is, but the Eagles need to get better, and close out games in the 2nd half in games that they have large leads.

On defense, the Eagles played fairly well overall. They were put in bad positions a few times in fairness to them on a couple of the Broncos touchdowns. They only allowed 241 yards of total offense for the Broncos, and did a very good job shutting down the Broncos best weapon in Brandon Marshall. They didn't seem to blitz a lot, and even though they got 3 sacks, I would have liked to see them get more pressure on Kyle Orton.

Either way, the Eagles get the victory to move to 11-4, and now can watch the Sunday night, and Monday night games, and root for the Redskins, and Bears. If the Redskins win tonight, the Eagles win the NFC East. If the Cowboys win, the Eagles have to travel to Dallas next weekend needing a win to win the NFC East. The winner of that game would win the division. If the Bears beat the Vikings on Monday night, the Eagles and Vikings would have identical records fighting for the #2 seed in the NFC and getting that first round bye.

Philadelphia Eagles All-Decade Team

Our Eagles all-decade team was the hardest to come up with of all the Philadelphia teams, mostly because there are more players. We decided to go with 2 running backs, since no fullback is worth being on the all-decade team. This isn’t to say that we didn’t like Cecil Martin, or Jon Ritchie, because we did, and obviously we love Leonard Weaver right now, but the contributions of the 2nd running back were much greater than any fullback in this offense this decade. The 2nd running back was a close decision between Duce Staley and Correll Buckhalter. Ultimately, we went with Buckhalter for his overall body of work, although Staley was a great player.

Another tough call was the 2nd receiver. Terrell Owens gets the #1 receiver slot. Even though he had a short body of work this decade with the Eagles, we all know the Eagles receivers weren’t exactly the greatest this decade. The 2nd receiver came down to Todd Pinkston, and current beast DeSean Jackson. This was the biggest argument we had of any of the players on any team. It is a good argument – Pinkston was on the team longer and thus accrued more numbers, but Jackson is the better player. We decided on DeSean Jackson.

On the defensive side of the ball, there were discussions about the defensive tackles, between Corey Simon, Hollis Thomas, and current tackles Broderick Bunkley and Mike Patterson. We ultimately went with Patterson and Simon. Donovan McNabb gets the team MVP honors.

Check out our full Philadelphia Eagles all-decade team--

Offense
QB: Donovan McNabb
RB: Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter
WR: Terrell Owens, DeSean Jackson
TE: Chad Lewis
OL: Jon Runyan, Shawn Andrews, Jamaal Jackson, Jermaine Mayberry, Tra Thomas

Defense

DL: Trent Cole, Mike Patterson, Corey Simon, Hugh Douglas
LB: Jeremiah Trotter, Carlos Emmons, Stewart Bradley
CB: Sheldon Brown, Troy Vincent
S: Brian Dawkins, Michael Lewis

Specialists

K: David Akers
P: Sean Landeta
Special Teams: Ike Reese
KR: Brian Mitchell
PR: Brian Westbrook

MVP: Donovan McNabb

Coach: Andy Reid

Close Calls: Hank Fraley, Duce Staley, Todd Pinkston, Hollis Thomas, Broderick Bunkley, Bobby Taylor, Lito Sheppard, Quintin Mikell

Eagles Look to Bounce Back Against Bears

The Eagles travel to Donovan McNabb’s hometown this weekend to take on the Chicago Bears who currently stand at 4-5. The Eagles will try to bounce back after losing two straight games to the Cowboys and Chargers.

Traveling to Chicago isn’t exactly the ideal situation in trying to break a 2 game losing streak. Even though the Bears aren’t playing well, and Cutler has been flat out bad this year, it is never easy to play a road game in Chicago. McNabb does always seem to play well there though when he goes back home. The defense has to bounce back after a disappointing performance against the Chargers. The defense has had to battle through injuries as of late, and might even be without Sheldon Brown this weekend. Sheldon Brown has never missed a game in his career, and is one of the veteran leaders on defense. Due to injuries and suspensions, the Eagles are very thin in the secondary, and at the linebacker position. As of now, the Eagles have not brought in any help at the cornerback position.

On offense, the Eagles will obviously be without Brian Westbrook, which unfortunately, they are probably used to by now. Just like the cornerback position, as of right now, the Eagles have not brought in a running back to help out at the position. LeSean McCoy, rookie phenom, should get most of the carries. In Andy Reid’s offense, this means he will get about 5-7. When Westbrook has been out this year, the Eagles have also given Leonard Weaver a good amount of carries each game, which they should continue to do.

The Bears have struggled all around at points this season. Even in recent years, when the Bears have not been good, their defense was always good. This year their defense isn’t bad against the pass, but is 21st against the run. The Eagles have played teams who struggle stopping the run already this year, but have not yet taken advantage of it, and Andy Reid is to blame for that. I believe the Eagles need to run the ball effectively to win this game. The offensive line finally pass blocked well against San Diego… unfortunately, they couldn’t open up any hole against an average San Diego defensive line. The offensive line has also been an area on the Eagles that is banged up, and they have not done a great job getting a push on the defensive line for the running backs. The Bears have also struggled on offense, mostly because Cutler has been bad, and Matt Forte has regressed in his sophomore season.

The Eagles need this win badly, but it won’t be easy. If the defense can hold up, the offense should be able to put the points on the board to win… assuming Andy Reid doesn’t lose the game with his play calling.

Eagles Beat Up on Panthers

The Eagles beat the Panthers in the opener on Sunday to start the season off on a good note. The game however might not have ended on a good note with Donovan McNabb suffering cracked ribs when scoring on a touchdown run.

The game started out with a Panthers touchdown drive that basically took up half the first quarter and ended up with an 11 yard touchdown run from DeAngelo Williams. After that point, the Eagles defense would flat out dominate. After Akers kicked a field goal, on the next Panthers possession, Trent Cole busted up the middle and sacked Delhomme, forcing a fumble. Victor Abiamiri picked it up and fell into the end zone for a touchdown. Delhomme's day would only get worse. DeSean Jackson took a punt 85 yards for a score, and forcing the Panthers to turn the ball over all game allowed the Eagles to take advantage of short fields and come away with a 38-10 win on the road.

On offense, the Eagles were forced to do very little. The offensive box score looks weird for scoring so many points, but nothing really was needed from the offense. McNabb ended the game 10-18 for just 79 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, and a rushing TD. I thought McNabb played well for the most part. The interception was the only real bad throw he had, throwing it to the linebacker dropping back in coverage. The Eagles receivers did have a few drops. The Eagles ran the ball well, Westbrook had 13 carries for 64 yards and a receiving touchdown, and LeSean McCoy had 9 carries for 46 yards. The Eagles leading receiver was Brent Celek who had 6 catches for 37 yards and a TD. Going into future games, the offense needs to play better. I need to see more from the receivers in general. Kevin Curtis in my opinion is really just not all that good. He's an average receiver at best, drops too many passes, and can't get open enough from the outside. He belongs in the slot, but isn't used there. When Kolb came in, the offense didn't do too much, and Kolb continues to struggle when he faces game situations.

The story of the game however was the defense. The Eagles defense held the Panthers to just 169 total yards, which included just 86 yards rushing. The Panthers were one of the best rushing teams in the league last season. Sean McDermott really did well in his first game at defense coordinator. To be honest, after watching the Eagles in the preseason, I was a little nervous about the defense coming into this season. Well, in game 1, they were solid. The ended the game with 5 interceptions, 2 from Sheldon Brown, and 1 each from Asante Samuel, Akeem Jordan, and Joselio Hanson. The defense also had 5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and a touchdown. Darren Howard led the Eagles with 2 of the 5 sacks. The Eagles defensive tackles did real well against the run, and the Eagles were in the Panthers backfield all game. If this is the defense that will show up every week, the Eagles will again be one of the best units in the league. I will say that I saw Macho Harris miss a few tackles, which can't happen from your free safety, and Harris needs to get better as the season goes on. It won't be as easy next weekend when the Eagles play the Saints who feature maybe the best offense in the NFL.

As I mentioned earlier, Donovan McNabb suffered cracked ribs in the 4th quarter on a 3 yard touchdown run. Reid said after the game that McNabb would need to be re-evaluated to see if he will play next weekend, but all indications are that he probably will not. This injury to fully heal usually is a 2-4 week injury, but players have come back the next week and played, so we will see how that plays out. Either way, it was a good game, and a good start to the season to get out of the gates, especially for the defense.

Michael Vick an Eagle

Cliff Lee. Pedro Martinez. Chris Pronger. And now.... Michael Vick. Holy shit!!! The Eagles really signed Michael Vick. In one of the most shocking Philadelphia sports stories in a while, the Eagles signed Michael Vick, who hasn't played a game since 2006. A lot of people throw out the saying "I can't believe it." I literally couldn't believe that this was true when I got 500 text messages and 100 calls at the same time all about Vick. This is an absolute bombshell and a shocker.

Vick will be paid $1.6 million this season, with a chance to make up to $5.6 million next season, with a club option. Vick and McNabb are good friends, and McNabb has fully supported the idea of bringing Vick in. Clearly Donovan McNabb is a the starting quarterback, so it will be very interesting how the Eagles use Vick to help the team. Maybe put him in the slot, and run some routes with him. Maybe run some wildcat formation plays with him. Clearly no one supports what Michael Vick did with the dog fighting, and you could easily argue that Michael Vick is not a very good or true quarterback, but he is a flat out unreal athlete. Assuming Vick isn't going to play quarterback, barring a McNabb injury or a trick play, Vick can be very effective when you get him out in the open field with the ball.

The Eagles now have a lot of unique weapons on offense. LeSean McCoy, Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, and Michael Vick are all extremely athletic and you can do a lot with all of these players. That doesn't even include McNabb who is still one of the more athletic quarterbacks in the league. It will be very interesting to see how the Eagles plan to use Vick, and get him on the field, and use him as another weapon on offense.

Plenty more will come on this story as it develops, and we see how the Eagles plan on using Michael Vick on offense. The Eagles will hold a press conference tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. announcing the signing.

Running Backs "Football Age"

In the NFL, running backs have the shortest careers. But how do we know when they are done? It seems like one season a running back peaks, and two years later their team releases them. This past off season is a great example of this. Warrick Dunn was released; the same goes for Fred Taylor and Deuce McAllister. McAllister and Taylor are both the career rushing leaders for their franchises, and Dunn is 3rd for Tampa Bay. Another big off season question we heard was what the Chargers were going to do with LaDainian Tomlinson. At the start of the season, Tomlinson will be 30, which seems to be the beginning of the end for running backs, plus they just used the franchise tag on Darren Sproles.

So, why don’t the teams show these players more respect? Other than the obvious “business side” of football, these players were in the twilight of their career. But do any of these running backs have anything left in their tank? It’s really hard to say that one thing determines when a running back is finished. Of the four running backs I mentioned above, all have different ages, seasons played and rushing attempts. I think that you have to use a combination of numbers to say how much a running back has left.

By using a running back’s age (as of September 1st, 2009), seasons played, games played, rushing attempts and total touches, I determined how much a running back has left in their “gas tank” and therefore, their “football age”. I used data from the top 200 retired running backs based on attempts taken from the great http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ , and fit a polynomial line to it. This is what I came up with.

With 65 being my retirement age, you can see that there are several player very close to being finished. But what does this actually mean? Brian Westbrook is 55.74 “football years” old with .21 left in his gas tank. Is Brian two years or three years away from retirement and in those years, how many yards and TDs can we realistically expect from him? Well, based on their gas tank, and the running back’s career numbers, I have determined how much production a running back will have left, if they continue to play.


So as you can tell, the projections are a lot better when the running back has played a handful of seasons. Also, I found that running backs that are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame average about 10 more “football years” old than the average running back when they retire.

It would be silly for me to say this is exactly how each running back is going to finish his career. I think of it more as an expectancy of a running backs stats.

Eagles Don't Need to Add Running Back

Okay take a deep breath..... and relax. Not only is this Brian Westbrook situation nothing to panic about... yet, but also the Eagles are fine at running back with the players currently on the roster.

First off, this whole situation probably isn't as big a deal as it seems. I understand that there isn’t much Eagles related to discuss currently, as the OTA's are fairly non-news worthy. Brian Westbrook had successful surgery today, and informed Andy Reid and head trainer Rick Burkholder that he was doing well post-surgery. Westbrook will be on a non-weight bearing cast for two weeks and then take it from there day by day. Westbrook will then begin to work one on one with Burkholder on his rehab. Hopefully he will be ready to go at some point during training camp, or if not, by mid-August and ready by the regular season. There is no need to panic just yet.

It would not be a smart idea to bring in a veteran running back, especially one like Edgerrin James, who is looking to be a #1 running back somewhere. If you add a veteran running back, and Brian Westbrook turns out to be healthy by the time the season starts, you then have an overload at the running back position. The Eagles are counting on LeSean McCoy to play a large role in the offense this season. But just for the hell of it, let's take a look at some of the running backs the Eagles could add--

Edgerrin James - You can't sign a guy like this who gets upset when he doesn't get enough carries, and flat out is past his prime. Edge wants to be the #1 option, and he wouldn’t be on this team.

Warrick Dunn - Another guy who is past his prime, and at this point doesn't give you anything that you don't get from the other smaller backs on the team, except blocking.

Deuce McAllister - Deuce is a good big back, but is coming off torn ACL's in both legs. And again, he is past his prime.

Michael Pittman - Was never that good to begin with, and is more of a fullback. Pittman is surprise surprise, also past his prime.

There are other guys in the mix such as Ahman Green, and J.J. Arrington, who the Eagles can look out, but they simply do not need to, even if Westbrook is seriously injured. I will continue to tell everyone who listens - LeSean McCoy is the real deal. The Eagles are in good hands with LeSean McCoy, and he is the running back of the future, and is a beast. Another reason is that fullback Leonard Weaver knows the west coast offense, and can both run the ball and catch the ball. Look for Weaver to get some carries this season, unlike Eagles’ fullbacks of the past. The person who may be most affected by this is Lorenzo Booker. He may have a better chance to make the team now, even if Westbrook comes back healthy, simply because Booker can take some of the pressure off McCoy, so McCoy doesn't have to carry the entire load as a rookie. You also have a guy in Kyle Eckel who can play both halfback and fullback, and was effective rushing the ball last season when he was given the chance.

Not only do I believe the Eagles have the personnel to succeed in the backfield should Westbrook stay injured, they also don't need to sign another guy because the Eagles flat out don't use that many running backs. Besides Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter only ran the ball 76 times last season, and was very effective when he ran it. And that number of carries includes two starts for Buckhalter last season when Westbrook was injured. Besides that, we all know that Booker and Eckel barely saw the field. The Eagles just don't use the running back that much to have a crowded backfield.

So let’s not push the panic button just yet, and wait and see how this situation plays out. Westbrook should be fine by the start of the regular season. And in the slight chance that he isn't, you are still in good hands in the backfield.

Eagles-Cardinals Keys to the Game

The Eagles will travel on the road for the 3rd straight week to play the surprising Cardinals in the NFC Championship game, for the right to go to the Super Bowl. This will be the Eagles 5th NFC Championship game appearance in the past eight seasons. The Eagles have lost those games before when being favored, so this game should be a very tough one.

One of the main keys to this game is to get pressure on Cardinals QB, Kurt Warner. Getting pressure on Kurt Warner will most likely be the defensive game plan. Jim Johnson has very good success with this Eagles defense when facing Kurt Warner. You can see here that Kurt Warner has not previously had a lot of success against the Eagles. However, if Kurt Warner is given time to pass the ball, he is deadly effective. Warner can pick any team apart when given time, and with the receivers he has now, it is imperative to bring some pressure. Larry Fitzgerald is the best receiver in the game, and has shown the past couple weeks that even when double-teamed, he will still go up and get the ball. How do you stop Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin? You get pressure on Warner, and don’t allow him to be comfortable all game. Warner will make mistakes when pressure, he will throw bad passes, and he will put the ball on the ground. The Eagles front four has not gotten to the QB so far in the playoffs, so the Eagles may need to dial up some blitzes in order to get to Warner. And what better man to devise up some complex blitz schemes than Jim Johnson.

Another key to the game is the Eagles rushing attack. The Eagles had 185 yards rushing in their first matchup against the Cardinals. However, the rushing attack has been grounded in the two previous playoff games. The Cardinals do not have a good rushing defense, and the Eagles will need to exploit that. If Westbrook is not healthy enough to carry the ball 20 times, then Buckhalter, and Eckel should both get multiple carries. This is definitely a game where we need to keep McNabb out of pressure situations, and keep McNabb off the ground. A rushing attack that is effective in this game will also keep the potent Cardinals offense off the field. The Cardinals picked off five passes last weekend against the Panthers, and their cornerbacks are playing better than they have all season. The Cardinals feature some good young cornerbacks, and also a very good safety. Look for their secondary to jump some of the Eagles routes. With an effective rushing attack, the Eagles can effectively use play action, and stretch the field with Curtis and Jackson.

Those are just a couple keys to what should be a very exciting, nerve racking NFC Championship game. As Eagles fans, we have seen our team get this far, be favored, and lose the game. Let’s hope that we after Sunday, we will be in our second Super Bowl in the past five seasons.

PREDICTION
MR. GREEN: 31-17 EAGLES
ROGET: 34-21 EAGLES

Eagles Back in NFC Championship

The Eagles beat the Giants 23-11 to advance to the NFC Championship game... again. The Eagles were in the NFC Championship game in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and now 2009, which makes five times in the past eight seasons. Impressive? Very. Unfortunately, this team and the players on it will not be judged by how many NFC Championship games this team plays in. The fans are also not interested. We want a Super Bowl, and the Eagles trophy case is currently devoid of this hardware.

As far as the game goes, it was a nerve racking, intense, back and forth game, in which the Eagles finally pulled away in the 2nd half. The Eagles went into halftime with a 10-8 lead, and actually showed signs on a successful two-minute drill at the end of the first half, which resulted in a field goal as time expired. Both teams exchanged field goals in the 3rd quarter, but then the Eagles finally launched a 10 play, 63 yard drive, which resulted in a touchdown to Brent Celek on the first play of the 4th quarter.

The Eagles offense was average, but the Giants defense really played well. McNabb again had a lot of pressure on him throughout the game, and even though he threw 2 INT's, he moved around well which allowed him to convert some big plays, and ultimately played a good game on the road in cold weather, and a hostile environment. McNabb had a touchdown pass, and also rushed for a touchdown. Brian Westbrook, who the Giants were obviously keying on, only ended up with 36 yards rushing on 18 carries. The Eagles did a good job however of continuing to rush the ball even when it wasn't working, just like they did against the Vikings. DeSean Jackson led the receiving corps with 81 yards receiving, and a huge 48 yard reception down the sideline late in the 4th quarter to ultimately put the game away.

The story of this game on the Eagles side of the ball was the defense. The defense has really been playing well all season, and continued to do so in this game. If you look at the Giants 4th quarter possessions you will see, Turnover on Downs, Turnover on Downs, INT, Fumble Lost. That's four possessions in the 4th quarter, and four times the Eagles defense gave the ball back to the offense. And that doesn't count the 1st quarter INT by Asante Samuel, which he returned back to the Giants 2-yard line. That is exactly why they brought Samuel in this offseason. We saw him make a big play against the Vikings, and he did it again this game. The Eagles had not one, but two four down stands in the 4th quarter on defense. They stuffed Eli on 4th and inches, and then stuffed Jacobs on 4th and 2. To keep the Giants offense out of the end zone in their own stadium in a huge playoff game is amazing.

To certain veterans, getting this far in the playoffs is nothing new. McNabb, Westbrook, Runyan, Tra Thomas, Dawkins, Sheldon Brown, Akers and others have been this far before. Let's hope that the Eagles, and the entire city of Philadelphia can keep this sports momentum we have going.

McNabb booking his trip to Arizona

Eagles-Giants Keys to the Game

The Eagles will travel up to New York (I mean New Jersey) to play the division rival Giants in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Eagles were in this position two seasons ago, and were unable to stop the Saints powerful rushing attack. The Eagles will need to stop the Giants rushing attack if they want to win this game.

There are a few important keys to this game, which may be the difference between a win or loss in this game. One of the keys will be to stop the Giants rushing attack. The Giants feature two 1000 yard rushers this season, and aren’t afraid to run the ball over and over again, and dare the other team to stop them. The Giants feature a very solid offensive line, which allows Jacobs, Ward, and Bradshaw to be successful in the running game. Brandon Jacobs, the Giants feature back will pound the ball up the middle this game. The Giants know it, the Eagles know it, the Giants know the Eagles know it, it is just a matter of whether we will be able to stop it. The tackles, Patterson, Bunkley, and Laws will need to stuff the holes in the middle, and Stewart Bradley will need to come up big with a lot of tackles.

If you are able to shut down the Giants rushing attack, it makes things look good on the defensive end, because we should be able to force Eli into some 3rd and long situations. This is the situation that the Eagles defensive thrives on, because they can then get to the quarterback with some complex blitz schemes, and hopefully force Eli into throwing some interceptions. And this time, Eli does not have Plaxico Burress to throw the ball to. His safety valve will not be there, mainly because Plaxico does not know how to use a safety valve.

Another key to this game will be how the Eagles call plays. The Eagles have been successful during this late-season run, and it has mostly been due to the rushing attack. Even if the Eagles have not been able to run the ball successfully, like last week against the Vikings, they still stuck to the run. The one game Reid decided to go back to his pass-happy offense, the Eagles put up 3 points and lost to the Redskins. Brian Westbrook had 100 yards rushing in the Eagles 2nd game against the Giants, and will need to be used a lot in this game as well. Another person who Andy Reid needs to realize is on the team is Correll Buckhalter. Buckhalter has been amazing in the 2nd half of this season, and lately it seems that every time he touches the ball, he makes a big play. The Eagles have used Westbrook and Buckhalter a lot on the field together, and I hope we see that formation a lot in this game, because right now, Buckhalter is one of the best offensive playmakers on the team, no matter what position he plays.

Those are just a couple keys to what should be a very good, tough, hard fought game, as it usually is when these two teams play. The Eagles and Giants know each other well, and do not like each other, so it should be a great playoff matchup in the Meadowlands.

PREDICTION
MR. GREEN: 20-17 EAGLES

ROGET: 24-20 EAGLES

Eagles Advance to Divisional Round

The Eagles beat the Vikings in the wild card round to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs to face their division rival New York Giants.

Back to the game at hand, the Eagles pulled away in the 4th quarter in a close game throughout. It felt like the game was 16-14 for most of the 2nd half, and the Vikings were just a field goal away from taking the lead, but the Eagles defense held strong. The Vikings were everything they were advertised to be, a very good defensive line that didn't give the Eagles much room to operate on the offensive end. Correll Buckhalter's 27 yard run was really the only long run the Eagles had all game. The Eagles ended up with only 67 yards total on 23 carries. The Vikings defense was also constantly pressuring Donovan McNabb on passing plays. The Eagles only offensive touchdown came in the 4th quarter, and essentially won the game, a 71 yard screen pass touchdown by Brian Westbrook.

Donovan McNabb played great in this game. He ended the game with exactly 300 yards passing and a touchdown and an INT. He was constantly pressured, and escaped the Vikings pressure well, and was able to hit his check downs a lot, and take what the Vikings gave him. Brent Celek and Jason Avant had some big catches, a lot on 3rd down.

The Eagles defense was also solid, and made sure the Eagles would not give this game up in the 2nd half. The Vikings had two long scoring drives, which both resulted in Adrian Peterson touchdowns runs, but that was all the Eagles would give the Vikings. Overall, the Vikings only ended up with 301 total yards, and Asante Samuel scored on an interception return for a touchdown. We knew coming into this game how good the Vikings rushing attack was, with Peterson, who was the league's leading rusher, and also Chester Taylor. The Eagles did a decent job on both of them, but more importantly, did not let Tarvaris Jackson beat them. Trent Cole, Brian Dawkins, and Quintin Mikell were beasts on the defensive side of the football.

Also, DeSean Jackson's punt returns were solid, and always seemed to give the Eagles good field position. Jackson had over 100 yards on punt returns including a 62 yarder. Also on special teams, David Akers was 4-4 on field goal tries, including a 51-yarder. For a guy who couldn't make a 40+ yard field goal halfway through the season, Akers has really stepped it up in this playoff run. Hopefully it will continue at New York.

It was definitely a nerve racking game, and the Vikings game it their all, but in the end, the Eagles prevailed, and advance to play the Giants next weekend.

Eagles-Vikings Breakdown

Breaking down the Eagles-Vikings game--

QB

The Eagles have a resurgent Donovan McNabb, who when the play calling allows for it, is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The Vikings will start Tarvaris Jackson, who has only made 5 starts this season, but does have 9 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. McNabb has much more playoff experience and very good numbers against the Vikings.
EDGE: EAGLES

RB

The Vikings feature what might be the best running back in the game right now in Adrian Peterson, who led the league with 1760 rushing yards this season. The Vikings also have a good 2nd running back in Chester Taylor, who can come in and spell Peterson when need be. The Eagles also feature two solid running backs in Westbrook and Buckhalter. While the Vikings simply run Peterson over and over, the Eagles use Westbrook in a variety of ways, running the ball, and splitting Westbrook out wide to run receiving patterns. While Westbrook is one of the best in the game, it's hard to pick against the NFL's leading rusher.

EDGE: VIKINGS

WR/TE

Neither team is particularly solid at this position, as the Eagles feature a rookie as their leading receiver, and an underachieving tight end. The Vikings top two receivers were Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade, and at tight end, Visanthe Shiancoe had a solid season. Neither team had a 1000 yard receiver, but Berrian and Shiancoe both had 7 touchdown catches this season. No Eagles receiver had more than 3 touchdown catches.

EDGE: VIKINGS

O-Line

Again, the Vikings have the NFL's leading rusher, which definitely counts for something, but the Eagles offensive line can also run block, and the Eagles offensive line allowed fewer sacks than the Vikings offensive line.

EDGE: PUSH

Defensive Front 7

The Vikings have the #1 rush defense in the league and also one of the best pass rushers in the league in Jared Allen. The Eagles have the #4 ranked rush defense, and also have some good pass rushers. The edge for the Vikings may come on the line, but the Eagles probably have a slight edge at linebacker, led by Stewart Bradley.

EDGE: PUSH

Secondary

The Eagles defense is #3 against the pass, while the Vikings defense is #18 against the pass. The Eagles secondary features two pro-bowlers in Asante Samuel and Brian Dawkins, and the Eagles are deep in their secondary. Because teams are not able to run on the Vikings, it may exploit their secondary a little bit, and the Vikings secondary did have a lot of interceptions this season.

EDGE: EAGLES

Intangibles

The last game the Vikings played in the playoffs, they lost to the Eagles. As stated before, McNabb has very good numbers against this Vikings team. However, the game is in Minnesota in the dome, which is a hard place for a visiting team to go in and win, even if the Vikings still can't sell this game out.

EDGE: VIKINGS

Overall

It looks like the weaknesses of the Vikings play right into the Eagles hand, and if the Eagles are smart, they should be able to exploit the Vikings. Donovan McNabb is playing very well lately, and if the play calling is good, the Eagles should win this game.

EDGE: EAGLES

PREDICTION: 27-17 EAGLES

Eagles Clinch Playoff Berth

The Eagles clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season by beating the Cowboys, and receiving help from a couple other teams. In what is easily one of the strangest seasons I can remember as a fan, the Eagles who finished the season 9-6-1, embarrassed the Cowboys 44-6. The Eagles game was only part of the story, as the Eagles needed the Raiders to beat the Buccaneers, and the Texans to beat the Bears, both of which happened.

To recap a wacky Sunday--

Raiders 31 Buccaneers 24 1:00 p.m.

Texans 31 Bears 24 1:00 p.m.

Those results made the Eagles game at 4:00 p.m. a "win and you're in" scenario for the Eagles and Cowboys, and the Eagles took full advantage. The Eagles kicked the Cowboys ass the entire game. The first quarter ended with the score 3-3, and then the Eagles just poured it on. The Eagles had a great game plan, and were well-balanced on offense ending with 21 passes from McNabb, and 34 rushes. The 34 rushes went for 139 yards, and clearly allowed the Eagles to control the game, and keep McNabb out of difficult situations in the passing game. Correll Buckhalter, who looked like he couldn't be tackled by the Cowboys defenders, ended up as the Eagles leading rusher and receiver. Brent Celek, also played well and scored a receiving touchdown. McNabb, Westbrook, and Jackson were solid on offense also.

On defense, the Eagles forced 5 turnovers, had 4 sacks, 1 interception, and scored 2 touchdowns. Brian Dawkins, who I will be naming my first born after, was amazing. Dawkins looked fired up from the beginning coming out of the tunnel, and didn't disappoint during the game. He was all over the field, and forced two fumbles, both of which were returned for touchdowns. Chris Clemons also stood out on defense, with two sacks, a forced fumble, and a long fumble return for a touchdown. The Eagles were able to shut down the Cowboys running game for the most part, and forced the Cowboys into passing situations, and thus were able to bring a lot of pressure, which Tony Romo clearly couldn't handle. Romo, T.O., and the rest of the Cowgirls looked like they couldn't wait for the game to be over.

It all resulted in a 44-6 victory over the hated Cowboys, clinching a spot for the Eagles in the playoffs, all while eliminating the Cowboys from playoff contention. It was a great day for Eagles fans, one we haven't had in a while. Rooting the Raiders on to an improbably victory over the Bucs, and needing the Texans or Giants to win, and having the Texans come through. The early games were only an appetizer as to what was to come in the Eagles game.

So we move onto the playoffs, playing very good football. Maybe more importantly, Andy Reid is actually calling running plays lately, excluding the Redskins game. The Eagles will go to Minnesota to play the Vikings next Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The Vikings are the #1 defense in the NFL against the run, and also feature the NFL's leading running back in Adrian Peterson, so the Eagles will have their hands full. We will have full playoff coverage as the week goes on.

Eagles Need Win... And Help

The Eagles will play their 16th game of the season this Sunday, and the playoffs are on the line for both the Eagles, and their hated opponent, the Cowboys. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they not only need to win this game, they need help from some other teams. Here is what needs to happen to see the Eagles playing football in January--

1. The Eagles need to beat the Cowboys
2. The Raiders need to beat the Buccaneers
3. The Giants need to beat the Vikings OR the Texans need to beat the Bears

Seems unlikely, but hey, that's why they play the games. To win the game at hand, the Eagles will need a team effort from the offense, defense, and ohh yeah, the play calling. If the play calling is poor, the Eagles really do not have a chance to win this game. However, if Andy Reid actually calls a normal pass-run ratio, the Eagles will have a good chance to win this game. The Eagles defense has been great all season, however, the Cowboys were one of the few teams to put up a lot of points on this defense. If the Eagles can stop the run like they have been able to do lately, they should be able to get pressure on Romo, and hopefully force some turnovers.

On offense, as usual, Brian Westbrook will need to have a huge game, and he is the only consistent play maker. If McNabb throws 50 passes this game, they Eagles have no chance to win. Not only is that bad play calling, the Eagles do not have the personnel at wide receivers to get it done consistently in the passing game.

It is a shame for all us Eagles fans that the Eagles season has come down to this - a must-win game, and needing help.

Eagles Need Victory to Stay Alive

The Eagles will travel to DC to play their division rival Washington Redskins on Sunday. One again, as it has been for the past few weeks, the Eagles need to win, and need some help from around the league. Either the Falcons or Bucs need to lose a game for the Eagles to jump in front of them. The Cowboys also need to lose, but the Eagles can handle that themselves the final weekend of the season.

The Eagles cannot afford to look past this game, as the Redskins are a good team, and proved that already when they came up to Lincoln Financial Field earlier in the season and beat the Eagles. The Redskins controlled the game by running the ball all over the Eagles, especially in the 2nd half. The Eagles defense will need to do a better job stopping the run this game, which they have been able to do most of the season. The Redskins offense has not been good as of late, but if the Redskins are able to run the ball effectively, it will open up a lot of things for them, and make for a long day for the Eagles on defense.

On offense, the Eagles need to continue doing exactly what they have been doing in the past three weeks. It starts with the play calling. Andy Reid got away from the run a little bit in the Browns game, which didn't matter, since the Browns are so bad. The Eagles need to run the ball in this game to maximize their offense, and use both Westbrook and Buckhalter in the rushing attack. If the Eagles can do this, it should not put too much pressure on Donovan McNabb, and he can make the passes he needs to make.

Bottom line, the Eagles should win this game, which is why they are favored on the road to a team they already lost to earlier in the season. However, this game could be easily overlooked, and that would be a mistake. Any divisional game is tough, especially a game on the road. The Eagles and Redskins face off Sunday at 4:00.

Eagles Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Eagles beat the Giants on Sunday, 20-14, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Eagles now sit at 7-5-1, and still need some help if they want to make it into the playoffs.

There is a simple way to explain why the Eagles were able to beat the Giants. It's amazing what happens when you run the ball effectively. The Eagles ended the game with 41 runs and only 30 passes. Westbrook carried the ball 33 times for 131 yards and had a rushing and a receiving touchdown. It was good play calling for the 2nd straight week. The Giants could never mount a comeback in the 2nd half, mostly because their defense could not get off the field. The Eagles gave the Giants a taste of their own medicine, by running it right at the Giants over and over again. The Eagles ended up with 144 yards on the ground, and held the Giants potent rushing attack to 88 yards. It was comical to see one of the games biggest assholes, Antonio Pierce getting abused up and down the field by Westbrook. The only way to slow down Westbrook would have been if Pierce would have layed down on Westbrook after he tackled him. Ohhh wait, he tried that one time, and get flagged for it. McNabb played effectively, mostly because the play calling was good, and did not turn the ball over, while keeping the Eagles offense on the field.

On defense, the Eagles once again played a very good game. The first game the Eagles played the Giants was one of the few poor games this Eagles defense has had, and they made up for it today. The Eagles were able to stop the Giants rushing attack, and make Eli Manning beat that. Unfortunately, Eli Manning is still not very good without a good rushing attack, and especially without Plaxico Burress. If you can shut down the Giants rushing attack, you have a decent chance of beating them, and that's exactly what Jim Johnson did. Even though the Eagles defense did not register a sack, or create a turnover, they did a great job of getting off the field when the Giants would have 3rd and 4th and short.

Aside from a couple special teams blunders, the Eagles clearly outplayed the Giants in the Meadowlands. The Eagles definitely looked like the team we all expected them to look like all season long, and need to continue this momentum through the last three games of the regular season, and hopefully secure a playoff berth, because in the playoffs... anything can happen.

Eagles Visit Meadowlands in Must-Win

The Eagles travel to New Jersey to play the New York Giants in a must-win game this Sunday at 1:00.

The Eagles, coming off an impressive victory on Thanksgiving night against the Cardinals, look to continue the momentum from that game into this Sunday's showdown. In Week 10, he Giants beat the Eagles 36-31 in Philadelphia, running the ball all over the Eagles defense. The Eagles front 7 will be very important this game, as it is no secret that the Giants want to run the ball. Few teams, in fact close to none have been able to stop the Giants rushing attack this season. If the Eagles are able to stop the Giants rushing attack, Eli Manning is not good enough to beat them himself. Manning can put up numbers, but lives off of the rushing attack that the Giants possess.

On offense, Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook both had great games on Thanksgiving. McNabb threw for 4 TD's, and Westbrook totaled 4 TD's. They Eagles play calling was also on point, as they mixed the run and pass well, and used an effective rushing attack to set up the pass. Westbrook has had success in the past against the Giants, so there is no reason the Eagles shouldn't try to establish the run early again, which in turn will hopefully open things up in the passing game for McNabb.

The Eagles need this game to keep their season alive, so should come out fired up. Even though the Giants came into Philly and beat us already this season, the Eagles know the Giants well, and won't be intimidated by the Giants record. This should be a must-see game on Sunday.

Eagles Carve Up the Cardinals

The Eagles provided everyone watching in the Philadelphia area a Happy Thanksgiving by handing the Arizona Cardinals a lopsided 48-20 loss. I hate to say this is a case of the fans knowing what to do better than the coaches, but what did the Eagles do to win this game... established the running game. Imagine that.

The Eagles received the opening kickoff and marched right down the field to score a touchdown capped off by a McNabb to Westbrook shovel pass. The Eagles fan the ball 7 times on the opening drive, including runs by McNabb, Eckel, and Jackson, to only 4 passes. By running the ball, the Eagles controlled the clock, controlled the line of scrimmage, and when they did pass, it gave McNabb the time to complete short passes to move down the field. Also, the Eagles found a way to convert short yardage situations with running. That came in the form of Kyle Eckel, who was activated for the first time this season as an Eagle. The Eagles ran the ball for 185 yards on 40 carries. Westbrook went over 100, and had 4 total TD's. Kyle Eckel, Lorenzo Booker, and even McNabb also contributed to the rushing attack, all having over 20 yards rushing. McNabb ended the day with 260 yards passing, 4 TD's, and 0 INT's.

On defense, the Eagles once again played very well. They did well controlling the line of scrimmage, holding the Cardinals to 25 rushing yards. By shutting down the run, the Eagles made the Cardinals one-dimensional, and were able to intercept Kurt Warner three times in the game. Even though Larry Fitzgerald scored 2 touchdowns, the Eagles did an excellent job overall on the Cardinals wide receivers. Boldin was short-arming passes all night, and fumbled twice. Brian Dawkins played a great game at safety, with multiple hard hits, and an interception. The interception by Dawkins was his 34th overall as an Eagle, tying him for the all-time lead in interceptions for this team with Eric Allen and Bill Bradley. Dawkins will most likely get another one to become the all-time leader, and he definitely deserves it.

The story of the game was not McNabb playing well. Any intelligent Philadelphia fan knows McNabb is capable of putting up the types of numbers he put up in this game. It wasn't surprising to see McNabb play well, the surprise was the play calling. Andy Reid or Marty Morningweg or whoever called the plays did a great job of mixing the run and pass effectively. The Eagles held the for 40 minutes this game. That's exactly what you need to do against an offense as good as the Cardinals. McNabb can still win games and put up big numbers, it is the coaches job to put him into the position to do so, and that wasn't happening in previous weeks. Hopefully the Eagles can build off of this big win, as they travel to the Meadowlands next weekend to play the hated Giants.

Eagles Battle to Save Jobs on Thanksgiving

The Eagles celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday by welcoming the Arizona Cardinals to town. What most Eagles fan chalked up as an easy win before the start of the season will now be a tough game to pull out, even in the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles bring their amazing 5-5-1 record into this game against the Cardinals, who appear to have the NFC West locked up, despite their loss last weekend. The Eagles have seen more turmoil this past week than all other times of the Andy Reid-era combined. Donovan McNabb is the starter for this game, fresh off his benching last weekend against the Ravens. Everyone is calling for Andy Reid’s or Donovan McNabb’s respective head on a platter for dinner this Thanksgiving, and here at Kotite’s Corner, we have done our fair share of Andy Reid bashing.

The Eagles appear to have multiple problems on offense coming into this game. The offense is not going against a very good defense, so hopefully they can get back on track. This has to start with Donovan McNabb, who must get off to a good start this game. Part of any quarterback playing well involves having a rushing attack that is actually a threat to run the ball. This means that Westbrook, or whoever is in the game at running back must get the ball early to set the tempo. This should take some pressure off of McNabb and the play calling, as the Eagles can go to play action if they can run the ball early. Unfortunately, the receivers still have to get off the line, and catch the ball. The Eagles currently lead the league in dropped passes, and it seems like we lead the league in that category every year. Hopefully the offense can get on track early, and drive down the field to get some points on the opening drive, which should relieve some of the pressure on them.

The Eagles defense faces a very tough challenge from this Cardinals team, which is one of the best offensive teams in football. Cardinals QB, Kurt Warner, is have a resurgent season, and is an MVP candidate. It helps that he has maybe the two best receivers in the game in Anquan Boldin and former Pittsburgh Panther, Larry Fitzgerald. How good would one of them look in an Eagles uniform. They also have a very good 3rd wide receiver in Steve Breaston, and run the ball effectively on the goal line with rookie Tim Hightower. All of this creates a lot of problems for the Eagles defense. We believe the Eagles should match Asante Samuel on Larry Fitzgerald, and the more physical cornerback Sheldon Brown on the more physical receiver, Anquan Boldin. Once again, the Eagles will need to rely on a heavy pass rush to disrupt Kurt Warner. If Warner is given time, he will pick the Eagles secondary apart.

The Eagles will try to give Philadelphia fans everywhere a Happy Thanksgiving, and save their own jobs by getting a win and getting their record back over .500.