Sickening Loss 24-20

Teams win games like these by doing the things that the Eagles didn't do on Sunday night in Chicago. If you want to win a game you don't turn the ball over on special teams, and you score when you're inside the 10-yard line. The Eagles did not win on Sunday night, losing 24-20 to the Bears, and they are now 2-2 on the season with a rough game Sunday ahead. Sunday night's game almost made me physically sick. The eagles defense gave McNabb and the offence every opportunity to win the game but they just did not take advantage of them. With the NFC East as strong as it is that might be all the losses that the Eagles can afford if they want to win the division. It was a terrible loss in Chicago.

Here are some of the things I saw:

• Even though the Eagles moved the ball pretty well the whole game, they really missed Brian Westbrook in the red zone and, especially, inside the 10-yard line. The offense just could not punch the ball in when it had to, and Westbrook's explosion wasn't replaced.
• Matt Schobel missed his block on that fourth-down run from the 1-yard line and the line got no surge. Think the Eagles missed Shawn Andrews and L.J. Smith there?3. I loved the call to give DeSean Jackson an end around on the final play of the third quarter. The Eagles needed to establish something on the ground, and getting the ball to Jackson in space was perfect. (One of the few good calls of the game.)
• The defense pitched a perfect third quarter: three takeaways -- one interception and two fumble recoveries -- and held Chicago to four total yards in 13 plays.
• The defense, after a tough first half, is having a great third quarter. Trent Cole's sack and forced fumble, recovered by Omar Gaither (who is having a fantastic game) gave the offense another scoring opportunity in Chicago territory. But the Eagles couldn't put the ball in the end zone, and had to settle for a field goal. You have to convert touchdowns in those situations.
• David Akers was anything but "automatic" in this game, I remember when he was a sure thing, no mater where he was on the field.

The burden rookie DeSean Jackson carries in the Eagles' offense has become obvious enough. He had five more catches for 71 yards and a touchdown, and two carries for 35 yards, in the Eagles' 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears last night, But he also had two crucial mistakes - a muffed punt that led to a Bears touchdown, as well as a route miscommunication with quarterback Donovan McNabb that led to an interception. I am willing to overlook the muffed punt because he is, and we should all remember this, only a rookie. "I'll watch the film and I'll learn," Jackson said. "Basically, for me, this year is learning. I'm expected to do a lot of things, faster than the average rookie coming in. I respect that and I understand that. I just need to get the job done." When Jackson caught that first-quarter touchdown pass in the back of the end zone - the ball just over the outstretched fingertips of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, the pass thrown amid three defenders overall - it was the kind of play that spoke of calm and skill that should be beyond a rookie's ability. Excellence, then exasperation. It has become the pattern - especially in prime time. Two weeks ago, on Monday night in Dallas, we all remember when Jackson perpetrated his fit of premature elation, tossing aside the ball to begin a post-touchdown pose and not realizing he had let it go before crossing the goal line. He remains the offensive player who reminds you the most of a great baseball slugger (both the home runs and the strikeouts).

Correll Buckhalter, valiant warrior that he is, faced the questions head-on, the way he tried to crack the Chicago Bears' line on the final, most frustrating episode of an evening defined by the Eagles' offense short-circuiting and frittering away what should have been a victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. "I did the best I could, the linemen did the best they could," said Buckhalter, who gained 66 yards on 16 carries, but needed 1 more. "We just came up short . . . It hurts bad. They just executed better than we did." If Brian Westbrook had been able to play, or if David Akers was still the kicker he once was, Buckhalter wouldn't have been left to try to explain how the Eagles are 2-2, just like the Bears, who spent the entire second half trying to give them the game, But Westbrook and his injured ankle were watching from the sideline, and the Eagles didn't have the offensive weapons to win, despite an amazing series of opportunities provided by four Bears turnovers.

On first-and-goal from the 4, after driving from their 24 in seven plays, the Birds got a 3-yard run from Buckhalter. On second down, fullback Tony Hunt seemed to have a hole inside but didn't go there and lost nearly a yard. It wasn't clear what Hunt was doing. On third down, Buckhalter tried to leap the pile, the way Westbrook does so effortlessly, and he came up about a foot short. Fourth down, 3 minutes and 40 seconds left, instead of a sneak or a roll by Donovan McNabb, the Eagles sent Buckhalter into the middle again, and defensive end Alex Brown got penetration, grabbing Buckhalter by the neck as he leaned into the pile. Not quite there, by an inch or two. "We've got to score. We're on the 1-foot line. We've got to score," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, whose playcalling left much room for second-guessing. "It's my responsibility to get our guys into the end zone, when we have the opportunities." There and on an earlier failed short-yardage conversion, Reid did not call a quarterback sneak, even though McNabb has been pretty much automatic on those his entire career, and is, in fact, bigger than Buckhalter. Reid said he considered the idea but abandoned it because of McNabb's contused chest. The quarterback said he would have been "more than willing" to sneak, had the play been called. "There were opportunities" on the final series, McNabb said. "We just didn't capitalize."

Finally in Sunday night's game we learned three disappointing things about the 2-2 Birds.

1. Without Westbrook, Jackson is the game-breaking weapon. This became painfully apparent when the Birds could manage just six points off those four Bears turnovers.
2. Jackson really is just a rookie, as McNabb has persisted in trying to tell us since early in training camp.
3. These days, a decision to have Akers try a field goal from 45 yards or farther is only going to give great field position to the opposition.

However it's too early to give up on them at this point they certainly need some work but maybe this is what they need to inspire them to get better.

Eagles vs. Bears

I look for a close defensive game on Sunday, with the Eagles comming out on top in the end. McNabb has played in an Eagles uniform four times in his native Chicago, winning all three games, that he has started. Donovan won in the 2001 season in the playoffs, completing 26 of 40 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns and he ran eight times for 37 yards and a score. He also won in the 2002 season and then again in 2004. Donovan has completed 67 percent of his passes this year for 838 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. With running back Brian Westbrook a game-day decision (he has a strained ankle) the responsibility is even greater for McNabb to put points on the board for the offense.
The Bears will come after him with linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, and the tough-to-run-against Chicago defense forces quarterbacks to throw the ball and take hits. This game is going to be a matchup of aggressive defenses. Chicago has lost a couple of very close games, most recently blowing a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter of a game they eventually lost to Tampa Bay in overtime. The Bears destroyed Indianapolis in Game 1 on the road and lost to Carolina and Tampa Bay since then. The Bears have Kyle Orton at quarterback and he has done a good job managing the offense as rookie running back Matt Forte has become the go-to player in the attack. Forte ranks fourth in the league with 304 rushing yards. Defensively, the Bears are 18th in the NFL in yards allowed, but they are 28th in passing yards permitted, allowing 249.7 yards per game. Tampa Bay threw the ball 67 times against the Bears last Sunday and the passing attack gained more than 400 yards.
You would expect, then, that the Eagles would crowd the line of scrimmage defensively and try to force the Bears to throw the football and then go after Orton, and you would expect the offense to be pass-happy against Chicago’s defense, but as we all know, what you expect isn’t necessarily what you get in the NFL; so, look for the Eagles to be as balanced as possible and get off to an early lead on Sunday Night. Then they need to hold on to that lead in the fourth quater to finish up the game, for the win.

Cowboys Loss & Steelers Preview

The truth is I have put writing this off as long as I can. There is no good way to put this the Eagles lost the game Monday night. They had the game won and lost it in the fourth quarter through sloppy play. This is not the first time that has happened, I am not blaming anyone, but several times in the last 10 seasons the Eagles have been in control of a game and just could not finish it leading to so many close losses. I was disappointed by the Eagles play in the fourth quarter yet again. Let's hope that when these two teams meet again for the last game of the regular season that the outcome will be different. Enough of that now there were a lot of good things to take away from the game as well. It looks like I was wrong about WR DeSean Jackson as he became only the second WR in history to have two 100yd games to start his career. He does need to make sure to hold on to the ball until he is in the endzone though, hopefully that lesson is learned. McNabb had a great first three quarters as did the Defence. They need to take that into this coming game and try to forget that fourth quarter. As far as the upcoming game in Pittsburgh, I think that it could go either way. The Steelers in the last few years at least have given the Eagles problems. Even in 2004, the Steelers were the only team to beat the Eagles before T.O. got hurt. McNabb has struggled against 3-4 defences and Westbrook always has trouble running on the Steelers. This game will most likely be won by the team that does the best on defence. Turn overs are going to be important. The special teams play could be very important as well. I hope that the team can pull off this win.

Can the Eagles beat the Cowboys?

Dallas is next and the Eagles have every chance of beating the Cowboys on their turf. Dallas warmed up for the NFC East game by trampling the Browns, 28-10, on the road, while the Eagles trampled the Rams 38-3. The Cowboys are a complete team, the defending NFC East champs and a great measuring stick for an Eagles team that is continuing to learn what it is all about. I trully belive that the Eagles are the team to be reckoned with. I also understand that there are other quality teams in the NFL and that the Cowboys are one of them, but if you want to enjoy a tremendous matchup in the league, this is at the top of the list for Week 2. To get to where they want to go, they have to keep one foot in front of the other, egoes in check, and understand the challenge that is waiting Monday night in Big D. The Eagles are going to have to rise to the occasion and I hope that they do. Especialy against the team that not only accepted T.O. with open arms but also went out of thier way to get 'Pac-Man' Jones. I have made my opinions of those types of players obvious in the past (check this Post) and I always feel much beter when they don't do well. The key match-ups to watch Monday are Eagles C Jamaal Jackson vs. Cowboys NT Jay Ratliff and Eagles CBs Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard vs. Cowboys WR Terrell Owens, I think that in both of these cases the Eagles have the advantage, but if they don't get the lead and press their advantages throughout the game the Cowboys could sneek up on them and end up winning at in the end. On the Eagles side look for more big plays from Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, and DeSean Jackson on offense, and on Defence keep an eye on Asante Samuel and as always Brian Dawkins. If the Eagles play like they did last week (especialy in the first quarter) they should come away with a big important Win. GO EAGLES.

Eagles 38 - Rams 3 "Blowout"

If the first game of a season sets a tone, the message the Eagles sent out on Sunday was this: They are back. Using a combination of an explosive offense, a shut-down defense and a special teams unit that pounced on opportunities to bury the Rams in bad field position, the Eagles rolled to an impressive 38-3 win at a sun-drenched Lincoln Financial Field. If you are an Eagles fan then you should be in a great mood today. Everybody feels excited. A 38-3 win to start a season does that to you. It sure feels a lot better to open a season on a positive note. We shouldn't get too high after a win and we shouldn't get too low after a loss, but we all know how hard that is to do so; it's OK if you are sky high right now and think the Eagles are going to beat every team that lines up on the other sideline this season, enjoy the moment, and drink up the optimism. There was everything to love about the win over St. Louis. The win was nothing short of total. The Eagles did just about everything right in taking apart the Rams. Donovan McNabb looked great. The offensive line was very, very good. The receivers, all of them, made big plays all over the field. The defense shut down the Rams so completely that the secondary had very little work and only a few opportunities to get some takeaways. The mark of a contending team, however, is not to play that way for one week. The best teams play well every week and give themselves a chance to win every time out.
It was beautiful to observe. The Eagles took the opening kickoff and moved 80 yards in six plays and one penalty, using a 47-yard pass down the right sideline to rookie DeSean Jackson to open things, working in a 10-yard gain to L.J. Smith and finally showing some red-zone efficiency with a 1-yard shovel pass to Brian Westbrook for a touchdown and a lead. And it got better after that. Defensively, the Eagles outmatched the Rams. Steven Jackson gained a paltry 34 yards in the first half and quarterback Marc Bulger was harassed into a 6-of-15, 72-yard outing. Darren Howard (two tackles, ½ sack, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hurry) was a force at left end and at tackle in the nickel. Asante Samuel had three pass breakups and nearly two interceptions. Stewart Bradley (nine tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hurry, one pass defensed) led the charge against Jackson and the power running game. Trent Cole gave left tackle Orlando Pace fits. The cornerbacks stepped up. The safeties stepped in. And McNabb pulled the ball from Westbrook's belly and dropped back to pass. He saw a wide-open Hank Baskett along the left sideline and fired a strike to Baskett, who stepped away from safety Corey Chavous and raced into the end zone for a shocking and exhilarating 90-yard touchdown catch and run. It was one of those great days, along with openers like the Pickle Juice game in Dallas and the Terrell Owens Show that kicked off the 2004 season. McNabb was simply brilliant, completing 21 of 33 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns. The receivers, minus starters Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown, spread around the wealth and made big plays, all of them. Jackson, Baskett and Greg Lewis all went over 100 yards receiving.
Well I guess Jackson decided to try and answer my questions about him. He caught a 47-yard pass on the first drive and finished with six catches for 106 yards and had punt returns of 18 yards and 60 yards. If he can put in that kind of game against a team like Dallas then I will admit that I was wrong about his size.
What do you take from this game? Well, you know the Eagles have a lot of ability up and down this roster. There are going to be more difficult challenges ahead – Monday night in Dallas just can't get here fast enough to provide an early-season litmus test – and the Eagles are going to have to rise to the occasion. The opener was more than satisfying. It was, really, perfect. We all needed this. The Eagles are trying to build something here. They are trying to get back that swagger that seemed to dissipate after the Super Bowl loss. It was one game, only one game. And the Eagles downplayed its importance afterward, as expected. But it sure beat talking about a loss to open the season. And for 60 minutes, the Eagles showed us all what they are capable of doing in all three phases of the game. Great Game Guys and lets all hope this continues.

Check in later in the week for my analysis of the upcoming Cowboys game.

Season Opener

Now that the Season is ready to start we can look at the team as it is and see what things look like. The Eagles finalized their 53-man roster on Sunday with the addition of linebacker Tank Daniels, and on Monday announced the eight-man practice squad. The Eagles spent a good part of the offseason focused on improving in two areas - creating turnovers and beefing up the special teams unit. The Eagles' newest acquisition is a familiar face who hopes to do both. "This is so crazy for me. I just can't believe it," Daniels said. "The one thing that I do love about both teams that I've been on is they both hate Dallas. I'm really cool with that. Even though I'm an Arkansas kid, I've never really liked the Cowboys. Fortunately enough, I've been on two teams that hate the Cowboys. Daniels returns to Philadelphia where his NFL career began. A rookie free agent signing in 2006, he spent the first 10 weeks of his rookie season on the practice squad before joining the 53-man active roster before the battle with Indianapolis. Daniels recorded nine special teams tackles in the final six regular season contests. In addition to helping out the special teams unit, Daniels will be the second-string strongside linebacker behind Chris Gocong. Daniels remained familiar with the Eagles' defensive scheme in New York since it was orchestrated by former Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo. To make room for Daniels, the Eagles released Rocky Boiman. Daniels became the first player from Division II Harding University to play in the NFL. His jersey number (No. 3) was retired by the school this past season.
Free safety Brian Dawkins, who as many of you know is my favorite player on the team, suffered a mild tendon strain in the game with the Patriots. Head coach Andy Reid said that Dawkins should be ready to play in the team's season opener against St. Louis. Dawkins stressed the importance of practicing and maintaining his body to perform at the level he has prepared it to be at for the 2008 season. Dawkins said. "I'm in a pretty good spot. I'm going to do what I need to do to get back on the field and make sure I keep my conditioning where it is." The younger players on the roster will hopefully feed off of the veteran safety's work ethic and philosophy of practicing with purpose, playing with passion. Dawkins was visibly frustrated as he limped off the field Friday night. More than anything, he said the angst steamed from his desire to finish off the series with the first-team defense. Even at 34 years of age, Dawkins does not allow fear of injury to influence his style of football. In the event that the injury somehow prohibits Dawkins from playing every down, he has full confidence in the backup safeties. Even though Dawk is my favorite player I wonder how many more years we have with him on this team. He has suffered from more injuries in the last few years and unfortunatly that might be a sign that it's time to retire. The good news is that as Dawk himself puts it, "That's always been a key in an organization, period, for you to have quality depth. Not just depth, but quality depth, and I believe we have that."
Donnovan is looking better than he has looked in several years, the defense is shaping up to be as good as ever, and we can look foward to some big plays from some of the other offensive players. I hope that DeSean Jackson can live up to the hype but I really don't think that will be the case. I think that Andy Reid has done a good job of drafing players over the years in every area except WR. I don't want to take anythig away from Jackson, he will be a great addition to the team esspecially on special teams, but I just dont think he is that #1 receiver that this team is still lacking. McNabb said in his blog that he is looking forward to this season. I am too, I want to see the old McNabb the one before all the unfortunate injuries. He was, and should be again now that he is healthy again, fun to watch. It is just too bad that they wern't able to get him a big target to throw the ball to.
The 2008 season opens at Lincoln Financial Field for the first time since the ’04 campaign. After winning their final three games of 2007, the Eagles want to continue that momentum and get off to a good start in this campaign. This should be a good battle involving two of the league’s best running backs. Brian Westbrook led the NFL with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage a year ago. Steven Jackson has had three straight years with more than 1,000 rushing yards, and in 2006 he gained 1,528 rushing yards and added 90 receptions and another 806 yards. Even though I don't think they have got the WR problem taken care of yet I am looking foward to this year and hope that the team will play up to it's potential. It's a long season though and a lot of things can happen between now and then so I think it will be fun to watch.