My Thoughts Eagles/Chargers

Well, I guess it could have been worse.¬† This loss is not the end of the world (Chicago lost, Atlanta lost, the Cowboys lost, the Giants didn’t play), but it was certainly frustrating.¬†

The Eagles offense moved the ball up and down the field with ease.¬† You want 20 yards?¬† You got it.¬† Just don’t ask them to score in the red zone with a fresh set of downs.¬† But anyway, let’s check out the game:

What I liked…

-Donovan was pretty darn sharp all day and threw for 450 yards to go with two TD’s and a pick that came on a desperation play.¬†¬†

-I give credit to the coaches for taking what the Chargers gave them.  The deep play just was not happening today.  Forget it, the Chargers did a phenomenal job of taking that away.  Usually, the Eagles try to force it.  Today?  They took the intermediate stuff all day and sustained drives.

-The receivers did an excellent job.¬† DeSean had 91 yards.¬† Maclin had 76 yards and a TD, and he just keeps getting better and better.¬† Jason Avant caught eight passes for a career-high 156 yards…well done.¬† Celek got it done.¬† Heck, even Reggie Brown had a great game.

-I’ll take Reggie Brown as a fourth receiver all day, every day and twice on Tuesday.¬† Despite the criticism he gets, he’s is great in that role.¬†

-I have to give Winston Justice credit.¬† Great job today and he’s done a great job of us not having to hear his name very often.¬† With an o-lineman, that’s a good thing.¬† I think Justice gets a lot of credit this year because so little was expected of him.¬†¬†

-The Cowboys lost. 

-Overall, the o-line did a good job in pass protection.¬† Considering they are a patchwork group with guys playing out of position and next to guys they don’t even know, they did a good job on the San Diego pass rush.¬†¬†

-Great play by Moise Fokou to stuff Darren Sproles on the third-and-short.  Anyone else wonder why the Chargers insist on running Sproles in third-and-short?  

-That was some catch by Avant deep in Chargers territory.  Wow. 

…and not so much…

-You have to be kidding me with these red zone issues.¬† First and goal from the one….and a FG?¬† The offense wasn’t crapping out at the 25-yard line and forced to kick field goals.¬† They were getting inside the 10.¬† They were very, very close to TD’s.¬† What a joke, and the blame goes in a million different directions.

-I was going to criticize Andy Reid for not going for it on fourth down on one of those drives that stalled inside the 10, but I don’t know if I can.¬† Didn’t take a genius to see that they couldn’t do anything to get in the end zone.¬† Might as well take the points.

-Once again, not enough timeouts at the end of the game.  Completely frustrating.

-My frustration with all the stupid penalties is mitigated by the fact that there are so many young players.¬† The Maclin pass interference call was a rookie issue.¬† He hasn’t learned that you can push off without straightening your arms and making it obvious.¬† But still, how many good plays were called back because of penalties?¬† Moise Fokou, will you please read a rulebook?¬† Stop with the dumb penalties.¬† I know this is a young group, but it’s still tough to watch.

-I’m the first to admit when I’m wrong on something.¬† But I said before that I can’t believe Chris Gocong is playing middle linebacker and that if you still can’t use Trotter and Joe Mays with all these injuries, then why are they on the team?¬† I’m done with Gocong at middle linebacker.¬†¬†

-This team couldn’t cover the tight end when it was healthy.¬† Someone explain why the Chargers stopped going to Gates for so much of the game.¬† Whenever they wanted Gates, he was there.¬†

-Even the blitzes weren’t getting to Rivers.

-Asante….what are you doing?¬† Was this a result of having so many new faces in the secondary?¬† On their fourth TD, Asante came up as though he had help over the top.¬† Nope.¬† Very easy TD.¬†

-Sheldon Brown didn’t play well and then got hurt.¬† Ugh.

-According to the sideline reporter for FOX, Westbrook has another concussion.¬† Time to shut it down.¬† I’m serious, this isn’t something to mess with.¬† We love you Brian, you’ve done a wonderful job, but it’s time to shut it down – for the season and maybe longer.

-Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks.  Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks.  Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks.  

The Eagles have some winnable games coming up, but what is a winnable game to a Jekyll and Hyde team like this?