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Acrobatics Lead To Win Over Vikes
2007-10-29 14:41:00
We've now been in this position twice this season, thankfully we beat the Minnesota Vikings 23 to 16, but that means nothing if we can't build upon it. There's no more room for error, we can't afford to not put together back to back winning games now, and the challenge in that? Now we have to face the Dallas Cowboys. The hiccups on offense, not capitalizing in the redzone, were not nonexistent against the Vikings but they were at least minimized. The fact that we were able to put up two touchdowns (both coming from Brian Westbrook, one on a shovel pass and the other on a leaping run), showed a lot of promise that we can put the ball in the endzone. Donovan had a very productive today putting up 333 yards and 1 touchdown and two guys that truly aided in that effort were Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis. Against the Jets two weeks ago we saw Reggie finally break onto the scene when he had 6 grabs for 89 yards, beating his cumulative yards to the season prior to that game. But Brown ...
More About: Lead , Acro

Trying To Break Even
2007-10-21 17:57:00
The situation that the Chicago Bears face right now is all too familiar to us. One year removed from the Super Bowl the Bears have been heavily disappointed with their poor performance at the start of this season, accumulating a 2-4 record to this point. A time like this reminds me of our 2005 season, coming off of a loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl we had a little better of a start but eventually went on to go 6-10, looking drastically different from the team that was blowing opponents out of the water just a year prior. Now the Eagles team we have now, sitting in the cellar of the NFC East at 2-3, has drastic improvements to make. The talent is here, the potential is here, it's just about putting together all of the phases of the game and getting some players back healthy is going to help with that. Notably Lito Sheppard and Brian Dawkins are both expected to be back on the field today, the addition of these two Pro-Bowlers to our secondary is immeasurable. The in-active li...
More About: Break

Second Win Comes Over Jets
2007-10-15 04:18:00
On one week, off the next, things improved today with a 16-9 win over a pretty pathetic Jets team today. In no way am I trying to diminish today's victor, I'm of course very happy about it because things would have been on the way to imploding if we had not won. But the happiness is going to be reserved until we prove ourselves enough to really make noise around the NFL.Putting together a quality performance was a lot easier for Donovan McNabb to do without being sacked 12 times. Though there was still pressure that he had to face, he was only brought down 3 times which shows light years of improvement over last game. What needs to be acknowledged though is the fact that the New York Jets do not have a premier pass rush anyway, so the competition was easier, but still having William Thomas back in the line up along with Todd Herremans (who had arthroscopic knee surgery twelve days ago), definitely helped. There was also a great balance in the play calling, I refuse to get too exci...

Back Off Of The BYE
2007-10-14 18:28:00
Having taken a break, I needed to step back and re-examine the current issues with this team. When it all comes down to it: health. I'm not anywhere near ready to question the players that make up this team, I truely belive that the guys that are on this roster equal to a winning squad. Now with the Giants game as a prime example, Winston Justice giving up all of those sacks, I don't blame Justice and think he's a no-talent, he should not have been put in that starting position to begin with. Once it was obvious that he was completely overmatched there should have been an effort by the coaches to either give him more help with a tight end or take him out of the game entirely. What needs to happen though for things to get on track is we need to erase from our minds what has happened until this point. Not to say we can't learn from the mistakes that we've made but this Eagles team is undefeated follwing a BYE week with Andy Reid as coach. The situation is set up for us to be able...
More About: Back

One Win Down
2007-09-25 19:32:00
The Detroit Lions are not the New England Patriots, I get that. No one is saying that this team is going to the Super Bowl because we defeated a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 1999 and haven't won a playoff game for 15 years. But there is an excitement about what we saw happen on Sunday simply because of the situation we were in. Despite having high expectations for what this team can do, in their first two weeks of the season we were humiliated with how poorly we performed. So when success began to occur, a lot of success at that, the reception was huge because we saw what this team can do.That had to be my most frustrating point up until Sunday, I know this team and I know that they are a winning team, it's quite simple. So when two pathetic performances were put up against the Packers and Redskins, I was unable to comprehend what was causing so many problems.It's easy to see that Donovan was inaccurate and rushed in the pocket, receivers weren't getting open and...

Making History
2007-09-24 00:46:00
So fitting that on a day which was chosen to honor the history of this team, we actually made history, so much fun. After two dreadful weeks of poor performances, this team really hit its groove today and from the record breaking 42 points scored in the 1st half to Donovan having a career high first half performance, we knew which way this game was going by the time we reached halftime. The numbers are crazy, the Donovan McNabb of the past two weeks and of today, realms of difference. His performance was borderline perfect with completing 21 of 26 passes for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns. During the first game without his knee brace, whether it had anything to do with the improvement or not, McNabb looked so much more comfortable than he has all season. Accumlating a big chunk of Donovan's yards was a man we had yet to see much from before today, Kevin Curtis, who blasted onto the scene with 11 grabs for 221 yards and three touchdowns. The game that Curtis put up today was bigger than...
More About: History

Spanning Generations
2007-09-23 15:33:00
Prior to kickoff there's always this hope, an optimism about what could potentially happen on field that day. No matter what the circumstances are, before the game actually begins, there's an anticipation of what could be, what could potentially occur during those four quarters.We could witness a "Miracle at the Meadowlands" type moment or a record setting performance from one of our players, you just never know. Of course we would love to have one of those moments occur, quite fittingly on the day the team is going to be celebrating it's 75th anniversary, but when it all comes down to it, we just want to win.Not only do we want to win, we need to win. It might be seen as ridiculous to declare any game in September a must win, but this has to be as important a September game as I can remember.Defeating the Lions, getting that first win, is what has to happen to get the ball rolling here. Dropping to 0-3 would be the worst start of Andy Reid's career here in Philadelphia and that...
More About: Generations

Channeling The Greats
2007-09-20 17:56:00
On Sunday this Eagle's team is going to step out onto the field looking a little differently than when they did so on Monday night. Clad head to toe in baby blue and yellow, the franchise is going to be celebrating it's 75th anniversary with the players donning the Frankfort Yellow Jacket's throw back jerseys.Hopefully in addition to the change of appearance, the temporary new uniforms might spark an improvement in the on the field performance as well.A dormant offense has been the primary problem throughout these first two games, with only one touchdown being scored so far this season. Bright side of things is we are moving the ball, it's not like we aren't picking up first downs, but the problem has been once we get in the red-zone.Donovan McNabb is not playing anywhere near his capabilities at the moment, though he denies the fact that he's rusty, he has yet to develop that comfort level since his return to the field. My belief is that this is going to be a progression, he...
More About: Chan , The G

Reed To Return
2007-09-19 16:56:00
Here we go again: Welcome back for the 2nd time this year J.R. Reed .After Correll Buckhalter handled the kick return duties on Monday Night, seeming to do an adequate job, the Eagles released OT Pat McCoy and re-signed J.R. Reed.Looking a little deeper into this it's understandable for a few reasons outside of just the special teams part of it.On one hand we had to go into last weeks game with Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, and Reno Mahe activated at running back, rookie back Tony Hunt was listed as inactive. I think they want to give Hunt at least some playing time this year, but since we needed Buck on kick returns and Mahe on punt returns, Hunt was the odd man out.Maybe with Buck not having to return kicks we'll see Hunt activated in place of Buck, we will see.Along with that, Reed is a safety as well as a kick returner so though we usually don't view him in that role, both Brian Dawkins (neck stinger) and Sean Considine (knee bruise) suffered injuries on Monday Night so...
More About: Return

Our Best Is Way Better
2007-09-18 18:34:00
My voice is hoarse, I'm really tired, and I still can't comprehend how we have gotten to this point.This team, predicted to be a Super Bowl contender and 1st in our division by Sports Illustrated, believed by me to definitely be a Super Bowl caliber team, is really struggling.There's no way I'm anywhere close to giving up, of course not this is Week 2 and even talking like that is insane, but the pressure has just been raised so much for something to finally give. There are legitimate play-off teams on our schedule that we need to beat, but yet we've already dropped two games to teams that I honestly do not put much confidence in to do much more than finish the season somewhat respectively. The Redskins are not making the playoffs, they're not, as for the Packers they earned more of my respect in the win over the Giants on Sunday, so they have every right to be considered a playoff contender down the line, but I still know that we are a better team.So much is ahead for this te...

No Big Plays = No Wins Yet
2007-09-18 07:18:00
Never did I think that it by Week 2 of this season we would still be winless. Unbelievable. The showing that this team put forth on Monday Night Football in front of a national audience was humiliating. Gone were the huge blunders of last week with the Special Teams miscues, but in their place was a complete lack luster offense complemented by a defense that gave up too many big pass plays.Once again the stats seem to be in our favor, we accumulated more total yards had less penalties, almost equal time of possession, and didn't turn the ball over, but none of that mattered.When it came down to making plays, the hit on Kevin Curtis which forced him to drop that potential game saving catch on the final 4th and 6, summed up the entire night. Though Chris Cooley was able to come up big on the Redskins last shot at the endzone before half, no one on our team was able to pull it out.Now I feel like I can't say that not a single player on our team stepped up because Brian Westbrook did ...
More About: Plays , Wins

Monday Night Lights
2007-09-17 23:26:00
Anticipation has really mounted for tonight's Monday Night Football game against the Washington Redskins and the environment will be hostile, to say the least.The scene at Lincoln Financial Field is going to be amazing, this game might only be Week 2, but it would be detrimental to this squad to not only fall to 0-2, but to do so to a divisional opponent. So the fans are going to chomping at bit to see some production from this team which we know has a lot of talent.Last week Donovan McNabb never seemed to really get into a rhythm but that should never be the be all end all. If that is a problem, you hand the ball off to our more consistent weapon, Brian Westbrook. There should be no excuses for any offensive stalling against the Redskins tonight, this team is very capable of putting points on the board.As far as the defense goes there are going to be a few times when Jason Campbells gets away and picks up a first down when he really shouldn't, that always seems to be the case whe...
More About: Lights

The Cheating Pats
2007-09-15 14:15:00
There is no doubt the hardest loss I've ever had to endure with this team was Super Bowl XXXIX, being defeated by the New England Patriots. After going through an entire season, the best in my lifetime hands down, arguably the best ever since actually winning the NFL Championship in 1960, it was devastating to leave Jacksonville empty handed.The memories that tie into that season are priceless and despite not winning it all nothing is taken for granted, but there is no doubt that I would give just about anything to change the outcome of that game.So when it recently came to the surface that the Patriots were caught video taping the Jets hands signals during last weeks game, it can't help but invoke some questions in my mind regarding how long this has been occurring and whether it has actually influenced the result of any games.I don't actually think that this had any affect on us losing the Super Bowl, we have no inclination as to how long this has even been going on for, nor do...
More About: Cheating

Defense Is Up For It
2007-09-13 15:41:00
The Washington Redskins haven't necessarily struggled in recent years but there have been major inconsistencies in comparison with the Eagles who have generally remained competitive for the past 7 seasons. After several years of Dan Snyder playing his game of trying to buy a Super Bowl win, they look to me like they're finally at least headed down the correct path with a young QB earning his experience and developing week by week.Jason Campbell, a 2005 1st round draft pick, began seeing starting time last November when Joe Gibbs, in wake of a loss to the Eagles, benched QB Mark Brunell. In Brunell's last game he completed only 51.6% of his passes along with throwing an interception which was returned for 70 yards for a touchdown by Sheldon Brown. That performance was the deal breaker for the veteran QB as the Redskins decided to cash in the season and look towards the future, headed by Campbell.As expected Jason didn't accomplish much last season, he started the final 7 games of...
More About: Defense

Reno Returns
2007-09-12 22:46:00
It's impossible to not be happy for Reno Mahe and his return to Philadelphia. As much as we have made fun of him over the years, he was always a stable return man to the effect that he didn't make mistakes. I think we took that for granted when we wanted to move on to more exciting players like Jeremy Bloom and J.R. Reed, but when it all comes down to it a returners job starts with catching the ball and if you can't do that, you can't play on this team.So often we lose sight of the actual person behind the helmet, Reno might not provide the assets of having a Dante Hall or Brian Mitchell on the field, but he is an all around quality player on and off of the field.Things move quickly in this league and once last season was over, Mahe's contract was up, the team moved on instantly, leaving behind a person that had been a part of this franchise for the previous 4 seasons. The world kept moving on for the Eagles, no one thought twice about the decision to not extend Reno's contrac...

J.R. Fumbled Away Second Chance
2007-09-12 03:27:00
My predicted scenario regarding the punt return situation involved Greg Lewis being cut and Reno Mahe coming back to the team. Half of it was right.G.Lew is still on the team despite making the initial fumble, which led to J.R. Reed being put in a position that he wasn't supposed to be in originally, returning punts. Reed wasn't signed to have to return punts, that was never something he had previously done in his career, he was primarily brought in as a kick returner.But regardless of what he was initially signed in for, it unfortunately looks like he blew his chance of a revival with the Eagles as he was cut today in favor of bringing Reno Mahe back.Now my thinking is that yes, Reno has proven to us in the past that he is a sure handed returner who is not going to make mistakes that produce turnovers. But still, just as we did with Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed (though neither had the return experience that Mahe has), we are going into a game with a returner who is pretty much cold, ...
More About: Chance , Chan , Bled

Not All Bad Against The Pack
2007-09-11 17:22:00
It's a really simple concept, losing sucks.But when you are just starting off a season and there is so much to look forward to and build upon, you have to look towards the next week. This isn't a game you dwell upon because even just going through the statistics it is apparent that we were the better team, things just didn't turn out the way we needed them to.So instead of walking away disheartened, keep in mind that there is so much left to work towards and one loss isn't going to divert us from the path towards success.In line with that optimism, we need to recognize some of the positive things that we saw on Sunday because in the future, this special teams issue is going to get resolved.Welcome back Freak, we saw that Jevon Kearse still has that play maker in him, on one occasion combining with Trent Cole on one sack and later re-joining with Trent when he forced a fumble and Jevon was able to recover it.Jason Avant led the team in receptions grabbing 3 for 54 yards and 1 tou...
More About: Pack , The Pack

Uh Oh Lito
2007-09-11 17:08:00
Different year, similar scenario. Last season Lito Sheppard was hurt on the 1st play of the opener against the Houston Texans. Well this year we improved to the point where he at least lasted until the 2nd quarter this time, but left with a sprained MCL.The news is that Lito will likely be out on Monday night against the Washington Redskins. Meaning that we are going to see William James step up to one of the starting spots, things gets rotated around with Sheldon taking Lito's #1, James going to #2, and putting Joselio Hanson at nickle.I have confidence in James that this shouldn't be a big issue, you of course always want your starters healthy but injuries are the nature of the game and you just have to roll with the punches.James no doubt posses a physical ability that gives him an upside but he is prone to bite too hard on a play action, over pursue and get blown out of the water.So here is his chance, James battled during training camp with the intent of earning a starting ro...

G.Lew Causes A Slew Of Problems
2007-09-10 23:24:00
Greg Lewis was banged up on the first punt coverage after a Philadelphia 3 and out to start the opener against the Packers, as he laid on the field for a few moments having to collect himself, no one realized that this beginning would truly foreshadow the night that Lewis was about to have.After going through the entire pre-season with the primary focus at punt returner on Jeremy Bloom, problems were bound to arise when Bloom was released and Greg Lewis was expected to return instead. It would have been more understandable to see Bloom cut in favor of a veteran at the return position, but that wasn't the case as Greg might have been on the team since 2003 but had never returned a punt in his career.As much as we have had a lack of production at both return positions throughout the recent years, at least when Reno Mahe was in control of punts he did as he was told, secured the ball and didn't create turnovers. From a field position standpoint Mahe was never much help, but you would...
More About: Problems