DEFENSE!

This was a great game for the Eagles to win. Without Westbrook, with a banged up McNabb, the Eagles defense answered the call. How about that pass rush!!?? Wow.

THE GOOD:

• The Pass Rush. Sack after sack, big play after big play. Awesome.
• Brian Dawkins. He played great in coverage, blitzed well, caused turnovers, and made plays on the line of scrimmage versus the run. Weapon X answered a lot of questions.
• McNabb. With his TD pass to Buckhalter, he has thrown more TD passes than any Eagle in franchise history. I hope people really appreciate his greatness!
• The Run Defense. Who is Willy Parker?? I was worried about his speed, but the Eagles showed they are very, very fast on defense.
• Max Jean-Gilles filled in great for Andrews. The Eagles depth was huge in this game.
• Correll Buckhalter. Played well for Westbrook.
• Hank Baskett. He had a career day catching the football.
• Sav Rocca. The punter may have been the game MVP.
• Jimmy Johnson. Great plan!!

THE BAD

• The Eagles need to go for the jugular when they have a team down. You can't turn the ball over, and you must score TDs. 5 of the 15 points can be directly attributed to the defense. The Pittsburgh defense was determined not to give up the big play. They played a soft coverage, and allowed the Eagles to take the underneath stuff. The answer is a great running game. The Eagles need to keep "chopping wood" with the run game.
• Penalties. Against Dallas, the Eagles avoided the big penalty. Against Pittsburgh they did not.

The Ugly

• The Pittsburgh O-Line. In a word - overwhelmed.
• On a non-football issue - the Mets bullpen. what a great day to be a Philly fan - Eagles win, Phillies win, Mets lose! One of the all-time great days!

The Steelers

Willie Parker is the type of back that scares me. His cutback style of running often hurts the Eagles for big plays. The Eagles are very fast defensively, and they can run themselves out of the cutback - that leads to big plays. I do think the Eagles match up favorably if they can manage first down. The Steelers will be effective if they can get into 2nd and 3rd and shorts. Look for the Eagles to try to hit some home runs against the Pittsburgh blitz. I think this will be a physical game. It will be a close game, but the Eagles win 28-17.

Reviewing the Cowboys Game

The game against the Cowboys was disappointing but not discouraging. The Eagles can play with anybody, and there are a whole lot of positives to take away from this.

THE GOOD:

• McNabb looked awesome. This was a good a game as he has played as an Eagle. He got rid of the ball on time, moved well in the pocket, threw a tremendous deep ball, and he was poised in the pocket.
• Westbrook was Westbrook. Caught the ball well, ran the ball hard, and finished runs.
• The O-Line gave McNabb great protection, and man-handled the Cowboy front for most of the game.
• Max Jean-Gilles was very solid for Andrews when he went down.
• The Run defense was outstanding. 68 yards on the ground for Barber and Jones against what is touted as a very good o-line.
• Quentin Mikell is getting better. He was making plays on the line of scrimmage. He is turning into a very good strong safety.
• DeSean Jackson seems that he is a legit number 1 receiver. Back to back 100 yard games is impressive.

The Bad:

• Pass Rush. My goodness!! Give any NFL QB that mush time and they will pick you apart. I am surprised the Eagles didn't dial up more blitzes to bring pressure, but I guess they felt the Cowboys would be ready for that. We need someone other than Cole to rush the passer. Cost us the game.
• McNabb-Westbrook fumbling twice on hand-offs. Can't happen!
• Dropped Balls. To many!
• Pass Rush - did I mention it cost us the game!
• Brian Dawkins. I love Weapon X, but he was beat twice for TDs and a couple more times for first downs. He is better than that.
• Andy Reid - Why not challenge the DeSean Jackson catch and fumble on the first drive?

The Ugly:

• DeSean Jackson - C'mon! Get in the end zone first! Apparently he had a similar incident in high school. Why?? He has the skills, but will he be another T.O. in attitude? I hope not!
• The Pass Rush - IT COST US THE GAME!!!!

MONDAY NIGHT!

Why the Eagles will win:

• History repeats itself! The Eagles have won the last two meetings in Dallas. The Eagles are not afraid to play there because of their past success.
• A revamped run defense matches up great with the Dallas offense. The Eagles are bigger in the front seven then they have been in a long time. Barber will have a tougher time running through this defense.The Eagles have trouble with slashing, cut backs more than they do with smash mouth type running games.
• The secondary will dominate the Cowboy receivers. For all T.O.'s talk, Lito Sheppard owned T.O. last year in the December game. T.O. had all of 2 catches for 37 yards in that game. In the first game, the Cowboys blew the Eagles out. Jimmy Johnson was dropping extra people into coverage and played a lot of zone. T.O. had a huge game (10-174). In game two, he played almost exclusively man and brought the house often. The Cowboys managed 6 points. This year Jimmy Johnson has an extra cover corner to do battle with in Asante Samuel. I expect Sheldon Brown to lock up Whitten, and Lito and Asante to combo T.O. and Crayton. Brown is one of the most physical corners in the NFL, and he can take Whitten out of the game that would allow Dawkins to creep into the box to help on Marion Barber or to occasionally double on T.O.
• McNabb is healthy. He will not throw Ints. Westbrook rarely puts the ball on the turf. The Eagles will be stopped at times, but they will not turn the ball over giving Dallas field position.
• In games like this, field position is everything. The Eagles special teams are vastly improved. Ackers is back on his game. This phase of the game will be the difference.

How the Eagles could lose:

• Greg Ellis has 9 sacks in 19 games against the Eagles while DeMarcus Ware has 5 1/2 sacks in 6 games. The Cowboys defense is one of, if not the deepest defense in the NFL. The can cover, they can stop the run. They mix up their zone coverages and pressures well, and they get after the passer.
• Terrence Newman will play tonight giving them another cover guy in an already deep secondary. With the injuries to the Eagles top receivers, the Cowboys secondary should shut down the Eagles receivers.
• Roy Williams gets knocked for his coverage ability (for good reason), but he is a great run defender. With the Cowboys able to man up with the Eagles, Williams should be free to creep into the box giving the Cowboys numbers versus the run. The Cowboys know they must stop Westbrook.
• Romo moves so well in the pocket he can buy time even versus a relentless Eagles blitz. Jimmy Johnson does a great job of scheming he often creates an unblocked defender getting a run at the quarterback. When this happens, they must bring down Romo.
• Marion Barber can wear a defense down. The Eagles are often feast or famine on offense. If the Eagles have a bunch of consecutive three and outs, it will wear on the Eagle's D. First downs are crucial for the Eagles.

In the end:

I expect LJ Smith to come out against the Dallas safeties and have abig game. The Eagles will throw on early downs to keep Roy Williams on the field and take advantage of his defiencies in coverage. The Eagles will win a close, low scoring, physical game - 17-10. I also predict T.O. will put on a show crying he is open, Jessica Simpson breaks up with Romo, and Jerry Jones' new stadium is swept away by a tornado.

Go Eagles

The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Any win is a good win in the NFL so the Eagles will take it!
The Good:

• McNabb - He's baack! He looked decisive, moved in the pocket well, threw a great deep ball, and was accurate short. 100% healthy
• Eagles Secondary - Torry Holt - 1 catch - awesome! There were more Eagles around the ball than there were Rams.
• Pass Rush in general and Desmond Howard in particular - Howard was great rushing from the interior, and the Eagles made Bulger nervous and out of sync. Great game plan, great execution.
• Desean Jackson - YES!!! A receiver that may scare people!
• Special Teams - Demps and the coverage teams were very good, Jackson with two really great returns
• Sheldon Brown - Great hit on Jackson! Brings the whole stadium to life. Love it!

The Bad:

• Turnovers - The Eagles had their hands on 5 balls. Against a good team that needs to be converted.
• 3 and out - It is great the Eagles hit big plays, but we need to keep the defense off the field. Three and outs happen, but we can't go incomplete, incomplete, incomplete when we are winning 14-0.

The Ugly:

• The Rams - wow! They are bad.
• Those that took Steven Jackson in Fantasy football

Timing is Everything!

What a day today should be!! One of the most exciting days of the year is opening day of football season. I feel as thought the off season has been a hundred years long! Game day is upon us! Here are my thoughts and predictions:

• The Eagles are a heavy favorites. I am not sure they should be.
• The Eagles are missing their top two receivers. This is a big problem. Avant, Baskett, and Lewis scare nobody. I expect a fair share of dropped balls.
• The Rams are healthy. Orlando Pace is back to anchor an average offensive line. Pace has enough to neutralize the Eagles top pass rusher, Trent Cole.
• The Eagles secondary should be able to neutralize the Ram receivers. Holt is still a stud - 6 straight seasons of 90 plus catches, but I am not a believer in Dre Bennett on the other side.
• Rams Steven Jackson is a real threat.
• I don't think the Ram front is anything special. If the Eagles are patient, I do believe they can run the ball effectively. If they can that will take the pressure off the Eagle receiving corp.
• Special teams and field position are big in this game!
• Marc Bulger is a timing QB. He likes to get rid of the ball on time, and isn't great when he is forced to hold the ball. I hope the Eagles will jam receivers and bring pressure.
• The Eagles have more. I expect a close game into the fourth quarter, and then the Eagles pull away - Eagles 27-17

On other games:

• Is the Giants defense that good?? Are the Redskins that inept??
• Take the Chiefs and the points. New England is good, but they aren't what they were last year. Most reports talk about how slow the NE defense looks.
• How great would a Browns victory over the Cowboys be? I don't see it, but it would be great.

On another note, Go Phils!! 2 against the Mets! I expect the Phils to split today, but if they ever swept it would be huge. They have to get the first one!