Stud of the week: Nnamdi Asomugha finally had the game we've all been waiting for. You know, the one where we all go "THAT's why the Eagles paid all that money for him!" He had a picka dn completely shut down Calvin Johnson, not an easy task. Well, that is until Juan Castillo inexplicably pulled Asmougha off Megatron. When did that happen? Remember how the team gave up a 10 point lead with 5 minutes to go? Yeah, about then.
Have you ever given yourself a rage headache? Because I was so pissed by the end of the game, after the Eagles won the toss, went three and out, and then were unable to even slow the Lions' waltz downfield for the field goal down a little, I had. I stomped into the kitchen and told Chef Spouse I was going for a walk. I returned about an hour later, able to watch both the Giants and Redskins win with some degree of equanimity.
What was Chef Spouse doing in the kitchen? Working on fish fumet and espagnole sauce, and avoiding my insane yelling at the TV.
There is SO MUCH blame to go around.
I blame the officials. There is no way that was a push-off worthy of calling back Brent Celek's TD near the end of the 3rd quarter. When it happened, I announced: "If the Eagles lose this game by fewer than 4 points, I'm blaming the officials." So there you have it.
I blame Michael Vick. He was great in the last few minutes before the half and during the third quarter. He made quick reads, ran through his progressions, made quick decisions, took what the Lions' D gave him, ran when he could, and got out of bounds without getting hit. Too bad he was getting the shit kicked out of him the rest of the game, which may have left him more than a little addled. Some of that was him - he CANNOT hold the ball so long - and some was the O-line. Regardless, someone should probably give him a concussion test, stat. And the turnovers! Oy vey iz mir!
I blame the lack of a run game. Shady had a terrible game. I don't know if that's because the O line couldn't make any holes for him (probably, since the Lions' defense spent pretty much the entire game in Mike Vick's lap), if it was because of bad playcalling so he got no touches, or if it was because of bad playcalling, insisting on running outside on the rare times the Birds actually ran the ball, when it was CLEARLY NOT working.
Maclin and Jackson had good games, but Jason Avant made a rare mental mistake and Brent Celek dropped a few balls he normally catches.
I blame the O-line. Did I mention that the Lions' D-line spent the entire game up in Mike Vick's grill? Because they did.
I blame the D-line. The names Jason Babin, Trent Cole and Cullen Jenkins should strike fear the in hearts of opposing QBs. Where were they yesterday? NO sacks? NONE?
I blame Juan Castillo. Aside from the Asomugha disaster mentioned above, here's the thing with blitzes. You must - and I cannot over-stress the importance of this - you MUST get there. If you don't, Matthew Stafford can feel free to pick any of the 4,873 Lions receivers running free in the secondary with no one to cover them.
In the past two games, the D has given up two fourth quarter leads. Now the Steelers game was one thing - the Eagles had gone up by 1 with well over 6 minutes left on the road. But losing a 10 point lead at home with just over 5 minutes? Of course, it would've helped if the offense could've burned a little time. You don't need to score - you just need to burn clock and change field position. Of course, that requires a run game. See above for the problems with that.
And this has me thinking: hello, it's 2011 all over again.
But there's one more group to blame: the fans at the Linc. The Eagles are up by 10 with just over 5 minutes to go. The team is on defense at home. The stadium should be going crazy. Matthew Stafford shouldn't be able to hear his own thoughts. And, unless there was something messed up with the sound on my TV - and I seriously doubt it - the stadium was nearly quiet. The defensive players were waving their arms on the field to try to hype the crowd and...nothing. Sure, the Lions aren't nearly as bad as their 1-3 record coming into the day made it seem. But if we're not with the team, how can we expect them to give their best?
I don't have it in me to recap the rest of the games this week. I'm still too bummed - and unless the Broncos pull off a miracle (always a possibility with Peyton Manning under center, but it's not looking good with the 4th quarter about to start), I'm 3-11 this week. Bleh.
