2011 Week 14 Recap

Eagles at Dolphins, Sunday, December 11, 2011 

Even when they win, I'm not happy.

Stud of the week: the ENTIRE defense. Three forced fumbles, about a zillion sacks, three third-and-short stops, two fourth-and-short stops, a goal-line stand, another Kurt Coleman pick, and a partridge in a pear tree. Casey Matthews even managed three tackles and a sack!

(Also, Shady's one rushing TD from tying Steve Van Buren's record that's stood since 1945. 66 years! So see, the Eagles' aversion to running the football clearly predates Andy Reid. Kidding!)


It was so bad, Tony Sparano lost his job. Sure, we all knew that was coming, but in week 14? Harsh.

Where have these guys been the entire REST of the season? I don't trust it. In the continuing story of the 2011 Eagles season, we see flashes of excellent play, which then go AWOL for several weeks. Yeah, everyone's all "the Eagles aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet!" No, they aren't. But realistically, they aren't going to win out AND get BOTH the Giants and the Cowboys to lose out. So all the Eagles are doing at this point is teasing us, and messing up their draft position. And risking further injury to Vick, Maclin and a bunch of other guys who could be key to doing better NEXT year.

No, apparently, there's no pleasing me.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Steelers over Browns: They're holding Big Ben together with Bondo and duct tape at this point, but it seems to be working.

Ravens over Colts: The commentators are starting to pick up on the whole "the Colts' record proves that Peyton Manning really is the MVP." Chef Spouse said it first, WEEKS ago. Represent!

Falcons over Panthers: The Panthers had the upset win in the bag...until they had to play the fourth quarter. That sounds really familiar...

Texans over Bengals: The Texans, on the other hand, played the WHOLE game. Rookie TJ Yates led one hell of a drive to clinch the AFC South for the Texans, marking their first post-season appearance EVER. Way to go, former Team of Destiny.

Lions over Vikings: You know, there was a lot of shitty officiating yesterday, but perhaps none so bad at the total whiff on DeAndre Levy's facemask of Joe Webb that ended the Vikings' attempt to win it late. Still, this year's Team of Destiny managed to (maybe) halt a depressing slide after a promising start to the season and are still definitely in the post-season hunt themselves.

Jaguars over Bucs: MJD! No really, he was the difference maker in this game. Well, that, and the Bucs apparent COMPLETE inability to stop the run, or even slow it down much. And their complete inability to hang onto the ball. Yeah, seven turnovers really will never, ever equal a win. Ever.

Jets over Chiefs: Speaking of coaches getting fired, Todd Haley's gone, too. Is it just me, or does is seem kind of pointless to fire coaches this late in the season? Your season is over, just let the guy play out the rest of the games and fire your coach on January 2 with everyone else.

Saints over Titans: And Matt Hasslebeck tore up his calf. Which, come to think of it, handed the Texans the division and clinched the Saints to at least make the playoffs. Thanks, man! You did me a solid there!

Pats over Redskins: I have to give the Skins credit. If Tom Brady hadn't drawn some Brady calls - you know, the calls that Brady gets that NO OTHER QBs in the league get - the Skins might've managed to upset the Pats. And they played HARD. There may be cause for hope in DC. Uh oh.

Cards over 49ers: Huh. 49ers slacking off now that they've won the division? Maybe.

Broncos over Bears: OK, maybe God really does love Tim Tebow best. Did you see the game? I think Marion Barber should probably just STAY in Denver and send for his stuff. Or not - he's a football player. He can buy more stuff. I wouldn't go back to Chicago, though. Also, I know it's Mile High Stadium (or whatever dumb corporate name they've now attached to it "at Mile High"), but THREE field goals over 50 yards? And the game winner would have been good from at least 65. Wow.

Packers over Raiders: But it cost them Greg Jennings, at least for a while. Of course, last year they didn't seem to mind having, oh, PRACTICALLY THE ENTIRE TEAM on IR. So maybe it won't matter. Still, the pursuit of perfection is a dangerous game.

Chargers over Bills: And Buffalo's out of the playoffs. Again. Lucky #13 next year? I really thought this was going to be a better year for them. Guess not.

Giants over Cowboys: So last week was really busy, with a software users' group meeting, a technology conference at which I was presenting, the winter performance of my belly dance company, and a visit from Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad (tied to the performance). And I have a really bad cold - I even lost my voice for two days (fortunately, after I presented). And Chef Spouse left this morning at 6 am for a trip to Seattle (he's with the team from Cisco in box seats at Monday Night Football as I type this). And the game was exciting, with constant lead changes. But as we got to the end of the third quarter, it looked to me like the Cowboys were starting to pull away, and I needed to try to get some sleep. Yep, I went to bed and MISSED IT. The G-men mounted a furious comeback, thus marginally increasing the chances the Eagles could see the post-season.

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2011 Week 13 Recap

Eagles at Seahawks, Thursday, December 1, 2011

I hate  to say "I told you so," particularly on this one, but I told you so.

Prediction: debacle

Reality: debacle

Stud of the Week: Continuing as the only bright spot in the whole damn season, LeSean McCoy. Dear Santa: could I please have a #25 ladies jersey in black this year? 

Much like the 42-0 MNF mess in 2005, I confess that I didn't watch to the end. After Vince Young threw his FOURTH pick with about four minutes left in the game, I turned to Chef Spouse and said, "That's it. I'm out."

Where do I even start in recapping the game?

DeSean Jackson. Yes, the NFL Network clearly cut the shot where Vince Young was talking to Riley Cooper (I think) to make it look like he was talking to DJax, but the proof is in the pudding. Regardless of what was really going on Thursday night, his play all season demonstrates the fundamental truth of the fact that he's quit on the team.  And a word of advice: I know you love your buds from Cali, but laughing & talking with them while a team mate is lying injured on the ground is not cool.

Jason Babin. Tons of sacks, no stopping of the run. Great for you, not so great for the team. Hm - story of the whole season, come to think of it.

Asante Samuel: F off. Really.

Colt Anderson: Another bright spot in the season. Well, up until he tears his ACL in a meaningless game. And don't give me crap about how if only the Eagles had beat the Seahawks, they'd still be right in it. The back to back losses to the Bears and the Cardinals killed this season long before the Eagles flew out to Seattle last week.

Jason Avant: I just have to keep giving much love to a smart, serious receiver who continues to play his butt off.

One of my friends sent me a great article "Requiem for the Dream Team" that identified the five major issues with the Eagles this year. You should really read the entire article because the explanations offered are fantastic, but the five points are:

1. Serious line deficiencies, both O and D
2. Soft at linebacker and safety
3. Nnamdi Asomugha, MIA
4. Decline of Vick and Jackson
5. Bad luck

Yep. That about sums it up.

It's amazing I got through writing that without a shot of bourbon. Guess where I'm headed now?

I'll be at a conference next week, so I'll try to recap the rest of the games, but I can't promise anything.

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Welcome to the Eagles, Danny Watkins

I don't usually write much about the draft. I don't follow college ball, so I generally don't have anything original to say. I could recap scouting notes and combine results, but why would I add myself as a middleman? Waste of time.

But last night I saw something truly unexpected: the Eagles took a 26 year old ex-fireman and ex-hockey player who's only played football for about 5 years with their #1 pick.

Reasons why I'm not freaking out this morning:

• Andy Reid picked up someone to protect Mike Vick's blindside. Thank God, because Max Jean-Gilles wasn't getting it done.
• Danny may be 26, but he's regular 26 not football 26 thanks to his relatively short career to date.
• I quote Fellow Eagles Maniac: "Love this quote about Watkins: 'Watkins is a mature, physical player with a nasty disposition.'" That'll work.
• How fun was watching his fire fighter posse go nuts when he was picked?

Yes, I know we still need a CB opposite Asante Samuel. Yes, I know Jimmy Smith was still on the board when we picked. You think after the T.O. mess Big Red will EVER voluntarily take a hot mess player again? Because I don't. I figure Andy's got a plan that involves Kevin Kolb and a team that needs a QB like the Raiders or the Cardinals.


In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the presser at 4 today.

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2010 Wildcard Weekend Recap

Eagles v. Packers, Sunday, January 9, 2011

In attendance: Shoegal, Ex-Navy Cheesehead, Chef Spouse and me

Menu:  cream of tomato soup and grilled cheese, plus shrimp and crudites for snackies from the gang and yummy desserts courtesy of Shoegal. And bourbon. LOTS of bourbon.

Stud of the week: Seriously? There isn't one. I can't think of a single player who didn't make at least one major mistake yesterday. 

So the 2010 season was bookended by losses to the Packers. Can I get an "F that!"? I think I can.

I was right about the 3 road teams pick - I just messed up WHICH road teams. Oy.

This was the game of almost - the Eagles almost had sacks and picks and field goals and big catches and tackles and 2 point conversions and almost broke big runs.

Almost.

But they didn't.

I really don't have it in me to recap the game, other than to point out that if David Akers made even one of the field goals he missed...if Brent Celek didn't inexplicably go out the back of the end zone, negating the 2 point conversion...that last pick never even happens, because Andy knows they can take the 3 and go to overtime.

At least the guys went down swinging. 

So here's the thing: back in August, I predicted the team would go 6-10 (or maybe 7-9) and be at the bottom of the NFC East. They way overperformed my expectations. Even getting to the playoffs was definitely icing on my cake, as was another NFC East championship.

Looking to the offseason, the Front Office needs to lock down our QB situation. My guess? Trade K2 for a high draft pick - there are plenty of teams with high first round picks who need quarterbacks, and no, I don't think that's an unreasonable ask - and sign Mike Vick to a deal that would've been a lot fatter had they signed it a month ago. The FO also needs to pick up another corner back to play opposite Asante Samuel. Because it sure as hell ain't Dimitri Patterson. I hear a guy named Nnamdi Asomugha might be available - maybe you've heard of him?  And if they're going to stick with Mike Vick at QB - and I think they are - they need to do something about the O-line, because he seriously will not make 16 games at this rate. Akers seems to think he won't be back in Philly, and his contract is up, but I don't see that happening. Good kickers are not so easy to come by, right Mike Vanderjagt?

But really, Andy Reid said it best: very few teams can completely retool the way the Eagles have in the past two years and still get to the playoffs both years. The future looks good. As long as we can stop this emerging trend of losing in the first round of the playoffs at 2.

In the rest of the matchups:

Seahawks over Saints: OK, as bummed as we all are over the Eagles loss, it's not shocking. Two 10-6 teams, evenly matched, popular vote, bloggers, and professional sports commentators pretty much splitting 50/50 on predicting the winner - it could've gone either way. But the defending Super Bowl champs losing to a 7-9 team in the wildcard round? WTF? I totally attribute this win to the Seahawks 12th man. And the Saints played like they'd all taken the Nyquil Drew Brees has been shilling for prior to the game. Anyway, I don't guess the Bears will take Nyquil before next weekend and the Seahawks don't get to bring ALL their fans to Soldier Field with them, so I'm guessing their freaky playoff run will end, but in the meantime, seriously, Saints, WTF? Best line? On Twitter: "Marshawn Lynch just stiff-armed Tracy Porter into Puget Sound." I hope they fished him out for the flight home.

Jets over Colts: Great game. Also, how weird is it to watch a team that's mostly about "run the ball and don't make the QB do anything too hard where he might screw up and blow the game for the team"? I wonder what that's like. Also, perhaps the Colts should pick up an ACTUAL head coach and an ACTUAL offensive coordinator? Peyton seems to be a smart guy, but asking him to be the QB, the OC and the HC all at once seems like too much, you know?

Ravens over Chiefs: This was the only game that really sucked. Not that it was unexpected, but still - Chiefs' fans? It's the FREAKIN' PLAYOFFS, which your team hasn't sniffed in years. SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN AND WATCH YOUR TEAM LOSE. That stadium was EMPTY mid-way through the 4th quarter, and that is just unacceptable. It's the PLAYOFFS, man!

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2010 Week 15 Recap

Eagles at Giants, Sunday, December 19, 2010

In attendance: 81,000+ people, at least a few of which were actual Eagles fans.

Menu: stadium food, but we found a deli stand that had decent corned beef and excellent pastrami.

Stud of the week:  DeSean Jackson, whose 65 yard punt return won the game? Nah - other than that, he had a pretty quiet game. Michael Vick? More about him below, but being Superman is just living up to expectations at this point. I have to give it to a combo: David Akers and Riley Cooper, who combined to perfectly execute the onside kick that totally changed the momentum of the game.

This was a rough game to attend in an unfriendly stadium. I know Eagles fans have a deserved reputation for being tough on opposing teams' fans and being somewhat lacking in class. Let's just put it this way: we're not unique in the NFC East in either of those.

Chef Spouse and I were in NYC courtesy of his company, thanking him for doing something really great this fall. He prepared an excellent picnic lunch for the train on the way up. We spent the afternoon walking around midtown admiring the department stores' fancy Christmas window displays. We enjoyed an outstanding dinner at WD-50 on Saturday night. Sunday dawned cold but not terribly windy and a little overcast - perfect December football weather. And this game was pretty much for all the money. Yeah, there are two games left, but the winner of this game was virtually guaranteed to win the NFC East and even potentially take the #2 seed, depending on what the Bears do in the next three games.

And then? The Eagles stunk it up. For 52 minutes, they were a complete mess, with the exception of the run defense (more on that below). And, my God, did we hear about it. It's a good thing I'm not easily offended, because F bombs were being tossed at me faster than in a Quentin Tarantino movie. When we left our seats at halftime (24-3) to get food, "go home, losers" was the nicest thing we heard.

Getting and eating the food took a while, and we returned to our seats with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter, by which time the seriously shit-faced Giants fan to our left decided Chef Spouse had drunk his beer (absolutely incorrect) and came about [this] close to starting a fight over it. My take? He was so wasted he didn't realize that HE had drunk his beer. Also? How is it even possible to get that tanked on Bud Light, Princess?

So the fourth quarter starts, and the Giants engineer another long drive, at the end of which Kevin Boss scores, taking it to 31-10. Apparently, with just over 8 minutes left in the game, the chances of the Eagles pulling out a win was 1%. Now, I hadn't done the math, so I didn't realize it was quite THAT dire, but I knew the Birds' chances were not good.

And then? Michael Vick apparently decided that there was no way in hell his team was going to lose. Even more amazingly, he made it happen. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas. Chuck Norris wears Michael Vick pajamas.

Meanwhile, Chef Spouse and I, convinced that the team could not win, were hanging out in our seats checking in on the other games with his new iPhone 4 and speculating about playoff scenarios.

Brent Celek TD? "Oh, isn't that sweet? They're not giving up!"

Onside kick? "How could the Giants NOT be prepared for that, after that Akers-led Sideline Coaches' Summit? Also, good job Riley Cooper!"

Vick runs in another TD? "Wouldn't it be funny if this game ended 24-31? It would look a lot less lopsided than it was."

Eagles burn all their timeouts with 4 minutes left to save the clock? "Didn't Andy Reid watch our win over the Cowboys last week? This does not bode well."

Maclin TD to tie it up? "Wow! Looks like we're going to overtime! Do we need to call the car service driver to let him know?"

[All of the above said very quietly so as not to set off Drunky Drunkenstein in the next seat over again.]

And then? One of the most amazing plays I've ever seen. Andy had DeSean back there, and I was all, "I don't know if I like this with DJax's injured foot. There's no way in hell the Giants kick it to him anyway." And poor rookie Matt Dodge either gets a bad snap or chokes on the pressure and kicks RIGHT TO DeSean, who DROPS the punt (which turned out to be a good thing, as it completely FUBARed the Giants coverage team), picks it up, spots a lane, Jason Avant lays a MONSTER block on Zak DeOssie, and the next thing we knew, DeSean's running across the front of the endzone before driving the stake through the Giants' hearts. With a VENGEANCE.

The stadium was silent.

I was so shocked, I had to sit down.

Chef Spouse kept repeating, "Did that just happen? Did that JUST HAPPEN?"

Tom Coughlin was so pissed he threw down his clipboard and headset and ran on the field before DeSean was in the endzone.

Things were so chaotic, the zebras couldn't get enough Giants on the field to kick the extra point, so it took several more minutes to end the game. During which Giants fans in front of us started - or tried to start - fights with any person they spotted in midnight or kelly green. Chef Spouse and I did our best to lay low, particularly until Drunkface and his friends were gone.

After which we started jumping up and down and screaming.

A few additional notes: rookie MLB Jamar Chaney played great. The Giants, purportedly a team "built to win in December" with a great run game and a solid defense, could not run the ball. And that turned out to be key. Remember the Cowboys last week? The Eagles won that game because LeSean McCoy successfully ran 4+ minutes off the clock. The Giants had to pass, and that gave the Birds far too many chances. I was really worried, with Stewart Bradley being out, but one thing about Andy Reid is that he seems to always have another guy ready to step in.

Apparently, at halftime, Asante Samuel, usually not the most voluble guy, exhorted the team to play with heart. Not to win, not to get back in it, but to play with heart. Chef Spouse and I were speculating, while waiting in line for our delicious, fatty deli meat sandwiches, what would need to happen in the locker room at halftime for this not to be an utter disaster. Chef Spouse noted that if anyone was going to step up with the "unleash the hounds!" speech, it was going to have to be one of the players. True dat.

A few comments on the Giants: Eli Manning played really well. I tend to rag on him, mostly because his diffident manner tends to get on my nerves (and I think it's unfair that he has a ring, when I honestly don't believe he's a great, or even a consistent, quarterback), but yesterday isn't on him.

You know who else it isn't on? Matt Dodge. Yeah, he made a bad mistake on that final punt. But he didn't have anything to do with blowing a 21 point lead in about 7 minutes. And 10 other guys were on the field who should've tackled DJax. Denizens of Big Blue View are calling for his head and bitching that you don't waste time grooming a punter. Two words for you: Sav Rocca.

Also, Justin Tuck? Might want to tone down the trash talk, son.

Finally, there's been a lot of Giants fan whining about DeSean Jackson "showboating" across the front of the endzone. He's been quoted as saying he was just making sure he'd used up the clock, and being there, it was pretty obvious he was looking back over his shoulder at the clock to be sure. Either way, all I have to say is, just like when the Cowboys whined last week, if you don't want to see it, don't let him do it.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Chargers over 49ers: The Giants fans in front of us at the game Sunday were talking about this game and how BWest is doing so well for the 49ers. I forbore to mention that it was because he didn't have to play at all for about 2/3 of the season, mostly because even when their team was winning, the Giants fans were really, really cranky.

Ravens over Saints: Super Bowl hangover? Nah - the Saints will still likely make the playoffs, although they do have to face the Falcons again, and in Atlanta. And once we're into the postseason, anything can happen. Actually, that holds for the Ravens, too.

Panthers over Cardinals: I called this one! And pretty much no one else did! Who cares?

Bengals over Browns: TO's done for the season, and maybe forever. Aw - I'm really going to miss that guy. No, I'm not.

Cowboys over Redskins: But Sexy Rexy played really well. Prediction? McNabb's done in DC. And he seems to have developed the reputation as being stubborn/inflexible, which could hurt his chances of going elsewhere.

Colts over Jaguars: I knew the Colts would find a way to win this game. Like I said, I just don't see Peyton allowing them to miss the playoffs. One of the Sunday morning shows was talking about "this combination of QB and coaching experience blah, blah, blah," and I know they were thinking Jim Caldwell, but I was thinking, "Same guy."

Bills over Dolphins: Just when I think it can't get any worse for the Fins (who, you recall, I picked to win the division), they lose to the Bills. Ouch.

Chiefs over Rams: The NFC West will be won by a team under .500. Sickening.

Lions over Buccaneers: Guess that whole dream of the playoffs is pretty much right out the window for the Bucs. Have I mentioned that I think the Lions are SOOOO close to being good? Because I really think they are.

Titans over Texans: We just watched C'mon Man, and they showed the Texans' linemen getting into a fight WITH EACH OTHER and drawing a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Possibly the dumbest thing I've seen this week (then again, it's only Monday).

Falcons over Seahawks: Well, yes.

Raiders over Broncos: Who will be starting Tim Tebow for the rest of the season. Why the hell not? Find out what you have now.

Jets over Steelers: There's this great sports bar in Times Square called Tonic, which is where we ended up after getting back from New Jersey and showering up, both to warm up and to try to address the Crazy Santa Hat Hair situation. We were watching the 3rd quarter while getting ready, and got to the bar in time to see the 4th quarter, where we found a lot of Jets fans, and some nice, friendly Giants fans. Apparently, you have to pass an asshole test to go to the game, as in, if you aren't one, they don't let you in the stadium (Yes, I was in the stadium. Draw your own conclusions). Watching this game, all I could think was: how important is Troy Polamalu to this team? I don't have the stats handy, but I know the Steelers winning percentage with Troy Polamalu is really good, and without him, um, not nearly so good. Even with the loss, they're still atop the AFC North, but they need to gentle Samoan to get healthy ASAP.

Patriots over Packers: This game is proof that things mostly turn out as expected. Even though the Packers, led by rookie QB Matt Flynn, led for most of the game, that is not going to beat Tom Brady at home 9 times out of 10 and twice on Sunday. Funniest moment of the game? Lineman Dan Connolly running back a punt 70+ yards. The crowd at Tonic was yelling, "Run, Fat Boy!" as one. The funny part is, if he hadn't tripped, he probably would have made it into the endzone, dragging all those relatively tiny Packers who were trying to tackle him, even though, as Chef Spouse observed, he was holding the ball like a sack of groceries.

And now? I find myself in the unenviable position of having to root for Brett Favre. But I really want that #2 spot, not least of which because it dramatically reduces the chances that the Eagles will have to face the Giants again this year. It's really, really hard to beat a team 3 times in a row. It's even harder to do it 7 times in a row.

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2010 Week 15 Picks

Chef Spouse did something really amazing for his company this fall. To say thank you, they're sending us to Gotham this weekend - hotel, sideline tickets, car service to the Meadowlands, the works. And Chef Spouse is preparing a picnic lunch of high end treats (pate, caviar, champagne, etc.) for the train ride up.  And we have dinner reservations at WD-50. Now if we can just get the temperature above ridiculously freezing cold, we'll really be in business!

So who's going to win the game?

Well, the math says Giants. So do some of the guys at Bleeding Green Nation (traitors!). But The System doesn't know Steve Smith is done for the year, and Mario Manningham is decidedly iffy. And the Giants historically don't do well in December. And I'm not sure what's going on with Eli Manning lately, but he's throwing a LOT of picks. And did I mention that Asante Samuel is back? And even though he's been out since the last Giants game, he's leading the NFL in picks?

Oh - and could this game be any bigger? The team that wins this WILL win the NFC East. You heard it here first.

I gotta pick my Eagles, even against the math. And if they can win out, they'll likely jump to the #2 spot given how tough the Bears schedule is. That bye and a home playoff game would be nice, fellas. Can't you taste it? Don't you want it? You know you do. Don't let me down.

In the other matchups:

49ers at Chargers: Both teams playing for their playoff lives, and BWest is having a bit of a renaissance now that Frank Gore's sidelined. But I figure the Chargers should win this one going away. Both west divisions are bad, but the NFC West is like a whole other level of bad.

Saints at Ravens: This is going to be a hell of a game, with both teams in tough divisions and trying to stay in the wildcard race. I'm picking the Saints. I'm also picking this as the game we'll have on Chef Spouse's new iPhone while we're at the Meadowlands.

Cardinals at Panthers: This, on the other hand, is a meaningless game. The math says Panthers, but really, who cares?

Browns at Bengals: Another meaningless game. The Bengals have a slight edge, but again, who cares?

Redskins at Cowboys: Much as I want to pick the Redskins, the Cowboys are now playing like we all expected them to at the beginning of the season, and the Redskins' lack of depth at pretty much every position is causing their usual late season meltdown. Cowboys.

Jaguars at Colts:  Colts. I can't believe they'll miss the playoffs, and they have to win their division to get in this year. Peyton will make it happen by sheer force of will if he has to.

Bills at Dolphins: Dolphins.

Chiefs at Rams: Two not very good teams fighting to stay in the lead of their crummy divisions. Bleh. Chiefs.

Lions at Bucs: This one's a push, but the Bucs are at home and potentially have something to play for (they're still not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs), so I'm going with them.

Texans at Titans: The Texans will win this game, for all the good it will do them. Sigh. Maybe next year former/future Team of Destiny.

Falcons at Seahawks: The Falcons are only unstoppable at home. And when they're playing bad teams. Falcons.

Broncos at Raiders: Raiders. I hadn't bought, but I was renting to own. Hope I can get out of this lease.

Jets at Steelers: The math says Jets, but I think they're starting to fall apart, and the Steelers, who have one of the oldest rosters in the NFL but sure as hell don't play like it, are hitting their stride big time. I'm going with the Steelers.

Packers at Patriots: The math says Packers, but it doesn't know about Aaron Rodgers concussion or the fact that Tom Brady's on fire, too. I have to go with the Pats, even though another loss almost definitely dooms the Packers post-season hopes, while the Pats could coast a little at this point.

Bears at Vikings: The Vikes still have no stadium and have an almost new coach and a new QB (Patrick Ramsey, who hasn't had meaningful playing time since he was a Redskin in 2004) to backup their starter, who up until last week was the third string clipboard holder. The math says they're going to win, but that's crazy talk. Bears.

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2010 Week 14 Recap

Eagles over Cowboys, Sunday, December 12, 2010

In attendance: Shoegal, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom, You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad, Chef Spouse, and a friend of mine from Florida. The YAPstars, sadly, blew us off. Too bad for them, because it was a GREAT game.

Menu: Chef Spouse made all kinds of yummy snacks, Shoegal brought cheese, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom made brisket and mac&cheese. URP!

Stud of the Week: DeSean Jackson, who, as Chef Spouse observed and Cris Collinsworth confirmed, should NOT have been penalized for his TD celebration. Apparently, the Cowboys didn't like it. Well, stop him from scoring a 91 yard TD and you won't have to see it, donkeys!

But I want to see it again:



Revisiting the keys to the game I identified last week, which happened and which didn't?

Well, Dez Bryant was out. That's indisputable.

Did they get DeSean Jackson going? Um, yeah. 210 yards on 4 receptions and a TD.

Did they get LeSean McCoy going? Yes again. 149 yards on the ground, including masterfully executing virtually every play to run out the clock in the final 4:22 of the game.

Did the O-line protect Michael Vick? No. He gets hit, he pops up. He gets hit, he pops up. He gets hit out of bounds, he pops up. And then Andy Reid screams at the zebras. The funny thing is that Terry McAulay's crew is usually one of the better ones, in my opinion, because they're more likely to just let the guys play. And that was borderline - an Eagles fan (or coach) would've seen it as a penalty, but a Cowboys fan (or coach) probably wouldn't. But it's good to see Andy stepping up for his QB, particularly since every time Vick goes down, I worry that THIS is the time he's not going to pop back up.

Asante Samuel wasn't back, but Kitna's mostly a short yardage guy, so it probably wasn't that big a deal. And the D did great shutting down the Cowboys running game.

Michael Vick? Good game - 2 picks, but only 1 was his fault (and by the way Maclin, you need to catch that pass, buddy), 3 TDs (two passing, one rushing), Kitna had more yards on the ground, but I'm loving that any play can be a big play. I'm loving that the D can give up a lead in the third quarter, and the team can fight back. I'm loving the chemistry. I'm loving that if the special teams can get the offense at least to around the 40, they're getting at least 3 points out of it.

And speaking of, how about some love for Chef Spouse's boy David Akers with that 50 yard field goal that turned out to be the margin of victory?

And did you see the postgame Vick and Jackson interview with Andrea Kramer? DJax was jumping around like a 5 year old who'd had too much sugar. It was hilarious.

Not so good?

The Eagles red zone D is bad. Like, historically bad. And they're terrible in the 3rd quarter. The offense is coming up clutch, and when they enter the fourth quarter down, I actually have hope. But it's better not to be down.

Speaking of down, Jon Kitna should NEVER be able to pick up a 4th and 8 on his feet. That is shameful. So were penalties that extended Dallas drives - Dimitri Patterson, I'm looking at you - and backed us up at critical times. Jorrick Calvin, you're a rookie, so I'm not going to bust your chops about the running around in the endzone. Your heart was in the right place, even if you didn't know what you were doing. But that punch? Unacceptable.

Speaking of unacceptable, what was with Collinsworth (who I normally love) kissing the Cowboys' asses all game? Newsflash: the Cowboys think they're the center of the goddamn universe, but in reality they are not the sun around which the entire NFL revolves. Teams, even NFC East teams, occasionally do stuff for reasons that have NOTHING to do with the Cowboys. Shocking, I know.

You know what else is unacceptable?  Stewart Bradley dislocated his elbow and Brandon Graham tore his ACL. We can't be losing any more players here, people!

And now the Eagles/Vikings matchup on Dec 26 has been flexed to prime time. The Eagles have killed in ratings in this year as well as on the field, and so far, the team is loving the night games, 5-0.

There's been a lot of tweeting about playoff scenarios, a surprising amount of them incorrect. Here's the deal: if the Eagles beat the Giants AND win one of their last two games, they will win the NFC East regardless of what else the Giants do. If the Bears win out, the Eagles will be the #3 seed regardless. If the Eagles win out and the Bears drop either the Jets or Packers game (possible if not likely), the Eagles will sneak into the #2 seed. Don't speculate - get the facts at the NFL site. They do a good job of keeping the playoff picture section up to date.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Colts over Titans. Barely. The Colts were way up until the 4th quarter, and almost gave up the game. That's not the way it usually goes. The way it usually goes is that the Colts are down by 13 at the 2 minute warning and win anyway. I had actually stopped watching the game and gone to bed at the end of the third quarter, because it looked like it was over. Not this year.

Bills over Browns. Browns are out of the playoffs now. I mean, it would've required the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals to just up and quit for them to get there, but now they're officially out. The Bills have been officially out since August.

Falcons over Panthers. Duh.

Lions over Packers. Raise your hand if you called this one. If you recall, I said that the key to the Packers season, given all the injuries they've sustained, was to keep Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews vertical. Well, now they're down to 50%, with the Pats, Giants, and Bears coming up. Yikes.

Jaguars over Raiders. The Raiders managed to tie up the game and then let the Jags score in 2 plays - a great kick off return, and an even better run by MoJo. You tie the game and then let the opponent score in 20 seconds? Not gonna win a whole lot of games that way.

Steelers over Bengals. If this was a Steelers blog, the stud of the week would be Troy Polamalu. Just sayin'.

Bucs over Redskins. There was an article in the WaPo Sunday magazine focusing on Billy Cundiff and talking about how tough it is to be an NFL kicker. Well, if you're kicking like Graham Gano anyway. Thank God we have David Akers, aka Mr. Reliable. Wanna bet Gano is playing for the Panthers (or the CFL) by Thursday? Bleeding Green Nation put it best: "Redskins lose in the most hilarious fashion of the season."

Saints over Rams. Again, duh.

49ers over Seahawks. I "like" Brian Westbrook on Facebook. Aside from "liking" his sexy shirtless profile picture, I also "like" his current comment: "Had a great day at the office yesterday." Yes, sir, you did. 110 combined yards and a TD. I'm telling you, the West is going to be won by a 7-9 team.

Cardinals over Broncos. Guess the New Head Coach Magic has been all used up for this season.

Pats over Bears. Ex-Navy Cheesehead is still recovering from getting his new ankle, so he wasn't able to make it out again yesterday. But he did email about being worried about the Pats. I find that charmingly optimistic, considering that the Eagles first have to get into the playoffs (likely but far from certain at this point), then WIN the NFC, then we can worry about the Pats. But if we have a repeat of Super Bowl 39 including the outcome, I'm going to start taking hostages.

Dolphins over Jets. First of all, people were complaining about DeSean Jackson having no class for his Nestea plunge. Two words for you: Sal Alosi. Also, what is wrong with the Jets? Standings-wise they're still right in it. But they got their butts whupped by the Pats and then couldn't put the Dolphins away in what was a very sloppy game. And they have the Steelers up next. Things are looking a little shaky for Gang Green.

Chargers over Chiefs. A Chargers shutout of the Chiefs is more like what we're used to seeing. But the Chargers' slow start may doom them this year.

I was supposed to be able to recap Giants at Vikings during Ravens at Texans, until this happened:



If the Giants could manage to lose this game (which is looking pretty unlikely here at halftime), that would be awesome. If they could manage to get snowed in in Detroit, further shortening their week, that would be even more awesome.

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2010 Week 14 Picks

I know Kitna's the QB now, but still...good times.

It's Dallas week, and much as I wish the Eagles could've played them at least once earlier in the season - you remember, when they sucked? - at least we'll enjoy an exciting end to the season, with 3 divisional games in the next 4 weeks.

Keys to the game:

Dez Bryant is out. Thank God, because our kick off and punt return coverage has not been brilliant this year.

Get DeSean Jackson going. He had a great year against the Cowboys as a rookie in 2008. Last year? Shut down. Marty Mornhinweg can't let that happen, particularly not with Jason Avant and Brent Celek suffering from the dropsies lately.

LeSean McCoy. Run the screen ALL day long. Shady is shifty, and the big Cowboys defenders will have trouble staying with him.

DeMarcus Ware. The O-line has to keep him off Michael Vick.

Asante Samuel. The Eagles need him back in the lineup, not least of which because it reduces the amount of field the rest of the D has to cover.

Michael Vick. A win over Dallas, particularly given the debacles last year, gives him the chance to really become the emotional leader of the fan base.

Also? Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad are coming to town to watch the game with us.

Want the playoffs, fellas? We need this win. Eagles. Who've actually been pretty clutch this year.

In the rest of the picks:

Colts at Titans. Earlier today, I posted a poll to RootZoo asking which team people think is in more trouble: the Colts, due to their impending inability to field a full 53 man team, or the Titans, because, well, where do I start? So far, most people are going with the Titans. So am I. Which means Colts, who have to win out to go to the playoffs this year.

Falcons at Panthers. Falcons. I can't even think of anything funny to write about the ass-whupping that's about to commence.

Buccaneers at Redskins. You did hear that the Redskins have finally had it with Fat Albert, right? I know he's a loafing pain in the ass, but I'm not sure how this makes the team better.  Bucs. I hope to hell the Skins exercise the clause in DMac's contract that lets them cut him so he can go to Arizona and have some fun throwing to Fitz before he retires and goes into broadcasting. They owe him after this mess of a season.

Packers at Lions. Next year, or the year after at the latest, will be the Lions year. Maybe. Until then? Packers.

Bengals at Steelers. Soccer was the big sport at my high school, and in my sophomore (or maybe junior) year, one of my friends, a big guy who played halfback, broke his nose while in a game. After that, he had to wear the same sort of shield Big Ben will wear Sunday. It only made him more terrifying. Steelers.

Raiders at Jaguars. I'm going out on a limb and picking the Raiders.

Giants at Vikings. Any chance the Vikes do us a huge favor and beat the Giants? Yeah, I don't think so either. Giants.

Browns at Bills. Bills. They have to win some games, right? Homefield and all.

Patriots at Bears. Another wild pick? Da Bears. Da Pats have to be due a let down after the hurting they put on the Jets Monday.

Seahawks at 49ers. Alex Smith is going back under center, which is not good. I'm picking the 49ers anyway, though, and reminding Mike Singletary that there's this guy on his team by the name of Brian Westbrook who's one of the most talented backs to ever play the game. So given the QB situation, Mike, you might want to think about RUNNING the BALL.

Rams at Saints. Saints. And by the way, I'm still pissed that a team that's at .500 is leading a division.

Dolphins at Jets. Speaking of the MNF beatdown, the Jets will bounce back and beat the Dolphins. Also, did you hear that Chad Pennington is talking about retiring? He's heading for something like his fourth go-round with the same shoulder surgery. Chad, the universe is trying to tell you something. Don't ignore it until your arm falls off.

Chiefs at Chargers.  Chargers. Matt Cassel had an emergency appendectomy and likely won't play Sunday. This could spell doom for the surprising Chiefs - not just Sunday, on the season as a whole.

Broncos at Cardinals. Changing coaches has worked well for the Vikes and the Cowboys. I expect the Broncos to follow suit. Broncos.

Ravens at Texans. Oh Texans, I may have promoted you from Team of Destiny too soon. The Colts are struggling, and there is a huge window of opportunity this year. Unfortunately, you don't seem capable of taking advantage of it. Ravens.

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2010 Week 13 Recap

Eagles v. Texans, Thursday, December 2, 2010

In attendance: not even me! I had dance practice Thursday and had to record the game and watch it Friday night. Of course, I knew how it turned out before I watched it. My media blackout attempts were summarily killed by the Washington Post, which had the score on the front page of the Sports section Friday. Given how the game went down, this was probably a good thing, and no doubt saved me several heart attacks and much screaming and yelling.

Stud of the week: Michael Vick. Not only was his defense not able to hold a 14 point lead, going down by four at one point, and needing him to rally the team to a win, but he did it after getting repeatedly knocked on his ass. Much like a weeble, he kept popping back up. Thank God. Shady had a good game, too, going for 130 combined yards. Anyone else notice how much he's starting to run like BWest? Must be all those screens! Gotta give a shout out to Chef Spouse's boy David Akers, too, who set the franchise record for starts at 184 on Thursday, passing Wolverine, whose starts, let's be honest, were qualitatively different (no disrespect meant to Akers).

So, comments on the game. It's four days after, so the recaps have already hit everywhere but, um, here.

The big stories were:

Michael Vick is one tough mo-fo. Yes, he is. See above. Also, loved the whole "not in OUR house" 4th quarter come-back.

Andy Reid calls out the officials. Glad to see I'm not the only one who notices that some QBs (whose last name may be "Manning") draw 15 yard penalties if your arm glances off their helmet, while some QBs get blatantly face masked (see above, Vick, Michael) or their NOSES get BROKEN (Big Ben and the whole "my nose is now perpendicular to my face" thing on SNF) and...nothing.

Brent Celek and Jason Avant BOTH drop the same TD pass.  C'mon man!

The Vick throw in the 4th quarter when we needed to keep the clock moving. I don't think that was actually a planned throw. Watching it again, the flags were already in by the time Vick threw it away. Andy is not the master of clock management, but I don't think that was him.

And the big one: the defense. OK, the third quarter was not great. But the thing is, the Texans can totes score points. I'm not thrilled that the gave up 2 TDs, but I'm not that surprised, either. It's clear that the Eagles D misses Asante Samuel big time, not least of which because no coach in his right mind wants to throw near him, which allows the rest of the defense to cheat the coverage on his side, leaving them only having to deal with about 2/3 of the field. When they have to cover the WHOLE field, things aren't so good. But again, giving up 24 points to the Texans is not beyond the pale.

4 games left, resurgent Cowboys twice, resurgent Vikings once, and the Giants in their house. The Eagles can't ever do anything the easy way, can they? Go get 'em, boys. (Doing something to reduce penalties might help.)

Around the rest of the NFL...

Saints over Bengals. How do the Bengals go up on the Saints? How, after they've pulled off that feat, do they fall for the oldest trick in the book and jump offsides on the hard count on 4th and 2 at the end of the game? Oh Bungles, it sucks to be you.

Bears over Lions. Have you noticed that the Lions have been in every game this season? If they can just keep Matthew Stafford healthy, they're this close to being good.

Packers over 49ers. Well, yes. And how many tackles did Donald Driver break to put the Pack ahead for good? 4? 5? 137?

Chiefs over Broncos. With the Chargers surprising loss to the Raiders (more on that below), the Chiefs have probably pretty much wrapped up the West. Raise your hand if you saw THAT coming. Also, Josh McDaniels is out. Three head coaches out of 32 are already out. As Chef Spouse observed while cooking dinner tonight, the beheadings don't usually start until January, so they're really ahead of schedule this year.

Browns over Dolphins. Apparently, this was the most boring game since the Steelers beat the Dolphins 3-0 on MNF a few years back (the infamous "the ball actually got stuck in the field" game).

Vikings over Bills.  See, I told you the Vikes should give Tavaris Jackson a shot.

Giants over Redskins. Apparently, the Redskins dragon-style "we suck" suckitude-fu was stronger than DMac's tiger-style "Dear Giants: I own your asses" awesomeness-fu. Also, Fat Albert was apparently having a bad hair day and didn't feel like playing. Also, it would've been REALLY helpful if the Redskins could've pulled off the upset win. Also, perhaps they should fire EVERYONE (including the owner), burn FedEx field to the ground, salt the earth, and start over. Just a suggestion.

Jaguars over Titans. Did I mention that things are going all the way wrong in Tennessee? Because they are.

Raider over Chargers. Have you ever noticed that the second the commentators start making a big deal about something, whether it be "Mike Vick hasn't thrown a single pick all season" or "The Chargers haven't lost in December in FIVE YEARS," it immediately happens?

Rams over Cardinals. Whatever. Apparently, Ditka is also on record as agreeing with me that, if no team in a division finishes above .500, they should automatically lose their playoff spot. Preach, Ditka!

Cowboys over Colts. Well, that was unexpected. Two thoughts: number one, with almost no players left, Peyton Manning is clearly trying to do too much. Number two, maybe changing head coaches mid-season isn't such a bad move after all. At least then no one knows what to expect until they get some film on you. For the Eagles' sake, I hope 4 weeks worth of film on Jason Garrett will be enough.

Seahawks over Panthers. Yawn.

Falcons over Bucs. OK, everyone's now on the whole "Matty Ice is DREAMY" train. I have to point out that the 7-5 Bucs haven't beat any teams with winning records AND the NFC South features the truly awful Panthers. There's 10-2, and then there's 10-2.

Steelers over Ravens. Talk about a slug fest! I mean literally - Ben Roethlisberger's nose got broken. The Ravens dominated the game...up until the very end, when Troy Polamalu forced a Joe Flacco fumble that was recovered by LaMarr Woodley with about 3 minutes left, leading to the Steelers only TD of the evening.

On to Pats/Jets!

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2010 Week 13 Picks

The Texans are, even as I write this, at The Linc, no doubt thinking, "Damn, it's COLD here!"

This has been a relatively high drama week for our beloved Eagles - Andy Reid went all Bill Parcells on the team after the loss to the Bears. Asante's still gimpy. Big Red called out DJax. Rumors have surfaced that his mind is on his contract and not on field. Andre Johnson, the Texans' top receiver, threw down with the Titans' Courtland Finnegan but oddly wasn't suspended, even though helmets came off, punches were thrown, and they were both ejected from the game.

Drama, drama, drama.

But to me, this whole game comes down to one fact: the Texans are 31st in the league against the pass and have given up the most 40+ yard plays of any team. The Eagles offense is 8th in passing yards, and in the top 5 teams in plays of 40+ yards. Don't get me wrong - the Texans have a hot offense, too, #7 overall, and there's a very good chance this turns into a shoot out. But I just don't see them keeping up with us over 60 minutes.

Eagles. And they better win, because I think NFC teams who aren't in the West are going to have to go at least 11-5 to get into the playoffs this year.

In the rest of the matchups:

Broncos at Chiefs - Cheaters never win. Unless they're Bill Belichick. Chiefs.

Bears at Lions - One of these seasons, it's going to be the Lions' year. Looks like this one isn't it, though. Bears.

Redskins at Giants - The Skins are going to get killed. Remember a few years ago, when Osi Umenyiora sacked DMac, like, 300 times? That's going to be mild compared to what's going to go down Sunday. I hope the Redskins still *have* a QB by 4 pm. Giants

Jags at Titans - Things are falling apart fast in Tennessee. Jags.

49ers at Packers - Even with BWest active in the backfield, I gotta go with the Packers.

Bills at Vikings - Vikings. Dear God, if they win a few more games, does that mean we STILL won't be rid of Brett Favre?

Saints at Bengals - Bengals. SIKE! Saints. Of course.

Browns at Dolphins - Dolphins. Although, to be fair, the Browns are looking much improved.

Falcons at Buccaneers - Falcons. Damn, the NFC South is tough this year. Well, other than the Panthers.

Raiders at Chargers - Chargers. It's December.

Cowboys at Colts - Colts. Even if they are starting guys they picked up off the street.

Panthers at Seahawks - Panthers. Think anyone will watch this game?

Rams at Cardinals - Rams. Yuck.

Steelers at Ravens - Ravens. I think this one's going to be a low-scoring nail-biter, but I'm going with the home team. Also, what a great game for SNF!

Jets at Patriots - And speaking of great prime time games, TWO divisional leads on the line two nights in a row. Boo-yah! Also, Jets. I think the Pats' day has passed.

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2010 Week 12 Picks

I'm also thankful this guy isn't our QB.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all! Things I'm thankful for this year include:

• The Eagles are, in case you forgot, currently leading the NFC East.
• Geekman, The Lovely Ms. Geekman, and their brood Ms. Lily Fantastico, Duce, and Emmelia Bedelia will be joining us Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad's for Thanksgiving, which means I can check to make sure my brother is properly schooling his offspring in all things midnight green.
• Chicks in the Huddle, and therefore I, got picked up by Yardbarker this year.
• In a season where people are dropping like flies, the Eagles are mostly healthy at this point (knock wood).
• The Cowboys don't get to play the Lions this year and thus are VERY likely to lose.
• All the great people who read this blog, here or in its various other locations.
• The Cowboys are currently last in the NFC East. And there's only ONE team in the NFC with a worse record. And for that, we must give thanks.
• And did I mention that the Eagles are currently leading the NFC East?

Up until I went 10-6 last week, I was thinking seriously about abandoning The System. I will say that that 12-1 week may have given me too much confidence. But I'm sticking with it for my picks at least one more week.

Eagles at Bears. I really hope Asante Samuel can go, because he'll have a field day picking off Jay Cutler assuming he makes it ON the field. The Bears do have the #3 defense, and that's something to be concerned about. Except the Eagles beat the team with the #2 defense last week, and that after cornering the market on dumb mistakes.

Oh - my pick? Eagles all the way, baby.

In the rest of the matchups:

Patriots at Lions: The System says Lions. Hm. Maybe the Pats are due a letdown after whupping the Colts last week? Lions (gulp).

Saints at Cowboys: Saints. Which should stop all the "maybe we WILL be able to play a Super Bowl in our own stadium after all" foolishness dead in its tracks.

Bengals at Jets: Jets. Who should be able to win by more than a field goal this week.

Vikings at Redskins: The System says Vikings. Does it realize that Chilly just got fired and they're in the middle of a HUGE QB controversy caused by the fact that their professed starter has basically given up? Also, I think WaPo sports columnist Sally Jenkins must be a huge Snarkin' fan, seeing as her column today is basically just a recap of everything I've been writing about The Favre for the past 3 years. Of course, speaking of people who are done, maybe The System got the news about Clinton Portis's season being over. Anyway, I gotta go with the Vikings. Who might want to consider giving Tavaris Jackson a shot. Just for shits & giggles.

Titans at Texans: Texans. C'mon guys! I still believe! And the Colts are looking mighty vulnerable.

Jaguars at Giants: Giants. Even though Tom Coughin's team tends to peak by October, they do win *some* games after that, and I can't see them dropping 3 in a row.

Panthers at Browns: The one NFC team with a worse record than Dallas? Carolina. But The System is picking the Panthers, so I am, too.

Steelers at Bills: Steelers. Duh.

Packers at Falcons: Falcons. Who are looking like the team to beat in the NFC, at least this week. Oh wait - the Eagles DID beat them. HA! But speaking of injuries, the Pack has been hit hard and it's got to show at some point. This is a close call, though.

Chiefs at Seahawks: Chiefs. Also, West versus West? Ugh.

Dolphins at Raiders: The Fins are another team that's running out of players. This one's a push, but I'm going to go with Raiders.  Home field and all.

Rams at Broncos: Broncos. Another West versus West. More ugh. Even The System agrees that AFC wins those.

Buccaneers at Ravens: The Bucs are looking like the real deal this year, but I don't think they're real enough to take the Ravens. Ravens.

Chargers at Colts: You know how some teams are really struggling with injury? The Colts are struggling with injury on an EPIC scale. Peyton's probably like, "Put a motor in a tackling dummy if you have to, but please God, give me SOMETHING to throw at!" Fielding a 53 man roster is going to be a major issue for the Colts if they're current trajectory continues. Chargers. Who should riding high after spanking the Broncos on MNF.

Speaking of MNF...

49ers at Cardinals: Really? Really? Other things you could do on Monday night: start your holiday shopping. Or decorating. Or card writing. Go for a walk. Clean your gutters. Call your mom. Catch up on all that filing that's been piling up. Work late. Just about anything would be preferable to watching this mess. 49ers.

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2010 Week 11 Recap

Eagles v. Giants, Sunday, November 21, 2010

In attendance: just me, Chef Spouse, and Shoegal. Sunday night games are tough, and Ex-Navy Cheesehead is recovering from getting a bionic ankle.

Menu: duck, chestnut soup, cauliflower and green beans, apple pie. Fall deliciousness.

Stud of the week: LeSean McCoy, who put the Eagles ahead for good with his 50 yard TD run on an almost-botched 4th-and-1 conversion attempt with about 4:30 left in the game. Shady had a good day, with over 100 yards, although most of them came on two big plays. I'm not complaining, though.

In some ways, this felt like the game where the Eagles couldn't do anything right. Well, except win. There was an awful lot of "YES!!! Wait! NOOOOOO!" in my living room last night. The receivers had the dropsiers, most notably with both DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant dropping TDs. Even Al Michaels pointed out that Avant is one of the most sure-handed wideouts in the NFL, so that was just bizarre.

The game also saw Michael Vick's first 2010 season turnover, although he still hasn't thrown any picks (knock wood).

Speaking of turnovers, Asante Samuel created one only to turn the ball over himself with a completely unnecessary run just after the Shady TD. Fortunately, as Shoegal observed, Eli Manning clearly doesn't know how to slide, either, leading to the Akers' field goal that iced the game with under 30 seconds left.

Speaking of, how often does Akers end up with a blocked kick? Of course, stats on SNF revealed that Akers has trouble against the Giants.  It occurs to me, though, that the Giants' field goal coverage is what every team should study against the Eagles, since Akers holds the all-time franchise record for points scored. Good tackle, Sav. I guess that's why you want an Aussie rules punter - he's not afraid to knock guys down if it comes to it.

And the Eagles almost killed themselves with dumb penalties. There were like 120 yards of Eagles penalties. That is not good. 

Of course, how many times did Trent Cole get obviously held and it's wasn't called? More than once, I saw a Giants lineman have him in a half-nelson (and to his credit, he just kept on driving his legs). I'm pretty sure that's not kosher.

Now, this game WOULD be a great example for other teams of how to defend Mike Vick...if it wasn't for the fact that the Eagles won anyway. The Giants certainly did a good job of limiting the big plays, and amazingly, this season, smart teams go ahead and let Mike Vick run, since he's changed his game so much that his arm is more dangerous than his legs.

A quick note:  I've been very impressed with Dimitri Patterson over the past two weeks. It's not hard for a corner to impress against the Redskins, but remember that the Giants have the #2 ranked offense. Maybe he's finally found a home with the Eagles. One team's (well, actually three teams' - Redskins, Vikings and Chiefs) trash is another team's treasure.

The thing to take away from this, though, is that too many times over the years it's felt like the Eagles couldn't win close ones. DMac was always great at putting up a ton of points, but he wasn't necessarily always clutch (although he was more clutch than a lot of people give him credit for). It was good to see the team overcome some mistakes that really could have been devastating to gut out a tough win over one of the best teams in the NFC.

Around the rest of the NFL...

9 and 6 with MNF in progress, and although there were a lot of combacks this week, my pick of the Chargers is looking pretty solid so far, which would put me at 10-6 on the week.

Bears over Dolphins: The Bears pitched a shut out. That's gotta hurt. Having no Chads and no Brandon Marshall may be too much for the Fins to overcome. Plenty of teams are struggling with injury (see below, Colts, The), but the Fins are pretty much in the "decimated" category.

Ravens over Panthers: Duh.

Bills over Bengals: Oh my God. The Bills scored 35 unanswered points. 35! The Bengals couldn't hold a 28-7 lead. That's just pathetic. To quote TO: "We are terrible." Yes, TO, you are.

Cowboys over Lions: And in predictable fashion, many Cowboys fans are calling Jason Garrett the second coming of Tom Landry and talking about the playoffs. Sorry kids, 9-7 won't get you in this year. Your only possible role in the next 6 weeks is to play spoiler.

Jaguars over Browns: MJD is looking good. I know everyone's already heard this one, but rumor is that tackling him is like trying to tackle a Coke machine. Looking at him bull ahead, I believe it.

Chiefs over Cardinals: Speaking of rumors, I heard that Fitz might leave the Cards? I think he only has one more year on his contract, and since the Cards don't have anyone who can get him the ball...I'd suggest Philly, but the Eagles are actually pretty loaded at receiver at the moment. Wow. Feels weird to type that. I'd love to see what Fitz, DJax, and Vick could do together, though. Talk about explosive offense.

Packers over Vikings: Rumors of Ellis Hobbs' death have been greatly exaggerated (although he is out for the rest of the season - again - with a neck injury) - rumors of Brad Childress's have not. He's the second head coaching head to roll this season. Brett Favre may be done, too. And frankly, I blame him for a lot of the mess in Minnesota. I know - Chilly's to blame, too, because he made the decision to bring Favre back. But NFL.com is right - in this situation, either the QB gets benched or the head coach gets fired. Did the Vikings make a mistake? Let's put it this way: I think it's time to go to Tavaris Jackson.

Jets over Texans: Hey! The Jets managed a win in regular time! It was the very end of regular time, but still. You know what worries me? Playoff games tend to come down to the wire, and the Jets are getting PLENTY of practice winning those games. That means trouble for whoever faces them come January, which could (cross fingers) include the Eagles at the Super Bowl? That might be too much to ask, but a girl can dream right?

Steelers over Raiders: Oh, The System, why did you tempt me into picking the Raiders? Also, on the whole Richard Seymour smacking Big Ben in the head, Roethlisberger's all "I didn't say anything." I call bullshit.

Redskins over Titans: Center Casey Rabach went down, and that seems to have been a good thing, since the replacement center quit stepping on McNabb and knocking him over. It's not good when your center is the sack leader. People keep talking about Randy Moss not contributing, but what I see is that he's fulfilling one of the key roles of a #1 wideout: drawing double and triple coverage so OTHER guys can get open. Not that that was enough Sunday. And how odd is it that the Titans beat every other NFC East team than the Redskins? Who, by the way, need a new kicker. Again. Well, actually, still.  Also, did you hear Vince Young threw a hissy fit when Jeff Fisher wouldn't let him and his busted thumb back in the game, reportedly throwing "part of his uniform" into the stands. I gotta figure that was a helmet, because most other uniform parts don't travel so well. Or maybe it was a shoe? You could probably fling a shoe for pretty good distance.

Saints over Seahawks: Of course. Even without Reggie Bush. But resting him one more week was a smart decision when the opponent is from the NFC West.

Bucs over 49ers: Another shut out and speaking of "the NFC West" and "stinks," case in point.

Falcons over Rams: The Falcons, at least as of last week, are still above the Eagles in the power rankings. Think that will continue to hold? They are one game up, but the Eagles did beat them back in week 6 and it was with K2 under center. I'm just sayin'.

Pats over Colts: Speaking of decimated by injury, the Colts have run through the active roster, the practice squad, the CFL, and most of the nearby colleges. I think they're starting to scout some Pop Warner prospects at this point.

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Eagles v. Jags Preseason Game Notes

Is that really the best way to hold the ball?

Sorry this is a little delayed - the game wasn't broadcast in my area and I had to hit it on NFL replay.

OK, we all know that that purpose of the preseason is to help the coaches figure out who gets cut v. relegated to the practice squad v. assigned to work their way up through special teams.  So let's not read too much into this.*  But starting with a win is nice.

Assuming K2 isn't a complete bust, we're plenty skilled on offense.  The guys are young and will need time to develop as a unit, but the amount of raw talent is astonishing, particularly after so many years of McNabb, Westbrook, and...well, there wasn't anybody else.  It was just those two.  Admittedly, our Red Zone woes continue, but both Kolb and Mike Vick were able to sustain drives.

(The Eagles Television Network flashed an interesting graphic mid-way through the 3rd quarter:  Eagles starting offense in 2008 v.  2010. The only repeats? Peanut and Nick Cole.  Wow.)

I've been more worried about the defense.  But the first team defensive showing gave me the warm fuzzies.   Two efficient 3-and-outs in a row.  Yeah, it was just the Jaguars, but still.  And Asante Samuel actually tackled a guy!  And, you know, STOPPED him. 

I definitely saw K2 make rookie mistakes, the biggest one being that he keeps keying on a particular receiver and then trying to force the pass, most egregiously missing a wide open Peanut in the end zone while trying to force it to Celek that led to our first offensive drive resulting in a field goal.  Celek's great - I particularly loved him bulling for more yards to pick up the 3rd and 9 on the second offensive possession of the night - but don't lock in before seeing what the defense is giving you, dude!  Fortunately for us, David Akers remains money, scoring over half Friday night's points.  But he still needs to grow back the 'stache.

K2 seems to have nice touch on the ball.  You didn't see many passes hitting guys square in the numbers and them just not able to hang onto it like happens with McNabb. But I did notice a few placement problems, where receivers had to turn back over an inside shoulder to get the ball when an outside placement would've hit them in stride (most notably to Peanut on the second offensive drive).

And did you notice?  They actually included running plays.  I imagine the following went down out at Lehigh sometime in the last week:

Andy Reid: "Wait! You meant we're allowed to RUN the BALL? Why didn't someone tell me sooner?"

As a result Shady had a good game.

Vick looks better too.  He had a sweet completion to rookie Riley Cooper for about 40 yards that was textbook pretty.  Then again, he also turned the ball over in the Red Zone (more Red Zone woes) on a fumble, and thank you Eldra Buckley for saving the 80 yard TD.  He seems to be getting his speed back - on the run that led to the first Eagles TD, it was obvious once he turned the corner that no one was going to catch him. Maybe that's why he was carrying the ball so oddly?  Yeah, just ask Peanut how showboating and, as a result, dropping the ball before you cross the goal line feels Mike.  On the other hand, on our last offensive series of the first half, he threw a dumb ass pick.  I guess Charles Scott was the intended receiver, but he wasn't even looking.  Vick had room to run and didn't, and he had TERRIBLE mechanics on the throw. So a very up and down night for our #2.

Speaking of #2, our second/third string defensive secondary got their asses handed to them.  Repeatedly.  By Luke McCown.  Back to worries about the defense - if we have a good first time but no depth, we'll be in trouble by mid-season, once guys start wearing down a bit.  I really wanted to smack Joselio Hansen - he got beat by the receiver, then he drew a penalty, and he didn't even stop the TD in the process.  REALLY?  Aren't you supposed to know better than that, buddy?

Still speaking of #2, Sav better watch his back - Ken Parrish was kicking off and punting and doing a damn fine job of both. 

Our kickoff coverage, however, could use some work.  Opening the second half, Parrish took a page out of David Akers's book and served as an excellent last line of defense, stopping the run back for a TD. So I'm yelling at the TV, and it was at that point that Chef Spouse came running into the living room to give me a big hug because The Snark yelling at the TV = football season!

Then we were pretty much down to the JV.  I do love me some Chad Hall.  When we were at training camp, he was the first player on the field and the last one to leave at all 3 of the practices we attended.  He's got a great backstory, and he wants it so bad, I can taste it.  I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for him until the final roster cuts on September 4.


One final note:  one of the places this blog is syndicated is Chicks in the Huddle.  We're currently conducting a short survey to help us make the site better, and if you complete it, you could win a $50 gift card to the NFL Shop.  So take 5 minutes and help a sister out.


*Unless, of course, you're a Redskins fan.  They killed the Bills in the their preseason opener, which means it's time to cue the Super Bowl talk here in DC. 

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Training Camp Report

Chef Spouse and I made the pilgrimage to the Goodman Stadium at Lehigh University Friday, August 6, thus fulfilling both this year's New Year's resolution and a life-long dream.  And it truly felt like a pilgrimage - due to major storms in the DC area, it took me more than an hour and a half to cover the 9 miles between my office and my house, and things didn't get any better Friday, as we hit an hour of just sitting there (literally - we turned the car off) on the Northeast Extension due to an accident and then, when we approached Bethlehem, it became apparent that Chef Spouse had gotten directions *to Lehigh* rather than to the stadium.  I should've known we were in trouble when I asked him about directions that morning and he'd gotten directions to Lehigh, PA rather than to Bethlehem.  Important tip: ask more precise questions about whether or not Chef Spouse has directions to the ACTUAL destination next time.

If you want deep coverage of training camp, you've definitely come to the wrong place.  I love the Eagles, I love to write about the Eagles, but they don't know me from Adam (more on that below).  You want opinions from people with stuff like "credentials" and "access" and "this is their full time job"?  Check out Bleeding Green Nation and Iggles Blog (the new home of Tommy Lawlor).  I don't have that kind of time.  Or level of professionalism.

So here's what I saw (in between talking to Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad, who came with us on Saturday.  I convinced Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom to ditch a bridal shower.  Why would you want to go to a bridal shower when there's football to be watched?):

Kolb is not...is not...I can't bear to say his name.  I am NOT talking about Donovan.  I'm still at "denial" in the stages of grief. The current Redskins ad campaign featuring McNabb? Clearly an elaborate practical joke.

Moving on, I did see some good connections between  Kolb and Celek on Friday.  On Saturday, he had some good completions with Peanut for like 60+ yards, some good hookups with Maclin for more like 30 yards, and some very nice short passes to Avant over the middle.

Speaking of Avant, I think he is going to have a break out year (and I'm not the only one), which is a good thing, since I only have a jersey for 1 active player (Trent Cole), so I need to pick another one up ASAP.  Avant's currently in the lead. Kolb likes the short pass (unlike his predecessor), and Avant is Mr. Hands at that distance.

I thought Vick looked bad.  I expected him to have improved his ability to complete passes in the off-season, and I was sorely mistaken.  Worse, rather than going through his reads, he kept taking off running.  Now, he did look faster than last year, but all I could think was:  "You're wearing the red jersey, donkey! Stop running!  No one is going to hit you!  Throw some passes for chrissakes!"

Number 3 QB Mike Kafka looked REALLY bad.  I'd be surprised if I saw him complete even a half dozen passes.  Yikes. 

The defense is kind of an unknown, although it was really good to see Stewart Bradley out there and his knee seems fine.  We picked up Marlin Jackson, and he didn't even manage to make it TO training camp.  Ernie Simms was the big off-season signing, and he looked good, at least in practice.  Asante Samuel still can't seem to tackle (then again, it was training camp).  And if you look at the current roster, there are a LOT of rookies.

It was interesting to see the kinds of drills they run:  blocking kicks using soccer balls, linebackers trying to cover skittering balls, the kickers throwing to simulate punt returns, etc.

So back to that whole "they don't know me from Adam" thing.  I mentioned that there are a LOT of rookies at training camp, and a lot of missing familiar faces. I was having the whole "I don't know who these guys ARE" experience.  And it hit me: I have a one-way relationship with the team. I know, late realization, but it really struck home when I was looking at all the new names on the backs of jerseys (54!...is Brandon Graham?!? Who the hell is that?!?).  Time to start stalking a whole new crowd.

I thought Andy looked a little thinner.  I have a theory:  he stress eats.  Which means he loses weight in the off-season, only to fall prey to the siren song of the Tastykakes once guys start screwing up or getting injured or both.

One thing that was really cool is that you can get pretty up close and person with the players, many of whom turn out to be really nice guys.  There are official autograph signings after the morning practices, and it's a lottery system and it's all regimented and it's only a few players and whatnot.  But a lot of the guys go to the edge of the field after both morning and afternoon practices and will sign anything you shove at them - or take pictures with you.  And they're kind of like normal people - I mean, they aren't like Godzilla to your screaming Japanese person - only amazingly ripped normal people.

I also got to meet up with long-time blog fan rocketman for a beer after Friday's practice, which was nice.  Even though he's really a 49ers fan.  But I forgive him.  (He lives nearby.)

My tips to have a Snarktacular Training Camp (aka, "What I'd do differently next time"):

• Go to Philly for flight night
• Spend the night with the 'rents (You might not have that option. On the other hand, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom is REALLY nice.  She might let you stay.)
• Drive up from WEST CHESTER (rather than DC) Friday morning
• Stay over in Bethlehem Friday night and hit Musikfest
• Buy a team football
• Bring a Sharpie
• Don't worry about the "autograph rules"

Check out all the snaps on Flickr.

Next up?  First preseason game against the Jaguars...on Chef Spouse's 40th birthday.

And a final note - Brees is on the cover of Madden 11.  He's a dead man.  Want to start an over/under pool on whether he survives the preseason?

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Congrats to our Pro-Bowlers

Six Eagles were selected to the Pro-Bowl, the most since we sent 10 in 2004 (aka "Our last trip to the Super Bowl"):

• Asante Samuel (CB) - starter
  
• DeSean Jackson (WR) - starter
  
• Jason Peters (LT) - starter
  
• Leonard Weaver (FB) - starter
  
• Trent Cole (DE)
• David Akers (PK)

Who's missing? Definitely Sheldon Brown, who is having a career year in his 8th year with the Eagles. Speaking of, we also have six alternates:

• Sheldon Brown (CB) - 1st alternate
  
• Donovan McNabb (QB) - 1st alternate
  
• Brent Celek (TE) - 2nd alternate
  
• Quintin Mikell (S) - 3rd alternate
  
• Brodrick Bunkley (DT) - 4th alternate
  
• Todd Herremans (T) - 4th alternate
  

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2009 Week 13 Recap

Eagles at Falcons, Sunday, December 6, 2009

In attendance: small crowd - just Shoegal, Chef Spouse and me

Menu: four cheese pasta - yum!

Stud of the week: Mike Vick, who was personally responsible for 14 points. And that was a SWEET swing pass to Brent Celek, by the way. And a nice, if slightly underthrown, long pass to Reggie Brown (no, he's not in the witness protection program).

Big time honorable mention goes to Leonard Weaver, who had another big game for us (including that totally impressive one-handed grab, and too bad he's not as fast as Peanut, or he would've had two TDs, too) and to DMac, who was the picture of class - as always - about Vick's success. Sheldon Brown also gets a mention for picking off Chris Redman, going 83 yards, and taking it to the house on a bum hamstring. Maclin had a good day, too. I nominate Leonard Weaver for the role of Dorsey Levins and/or Duce Staley - the guy who can get 3 yards with half the other team hanging off him. Actually, Leonard can be Duce, and Brent Celek can be Dorsey.

Actually, lots of guys stepped up. Akers, who is leading the league in points, tied his career high 17 field goals in a row. He then missed one (aw, damn!) before making another. LOVED the goal line stand at the end of the half. YOU SHALL NOT PASS! And Asante Samuel must be reading this blog, because he actually STARTED TACKLING. It was impressive.

The zebras were doing their best to keep to keep the Falcons' drives alive - OK, I *guess* Sean Jones did hit Chris Redman in the head with his forearm, although it was clear he was pulling up, but seriously, Quintin Demps 15 yards for tackling a guy who wasn't even down yet? Really? What is this - flag football?

It wasn't perfect - Brent Celek, you MUST block better, we didn't pressure Redman as much as I'd have liked, and we had some dropped potential picks - but we DEMOLISHED the Falcons, so I can't gripe too much. Particularly not with AR likely to get an extension this week (and do follow the link - it actually made me laugh out loud, and not just the lame texting abbreviation thereof).

Around the rest of the NFL...it was bizarro week.

You know how there's one week where you literally get EVERY SINGLE pick wrong? Well, that was pretty much this week for me - I got 7 right, which for those who are good at math, means I've gotten 8 wrong - so far.

Jets over Bills. Well, OK, that wasn't terribly bizarre. But they did lose Mark Sanchez. Which given the way he's been playing recently may not be a bad thing. Who's their #2? Oh right - Kellen Clemens. Yikes.

Panthers over Bucs. I was sure the Bucs were going to snatch one. Wrong.

Bears over Rams. Whatever. What's sorry is that is was 17-9. Because the Rams are awful.

Bengals over Lions. Again, yawn. Even OchoCinco's celebration was kind of dull. OK, I get the Fiesta Bowl link, but a sombrero? That was worth a fine?

Colts over Titans. Damn. I was sure the Titans would continue their win streak. Sigh.

Jaguars over Texans. When you're featured on the Monday Night Countdown "C'mon Man!" segment, it is not a good sign.

Broncos over Chiefs. Even if the Broncos are having a late-season swoon, the win over the Chiefs was still a gimme. Matt Cassel sure was worth all that coin, wasn't he?

Dolphins over Pats. OH MY GOD! Go Dolphins! Also, did you like how Rocks threw his team under the bus after HIS interception killed their final chance to win? Um, the rest of the team may have had problems throughout the game - and the defense is certainly struggling - but YOU threw the pick all on your own, donkey.

Raiders over Steelers. I know I just said this, but OH MY GOD!!!! I don't feel so bad about losing to the Raiders now. Who knew that Bruce Gradkowski was the answer? Wait - what was the question? Also, their head coach is still an ass. Just FYI.

Saints over Redskins. You know how it's better to be lucky than good? It's best to be both - and NOT have Shaun Suisham as your kicker.

Chargers over Browns. The only thing that was surprising about this game was that the Chargers only won by 7.

Giants over Cowboys. BWAHAHAHAHA! Tony Romo actually played reasonably well. It's just the rest of the team that sucked. 31-24 doesn't really reflect how dominant the Giants were over the Cowboys. Also, Flozell Adams is an ass. PS: I love December!

Seahakws over 49ers. Who cares? Really - who cares? Do the fans even care? NFC West is so sorry. Well, except for....

Cardinals over Vikings. Wilbon mentioned in the Sunday WaPo that the Vikings have been feasting on a bad schedule. I think it may be time for famine. Also, did you see how many picks Vicodin Boy threw? LOVE! Guess who else tends to have trouble in December... And, while players are getting pantsed and all, could someone swing that on Larry Fitz? I'd love to see a little more of the Best Butt in Football.

In the meantime, we need to decorate the Christmas tree (which finally stopped dripping all over the floor, after getting it in the snow - IN THE SNOW - on Saturday), and the Ravens need to go lose to the Packers. I would point out that it would help us if the Ravens could pull out the surprise win, except we're going to win NFC East, so it won't matter!

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