This one seemed a lot closer than the 27-13 score would indicate.¬† The Eagles did a few things really well, but again struggled in other areas.¬† I don’t want to be too picky because the bottom line is that they got the W and clinched a post-season berth.Let’s take a gander at what happened.
What I liked…
-We’ve said a lot about Andy Reid, but you’ve got to give it to him.¬† 1999, 2005 and 2007.¬† Those are the years that Andy hasn’t led the Eagles to the playoffs.¬† That’s some serious consistency.¬† A lot goes into being able to win the whole thing in a given year, and the best way to get the ring is to give yourself as many chances as you can.¬† In 1999, this team was trying to get turned around from a putrid 1998 season.¬† In 2005, McNabb got hurt, Westbrook got hurt, T.O. got sent home and Mike McMahon was leading the way.¬† You do the math.¬† In 2007, Donovan was recovering from knee surgery, they didn’t have a single punt returner on the roster and the team was generally flat.¬† Good stuff, Andy.
-Speaking of Andy, he’s got the Eagles playing winning football in December again.¬† It’s kind of a nice holiday present, no?
-Donovan was good today, but not great.¬† He certainly wasn’t at his best.¬† But he got the job done, moved the ball and got the team in the end zone when it counted.¬† Don’t completely understand some of his decisions today, but he is usually a great decision maker and is allowed a few mulligans.¬†
-DeSean is on another planet.  How big was that second half bomb that completely changed the field position and got the Birds out of their little third-quarter funk?  Running out of superlatives for him. 
-Sheldon Brown made some excellent plays on the ball in the second half when Alex Smith was looking to take some shots.
-How can you not love Frank Gore?  I think G. described it best last week when he said that he runs like a man. 
-Trent Cole is probably the Eagles best defensive player.  Maybe get him some help up front?
-I like Juqua Parker as a situational pass rusher, not as the starting defensive end, which he kind of is.¬† But I’ll give him credit, he played pretty well today.
-So did Joselio Hanson (other than the illegal touching on Sav Rocca’s punt).¬† He got some good pressure on Smith and forced him to throw the ball away a couple times.
-How good has Vernon Davis turned out to be?¬† From first-round pick to bust to sent into the locker room for poor behavior to absolute animal.¬† Glad to see he’s worked it out and blossomed.¬† He’s amazing and perfect for Alex Smith.¬† Young QB’s could use a nice big safety valve.
-I’m a huge Patrick Willis fan.¬†¬†
-This Eagles offensive line has really pulled it together since being an unmitigated disgrace at the beginning of the year.¬† I’ve been ripping Jason Peters, but I have to give him some credit.¬† He looks better and better.¬† And only four holding calls on the o-line all year??¬† I didn’t know that.¬† Well done.¬† Holding penalties are almost always drive killers.
-Way to get things started on the opening kickoff return, Quinton Demps.  
-For the most part, the Eagles special teams coverage has been excellent this year.  Some hiccups here and there, but overall, pretty nice job.
…and not so much…
-Some awful, awful tackling again.¬† And I mean you, Asante Samuel.¬† This is becoming a serious problem.¬† What kind of effort was that against Josh Morgan in the second half (I give him credit, he did come back and pop him, but I think he might have a FedEx envelope coming from the NFL this week.¬† Looked like helmet-to-helmet there)?¬† I swear the Eagles need to get Pat Fischer on the phone.¬† Pat was a small cornerback for the Redskins and Cardinals and he was tough as nails.¬† According to him, his tackling theory was “stay low, keep my head up,” and when he hits, lift and “take one of his legs with me.¬† Because now he doesn’t have two legs driving.”¬† Makes perfect sense and was fun to watch.¬† Asante, take a leg with you and he’ll either go down or you can stand and wait for help to arrive.¬† This wet-noodle arm stuff isn’t cutting it.¬†
-I have a tough time believing this is a championship defense.¬† Not enough pressure from the front four and some pretty awful linebacking play.¬† A lot of this can be attributed to losing Stewart Bradley, but you don’t get bonus points in the playoffs for not having important players.
-Not sure how much Kevin Curtis will see the field down the stretch, healthy or not.  He dropped another ball today. 
-It’s tough to jump on Leonard Weaver, but are you serious?¬† Do I even need to mention what I’m talking about here?¬† You have to know what the heck is going on there at the end of the half.¬† He’s bringing so much to the team right now, it’s tough to get on him.¬† But that was lousy.¬†
-That was one heck of a third quarter for the Eagles.  Jeez. 
-Can we maybe tighten up that run defense?¬† That TD by LeSean McCoy was big in a couple ways.¬† Yes, it good for a two-touchdown lead, but it also minimized Gore’s role in the rest of the game.¬†
-How many commercials were run during the game?  This is ridiculous!
-Can someone explain what Tony Siragusa is bringing to the table?  What a complete waste of time.  He adds nothing to a broadcast and is just generally obnoxious. 
-I’m a very big fan of Moose Johnston as a broadcaster.¬† I think he and Aikman are the two best color commentators in football.¬† But sorry, I can’t follow you when you say LeSean McCoy looks like Westbrook’s little brother out there.¬† He said he looks just like him.¬† Excuse me?¬† Do you remember what a healthy Westbrook looks like when he’s out there?¬† McCoy is a nice player, but let’s ease up on the Westbrook comparisons.¬†
Next up, a Denver team that just lost to a JaMarcus Russell-led Raiders team (sound familiar?).  The Raiders won the game on a last-minute TD drive engineered by Mr. Russell.  With a playoff spot in hand, the Eagles will now try to win the division and get themselves a home game (or two). 
