A Night at the Linc

Because of some odd circumstances, I found myself in possession of a Club Suite ticket to the Eagles-Panthers game at the Linc last night. I didn't receive the ticket until 3 p.m. so I had to launch into action right away to make this a successful night. Two very important steps had to be taken care of:

• Step 1 - The Kids. I have the good fortune of having seven ( yes seven! Ron Jaworski's number!) wonderful children. It is not such good fortune when in possession of last minute Eagles tickets, and a wife that is out of town! Good thing my family pitched in! I dropped two with my sister, and 5 with grandma. (When one has seven kids, they never all in one place!)
• Step 2 -Much like Michaleen Oge Flynn's horse in the movie The Quiet Man, my car knows exactly where to stop -- Big John's Subs! Whenever traveling through Cherry Hill, Big John's Subs is the place to go for Philly Cheesesteaks. I have had Pat's and Gino's - and they are tremendous - but I truly believe Big John's is the best.....and make sure you get extra Cheese Whiz!

I met up with my brother who introduced me to the crew from Lehigh - Sharon Basso, the Dean of Students and Mary Kay Baker, the Director of Conference Services, may be two of the nicest people one will ever meet (hard to believe they would hang with my brother!). Mary Kay is a huge Donovan McNabb fan. She not only is a fan of the Eagles, but a fan of the Orangemen of Syracuse so she is one of the Donovan McNabb faithful! Ozzie Briener , the Director of Residential Services, was not only instrumental in getting us the tickets, but he was also able to watch both the Eagles and keep us abreast as to the score of the Olympic beach volleyball match (U-S-A, U-S-A!) The Eagles have training camp at Lehigh so tickets sometimes become available. Suite 101. Unbelievable seats! On top of it all, Police Chief Ed Shupp (who is also the Mayor of Lincoln Financial!) found a way to come up with field passes! Unbelievable!! We took a trip down to the field for pregame. As we were watching pregame, some of the Eagles Cheerleaders came over and said hello. Once they found out I was a Hometown Blogger, they asked if I would take a picture with them. Naturally I agreed. (That IS the way it happened!). The picture is on my profile. Enjoy!

Observations from the Game

This was a difficult game for either team to get into a rhythm as a 45 lighting delay sent both teams sprinting to the locker room early in the first quarter but here are some notes:

• DeSean Jackson looks like the real deal! He has tremendous flat out speed, and he has great quicks as he seems to get in and out of his cuts well. He might be a big time weapon!
• McNabb had all day to throw! The O-Line looked good - a great sign considering Andrews didn't play.
• McNabb moved in the pocket like the McNabb of a couple of years ago. It was great to see.
• The Eagles receiving corp dropped to many balls. There isn't a whole lot more demoralizing for a team than dropped passes. The O-line is working its collective tail off, the QB makes a great read, throws a good ball, and when the receiver drops the ball all that effort is wasted. It wasn't anyone receiver - the whole group was mediocre catching the ball.
• From an injury stand point, Reggie Brown left the game with a hamstring tweak.
• Even though the offense moved the ball at will in between the 20s, the didn't finish in the Red Zone. That was a point of emphasis going into camp, and you would not know it watching the first half yesterday.
• Another point of emphasis going into camp was the return game, and it wasn't good. The punt returns weren't awful, but the kick off returns were mishandled on a number of occasions. Field position is huge in the NFL, and the kick off return is the play that accounts for the single greatest shift in field position in most games. It has to get better.
• The Eagles defense looked fast and very physical. Dawkins knocked Muhsin Muhammad into next week on a third down play that would have been a touchdown. BDawk is still a force!
• Carolina scored a touchdown after intercepting an Eagles fake field goal attempt. I do not mind that in preseason. It is a meaningless game in terms of score, and Andy Reid was playing loose.
• Lorenzo Booker looked good in the backfield.
• Tony Hunt had an impressive TD run, and made some tackles on special teams. It will be interesting to see if he makes the squad. Odds are the Eagles keep Westbrook, Booker, and Buckhalter releasing Hunt and Moats. Both will be on a roster somewhere. Hunt will make the Eagles think, however, as he made some great special teams plays. I just can't imagine the Eagles keeping 4 running backs and a fullback.