I’m not exactly sure how the Eagles won that game, but they did. Most of what I have read and heard about Donovan McNabb yesterday and today is about the throws he missed.
Sure there were a couple, but that wasn’t the lasting impression I got from the game. While McNabb threw for four touchdowns and no interceptions, it was the defensive side of that ball that really irritated me. So, let’s look at the game:
What I liked:
-Brian Westbrook is a machine and we all get to watch his best years wasted. He is a superstar with not enough talent around him. Running backs have a short shelf life, especially when they are small and overused. Anyone remember Wilbert Montgomery at the end?
-McNabb wasn’t great, but you can’t argue four touchdowns and no INT’s. Just checking to make sure this is the guy that everyone wants run out of town. Careful what you wish for Eagles fans. Remember the Green Bay loss in 1998 that everyone felt great about because Koy Detmer threw two TD’s to WR Jeff Graham? I celebrated like it was a win because the team finally threw a touchdown to a wide receiver. The Eagles finally looked remotely NFL caliber. I don’t want to go back to that.
-I liked the fact that it seemed like the Birds were committed to getting others involved in the game. And really, why not? They were throwing to Hank Baskett (as I suggested last week. While I don’t know for sure, I am going to hold on to the belief that Andy Reid reads GCobb.com and takes my opinions into serious consideration). They threw to Jason Avant, who had been non-existent since Week 1. And on defense they seemed to realize that Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard are garbage. Those guys have had their playing time reduced and one can only hope that it lights a fire under them.
-I’m going to mention this now because I don’t know whether I liked this or not. So I’ll keep it in my “What I Liked” section just to fatten it up, because truthfully there wasn’t a lot I liked. Did anyone notice that the Redskins layed down on defense after the Eagles got the ball with just over two minutes to play with a one-point lead? I was taken back to the 1997 Super Bowl between Green Bay and Denver. Denver had the ball on the one-yard line and it is well documented that Packers head coach Mike Holmgren let Terrell Davis score so they could get the ball back with time on the clock. Leading by one and the Redskins down to no timeouts, the Eagles worst-case scenario was to score a quick touchdown (obviously this is assuming you don’t put the ball on the carpet and have a huge return). Sounds stupid, but it’s true. So, what is a team to do in that situation? The quick TD gives a team an eight-point lead and a kick off to the Redskins gives them a chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion. While it’s a smart defensive strategy to let a team score right away, what is the right call from the offensive standpoint? You don’t want to not score. Or do you? Should Westbrook have slid down on the ground at the one? The Eagles could have controlled the clock and perhaps ended the game. So I’ll pose the question to you GCobb.com’ers: What is the best strategy on offense when you have a one-point lead deep in opposition territory with two minutes left and your opponent has no timeouts?
-I like Quinton Mikell. I’ve said before that I love him as a backup but not so much as a starter. He’s starting to change my mind. He’s just so solid. And on a team without many playmakers, he does indeed make plays. He forced the fumble yesterday. He stopped Marion Barber on Christmas last year on 4th and goal. What baffles me then is why the coaches thought Sean Considine was more deserving of playing time.
-I’ll give the defense a wee bit of credit for playing well on the Redskins final three series. The goal-line stand and then the two after that with the ‘Skins playing catch up. They only get two sentences though because it was the first time they did diddly poo (thanks, Jim Mora) all day.
…And not so much:
-The Eagles defense is starting to make me look smart. I was so worried at the beginning of the year that this defense would show up. Early on, they looked pretty tight. Now, they are showing that they are an unmitigated disgrace. It all starts up front with the four down lineman. Memo to Jim Johnson: Any NFL QB (yes, even Jason Campbell) will look like Joe Montana in 1987 if you give him all day to throw the ball. You can’t blitz every down, as most idiots in the national media think the Eagles do, so you need pressure from the front four. Overall, I like Patterson and Bunkley, but I hate the defensive ends. Where is the pressure? Is it time to invest another first-round pick in a defensive lineman?
-The linebackers don’t do anything. I had many friends (yes, I do have a couple of them) come up to me in the offseason and tell me, “wow, you guys got Takeo Spikes!” Even then, I figured, yeah, well I’d be more excited if it was 2003. I was kind of right. Spikes isn’t bad, but he isn’t making the kinds of plays the Eagles expected. That could be said of a lot of recent defensive acquisitions. And I didn’t hear much from Omar Gaither or Chris Gocong either. Another year, another linebacker crew that isn’t good enough.
-Where is the run defense? Is there anything more frustrating than watching another team run all over your squad as though you aren’t even out there? It was a damn joke.
-Where is the pass defense? Is there anything more frustrating than watching a team that hasn’t thrown a TD pass to wide receiver all season throw three of them? Without their best wide receiver? How about when it’s James “I’m a career fourth wide receiver unless I’m playing for the Eagles” Thrash? How about when it is 64-year old Keenan McCardell? It’s a damn joke.
-Will James was benched and rightfully so. He is as good at playing NFL cornerback as I am good at surfing. And let the record show that I’ve never surfed.
-Anyone notice that Lajuan Ramsey was inches from helping the Redskins score as he “helped” tackle the tight end on the three-yard line by shoving him towards the end zone? What are you doing?
-It’s time again this year for Trent Cole’s annual disappearing act. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s the only defensive end the Eagles have that can play football, and thus he’s double teamed. Still, where has he been the last two weeks?
-I didn’t like Reggie Brown acting like he was “the man” in the end zone after he caught the 45-yard TD pass. He didn’t do anything all day, and now we are supposed to be impressed? You caught a touchdown pass, and all I’m thinking about is Chris Rock talking about people that brag about taking care of their kids and paying their bills: That’s what you are supposed to do!
-I hate to rail on this team after a decent win, but I just had a bad feeling all game. If it wasn’t clear before, it definitely is now: This team does not have enough good players. How is that for insightful analysis? I don’t know how else to put it.
-Lost in the talk of the comparisons of the 2007 Eagles to Andy Reid teams in the past is that of special teams play. Years ago, McNabb would struggle, but he’d at least get David Akers field goals when he moved the team twenty yards before they sputtered. Because he would start at the fifty-yard line! Special teams used to get McNabb some field position. Now? Have fun starting your drives at the 25-yard line….if you are lucky. Special teams is something you take for granted until you don’t have it. The Eagles don’t have it. Their returners are lackluster at best, and the coaching staff knows it. J.R. Reed wasn’t out there returning kickoffs on Sunday because Buckhalter was so good at it. And Buckhalter was out there doing it all year because post-fence jumping Reed isn’t that good at it.
-This particular item made me livid. Why do I know this and Reid and Joe Gibbs don’t? Ignore the score in the first three quarters when it comes time to kick an extra point or go for two. I don’t care if you score six and the score is 15-13….kick the extra point! The reason is that you simply don’t know what is going to happen at the end of the game and you always, always, always take the point. Forget trying to tie the game early on. Both Gibbs and Reid made this mistake, and guess what? That point made a huge difference as the battle raged into the fourth quarter. My friend at the sports bar looked at the score numerous times and kept saying, “yeah, you were right about that extra point. Certainly matters now.” In the end, the Redskins wouldn’t have let Westbrook score if that would have put the Eagles up by nine. This isn’t a football argument, we are talking about simple math.
-LJ Smith just can’t seem to hold onto the ball. His whole career he seems to use the ball as protection from the defender’s helmet. Bad idea, LJ. For all the criticism of McNabb in the Super Bowl, he put an important one on the carpet back then. Don’t worry, LJ, I didn’t forget.
Yell at me. micahw@feverpitchmedia.com
