Yesterday I reviewed the Dallas game and made a few calls to verify that I was seeing what I was seeing on tape. I have nothing but bad news for the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans.
I know the focus is on Donovan McNabb but he wasn't the only one stinking up the place in the Dallas loss.
His refusal to throw the ball away was a major mistake on the first play of the game. He still hasn't made the transition to realizing that he won't be able to run away from defensive players the way he used to do, until next season, if then. He forced the interception at the end of the half. Those were two costly plays and that gave Dallas two easy scores. He should take responsibility for those mistakes but he's not responsible for everything that went wrong agaist the Cowboys. He did play poorly but was he alone.
McNabb got no help from Brian Westbrook and the Eagles running game. Remember the Eagles offensive line was supposed to be among the best in the NFL. You can't confuse them with being that good any more. It wasn't Westbrook's fault because the offensive line played awful and Jon Runyan in particular. Runyan is probably being bothered by the injury to his tail bone but he shouldn't have played last Sunday. He was like an open door. I had trouble finding one good block all night long. This is not good news. I had to check with some of the NFL films folks to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. We'll see if he rebounds against the Redskins. Remember Father time always wins. It may be that time for Big Jon. You won't see or hear the media highlight Jon's poor performance but he couldn't have played worse.
The Eagles defense couldn't have played any poorer, either. That was the one of the top two or three poorest performances by a Jim Johnson defense during the time he's been the defensive coordinator. You couldn't count all of the missed tackles and blown assignments which occurred during the game. The Cowboys were merciful to the Eagles because they could have scored 50 or more points if they had wanted to do so.
The Brian Dawklns I saw on the tape wasn't the guy who may go into the Hall of Fame. Dawkins was slow and undecided. Here you had a veteran who knows Jim Johnson's defense through and through, blowing assignments and looking lost. How do you explain him blowing assignment after assignment like he was a rookie? BDawk thinks he can get his game back but I doubt it, at his age. Regrettably many times the athlete is the last one to know that his time has come and gone. Brian like other superstars has always been able to summon greatness from his body but it might be there any more. It may be that time for Dawk.
Sheldon Brown had played well all season up until the Minnesota game. Receivers were running open for the Vikings but they didn't have a quarterback who could get them the ball. Tony Romo was able to get the ball into the hands of his wide outs.
Lito Sheppard did make an interception but he gave up chunks of yards and looked reluctant to hit anybody. I know Lito is not known for his tackling but he played like it was a touch football game when Terrell Owens caught the ball in his area.
Sean Considine looked so bad in the game that I think the Eagles begged him to go on the Injured Reserve list. He's not a starting NFL safety. The guys takes every hit on each tackle he makes. I've never seen such a powder puff tackling safety. I thought Marion Barber would hurt him if he got a shot at him and I was right.
As for the defensive line, Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg need to study the tape and see what the Cowboys did to Trent Cole to shut down the Eagles pass rush. Sometimes they slid the line his way, other times they had the back chip him, then they brought the tight end after him and other times it was just a double team or triple team. You didn't hear from Cole. The Eagles staff was totally out-coached.
