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Eagles MLB Stewart Bradley celebrates after an interception
It just goes to show that everything changes so much from week to week in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles, in turmoil and pretty much dead just a few weeks ago, have won 3 straight and at 8-5-1 are still in the NFC playoff hunt.
After a rout of a 30-10 victory over the hapless Cleveland Browns last night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Eagles woke up this morning very much alive in the NFC playoff hunt. Of course, it won’t be easy. The Eagles need to win the next 2 games — @ Washington Redskins and vs. Dallas Cowboys at home. It will also need a little help from the Atlanta Falcons or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, either of whom needs to lose one game in order for the Eagles to make the playoffs.
They way the Eagles are playing now, it doesn’t seem far-fetched to imagine that it could win the next 2 games — a total of 5 straight. The Eagles are playing the best football of the season at just the right time (OK, 2 weeks earlier would have been nice too). For now, after the way they looked just a short few weeks ago, I’m just happy they have games that mean something in December, along with a chance to make the playoffs.
Besides, who knows how next week will look? Might be much different than this week!
.chris{}
Eagles QB Donovan McNabb
Just when I had the Eagles dead and burried, they win 2 straight and — with some help from the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons, who both lost today — are somehow still alive in the NFC playoff picture after a stunning 20 – 14 road win over the New York Giants.
Sure, the Cowboys loss still gave the Giants the NFC East title, and the Eagles’ mid season slump gives them no room for error, they must win their remaining 3 games to even have a chance to get into the post-season. But to some degree, at 7-5-1 they control their own destiny. Given that the Eagles, with a blowout loss 2 weeks ago and on the verge of running franchise QB Donovan McNabb out of town on a rail, the fact that they’ll actually be playing for something over the next 3 weeks is absolute progress.
Next Monday, the Eagles host the disappointing 4-9 Cleveland Browns, losers of 3 straight and down to its 3rd string QB. Wins have been difficult to take for granted with this Eagles team this year, however this is a game the Eagles should win. If the Eagles can take care of business and beat the Browns at home, they can keep pace with the Carolina Panthers (9-3) and Atlanta Falcons (8-4) and stay a half game ahead of the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears who are both 7-6 and the Washington Redskins, who are 7-5 at the time of this posting but trail the Baltimore Ravens by 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter.
It’s tough to imagine but if 2 of the teams between the Panthers, Falcons and Cowboys finish 10-6 and the Eagles finish 10-5-1, they could earn the final wild card spot. This is a long shot but, once again, the birds do control their own destiny. And reason for hope is not only the inspired brand of football they have played the last 2 weeks, handling 2 playoff teams in the Arizona Cardinals and Giants, but the fact that the Eagles under Head Coach Andy Reid have a history of playing very well in the month of December.
To be sure, I’ll not yet be booking my travel plans to the Super Bowl but at least I don’t have to start thinking about when the Combine will be held or pouring over mock drafts to think about whom the Eagles may select with their 2 2009 first round draft picks. I can also have another month to distract myself from the disappointing start of the more disappointing 9-12 Sixers!
.chris{}
Even Eagles QB Donovan McNabb can't look
Lately it’s tough to be a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Really. I’ve been an Eagles fan all my life and I’ve seen them lose plenty of games. But yesterday was tough. But why? I mean, I’ve seen far worse Eagles teams. But maybe that’s the point. I had been seduced by the possibilities of this team. A healthy Donovan McNabb to start the season. An exciting playmaker at wide receiver in rookie DeSean Jackson. A fast, playmaking defense buoyed by a dynamic young linebacker corps, defensive end Trent Cole and newly-acquired cornerback Asante Samuel. But in the end, this Eagles team ultimately is destined to produce what previous Eagles teams have produced before it — heartbreak.
Losing 36-7 to the Baltimore Ravens is an embarrassment, plain and simple. This team should be better than that and on paper — where it does NOT count — they are. But the problem is that games are not played on paper. They’re played on grass and turf and on those surfaces, this is a team that is slightly below mediocre. They now stand at 5-5-1 and I can’t see how this team rallies to win enough games to squeak into the playoffs. Even if they win their last 5 games, I’m not sure that 10-5-1 is enough to win an NFC Wild Card berth when teams like the Giants (10-1), Bucs (8-3), Panthers (8-3), Cowboys (7-4), Redskins (7-4), Cardinals (7-4), Falcons (7-4), Bears (6-5) and Vikings (6-5) all ahead of them in the standings.
Yesterday Eagles head coach Andy Reid benched QB Donovan McNabb to start the 2nd half after halftime. I guess he felt that 2 INTs and 1 lost fumble in one half was all he needed to see. I concur. I was shocked when I saw that 2nd year backup QB Kevin Kolb was starting the 2nd half but I can’t say I was disappointed. And while Kolb hardly faired better in the 2nd half than McNabb did, it’s clear that McNabb has been playing poorly enough to deserve to be on a short leash for the rest of the season.
It’s said that when you jump/fall from a very high altitude, it feels the entire time as if you’re flying, right up until the sudden THUD at the end. The Eagles are in free fall right now. It could be that the thud came on Sunday, shortly after the half. We’ll know more on Thursday.
.chris{}
Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid
Positives? Ummmm, at least they didn’t LOSE? The Eagles, playing for their increasingly dim playoff lives, couldn’t even manage to beat the 1 – 8 Bengals, who are horrible this year and without their franchise QB Carson Palmer.
How frustrating is it to be an Eagles fan these days? For it’s part, the defense is playing OK, managing to rank in the top 10 in the NFL statistically — yards, points and versus the pass. Even the offense — statistically — is highly ranked, landing in the top 10 in the NFL in yards, YPG, points, PPG as well as passing.
However, those stats can be very misleading! The Eagles rush offense is ranked only 22nd in the league, averaging just under 100 yards per game (98.3). And while the Eagles haven’t had much trouble moving the ball between the 20′s, it’s been the red zone where this team has struggled, and it’s clear that the two are linked. Also, I don’t have the stats but would have to imagine that the Eagles offense has got to be at or near the top of the league in 3 and outs. I would also guess that they are at or near the top of the NFL in dropped passes.
Add all that up and you have a team that is explosive enough to get big plays and score points but struggles, particularly against good defenses, to sustain drives (or at times, even to get a single first down). With the Eagles, it’s either feast or famine. And better defenses can stop the Eagles from doing too much damage on big plays and force the Eagles to put together 8, 9 and 10 play scoring drives — something they have not been able to do consistently.
Thought? RUN THE BALL MORE!!!
.chris{}
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