The Eagles played one of their best games of the season en route to a 45-19 drubbing of the visiting New York Jets. Philadelphia jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead, riding the momentum of an outstanding defensive effort. The first score of the game occurred when safety Kurt Coleman put his helmet on a Santonio Holmes reception, forcing Holmes to cough it up and allowing defensive lineman Juqua Parker to get the scoop and score 
for a touchdown. In addition to the defensive touchdown, Asante Samuel and Jamar Chaney added interceptions. Samuel’s pick came on the heels of a muffed punt which the Jets recovered at the Philly 14, bailing out a turnover-prone Eagles Special Teams once again.
Defensive end Jason Babin added 3 sacks to his total, giving him a league-leading 18 on the year. This was Babin’s second consecutive 3 sack game and his performance moved him within 3 of Reggie White’s team record (although White did it in only 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season) and a mere 4.5 short of Michael Strahan’s NFL record 22.5.
Philip Hunt recorded the other sack for the Eagle defense, but when they weren’t recording sacks the Philadelphia defense was still harassing Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez all day long. Between batted balls, legal hits on the quarterback and overall pressure, the Jets signal-caller was never able to get comfortable or establish a rhythm.
Trent Cole was surprisingly quiet for the Eagles, tallying 4 tackles but no sacks. With the added attention being paid to Babin at the other end, I would have assumed that Cole’s sack numbers would be higher than they are. DRC was once again lost in the shuffle, failing to record a single tackle, but a quiet performance is better than a poor one.
Coleman continued to be a bright spot for this Eagle’s defense, as he was credited with the forced fumble on the Holmes play that resulted in Juqua Parker’s touchdown ramble. Coleman also made a nice play deflecting a pass in the end zone that was intended for the much taller Plaxico Burress. The 2nd year safety did get beat to the inside on Santonio Holmes’ touchdown reception, although it did appear as if the help Coleman expected from the inside was late in arriving.
In an earlier post, I indicated that I felt the Eagles linebacking corps was going to have to do a good job against a Jets offensive line that was much larger and more physical, and they did just that. The Eagles front seven held the jets to 94 yards rushing on 27 carries, equaling a paltry 3.5 yards per carry. The majority of the Jets rushing production came from feature back Shonn Greene’s 18 rushes for 73 yards. For the most part the linebackers did a good job in coverage (Sanchez only threw for 150 yards and had 2 picks). As always, this young group was able to fly to the ball which prohibited the Jets from doing much damage in the yards after the catch category.
Overall, the Eagles defensive performance against the Jets was an impressive one. They did an excellent job containing an unrelenting rushing attack and were opportunistic with respect to turnovers. Philly managed to keep the penalties to a manageable level. The one major penalty came when Nnamdi Asomugha interfered with Plaxico Burress inside the red zone which set up the Holmes touchdown in the second quarter. The Jets, on the other hand, seemed to either have a holding call or a false start every time they ventured into the red zone.
When all is said and done, this game was a win for Philadelphia against a quality 8-5 opponent that is in the thick of the chase for a playoff spot in their conference. The Philadelphia defense imposed their will upon the Jets offense and rattled a shaky quarterback from the outset, preventing him from building any confidence during the game. If the Eagles can keep this up, they may end up backing themselves into the playoffs (with some help, of course).
When this season is over, Brent Celek might be my favorite eagle on the team. Even when 80 percent of this team and coaching staff were playing choke, uninterested, football without any heart or passion, Celek was playing hard. We would be getting beat by a pathetic team that we had no business losing to and in the 4th he would be fighting to get a meaningless 1st down getting hit by like 3 different people. I don’t get why people were so down on him last year just because he wont catch 70-80 balls…this guy can block and when called upon can play tough up the middle football. Even after beating the JEts impressively, this team is a drastic underperforming 6-8 but Celek is one of the guys i have lots of respect for and am glad he wears an Eagles uniform.
pheages – I agree with you about Celek. I think that the reason people were so down on him last year is because many people want instant gratification, and lots of it, all the time. Patience, context, and a sense of perspective are unfortunately not aspects of a typical Eagles fan.
schiller, dude, you really have a negative context in literally EVERY single post you make. I feel like you’re somewhat bitter towards the world. You’re either trying to break down someone’s opinion or view point or making back handed remarks like the one above. Seriously dude, WTF is your deal? You’re a real downer.
If you must know why people were down on him, maybe it’s because he was non-existent in the passing game. Yes, I realize the Eagles were constantly using him to block and keep Vick from getting killed, but that’s why people were down on Celek.
I guess Schiller is content to sit on his Rocking Chair and wait on an Eagles Super Bowl Championship and then will say in his last breath.. “I told you”….
btc – I hear you, and I have to laugh a bit because its ironic. My ‘negativity’ is usually directed toward negativity itself! Negadelphia (in general) irks me because I think it’s often illogical, unfair, and overdone. And I think the overall negative Philly sports culture negatively effects the sports teams (they all have stated it in the past).
Your point on Celek kinda makes my point – they were blaming Celek for not producing in the passing game when he wasn’t being thrown to. That’s illogical and unfair. Calling a guy bad at what he does for reasons that were outside of his control, that’s BS and it bothers me.
I hear you btc, its true that the vast majority of my posts on this site are ‘negative’. I do primarily come on to Gcobb for my ‘anti-hater’/sports psychology indulgenece, I assure you that there’s much more to my fandom that I choose to conduct elsewhere in my life. I just like to get a barometer on some of the fans and do my best to challenge bogus negativity.
It’s funny though, would you call those working against school bullying as negative people? You see what I mean?
Paul, – what’s the alternative to ‘sitting on my rocking chair and waiting’ – is it more noble to bitch and moan during the process? Either way the wait will be just as long. I get just as upset with Eagles losses as anyone, but I process it healthfully, and in a few days, I’m past it. I am perhaps more accepting of the fact that life isn’t always instantly gratifying, and as my father tauhgt me time and time again – ‘sports is pain’.
The real Birds showed up yesterday. Finally we look like a good team. I would love to see them win the next two games and make the playoffs. Its unfortunate that we took this long to finally play with heart and intensity. Now we need the Jets to beat the Giants and we must beat the Cowboys. Why can’t Reid get his teams to play like this early in the season. Once you lose all the 4th quarter games this is the time of the year it catches up with you. If we don’t make the playoffs then we should still fire Andy Reid and find a coach who can get more out of our talent on a consistent basis. After 13 years and we still see the same results I think its time to move on. Time Yours!!!!!
I agree that being a Sports Fan can be painful and especially in Philly, but to be honest, Philly fans of this generation have become spoiled and turns on their own team’s Players and Coaches quicker than flies on you know what and I do believe that it does hurt in the recruitment of some Players and Coaches who don’t want to play in Philly.. Of course it’s easy to say, the hell with them, if they can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen, but a consistent “Mob Mentality” from the local Media & some Fans is not good for the Teams, Players,Coaches or the Citie’s image for that matter..
back to younger fans being Spoiled, Philly has had 3 of it’s 4 Teams conisistently battle for a Championship over the last 5-6-7 Seasons between the Eagles,Phils & Flyers.. There are many other Cities who would trade places in the Heartbeat to field competitive teams year in and year out..
(Probably Boston is the only City that has had winners in all 4 Major Sports within the last Decade)
Blowing off steam and frustration is healthy for fans to do though as long as people stay under control and don’t harm anyone or anyone’s property….
Paul, yeah, blwoing off steam may be relatively healthy – I certainly can think of worse ways to vent – but if it means that a lot of sensless arguments that may have been side-effects of the heated emotion make their way into every-day discussions and are accepted as truth due to the frequency of their utterance, then you have a lot of stupid BS being taken as fact by the masses – that’s what’s often messed up. When logical conversations are out the window becuase the fans are so damn emotional all the time.
That’s people and life in general Schiller about a lot of things and not just the Eagles..It’s hard to control for many fans.. Some are so amped up and filled with expectations of grandure that’s fueled by the media, blogs, ownership and yes even some players so when they are let dowm, some take it personal and take it too serioulsly and react out of whack and out of proportion..
I admit, i used to get worked up and super pissed when the Eagles lost that it would literally take me a day or 2 to recover.. I could have a great Weekend with Family, Friends or whatever, and then come Sunday, if the Eagles lost, I would be deflated,depressed to start my work week.. .Well no more of that my freind, life is too short, Football is a sport and entertainment as many other things are and I have realized as I have gotten older, that none of these entertainment things are life and death for any of us, and it’s really not that important at all, in the big scheme of things.. But they can sure frustrate the hell out of you, though and this Season may be the worse one yet as far as a missed opportunity… …
I will take a stadium full of emotional fans anyday Schill, as opposed to one full of corporate types who don’t really care what is happening with the game or team.
Greenfan, agreed. But that only applies to gametime. Analysis and discussion, I prefer levelheadedness. A stadium full of emotional fans right now at the linc would be absurd.
schiller is an elitist and, as I have called him before, an educated derelict, a phrase coined by Coolidge describing the multitude who walk among us, thinking, acting, telling us what to think, what to do, on the unfounded supposition they know more than the average Joe, and on the equally unfounded premise that he has more education than the average poster, many here are doctors, lawyers, who wouldn’t think to publish their degrees as schiller has, because in the forum of sports nobody cares, it doesn’t matter, and his elitism is demonstrated by his avowed purpose here, some twisted social experiment, fueled ultimately by insecurity
jake you may be right about schill…but he was right, being at the linc right now would be pretty lonely.
if you want to argue about little points fine, but I have been in a good mood all day because my team CRUSHED the Jets!!!!! I am going to enjoy the moment,. cause there haven’t been alot of them this year.
GO BIRDS!!
it’s one game people….just like the Cowboys win, people will go back to “FIRE ANDY” when they miss the playoffs…and they will because the Giants will beat the Jets next week.
Jake, no insecurities involved, when post my degree (other than perhaps debunking the idea that I have a PhD, which I do not and never will pursue), and when did I ever say that I’m better than anyone? I simply would prefer that more fans leave their emotions ‘on the field’ and let more levelheadedness prevail when honestly discussing the team. That’s all. Just my preference. I don’t think that I’m any better of a person than anyone else on here. (except for maybe Songs).
And I’m far from the first person to find the philly sports pysche interesting, it’s been written about and discussed for decades if not more.
Jake you crack me up – who on this blog site is a lawyer or doctor – seriously – who? Just guessing here – gonna try to ‘think’ who is Jake – I am guessing white male, 21-24 (younger) maybe still in college – or just out and hasn’t found ‘career’ employment – maybe working at a pick up job to pay the bills to get settled – I am guessing history type major – how I do
Navy, although we don’t agree very often, you come up with some pretty good comebacks & some pretty funny $#!t! LOL!
Schiller, stop trying to play the victim. You have came on here countless numbers of times ripping/ reprimanding everyone who differs from your opinion, or had anything negative to say about Reid & the Birds. You, nor anyone else has the right to tell anyone what to say. They are called opinions for a reason. I understand the personal attacks on here are ridiculous, childish, & uncalled for (which I also got caught up in), but stop being a hypocrite, & playing the victim. You must have a short memory of the $#!t you say to people on here. It’s funny to break each others beanbags, but stop it already. There is always going to be differing opinions, on opposite ends of the spectrum. But some of us actually know what we see, & don’t live in La La land. I’m not a status quo person. If things aren’t working, things need to be changed, plain & simple. 13 years of a broken record is unacceptable. If you are happy with the status quo, you are happy with being a loser, second best, & content with just being in contention.
Schiller, BTW, did you ever play a sport, besides pocket billiards!? Just kidding. LOL! My angst & anger with this organization, comes with me being a sore loser. I’m very competitive too because I have played Baseball, football & wrestling my whole life (baseball in college). I personally have a problem with this organization, because they love the comfort of the status quo. They would rather make a scape goat out of coaches & coordinators, rather than fire the real problem with this team, & that is Reid. Watch what happens, at years end. Reid will be back, Castillo, Zordich & Caldwell all get the AX, & Morningwood leaves for another job. Bank on it. The same insanity over, & over again. They have the built in excuses already lined up. “We finished strong, too many injuries, too young, rebuilding, too many changes, wrong coaches, etc. etc.” How’s about Reid & Rosebud are f^#@ing nitwits, can’t draft a good player if he fell on them, & can’t make consistent in game adjustments, so they are fired!
D, I hear you but I never told people how to act, what to say, that im content or happy with the stats quo. give me an example. And I agree about differing opinions, so why cant I express mine? That’s all I do on here. Was jesus, martin luther king, ghandi,kennedy, or any smaller scale writer, leader, philosopher etc wrong for expressing their opinion about how society behaves and what might be best? Im not putting myself up there with those people, just illustrating that all im doing is stating my own opinion.
But seriously d, look at what you posted accross the board today – you honorably noted that you jumped the gun on babin, then jumped it again on mathews (whoa, took most of his rookie year to start playing well….how horrible, and then dom brown. Why do you learn from mistakes. And see the big point, many players develop in time. If babin is such a beast, and he is, and it took him till this age, which it did, than isn’t it foolish to label a guy a bum or bust in his early 20s?
@ schill…related to Matthews…it was Reid and Casstilo that put him in the position that he needed to have immediate success….they took a 4th round pick who played outside backer and named him their starting middle linebacker and defensive play caller before the 1st day of training camp. He was set up to be deemed a failure by his coaches.
I would be very interested to see how good this D could be if they draft a stud MLB. I know that this is not the norm, but hopefully Washburn can appeal to AR and Howie about how important LBs are with the Wide 9 and just in general actually. I would like to see that plus a run stopping DT to put beside Jenkins. A big fat dude that can’t be moved.
As far as the rest of the season goes, who knows how it will turn out, but at least they are playing better football. The turnovers are what have been the biggest difference. Especially early turnovers which put the O in a position to score and that led to the D being able to play to its strengths. Good for Matthews getting in the game and making plays. They did put him in a position to fail to start the season with not much camp to work with.
@ bugsy…you are right about MLB…that is why with all of the moves that we made in the off season, not getting a MLB like Stephen Tullock now in Detriot was a big mistake..the guy was a stud running with a wide nine in Tenn and he signed a one year deal late with Detroit, so he couldn’t have cost that much. It would have made a huge difference on a defense that did not have confidence in it’s new DC early in the year, and thus we lost those 4 games giving up 4th qtr leads…it would have made a HUGE difference having a veteran player at MLB on this team.
So, let me get this straight…The Eagles are getting more from a CFL non drafted player than they are getting from a top 13 pick? So, why did they trade up to get Graham again?
And I don’t want to hear the injury BS. He couldn’t beat out Jaqua Parker. I see the Eagles moving him on right side when the haggling Time to pay Trent Cole lead to him signing with another team and that will be another position downgraded by this front office.
I think that they the organization has already admitted that they made a mistake with Graham by signing Babin.
There you morons go again, jumping the gun like you did calling Babin a ‘bust’ signing even when he was LEADING the team in sacks.
Lets wait to see how Graham looks next year before judging him. I wouldn’t want him to come out next year and win defensive MVP and watch you idiots choke on your words again….like you do……constantly……over and over again.
Defensive MVP? I just spit coffee on my computer. Dude is a back-up DE now. Which guy is he going to supplant on the end? Cole or Babin? I think what I said about Babin (though I will have to check my posts) is that he is a very one-dimensional player in that he is not very strong against the run. If that is calling him a bust than…
Anyone notice how well and physical 49ers CB Carlos Rodgers played last evening versus the Steelers… He was the CB to obtain in the Off-Seasons to match up better against the Big WR’s of the NFC East.. Another personnel blunder which could have improved the Eagles Secondary immediately with his familiarity of teh players and teams in the NFC and saved tons of $$$ at the same time … Eagles need a Football Mind/Talent Evaluator at the GM Position
Bugsy….I had a similar reaction about the MVP comment…that would be a HUGE jump for Graham from where he is right now.
I think that Babin is a balls out pass rusher…he does his job in THIS system….I haven’t looked, but believe he has around 30 tackles for the year. That works out to about 2+ tackles per game….you would want more for an all-Pro DE, but he does get good pressure on the QB. If we had a strong LB corp behind him, I believe we would have a better feeling for the big sacks he is getting. Overall he has given us what we expected after his year in Tenn…he gets pressure on the QB and a high number of sacks. I think he was a good pick up and would have been better if they had the appropriate complementary players to match his skill set.
My point was that you idiots need to STOP judging players until you’ve seen a full season or even TWO from them. Judging them off limited playing time and coming off an injury is moronic. And that’s putting it mildly.
Schill, I never once said anything negative about Babin, nor did I note that I did. Got me confused with someone else. Read my comments correctly. BTW, Matthews still blows! Just because he finally made a few tackles, in game 14, doesn’t mean $#!t.
Songs, if you ever have a child, you will be very dissapointed that he isn’t an alma mater at Harvard when he starts to go through puberty. That’s a damn shame. if only you could have a realistic sense of what a sensible expectation for a person developing in life could be….
Graham has NOW played 16 games in his NFL career. Aaron Rogers looked like a bust a year after he was drafted in the first round. And now? Case in point – your argument is STUPID.
Dcar – Do you honestly think that players either shine from day one or suck? You seem to not believe that players develop over the course of their career. Or is it that you’re so arogant that you just know things because you do?
B O B, the only idiot is staring back at you in the mirror, you dunce! Open your eyes. Defensive MVP! BWAHAHAHA!!!! Your the f^#@ing idiot.
I’m not arrogant (2 r’s), nor do I know everything. But Ray Charles can see Matthews can’t play right now. Can he over time? IDFK, i’m not Nostradamus. But he is over-matched & stinks.
To Green,
Remember those 18 Babin’s Sacks are counted in his total 30 Tackle Count
So when you think about it, outside of those 18 Sacks in 14 Games this Season, Babin has 12 other tackles in 14 Games
MVP Birdo…you sir are the idiot.
True Pman, that was the point I was making. I wasn’t trying to be to negative on Babin, because fact is, in the History of the NFL, there are not many guys that are able to get 18+ sacks in a year. I think Hugh Douglas had a max of 15 in a single season, but like the point I was trying to make, Hugh was a more “all around” DL with the number of overall tackles much higher.
I think Babin plays hard. I do not think it is a lack of effort at all. Like I said before, he is able to play his singular role in the implementation of the wide 9 front. Aside from the sacks, he gets good pressure on the QB. We just need a better LB crew and safeties to go along with the DL.
Remember as the NFL becomes more of a Passing League there will be more and more players with the opportunities to get more and more Sacks and obviously Babin is taking full advantage of his opportunites which is great to see
Defensive MVP may have to be LB P Willis from the 49ers or LB D Ryans from the Texans for help leading their respective teams lead the NFL in Defense and help propel their teams to the Playoffs,,,
DL J Pierre-Paul is having a big season as is Cowboys Demarcus Ware as is Bronoces OLB Von MIller too..
Your point is taken Birdo but answer my question. When is this guy gonna get the playing time to dominate? I think that a lot of fans and teams expect more from a player that comes in the firs 15 rounds of the draft.
And Schill, Rodgers didn’t get to play, so how could he look like a bust after his first year? His first full year playing after Favre retired, he was a stud.
bugs – my point is that Songs’ measure is instant sucess. He expects 15 out of the first 15 guys drafted every year to produce immediately when in reality, the number ends up averaging around 3-5.
His wife delivers a baby and Songs is like, wtf, it aint walking yet
Haha Schll. That happened when my daughter was born. My son was 3 at the time and someone came into the hospital to see her and asked him if he was excited about his new baby sister.
His response was “Well, she can’t walk. She can’t talk. So no.”
I agree that we are pretty quick to judge around this blog. Wadkins has looked pretty good down the stretch, and we were all over him.
schiller, considering that by at least one source the average length of an nfl career is as low as 3 .2 years, we have a good barometer of how Graham may pan out, probably a bust, and by my observaations and others with notable football acumen, the reverend songs and paulman, he gets gassed, is too small, injury prone, and not worthy of the huge investment eagles made with this pick
jake, the too small thing is bullshit and you know it. If you want to say you have to be bigger than him to be a great DE in the NFL, fine, but then don’t tell me that you’ve also watched the NFL for the past 5 years. That’s like telling me you have to have a first round bye to win the superbowl – fine, but don’t bring recent history and facts into your arguement.
jake the average NFl career number you posted is for all players. I wonder how long the average career is for 1rst round picks – probably much longer. Look at Babin. Look at Parker, Look at Jason Taylor. Look at Peters, Look at Nnamdi. Look at Vick. MANY MANY players play their best football after their first two years. So stop jumping the gun – it makes you look dumb.
And I’m sorry man, but by backing yourself up with Songs and Paulman, uh…. really? Those guys are proven wrong more than Juan Castillo makes statements about effort and work ethic!
Man you pick the two dumbest guys in the room and peg them as reputable….not a good look bro
I take offense to your remarks..
I strike to the Judge and G-Man himself, to strike them from the Record..
Pman – we can that chaff – Jake punched you up in the air (next to songs) like a round of chaff and Schill got the easy HR swing on that one – OUCH!
And Bugsy – thank you for pointing out that Songs and your three year old are on the same level
Dcar – Where you been man – I am missing our morning sparring sessions – DWinslow won’t play – Rocko has come over the the light – even Jake is being normal – I had a vision though – I re-watched Gran Torino the other night – Jake is my Toad – took me a while, but he can actually talk like a man on a football blog (yes Jake, that was condescending and elitist of me) – now if the boy could just find a women (of legal age) I would have some hope!
Paul – when you’re admittedly joking and just throwing stuff out there half the time – you’re far from a source of credibility. Dems just the facts.
Highly entertaining in here today.
I am dead serious about this Schiller, you hurt my feelings…
Gran Torino is an excellent Movie..Kind of slow moving at 1st but grows on you..
Some news to report
Phillies hire back ex-GM Ed Wade as a “Consultant” to the Club..
I am not sure in what capacity or to concentrate on Player Develeopment/Drafting and Scouting..