Posted by Alli
Well, at least the Eagles did what they needed to do this week to keep their playoff hopes alive, even if the teams ahead of them didn't. I was hoping that the Falcons would lose quickly so that Philly could grasp control of its own destiny, but the Bucs seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly late in the game yesterday, and allowing the Falcons to eek one out in OT. No matter... now we just need either the Falcons OR the Bucs to lose one of their last 2, which seems doable, especially given Tampa's unimpressive play yesterday without Garcia. Atlanta has the Vikings and Tampa has the Chargers next week, so fingers crossed that they both suck. Update: Apparently one of Minnesota's 2 unrelated DTs named Williams will be out 2-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. If the league drug policy couldn't stop him, apparently his own shoulder will.
Tonight's game was a pleasant surprise in that the Eagles took care of business early and kept my blood pressure rather low, despite what was nearly a horrid dose of deja vu from last week when Brandon McDonald returned a McNabb interception 98 yards to the Eagles' 7 as time ran out in the first half. I have to credit Westbrook's hustle in chasing McDonald down to slow him up before he got to the end zone, but seriously guys... stop giving me a damn coronary at the close of every 1st half! It's worth noting that the Eagles saw 3 different passers throw an interception in that game, but fortunately I'm not overly concerned with 2 of them. Overall though I was very impressed with McNabb- I know Cleveland's D is god-awful, but McNabb threw with unusual accuracy and spread the ball around, and he has been looking better each week since the Baltimore fiasco. Kevin Kolb on the other hand.... not so much. Future of the team, my ass.
A few other guys who merit a quick mention... thank you Asante Samuel for following your dumbass ball-flip a yard shy of the endzone with some quick hustle to pick it up and solidify your TD. Glad to see that you're marginally less stupid than DeSean Jackson circa week 2.
Stewart Bradley finally became the first Eagles LB this season to get a pick. Sure, Ken Dorsey essentially threw the ball right at him, but I'll take 'em where we can get 'em. The linebackers have been doing a good job elsewhere so the lack of interceptions isn't really an issue. Bradley is also super foxy, but that's neither here nor there.
And back to DeSean Jackson... please stop running backwards on your punt returns. I know this probably worked against mediocre Pac-10 teams, but it's obviously not doing anything for you in the NFL. You're a great player, but I have to imagine that sometime during your time at Berkeley you gained a brain cell or 2, so feel free to show that off anytime now.
Around the NFC East...
Is anyone buying this sudden T.O./Romo/Witten BFF bullshit? 'Cause I'm sure as heck not. T.O. is still a giant bag of douche, and I have no doubt that he's got one more tantrum left in his arsenal before the season is over. Probably after the Cowboys lose to the Ravens next week. In fairness though, I would like to see both the Eagles and Cowboys win next week so that they go into Dallas for a ginormous week 17 showdown. Then T.O. can throw a tantrum.
I recently heard some mild speculation that Eli Manning could take the 3rd QB spot in the NFC for this year's Pro Bowl. I realize this is still early and hopefully inaccurate, but I still nearly pissed myself at the thought. I know that when a team does well they tend to send a lot of players to Hawaii (e.g. the Eagles in 04-05), but I'm not sure that I'm prepared to live in a world in which Eli is both a Super Bowl MVP and a Pro Bowler. Especially when there are about 5 QB's in the NFC with better numbers.
And then there are the Redskins... remember not all that long ago when I said they were the new team to beat in the NFC? Yikes. This team is falling apart faster than TO after a trip to the pharmacist. OK, nothing short of the speed of light is that fast, but you get the idea... they've lost 5 of their last 6. Nevertheless, they could very well still play spoiler to the Eagles' playoff dreams next week, so that game is hardly in the bag.
Let's hope that the Eagles can make this the 3rd straight year that they finish the last 3 weeks of the regular season undefeated... and then get a smidge of help from the NFC South.
No comments:
Post a Comment