Let's talk about the key people around the Eagles offense. Andy Reid created the playbook. Marty Mornhinweg is the playcaller. Donovan McNabb is the QB. Brian Westbrook is the workhorse offensive player. This is a dangerous combo and here's why.
Reid trained in the NFL under Mike Holmgren and knows the WCO inside-out. Andy spent time at BYU as a player and assistant. He was there under Lavelle Edwards and Norm Chow, a couple of great offensive minds. Unfortunately, they ran a pass happy offense. The Cougars had to do that back then. They were the biggest mid-major football power. Their best hope for success was to sling the ball around and create mismatches. That was wise thinking.
Andy brought that mentality to the NFL. It doesn't work as well. The talent here is a lot closer than most people realize. You don't need to out-scheme opponents as much as you need to out-execute them. Obviously you want an edge in gameplanning if possible, but the real key is for the players to block, run, pass, and catch correctly. The best coaches don't have great playbooks. They simply understand how to maximize talent. Dana Bible ran the offense for the first part of 1998 and did an unbelievably bad job. He was replaced by QB coach Bill Musgrave and things got immediately better. Same scheme. Musgrave called a better game and a little bit of success helped to give the guys some confidence. They played better and the offense got less awful. It still never got anywhere near mediocre, let alone good.
Mornhinweg was a QB in HS, college (Montana), and even for an AFL team. He likes to throw the ball. He also has strong ties to Mike Holmgren. Mike was an asst coach on Marty's HS team. Mike eventually brought him to the Packers as an asst in 1995. Marty was there for a couple of years before going to SF to run that offense. He then went to the Lions as head coach and failed miserably. His best year was 1998, when SF was #1 in Total Offense, as well as #1 in rushing and passing. That is a very rare feat.
We all know McNabb pretty well. He is a gifted player who is deadly on good days and highly erratic on bad ones. Consistency and efficiency are not his strengths. McNabb fell in love with big plays in 2004 and has been a changed man ever since. I swear the worst thing that ever happened to him was the fluke against Dallas where he scrambled for 14 seconds and then hit FredEx for a long gain down the field. McNabb to this day holds the ball longer than he should. I don't remember that being a problem prior to that game. Whether that is true or just a convenient spin on things is probably up for debate.
Westbrook is a gifted receiver. He's so good that for a few years he actually seemed like our best RB and WR. He isn't a physical runner, so he doesn't wear down defenses. He also has a tendency to get banged up which affects how Andy/Marty use him. They want Brian to get a lot of touches, but at times are hesitant to feed him running plays.
Let's sum this part up. You have a head coach who loves the passing game. The offensive coordinator is a former QB that loves to throw the ball. You have a QB who is a streaky passer and loves throwing the deep ball. You have a RB that is a gifted receiver. This leads to a pass heavy offense. There is no impetus to run the ball. No coach is a huge proponent of the running game. Because the QB isn't overly efficient the passing attack is hit and miss. When things start slowly the thinking is that the only way to get him and the offense going you must keep throwing the ball. This is like a gambler losing $50 and then betting $50 to make that back up. Or in business you might call that throwing good money after bad.
Things look great when the QB has a good day and the offense clicks. There is enough talent, good coaching, and good execution that the offense works most of the time. The Eagles haven't finished a season out of the Top 10 in yards since 2005. That group finished 19th, but only after TO was sent to Siberia and the best offensive players finished the year on IR (Pinky, Donovan, Westy, Tra). Had those guys stayed healthy I'm sure they would have been Top 10. The 2004 group obviously was highly ranked. The scoring offense is even better. I'm not adjusting for returns and defensive TDs. That makes things too complicated. The Eagles finishes since 2000:
The average finish of that decade is 9.7. That's pretty impressive when you factor in the lack of top skill players at times, McNabb missing games in multiple years, changeover on the team (players and coaches), and injuries to other key players (Pinky, Buck, LJ, Westy, Shawn, etc.).
The problem I have with the current configuration is that the offense, while explosive and productive, isn't reliable. You cannot count on big plays. You must be able to count on executing basic plays (slant, dig, out, post, etc.). We are far too up and down. It doesn't have to be that way.
The offense has excelled in a couple of seasons at a relatively balanced, ball control attack. McNabb struggled early in 2003 and then got hurt. Over the last 10 games of that year he was outstanding: 184 - 288 - 63.9% - 2,362 yds - 14 TDs - 5 INTs - 98.5 rating - 27.9 ppg. The team went 9-1. We won some tough games. We beat GB at Lambeau on a rainy MNF game. Donovan led us to victory late in the game. We won at Miami late in the year without Tra at LT. We beat the Panthers in Charlotte. They went to the SB that season. We put up 36 points in a December game with Dallas, who had the #1 defense in the league that year. Unfortunately Westy got hurt in the season finale and the team struggled to score points in the playoffs.
I mentioned us running a balanced attack. The key to the offense was the RBs. We had the 3-headed monster of Westy, Buck, and Duce Staley. They each had more than 96 carries, 463 yards, and 5 TDs. The trio ran for 1,618 yards and 20 TDs. They also were key to the passing attack. They totaled 83 catches, 847 yards, and 7 TDs. That is 4.8 yards per carry and 10.2 yards per reception.
2006 was another year that I very much enjoyed. The offense was explosive early in the year. It struggled around midseason. Against Tampa we lost because of turnovers. The next week vs JAX we played horrible and lost 13-6. That was the worst game of the year. Things picked back up, but then Donovan got hurt. Jeff Garcia took over the last 6 games and that offense was great to watch. The coaches passed less and focused more on Westy. Brian had 97 carries in the first 8 games. He then had 142 in the next 7 games. He sat out the final game vs ATL (meaningless thanks to a Dallas choke job at DET). We were 4-4 the first part of the year and then 5-2 down the stretch when Brian ran more (we also won the finale vs ATL). Offensive production was pretty consistent throughout the year, but the team got on a run as we ran more. That also happened in 2003. Hmmm.
Why would having a more balanced attack be so important? Yards and points were similar all year long. Running more means more of a ball control attack. That leads to sustained drives. That leads to consistency. And that proves important in tight situations. Garcia led us on 4th Quarter comebacks vs CAR and NYG that year. He then led us to a winning FG on the final play of the Wildcard game vs the Giants. Jeff had us on the move in New Orleans late in the game, but a Scott Young penalty undid a huge 4th down conversion and we lost the game. That is more late game success in 3 months than we've had in the 2 1/2 years since then.
Think back over the last few seasons. We've had chance after chance to win a game late. Drives invariably stall at midfield. A few have gone deep only to stall out inside the 10. Notice that in most of these games we needed a TD.
* 2009
OAK 13-9
* 2008
DAL 41-37
CHI 24-20
WAS 23-17
NYG 36-31
CIN 13-13
WAS 10-3
* 2007
GB 16-13
WAS 20-12
NYG 16-13 (McNabb drove us into FG range, but Akers missed a 57-yder)
* 2006
NYG 30-24, OT
The failure on these drives isn't just on McNabb. He's made some big plays in crunch time. The failure is on the offense in general, for not being prepared for these situations. You can't have a downfield, explosive passing style for 56 minutes a game and then expect to become a solid dink and dunk attack when it gets to crunch time.
Donovan is the QB and the leader. He gets the glory and the blame, fair or not. He also has the ball in his hands. With his talent and experience he needs to overcome problems and get us winning points in some game. I can excuse not doing it all the time, but the constant failures are a concern.
There have been some semi-successful late game items to discuss. We drove 74 yards for a TD late in the 2007 Bears game. That put us ahead. They went 3 and out. We got the ball back with about 3 minutes, but couldn't put together a drive to eat up the remaining clock. We pinned them deep with a punt. Then the Bears went 97 yards in less than 2 minutes to win the game. We scored a TD late vs Tampa in 2006 to go ahead. Westy caught a screen pass near midfield and went the distance for a TD. They followed that with a 62-yard FG to win the game. We trailed WAS 25-20 in 2007. McNabb hit Westy with a screen and 57 yards later we had a 26-25 lead. We added another TD to win the game.
We can execute in the 4th quarter, but not in the last couple of minutes. We can move the ball, but we can't sustain drives. On the few occasions when we have moved the ball we tend to stall out near the goal line. This is why I don't blame McNabb totally. He put us in position to score vs CHI last year. Poor blocking stopped Buck at the 1. Twice.
It didn't used to be this way. We used to be a very dangerous team late in games. McNabb had good success with comebacks:
2000 - we got late drives vs PIT, DAL to win
2001 - STL (down 17-3 in 4th, tied, lost in OT), NYG (pass to JT on MNF), NYG (scored last 10 pts in 4th Qtr to win)
2003 - NYJ (outscored them 10-0 in 4th to win 24-17), GB (GW drive on MNF 17-14), SF (pass to Pinky tied game, lost in OT), GB playoffs (came from down 17-7 in 4th, won in OT)
2004 - CLE (won in OT), DAL (TD with 1:57 left helped us win 12-7)
2005 - OAK (late FG)
As McNabb became more of a pocket passer and got away from running, he became less effective late in games. I can't stress enough now much the presence of TO and the downfield attack of 2004 changed things. Reid, Marty, and Donovan all fell in love with the big play. From 1999-2003 McNabb had 27 passes of 40 or more yards. He had 20 in 2004. That should illustrate just what a different season that was. Things haven't been the same since, both good and bad. I also have to mention that the NFL made a rule adjustment that year that opened up the passing game by getting officials to focus on DB/WR contact. Receivers were suddenly able to get a cleaner release than in the past. Big difference.
I guess the simple way to sum this up is that Andy and Marty bring out the worst in McNabb and that he brings out the worst in them. We have seen McNabb be an efficient QB. He had that great stretch in 2003. Just think back to the end of last year. We won 4 of 5 games late in the season. McNabb was efficient. He completed 64.3% of his passes. He threw 9 TDs and only 1 pick. Westy had 96 carries in that stretch. He only had 137 carries the rest of the entire season. Those results also show you that the coaches can adjust the offense.
Does the Reid/McNabb/Marty trio learn from that? Apparently not. The coaches go right back to a pass heavy attack, built on throwing deep. McNabb forgets about moving the chains and thinks about big plays. The offense is great when it works, but stalls out when a good secondary comes along and shuts down the big plays.
Last year it took the disasters vs Cincinnati and Baltimore to wake up/shake up our beloved trio and get them to adjust. Last week we had the humiliating loss at Oakland. Will that get their attention and lead to a change early in the season? We can only hope so.
We have as much offensive firepower as New Orleans. The difference is that their coach and QB understand that the running attack and short passes will help lead to the big plays. They build inside-out. Our trio wants the big stuff. Go score a bunch of points, then run the ball and throw the checkdowns. We're an outside-in offense.
I have concerns about whether the current offensive configuration can win a SB. We're good enough to win a lot of games, to even have postseason success. However, teams that win the Super Bowl must be able to win tight games. They must be able to play in a back and forth affair. We can hold a lead in a tight game, but comebacks are a major hurdle. The last two Super Bowls were won by late game TDs. We couldn't even come from behind to get to the SB.
Would things be different with Kevin Kolb at QB? Who knows. We have way too small a sample to make an accurate judgment. There is hope still for the current group. This is the most overall offensive talent we've ever had. If the offense can get into a good rhythm it could be absolutely deadly. We really need to see a close game where the offense is clicking to find out if the 2009 Eagles are going to be any different or just more of the same.
As my friend Shrub likes to say, all we can do now is "hide 'n watch".
_
The Eagles went on the road in the division and won. Don't overlook the importance of that. Last year the team only won 2 division games. Ditto for 2007. Coming off the loss at Oakland our primary focus was getting in the win column. Going to Washington to play a desperate football team that had beaten us 3 of the last 4 was hardly an easy task.
Well, we won.
As for style points...zero. The Eagles did not play well. Our offense didn't score a 2nd half point. We didn't have a snap in the Red Zone the whole game. The defense came up with sacks and turnovers, but let Washington go 2 of 3 in the Red Zone and make the game closer than it should have been. Missed tackles and penalties kept alive drives that should have been stopped.
Let's understand a couple of things. The Eagles won ugly, but that doesn't mean we're a bad team and that the end is near. When Dallas won ugly at Kansas City we could make fun of them, but ultimately had to give them credit for pulling out the W. The Steelers never put Detroit away. And so on. Good teams find a way to win even when they don't have their A-game.
While the offense was dysfunctional, we have to acknowledge the fact that WAS had a lot to do with our struggles. Anyone who wondered how good Albert Haynesworth is found out Monday night. Dude can play and he affects everyone around him. Amazing how much better Andre Carter is now, huh? Their D-line played really well. And London Fletcher is the friggin Energizer Bunny. I've been trying to tell that dude he's too old to be any good for the last 5 years, but he won't listen and keeps kicking the crap out of our guys. Last night he took out Westy (clean play). That was a huge moment in the game. Our offense was clicking up to that point. We were never the same. WAS probably would have kept control for the most part, but you can't ignore the loss of a player like Westy. With him, we ran 9 plays for 123 yards. Without him we ran 47 plays for 139 yards. Ouch. That's hard to believe.
The flip side of the situation is that you can't simply talk about the win without acknowledging our struggles. Teams that play good football will end up winning most of their games and going to the playoffs. Teams that "settle" for finding a way to win will get exposed at some point. We've got to become more consistent on offense. We just can't live and die with 60-yard TDs. Think about this stat. We have not had one single snap inside our opponents 15-yard line in the last 9 quarters. That isn't healthy for an offense.
I thought the gameplan early on was terrific. We threw the ball short and had a creative running game. The blockers got out and did their job. We moved the chains and set up the big run by DeSean. Great start. I couldn't have been happier. Good coaching, good execution. Westy got hurt and things went down hill. The 2nd half was when things got really bad. WAS limited us to only 60 yards of offense after halftime. Their defense played really well. We missed blocks and Donnie was only 5 of 11.
The good news is that it appears we're getting pretty close to having our top O-line back on the field. Todd played LG. Stacy Andrews is getting better and might be close to starting at RG. Winston Justice has now played pretty well for 6 weeks. That isn't a fluke. We need the guys up front to play well in order for us to really get going.
MISC
* Odd note. We jumped out to a 14-0 lead last year. We had a 68-yd TD by DeSean and a 9-yd TD by Westy. This year we had a 67-yd TD by DeSean and a 9-yd TD by Spoon.
* The offense was short, safe, and efficient early in the game. They mixed screens, runs, and Wildcat plays. Our screen game was good.
* Failure to convert on 3rd downs is killing us. We were 4 of 15. Donovan came up small when we needed him to make good throws a couple of times. Too often we seem to be in 3rd/long and teams can either blitz the heck out of us or rush 3 to 4 and drop everyone else deep.
* We used an interesting defensive twist. We played Bunk a yard off the ball. This was reminiscent of the Flex Defense that Tom Landry and Dallas used in their heyday. By lining up off the ball it changes the angles and flow of blocks. It also can affect the ability for Portis to do cutbacks. A blocker must really fire out to get Bunk and that lets the other guys see what is happening more clearly.
* We controlled Portis (14-43). The last time we played that well against him was 2004 when he had 37 yards on 17 carries.
* Points Off Turnovers: PHI 13
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QB
MCNABB --- Not his best game. Finished 15-25-156. Threw for 1 TD, no picks. Only threw a handful of balls beyond 10 yards. Struggled with accuracy. For some reason he had happy feet and threw the ball falling away or off balance quite a bit. WAS only sacked him once in the 1st half, but Donovan was never comfortable. The pressure was more constant after halftime so I can understand getting the ball out quickly at that time. I do give Donovan credit for playing safe. He didn't take any chances. We played with the lead for the entire game so that was smart. A dumb mistake could have led to a defensive TD and completely changed that game.
Made a sloppy throw to Celek on 3rd down on second drive. That stalled us out. Scrambled up the middle for a couple of yards. Threw a bad pass on 3rd/11 in scoring territory. He had Maclin wide open for a TD on the back side, but I don't expect any QB to see that for sure. My frustration was that Donnie had good blocking, DeSean was open and he still put the ball in the dirt. Best play came in the mid-3rd. Moved in the pocket and then over to his left. Threw just before he got to the LOS. Put good touch on the ball and hit Maclin for a gain of 20. Hit DeSean with a good throw on a crossing route that got 12 yards and moved the chains.
About the long TD. McNabb executed the play well. He kept his eyes right and sold the defense that the ball was going there. He immediately looked over to the far left and DeSean was wide open. Donovan underthrew the ball, but got enough on it to connect with DJax for the TD. Donovan didn't stride into the throw. He fell backward after letting it go and that kept it from being more on target.
VICK --- Actually threw a pass. Hit Celek for a short gain over the middle. Ran 3 times. Best one went to the outside and left and got us 9 yards.
RB
WESTY --- Started the game well, but took a nasty shot to the head on a run. Was going upfield and saw defenders closing in. Started to go down and hit London Fletcher's knee. Fletch is a tough, thick guy with natural power and that obviously got the best of Westy. It's a real shame he got hurt. Brian was running well 3-13 and could have made a huge difference for the offense.
MCCOY --- Okay game. Numbers weren't great, 14-37 & 5-30. Best run was a gain of 11 on 3rd/13. That was a quick hitter up the middle. Good on screens. Best one was a play to the left. Caught the ball and got upfield in a hurry. Wasn't hesitant. Wasn't able to catch a short pass that came his way. I couldn't tell if it was a pure drop or what happened. We got no replay. LeSean did catch a couple of checkdown throws. He had 19 touches against a tough, physical defense and didn't fumble.
We must drop swing passes to McCoy for a while. Either he doesn't run the routes with the correct angles or he's slow or McNabb isn't throwing them well. McCoy lost 5 yards on a swing, but got bailed out because of a facemask penalty. We've struggled with swing passes to him a few times this year.
Missed a block in pass pro that led to a sack. Made the correct read on the blitzer and went to get him. Dove for the guy. That doesn't work in the NFL. The worst guys are still athletic. You must put your facemask in his belly and stick with the block. Diving is for the Olympics.
BUCKLEY --- Got in a few snaps at RB. Made okay block in pass pro on 3rd Qtr pass play. Didn't control the blitzer cleanly, but slowed him enough that Donovan could make a good throw. We should have gotten Buckley some touches in the 4th. With Westy hurt, Eldra may have to play more. Why not get him the touches in a game where we're winning?
FB
WEAVER --- Ran 1 time for 1 yard. That was on 3rd/1, so Leonard Part 6 did his job. I wish we'd let him run more. Caught 1 pass, but got hit immediately. Blocked well throughout the game. We use him in a variety of ways because of all the creative running we do.
TE
CELEK --- Quiet night as a receiver. Had 3 catches for 8 yards. Best grab came on first 3rd down of the game. Just caught a short pass over the middle, but moved the chains. We needed that catch early in the game so that there was something positive for the offense. Ran a TE screen to him, but they played it perfectly and we lost yards.
Had a very good block on the second play of the game, an outside run to his side. Sealed Andre Carter and really stuck with the block. Made what should have been a good block of Andre Carter on a Vick run to his side. Shoved Carter to the inside as Vick executed the handoff. Then Celek released to the outside and was going to be a lead blocker. Nice design. Only problem is that Carter made a great play by getting up immediately and tackling Vick. We need to try that with DeSean. We kept Brent in to help with pass pro on a play. Big Al lined up at DE to his side. Brent went for a ride. Not a fun one. Peters came over to save the day. Brent did a good job on the long TD pass. He stayed in to block. WAS ran a stunt. He slowed down Big Al enough that Donnie was able to get the throw off.
SMITH --- Didn't play a ton. Only blocked.
WR
DESEAN --- Explosive night. Took a handoff on the fourth snap of the game and went around the left side for a 67-yard TD. The play suckered the defense on a fake run up the middle. The backside DE and the FS bit on the fake. That let D-Jax get wide and build up a head of steam. He hit the sideline and used an effective block from Maclin to get all the way in for the score. That was his only run of the night.
Caught 2 passes for 69 yards. The big play was a 57-yard TD. Used a double move to get wide open. Great fake. The DBs fell for it and DJax got behind them by about 10 yards. The ball was underthrown, but he got it and scored. Later caught a pass on a crossing route for the other catch of the day. Didn't exactly sell out to make a catch over the middle in the late 3rd. The throw was leading him straight to the MLB.
Back to the long TD. DeSean has got to get a serious lecture from someone about his celebrations. Score the friggin' TD and then celebrate. He started to have his fun at the 5-yard line on the long pass and a DB caught up to him. The guy tackled DeSean in the end zone and it looked like that was the play that got him hurt. Do not mess with the Football Gods. They will punish you. Just ask Leon Lett. I don't care how much dancing DJax does when he scores. Just make sure you get into the end zone and we have our 6 points first. Imagine if the DB had gotten there half a second quicker and really hurt Jackson. That would be a crushing blow to our team and season.
AVANT --- No catches. Only had 1 pass thrown his way. Solid job of blocking. Had a very good block on LB on 4th Qtr Wildcat run.
MACLIN --- Caught 5 passes for 53 yards. I was happy to see J-Mac catching short and intermediate passes. We can't just send him deep all the time. A couple of the catches were quick screens. Maclin made a real good play on the first quick screen because he had good blocking and room to run. The next play he caught the ball and turned into a deer in headlights. This is the NFL, son. You see the end zone up the field? Go that way. Fast. You won't be able to out-juke 11 pro defenders. Better to run for only a couple of yards than to lose a couple.
Hustled to block for Westy on the long TD run. Best catch came in the mid-3rd. Started downfield. Saw McNabb was on the move and came back to the ball. Caught the pass near the sideline and did a toe-tap to make sure he was in-bounds.
J-Mac's highlight didn't involve him making a catch. He pointed out to McNabb that he was wide open on a pass play where the ball went elsewhere. He wasn't jumping up and down and going crazy on the play. All that does is draw attention to you and tell the D they blew a coverage. Jeremy was smart. He let the right guys know about that in a calm manner on the sideline and it led to DeSean's long TD catch.
R. BROWN --- Played, but didn't have any catches.
OL
* We missed some blocking assignments in this game. I couldn't always tell who was supposed to make which block, but there were a handful of plays where defenders were unblocked on run plays and made easy tackles or TFLs. Can't have that.
PETERS --- Tale of two halves. Or is it cities? Played pretty well in the 1st half. Won his share of battles and gave Donovan solid protection. Much more inconsistent in the 2nd half. WAS's D-line outplayed our guys, including Jason. Gave up a sack in the 3rd Qtr. Dove at Carter to cut him, as if he expected the play to be a 3-step drop. McNabb didn't get the ball out quickly and paid for Jason's poor block attempt. Carter got a fair amount of pressure in the 2nd half. Jason did help out on Big Al on a play where he was being blocked by Celek.
JACKSON --- Had an excellent reach block on run to the left side. Got to the DT and stuck on him, creating a running lane of his right hip. Westy hit that area for a gain of 5. Had a good block on Fletcher on screen to Maclin. Made a poor block on a screen. Went to block a guy that Todd already dove at. JJ should have taken out Landry, who was right in front of him. Play could have been a huge gain if he makes that block.
TODD --- Looked pretty good until late. Had a good block in space on a screen to McCoy. Looked very good pulling and moving. I didn't see any evidence of a foot problem. Had a sloppy block on shotgun draw. Didn't control his defender and the guy was able to stop McCoy for a short gain. Made a good block on Wildcat run in the 4th. Pulled and took out a pursuing DT, allowing Vick to get the 1st down. Then things fell apart. Gave up a sack to Big Al in the 4th Qtr. That was a great rush by a huge, powerful man. Todd did his best, but was simply overmatched. Got called for holding late in the game on a run. Got called for holding on a pass. Like I said, pretty good for most of the game. Single blocking Big Al is tough when you're healthy and ready to go. It was a bit too much to ask from Todd in this game.
COLE --- Started at RG. Moved his DT off the line on a running play to the left side. Solid job on screen passes. Fell while trying to take out Fletcher on a 4th Qtr screen. Moved his DT off the ball on a 4th Qtr run.
JUSTICE --- Solid showing. Did a good job in pass pro. False start on 2nd drive. Had a small block on Maclin's screen early in the game. Got out in space and blocked a guy, but didn't really unload on him the way you'd like a bit OT to do in that situation. Had a good block on a Tackle Trap that sprung McCoy for his best run of the game. Almost committed a dumb block in the back penalty on a WR screen in the 3rd Qtr. Wanted to hit someone, but realized what he was about to do and let up. Got away with holding Carter on 4th Qtr pass.
STACY --- Split time with Cole at RG. Probably his best game yet. Did have a false start penalty in the 3rd. Just looks more comfortable out there. Moved around pretty well.
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DE
COLE --- Good game. Had a couple of sacks and a couple of TFLs. First sack came when he just beat Heyer off the edge. Got to the QB about the same time as Clemons. Got his 2nd sack early in the 4th Qtr. Drove Fred Davis backward and then dove and put Campbell down. Got a couple of holding calls on Heyer. Disrupted a screen pass and limited the gain on a 3rd/long play. Had one lowlight. Called for being offside on 3rd/3. We were using a 3-man DL and he was lined up as a LB. Was trying to sell WAS that he was coming and also trying to time his get-off just right. Didn't. I wasn't happy with that. Can't give a crew like that any gifts.
PARKER --- Quiet game. Only had 1 tackle and didn't get much pressure. Got some pressure on Campbell in the late 3rd when he was unblocked on a bootleg. Closed quickly, but not fast enough. Best play was when he beat Fred Davis to get pressure and force Campbell to step up in the pocket. That led to a sack.
CLEMONS --- Good game. Had 3 tackles, sack, and a TFL. Just missed a second sack. Flew off the edge late in the half and got to Campbell half a second after Cole. Got his sack late in the game when he flew off the edge and planted Campbell.
HOWARD --- Sort of a quiet game. Was called for an offside penalty and got away with at least one. Had a couple of tackles. One was nice and came on a run play to his side. Got off the block and brought Portis down at the line. Got a couple of big shots on Campbell late in the half. Came close to a sack late in the game, but Clemons beat him there.
BABIN --- Got to play since VA was hurt and missed the game. Had a sack and 2 TFLs. Victor had 1 sack and 1/2 a TFL for the whole year. Babin played DT and DE. First TFL came on a 3rd down when we used a 5-man DL. Babin lined up over the RG. He drove the guy back and then shed the block to get to Campbell, who had fumbled the snap and was down low trying to secure it. Jason looped around Dixon on run play and hit Portis for no gain. Very close to being a TFL. Got his sack on a blitz where the RT was confused on who to block. Babin came free and got Campbell to the ground. Babin drew a holding call on the RG in the late 3rd when he was about to get free on a pass play.
DT
PATTERSON --- Drew a call for holding. Sometimes DL do this on run plays. They pull an OL to let defenders have gaps to attack. I couldn't see Mike's hands very clearly on the play. The run went away from him and normally that isn't one that defenders will hold on. Strange. Had 4 tackles. Made a good tackle of Portis on a run near the GL. Got off his block and stopped the play for a short gain. Got pressure on 4th Qtr play near GL. Forced a throw away.
BUNKLEY --- Good game. Had a sack, 2 TFLs, and recovered a fumble. Was also in on 6 tackles. Worked his way to the ball on Portis first run of the night and held the play to a short gain. Got his first TFL on a play where he came off a block and got to Portis for a short loss. Got his sack in the late 3rd when the DEs forced Jason to move up in the pocket. Bunk hit him hard. Jason was slow to get up and get going after that shot. The fumble came in the 4th Qtr. WAS had an errant snap. Looked like C didn't think realize they were in the shotgun and the ball came out normal. Bunk saw it and got on the ball in a hurry. Showed great speed for a DT on a play where Jason rolled outside and Bunk chased him down. Jason got rid of the ball at the last second so it meant nothing, but it was impressive.
LAWS --- Had a couple of tackle assists. He's getting better against the run, but struggles with double teams.
DIXON --- Drove RT Mike Williams backward on a run play to the left side when Mike tried to reach block him. That play really gave you a feel for Dixon's power. Mike is over 350 and had no chance on the play. Dixon didn't make the tackle, but his presence took away a cutback lane. Disrupted an inside run play by driving his blocker backward. That opened a lane for a defender to shoot in and make the stop. Tackled Portis on a run up the middle. Just grabbed Clinton as he tried to go by. Minimal gain.
LB
JORDAN --- Tied for the team lead with 8 tackles (6 solos). Really laid the wood in this game. Came from the backside on a run play where Portis thought he had an opening and just floored him with a big shot from the side. Tried to jump a pass to Cooley in the flat. The ball was too high for either guy to catch. Tackled Randle-El after a short catch and knocked the ball out, but unfortunately his knee was down when it finally came loose. Our biggest hit of the game came when Jordan unloaded on FB Mike Sellers after a short catch. Sellers went flying backward and they didn't gain a yard on the play.
GOCONG --- Sort of a quiet night. Was in on 3 tackles. Blitzed off the edge on the first snap and hit Campbell hard, but right after the ball was out. Really planted him. Made a good stop of Cooley on the next play, a TE screen.
SPOON --- He sucks. Only 1 TD? Mark Simoneau, Levon Kirkland, and Barry Gardner would have each scored at least a pair. Spoon had a very impressive debut. He had 8 tackles, a sack, FF, INT, and scored a TD. I was very impressed with him in coverage. He did a solid job on Cooley when they were matched up. There was one pass over the middle where Spoon had been beaten, but he recovered very quickly and was right there. Fortunately for us the ball wasn't right there and it was an incomplete pass. His INT was a simple play, but it showed great awareness and good hands. How often have we seen a defender not find the ball in the air? How often have we seen guys drop easy passes? Spoon tracked the ball as it went up and came down. He made a smooth grab and then turned upfield for the short run into the end zone. The man is a playmaker. On the next series he blitzed up the middle. Timed it well and came unblocked. That's good. What happened next is what makes him special. Spoon showed excellent closing speed as he chased down Campbell and then he knocked the ball loose. He went for the ball, which not enough guys do. Even better, Spoon actually made the tackle. Had Campbell held on, he would have still been sacked. Chased down Moss on a catch and run play. Good to see that kind of range from our MIKE. Tackled Fred Davis after a short catch. No RAC yards. Missed a tackle of Cartwright on a run up the middle. Missed a tackle of Fred Davis in the late 3rd because he was trying to strip the ball. Had good coverage on the play. Tackled Campbell on QB scramble on 3rd/GL.
There was a sideline tackle where he took down a Skins player out of bounds. There was no flag initially. Then a flag came out. The refs had a conference and picked up the flag. The announcers thought it was a sure penalty. I didn't. Spoon tripped as he and the other guy were going out of bounds. That is what made them go to the ground. He didn't intentionally throw the player to the ground.
TROTTER --- Played on some run downs. Tried to blow up a goal line run. Timed it well, but the play went to the other side. Looked like he was moving around better.
CB
S BROWN --- Had 3 tackles. Came up quickly on underneath throws to get his receiver down. Prevented a TD with good coverage in the end zone. Had good inside-out coverage and didn't leave a good throwing angle for the QB. The ball was incomplete. Gambled on a slant ' go play. Left his WR wide open for an easy TD, but luckily Campbell was looking elsewhere.
SAMUEL --- Had 4 solo tackles. Made a clean stop of Cooley on the first Redskins play. If only Sammie had done that last week. Obviously the criticism got to him. Good to see. Be a ball hawk, but at least be a speed bump when you have to tackle. Gave up a TD to Devin Thomas. Bit hard on an underneath route and left Thomas open behind him. It is possible that he wasn't supposed to have that guy, but after watching the replay it sure looked like Sammie's guy. Brought down ARE in the open field late in the half. Also made a good tackle of ARE in the late 3rd after a short throw. Missed a tackle of Devin Thomas late in the game on 3rd/long that did let them move the chains on a scoring drive. No picks or PBUs.
HOBBS --- Sorta quiet game. Had a couple of tackles. Got run over by RT Mike Williams on a short pass in his area.
HANSON --- Pretty good game. MmmBop had 6 tackles. He covered Moss a few times and held his own. You can tell he's more quick than fast, but his effort and toughness make him effective in limited space. Did lose Moss on one pass and gave up some RAC yards.
S
MIKELL --- Solid game. Had 4 tackles, deflected a couple of passes, and recovered a fumble. Best moment came on a blitz up the middle. Got blocked, but kept his arms up and knocked the pass up into the air. Spoon got it and scored. Q recovered a fumble after Spoon stripped the ball from Campbell. It was good to see Q being nice to the new guy. You know how hard it can be for kids to switch schools in the middle of the year. Gave up a TD late in the game to Davis, but I'm not totally sure it was his fault. Played way inside, as if he expected held from another DB on the other side of Davis.
HARRIS --- Bit hard on early play fake and left Cooley wide open for short catch and good gain. Macho was being over-aggressive. Hurt his ankle on a tackle of Cartwright on a run up the middle. Left the game for a while. Only had 1 tackle. Still owes me a play.
DEMPS --- Got some PT in place of Harris. Had 1 tackle.
JONES --- Played some in place of Harris. Got a nice hit on TE after a short catch. Had 4 tackles in the game. Batted down a pass near the line when he blitzed and got his hand up. Had a gimme sack late in the game when he came free up the middle, but went too high. Jason ducked and got by him.
________________________________
SPECIAL TEAMS
ROCCA --- Had one bad shank. Pinned WAS at our 32. I'm pretty sure that's not good. Had a lousy average for the game, but 4 of 8 punts did pin WAS inside their 20.
AKERS --- Good game. 2 of 2, both from 40+. Kickoffs had good depth.
KOR ---
* Hobbs had returns of 18 and 19. They covered KOs pretty darn well.
PR ---
* DeSean fumbled his first PR. Didn't panic and was able to cleanly scoop it up and get out of bounds. He did have a 29-yard PR in the game. Came close to breaking it.
* Maclin returned a punt in the late 3rd. Only got a yard, but looked smooth at making the catch.
MISC STs ---
* The Redskins gave us an odd look on a punt early in the 2nd half. We had some blocking confusion and called a timeout. Reid was not happy. You could see him yelling at Ted Daisher.
* Gave up a long KOR on the run back after Akers FG.
* Macho was called for going at someone's knees. Costy penalty in KO coverage.
* Eldra Buckley made a good tackle in KO coverage.
* Sean Jones recovered a muffed punt.
* Quintin Demps called for holding on a PR. That helped to pin us back at our own 7.
* We had poor blocking on the first KOR. Hobbs didn't even make it to the 20.
The Giants come to town on Sunday for a big NFC East showdown with the Eagles. The Cowboys, Eagles, and Giants all have two losses so far. The loser of this game will drop back and then Dallas comes to town next week for another big game.
While New York and Philadelphia have good records, neither team is playing well right now. The teams are a combined 1-3 in the last two weeks. The lone win was the Eagles victory on Monday night, hardly a shining example of good football.
I think both teams have been hurt by playing such poor competition early. Teams like KC, OAK, and TB are really bad this year. If you win, what did your team really find out? Does that really get you ready for the next week? A loss...well we found out about that the hard way.
I think the Eagles and Giants are good teams. We just haven't seen them play well in the last couple of weeks. That puts a lot of pressure on them to go out and show something in this matchup. Winning is important to stay near the top of the division, but playing well would also be nice.
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
The Giants are 5-2. They opened the season with 5 straight wins, beating the little sisters of the poor. Then they went to New Orleans and got whipped. That was just the players having Saturday night fun, of course. The game...well, that was a whipping as well. The Giants got a major beatdown as the Saints offense was unstoppable. The final was 48-27. The Giants then shocked me by losing at home Sunday night to Arizona, 24-17.
Since they did play on Sunday night and we play them twice a year I'm not going to write about them at length. Quick stuff:
* The Red Zone has been somewhat of a problem. NY has had to settle for more FGs than they'd like. Lawrence Tynes is 7 of 9 on FGs of 20-29 yards. The averaged distance of his FGs is 32.8 yards. That tells you he's mostly kicking from the Red Zone.
* The fierce pass rush hasn't been so fierce. The Giants have 16 sacks in 7 games. That puts them on pace for 37 this year. Consider that they've played bad teams and almost always had the lead. Tuck, Osi, and Kiwi have combined for 9.5. That's not great, but the rest of the team isn't helping much.
* The passing attack is more big play than ever. They have a higher average yards per reception and higher average yards per pass attempt than us. 4 different guys have receptions of 40+. One is Bradshaw and his was a screen that he broke for a long gain.
* Surprisingly, 3rd/short situations have been a problem. You'd think that their O-line and a power runner like Jacobs would be virtually automatic. That hasn't been the case at all. I haven't seen enough of the plays to have a good feel for what the problem is. We stopped them twice in the playoff game last year on 4th/short.
PLAYERS
* WR Mario Manningham --- Young WR has gone from an afterthought to a productive player. He's put up good numbers, 28-439-4. Mario should be more polished than he is since this is his 2nd year. He runs sloppy routes at times. He has 7 dropped passes, including a TD from last week. 10 of his catches came in Week 2 vs Dallas.
* WR Hakeem Nicks --- I wanted the Eagles to take this guy in the 1st round. He's exactly what we need opposite of DJax...a tough, physical receiver. I'll watch the careers of him and Maclin closely to see who becomes the better player. Nicks is pretty hot right now. In the last 3 games he has 13 catches and 3 TDs.
* WR Steve Smith ---- He has emerged into a top flight WR. 45-594-4. He is sound, running crisp routes and making tough catches. He's also proven to be more athletic than I thought he would. Smith is deadly in the slot. He's very effective in the middle of the field. His production has slowed since defenses started paying him more attention. That just frees up Nicks and MM to make plays.
* RB Ahmad Bradshaw --- He was the #3 runner last year, but has become the #2 guy this year. He's got 40 less carries than Jacobs, but almost the same yardage. And he does have more TDs. Bradshaw is averaging 5.7 ypc. He is quick and elusive. Runs hard. Has pretty good vision. Makes good cuts. There is one area where he is struggling...pass protection. Bradshaw missed some assignment vs the Saints that really hurt the Giants. Bradshawn then struggled vs the Cards last week. He didn't run well. He caught one pass and lost 5 yards. He also lost a fumble. The Giants need him to get back to previous form to help their offense.
* WR Domenik Hixon --- He's gotten lost in the shuffle as a receiver, but got his job back as the KOR and PR a couple weeks back and has been terrific. He averages 29 yards per KOR and 14 yards per PR. Pretty good speed and he runs hard.
* Injured Guys --- The Giants have lost some pretty good players so far. S Kenny Phillips is done. CB Aaron Ross hasn't played. DT Chris Canty hasn't played, but he's getting close. LB Michael Boley has missed the last few games. Notice that all these guys are key defensive players.
* DE Justin Tuck --- He isn't putting up huge numbers, but this is the guy I fear. Osi has the big rep, but Tuck is the better player. He can play either side or inside. He can use quickness or power.
* Safety CC Brown --- He took over for Phillips. Productive defender who can hit and tackle. Not as gifted at coverage. He's 2nd on the team in tackles and has 3 FFs.
* CB Terrell Thomas --- He took over for Ross. Thomas is having a solid year. He leads the team with 2 picks and 8 pass break-ups. Big CB. Lacks ideal speed. Good blitzer.
* P Jeff Feagles --- I thought the fountain of youth was in the jungles of Florida, not the meadowlands of Jersey. Feagles is 237 years old, but continues to be a good punter. Almost half of his punts have been downed inside the 20. He doesn't have a great leg, but is accuracy and ball control are outstanding.
I decided to go back to last season to figure out what we should do vs the Giants. We lost 36-31 at midesason and then beat them late and in the playoffs. I remembered some part of those games, but actually went back and re-read my Game Reviews to get a better feel for things.
The wins were interesting. In the regular season the Eagles really fed the ball to Westy and the TEs. The game was played on a cold, windy afternoon so that made perfect sense. Wide receivers only caught a handful of passes. DeSean Jackson didn’t have a catch. The rematch in the playoffs was different. The Giants limited Westbrook’s effectiveness and Donovan completed 12 passes to his WRs.
Both games featured a short, safe passing attack. McNabb executed the attack very well. He was calm in the pocket and accurate with his throws. He came up big on third downs, helping us to convert 19 of 32 attempts. The skill players also had a huge hand in this. One of the keys to moving the ball effectively when you play "small ball” is getting yards after the catch. Running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers all came through in this department.
The pass protection was also outstanding. McNabb threw 70 passes in those games, but wasn’t sacked once. I remembered the line doing a good job, but was surprised to read that stat. I double-checked to make sure it was accurate. Not only did the line block well, but the coaches had a smart gameplan. They mixed in extra blockers. They focused on shorter pass routes. McNabb helped himself by getting the ball out quickly.
I’m interested to see what each coaching staff does this time around. The Eagles would be wise to have a similar plan, but the Giants will know that. The Giants need to get pressure on McNabb. If the defensive line can’t do that, they’ll have to blitz aggressively. The Giants also must tackle well to limit yards after the catch.
There are two main keys for the Eagles. The offensive line must control the line of scrimmage and McNabb must play well. That may seem like I’m oversimplifying things, but really those are the factors that decide games like this.
The line must create some running lanes so that the ground game is at least effective. That eases the pressure on McNabb and opens up some passing lanes. Misdirection plays and outside runs weren’t very successful last year because of the Giants attacking style of defense. Look for more straight-ahead power running. Hit a seam and you might come up with a good gain.
Pass protection will be crucial. Left tackle Jason Peters will have his hands full with Osi Umenyiora. Peters is a high quality blocker, but pure speed rushers are not his strength. I’m sure the coaches will have tight ends and backs chip on Umenyiora to slow him down. Right tackle Winston Justice has the very tough assignment of handling Justin Tuck. Umenyiora has the bigger reputation, but Tuck is the better player. He can beat you with quickness, power, and skill. He can line up on either side or at defensive tackle. Justice will face him most of the time. Justice has greatly exceeded my expectations this year. Sunday will be his biggest test. Control Tuck and we’ve got a chance to win.
McNabb must be on time and on target with his throws. He’s got to be calm and confident in the pocket. He has the weapons to move the ball and win this game, even if Westbrook isn’t able to go. Jackson is emerging as a great receiver. Jeremy Maclin seems to get better each week. I didn’t see him replacing Kevin Curtis this smoothly or quickly. Brent Celek leads the team in catches and should be a key weapon in this game. Slot receiver Jason Avant is due for a big game. He matches up well with Giants defensive backs. McNabb doesn’t have to win the game by himself. He needs to get the ball to his playmakers.
LeSean McCoy could very well start at running back. We need him to be ready. The biggest test will be how he handles pass protection. McCoy gave up a sack on Monday night with a sloppy block. The Giants are good blitzers. McCoy must know who to block and he must make the block. I’m not too worried about his running. I know some fans have concerns. McCoy only averages 3.7 yards per rush. He only has 1 TD and his long run is just 15 yards. These numbers will improve. Right now he’s thinking too much and not being instinctive. McCoy is very gifted. The more experience he gets, the more natural he will start to play. That’s when you’ll see his natural ability really start to shine. Better line play will also help matters.
Things would be a lot easier if we knew that Brian Westbrook would play. He suffered a nasty concussion last week and is going to be a game time decision. That means the offense can’t count on him. They’ve got to build a gameplan for the other players.
The Eagles defense gave up 36 points to the Giants in the first meeting last year. In the two subsequent games the Giants scored a total of 25 points, with seven coming on the return of a blocked field goal. Another seven came against a prevent defense late in the game. That sounds great, but we have to look inside the numbers.
I mentioned earlier that the weather in those games was cold and windy. That really affected Eli Manning. He only completed 28 passes in those two games combined. Manning has a solid arm, but isn’t strong enough to drive the ball through heavy wind on a regular basis. He also was hurt by drops in each of the games. Sunday isn’t projected to be a bitter, windy day. That means that Manning will likely be more effective as a passer. The Eagles can’t count on the Giants offense struggling the way it did last year in the two losses.
The Eagle defense certainly did have something to do with those problems. The defensive line played well against the run. The pass rush was okay, but inconsistent. Middle linebacker Stewart Bradley was the leading tackler in each game and really keyed the defense. We will miss him. Will Witherspoon was great on Monday night. He’ll need to come up big. Witherspoon must fight to get off blocks and to the ball. Akeem Jordan’s primary task will be to take on fullback Madison Hedgecock and limit his effectiveness as the lead blocker. Running back Brandon Jacobs isn’t nearly as effective when the guy in front of him gets stuffed by a linebacker. Chris Gocong has to help by setting the edge and forcing plays to stay inside or bounce way outside. Tackling is also critical. Stopping Jacobs takes multiple defenders. We must swarm to the ball.
Joining Jacobs in the backfield this year is Ahmad Bradshaw. He was the number three runner last year. He’s now got the backup job and is having a good season. He is quick and elusive, but also runs hard. Bradshaw isn’t strong in pass protection. You can bet the Eagles will test him with a variety of looks and blitzers.
The key member of the secondary is Quintin Mikell. He has to help in coverage, but must fly up in run support when he sees run action. This gets tricky when the Giants use play-action passes. Mikell must read his keys and make sure he’s coming up on run plays. The Giants have really improved their downfield passing attack. Manning is throwing the ball well right now and receivers Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks are both having good years.
It sounds like Sean Jones will start at FS. This might be a game where he'll fit in well. Jones loves to hit. That will be needed against Jacobs and the Giants rushing attack. Jones does need to be sound in coverage. You don't want him trying to do too much and getting burned. Just do your job. Sean has a ton of talent. The coaches have brought him along slowly, partially due to the fact he didn't stand out in the spring or summer. We do need some plays from the FS spot. Maybe Jones will be the answer.
Both teams have solid kicking games and good returners. Domenik Hixon has given a major boost to the Giants return game since he took the job back from Sinorice Moss. The Eagles must contain Hixon.
Initially I was very nervous about this game. They have lost two games in a row and that makes them a desperate team. One rule in the NFL is that you never want to play desperate teams. The more I think about this game, the more excited I am to see what happens.
_
One of my favorite movies of all time is Midway. There is nothing great about the movie, but it is just utterly watchable. Charlton Heston overacts in a way that only he could and still do a good job with the role. The highlight of the movie comes when US bombers catch Japanese aircraft carriers exposed. They had no fighter cover to keep the bombers away. Even worse, the flight decks were full of planes loaded with bombs, ammo, and fuel. A major disaster ensues. I love the scene where they show the US Naval staff sitting on their ships listening to the pilots announce what they have found. There is a combination of shock and joy in the pilots voices. They simply can't believe what they're seeing.
I know Eagles players had that same feeling yesterday on a few plays. The Giants would line up with a particular defensive alignment. It was either exactly what we expected...or better. I bet McNabb and company were sitting there thinking "this is gonna be a TD." The TD pass to Celek was there for the taking even before the ball was snapped. The TD pass to DeSean was set up well. When the Giants zone blitzed on the play that made it even easier. The TD run by McCoy was the best moment. We had a bunch to the right. The Giants shifted that way just before the snap, leaving the backside wide open. I'm sure LeSean's eyes were huge as he saw that. We couldn't have asked for a better alignment by them. We did have to earn the scores by Maclin and Weaver.
Huge win for the Birds. After the Raiders game I said that we needed to see what happened so we could understand that game. 2 weeks later, we can see that the loss was a bad day and that's it. The Eagles responded well and now are 5-2. We are 2-0 in the NFC East. Last year we started 0-3 in the division before finishing 2-4 overall.
It was also good to have a win where all 3 phases of the game clicked and did so against quality competition. There are things to fix still, but there isn't one area of the team that struggled in such a way as to draw away from the overall success.
The gameplan was smart. First play was a screen pass to McCoy. Next up was an outside run to McCoy. Finally we had an inside run to Weaver that turned into a long TD. We fed the ball to the RBs. That let the OL build some confidence. It gave our RBs confidence as well. We actually tried to come out and play small ball, but the Giants wouldn't let us. They blew tackles and coverages and let us move up and down the field, almost with ease.
McNabb easily played his best game of the year. Great timing. The skill players made plays. Remember the days when a game without Westy meant disaster. The Giants gained 350 yards and scored 17 points. That might have been good enough to win in some past seasons. Back in 2007 we scored 16 points against them the whole year. The skill guys did their job and then some. We controlled the LOS on both sides of the ball.
The defense gave up 350 or so yards, but played well. They came up with 2 INTs and never let Eli get really comfortable. He got hot for a short while, but mainly throwing short passes. We controlled Jacobs and the run game. The back seven did a brilliant job in coverage. The Giants scored 17 points, but 10 of them came on short fields.
MISC
Points Off Turnovers: PHI 17 , NYG 10
* We got a lot of RAC yards. DeSean, Avant, Celek, McCoy all helped in this department.
* Jacobs got loose for 14 yards on his first run. We contained him for the rest of the game, 19 runs for 72 yards.
* 3rd down passes to Steve Smith got the best of us a couple of times.
* Eli will hold the ball to the last possible second, but still get rid of the ball. That's can be maddening.
* Had to waste a timeout on defense.
STANDOUT PLAYS
* 2nd/7 from NYG 41 --- We lined up in the Ace Formation (2 TE, 2 WR). This is a balanced look because there is no true strong side. The defense has no real idea where the ball is going. Weaver was lined up at RB. Prior to the snap McNabb was signaling to Weaver. He pointed to both sides, then tapped his left leg. The signal gets switched regularly so that you don't know if that means go to this side or the other. This time it meant go left, which Weaver did.
Brent Celek had a poor block on Tuck, but didn't give up. He occupied Tuck's backside arm. Tuck crashed down and got to the hole to make the tackle. He could only get one arm on Weaver because Celek was tugging at the other one. Celek didn't grab and hold it. That would have drawn a flag. He just didn't let Tuck bring it cleanly over to make the stop.
About the blocking...Justice started inside to make sure the DT didn't get penetration. Then Justice got on LB Danny Clark and blocked him. If Winston doesn't make that block the play is stopped for a 2 yard gain. Todd got on Antonio Pierce and took him for a ride. JJ walled off Barry Cofield and cleared him out of the play. Cole somehow got Robbins to the ground. Robbins might have slipped or tripped. Didn't look like anything dirty from Nick.
Weaver started left with his first step, then went up the middle. He ran through Tuck's attempted tackle. Once he was through the line he headed back to the left and turned on the jets. Don't laugh at that phrase. He showed good speed as he created separation from the defenders. Brown chased him down near the GL, but Weaver ran through the tackle attempt.
* 3rd/GL from the NYG 17 --- We lined up with 2 WRs to the right and DeSean to the far left. Celek was in-line, on the right side. The alignment may seem simple, but had a distinct purpose. DeSean had a CB on him. The S on that side had to cheat out further because DeSean was so far wide. That left a gap in the middle of the field. Celek went up the middle and found a nice big hole in the middle of the defense. Donovan put the ball up high where he could go get it. TD. The ball needed to be up high since a S was in trail coverage while playing a LB type role in that set. The OL did a good job. Todd had to control Kiwi, who had lined up at DT. Excellent design, execution, and blocking.
* 3rd/1 from the NYG 15 --- Vick came in at QB. 3 WR set. We put 2 to the right (wide side). Celek flexed out that way. Vick takes the shotgun snap. Celek charges in and blocks the DE to that side. Justice pulls and acts as the lead blocker. Maclin seals his DB and Vick has a clear lane to the far right. He runs untouched for 4 yards and moves the chains.
* 1st/10 from PHI 46 --- Donovan was in the shotgun. We had 2 WRs and 2 TEs. Alex Smith stayed in to block. Celek went out into the left flat. DeSean was split to the left, but was inside the numbers. Maclin was wide to the right. The OL + Smith and McCoy gave us 7 blockers. The Giants ran a zone blitz and had 4 guys coming. We had them easily blocked. DeSean ran a post corner and was wide open. He sold the route to CC Brown and that got Brown off balance. DeSean cut outside and Brown had no chance to recover. Donovan hit DJax downfield and Jackson hustled into the end zone this week. Great way to respond to the Giants TD.
* 1st/10 from NYG 23 --- Shotgun. TE right. 2 WRs right. Maclin left. Jeremy started to release outside, then stepped back inside and went up the field. This subtle move gave him inside position on the CB. Donovan threw the ball up high, where Maclin could go get it. Maclin looked back as he ran downfield and was able to see the ball. That let him go up and make a good play on it. TD. He showed good strength by making the grab with the DB all over his back. McNabb flinched on the play prior to throwing. I don't know if any defenders were affected by that.
* There were only 2 calls I really didn't like. We had 2nd/7 from their 34. Lined up in shotgun. We tried to run a draw play. The blew it up for a loss. Justice pulled from RT to the left side as if it were a tackle trap play. He did fine, but Osi is too quick for that play. Osi flew upfield and nailed McCoy. Moose Johnston blamed Peters for not making the block, but the design of the play sure made it look like he wasn't supposed to and that Osi was Winston's guy to hit. I didn't like the play because it is slow. We had success with quick hitters where we attacked the Giants. This play let them attack.
The other call had a similar feel. We had 1st/10 from their 40. We had a big lead and were running the ball well. Out of nowhere comes this slow developing play with a fake. The Giants blitz and sack McNabb, knocking the ball out. The DT recovers and takes off downfield. He gets it to Osi, who runs it back for a TD. Andy challenged the play. The officials ruled it a legit fumble, but noticed that from the DT to Osi was a forward pass. It's a little bit of an optical illusion that makes it look like a lateral. This led to a FG.
I don't want to complain too much because Andy/Marty did such a good job, but...don't stop yourself. We were running on them on that drive. It was eating away their soul (or whatever Giants players have). Then we get cute looking for a big play and they turn it into a disaster. I really wish we'd have stayed on the ground and pounded them.
MCNABB - Terrific game. We saw the good McNabb for the first time in a real game in 2009. Great timing. Here are the numbers, 17-23-240 & 3 TDs. Donovan spent some time during the week trying to figure out what was wrong with his throwing. Whatever he finally decided on ... he fixed it.
McNabb was confident in the pocket and made smart decisions. There were a few plays where I'd make a pre-snap read and Donovan would throw the ball right where I expected. He was aggressive, but not risky. He was accurate with his passes and gave his guys a chance to make things happen, especially on the Maclin TD.
3rd downs weren't a problem. We converted 6 of 11. I think we were 5 of 8 at one point. Donovan got the ball out quickly and decisively. That eliminated pass rush issues and gave his receivers a chance to do something with the ball after the catch.
Quick Notes:
* Key scramble late in 1st Qtr. 3rd/11. Ran up the middle for 14 yards.
* Terrible job on screen to open the 2nd Qtr. Forced the ball into a group. Can't do that, especially when we've got a lead and we're moving the ball. Donovan knows better than to make that throw.
* Had 2 batted passes on series inside RZ.
* Another batted pass deep in Giants terr. Happened 2 plays later again. Troublesome.
* On 2nd/GL from the 17 he made a very good throw to DeSean down the left side. The CB helped to break it up. DeSean had single coverage and that was the smart place to go with the ball. Everybody did their job well on the play, unfortunately including the DB.
* Caught his own pass. Threw a ball that Tuck was trying to pick off. Donovan stuck his hand in there to knock it away. The ball popped up and Donnie grabbed it and took off for a 1-yard gain. Good hands, lousy RAC skills. Not a wise decision to attempt that throw. We got lucky.
* Called an audible in the 3rd and that run gained us 7 yards.
* Made me nervous with a quick out pass to open 4th. I had visions of Roy Williams and 2005.
* Overthrew screen due to blitz late in the game. A better pass would have led to a good gain, but Donovan had a guy bearing down on him.
VICK - Only had one significant snap. Played QB on 3rd/1. Ran to his right and got good blocking. Gained 4 yards and moved the chains.
RB
MCCOY - Good game. Ran 11 times for 82 yards. Obviously 66 came on one play so he didn't have a great day aside from that run. LeSean did a pretty good job of running N-S, but he still hesitates more than you'd like. He's always looking for a big play. Focus on the 4-yard runs and the big plays will come. The long TD was a good run. LeSean hit the hole hard. Made one guy miss near the line. Turned on the speed and used a downfield block from Maclin to distract a defender. Then used a stutter-step about the 10 to keep the DB from tackling him. Had 2 receptions. Caught a screen on the first play from scrimmage. Got the play on the right side and went upfield for 16 yards. Did a pretty good job of reading his blocks on the play. Caught a screen in the 4th that was overthrown. Great effort to make the grab, but lost yards.
Had a solid day as a blocker. Good blitz P/U on PA pass to Celek. Good block of blitzer on 3rd Qtr pass. Went up high to take on the target. Needs to work on his chip blocks. Tuck got the best of him on one play. Later Tuck avoided a chip. LeSean needs to make contact, even if the DE tries to duck the hit. You have to land some shots on those guys when you get the chance.
BUCKLEY - Good game on STs. Got some carries late in the game. Had 2 runs for 6 yards. Call him ..."The Finisher".
FB
WEAVER - Huge game. Leonard Part 6 finally became a featured part of the offense. He had 8 carries for 75 yards. His biggest play was a 41-yard TD on the opening drive. He ran downhill on the play and then showed really good open field speed. We had good success running out of the Ace Formation. Even if a defender came free, Weaver would knock him back for a yard or two gain. Fed the ball to him on N-S plays. Weaver ran hard. He's got some running skills and will catch some defenders off guard with his speed.
4 words for Andy...Give us more Weaver.
TE
CELEK - Good game. Caught 4 passes for 61 yards and 1 TD. Blocking was solid. Caught an early TD only to have it wiped out by penalty. A couple of plays later he caught a 17-yard pass for the TD. Right down the middle, between the Safeties. Had a very good seal block on a DE on a run to his side. Brent had to get good position on the play. Did that with good footwork and then sealed the DE, giving Shady a clean edge. Flexed out left late in the half. Went upfield and Donovan hit him for a gain of 20. The throw was behind him, but Brent was able to adjust and bring it in. Had a very impressive play in the 4th Qtr. Caught a 3rd down pass 8 yards shy of the sticks. Fought through 2 tackles to get upfield and move the chains. Great effort. You'd think he was down big instead of up and simply trying to eat the clock.
SMITH - Got his first catch as a Bird. Solid job of blocking. Caught a pass in the right flat and turned upfield for a gain of 11. We went play-action to the left. Donovan wheeled and threw quickly to Smith, who was wide open. Alex then took off to get some RAC yards. Got into a couple of shoving matches with Giants defenders. I don't mind a TE getting feisty after some run blocking.
WR
DESEAN - Another game, another big play TD. Crazy. 3-78-1. The highlight was the 54-yard TD (covered up above). Caught a pass over the middle for a gain of 9 early on. Caught a pass on a crossing route in the late 3rd moved us from back deep out to the 25. Had a couple of good blocks in the game.
MACLIN - Solid game. 4-47-1. Caught a pass on a crossing route in the 2nd Qtr and just missed breaking it for a big play. Got tackled from behind or he might have been gone for a huge gain. Great TD catch late in the half. Got inside position on the CB and then went up aggressively and brought the ball in. Snagged a quick out in the early 4th. Excellent hands on the catch. Blocked well on a couple of plays, most notably LeSean's TD run.
AVANT - Caught 2 passes for 32 yards. Caught short pass on early 3rd down. Broke a tackle in the flat and turned upfield for 28 yards. That was Jason at his best. Had a short grab in the 2nd half. Did a solid job as a blocker. Had an okay block on early McCoy run. Came in motion to the formation and blocked Tuck. Didn't make a clean block, but it was good enough to let Shady get to the outside edge and turn upfield for a couple of yards. This is the modern crackback block. You hit the guy up high in a clean, safe way. Tuck made the tackle. In the old days Avant would have gone for Tuck's lower legs and put him on the ground. That would have bought us an extra couple of yards.
OL
* Stunts gave us problems more than a few times. The Giants have good D-linemen and our blockers are still getting used to each other.
PETERS - Up and down game. Got called for holding on early play that wiped out a TD pass. Osi got free to the inside. Jason stuck with the block. He recovered well, but then ended up hooking Osi and getting the flag. Had a sloppy block when trying to seal DT on outside run. Cofield made the tackle on the play. If Jason gets a better block, Shady might have gone a long way on the run. Had to settle for a yard or two. Cofield does deserve credit for getting off the block and hustling on the play. Got beaten by Osi for sack, FF. Jason hustled to get to the ball and didn't let the Giants recover. In his defense, Jason had knocked Osi deep. McNabb was in the pocket and then went backward, right into Osi's path. Most of that may seem bad, but Jason kept McNabb clean most of the game. Didn't have any standout run blocks.
TODD - Looked good once again. Moved around really well and didn't look rusty. Lost Osi on a stunt they ran. Didnt hurt us, though. Worked hard to stick with his rusher on a play where they ran a stunt/game. Gave Donnie time to get the pass off. Had a solid day on run plays.
JACKSON - Very good game. Had a good block on a run in the 3rd. Rode the DT wide and created a big cutback lane. Moved a DT on a Weaver run up the middle. Got good movement on that play. Sealed DT on McCoy's long TD run. We generally handled the Giants blitz well and Jamaal gets a lot of credit for that because he makes the line calls.
STACY - Good block of Pierce sealed a running lane for McCoy in the 3rd. Occupied Robbins on a run up the middle in the 3rd. Didn't move him, but kept him from making the tackle as Weaver ran by.
COLE - Started at RG and split time with Stacy. Best block came on the Weaver TD run.
JUSTICE - Another good game. Lost his man on a stunt and let Kiwi come free around the edge and flush McNabb on a 3rd down play. They tried a stunt on the next 3rd down and Justice handled it perfectly. Turned the DE over to Stacy at RG and then got on the DT looping wide and blocked him. Made a very good block on backside LB on run play. Weaver cut back and if he could have kept his feet he might have gone for a big gain right off Justice's hip. Had a good down block on run by McCoy in the 3rd Qtr. Blocked a LB on Weaver run up the middle. Tripped on the play, but still managed to get in the LB's way.
___________________________________
DE
COLE - Good game. All over the place. Had 4 solo tackles. Didn't get to Eli, but hit him a couple of times and got some pressure. Just missed sack in the 1st Qtr on 3rd/3. Beat the LT and hit Eli just a nano-second after the ball was gone. Got inside the TE's block on a run away from him and Trent hustled down the line to stop the RB for no gain. Flushed Eli with pressure on 3rd/long. Unfortunately he ran for the 1st. Slipped while near Manning on play where Clemons had flushed him or Trent might have gotten his sack. Flew off the edge late in the half and hit Eli in the middle of his motion. Almost forced a fumble, but we had to settle for an incomplete pass. The next play was a bad overthrow that we picked off. Pressure does have a residual effect. Hustled down the line to tackle Jacobs in the early 3rd for short gain. Drew holding call on Jacobs in the 2nd half.
PARKER - Had 1 tackle in the game according to the gamebook, but that's off. That came when they ran to his side in the late 2nd. Juqua got off his block and stopped Jacobs for only a few yards. Got good pressure on a 3rd Qtr pass. Came close to getting a sack, but couldn't get to Eli before the ball was gone. Helped to stuff a run play that came his way in the 3rd. Drove the RT into Eli in the 3rd and forced an incompletion. Tackled Jacobs on a run in the late 3rd. Hit Eli late in the game and forced an incompletion.
CLEMONS - Should have had a 1st Qtr sack. Used a good burst off the ball to get by the RT. Flushed Eli. Kept chasing on the play and just as he caught up and was about to bring him down, Babin came in low to make the tackle of Manning. Chris did all the work, but got nothing to show for it.
HOWARD - Quiet game. Made a good tackle of Bradshaw on running play. Held him to a gain of 4. Got some pressure up the middle late in the half, on the play where Eli overthrew his receiver and we picked the pass. Drew a holding call on Seubert on a screen pass late in the half.
BABIN - Good game. Had 3 solo tackles and a sack. Played both DE and DT. Just missed a sack in the 1st Qtr when he used a spin move to get off a block and Eli was right by him. Jason wasn't able to make the tackle. Chased down Jacobs from behind on a run and stopped him for a short gain. Got his sack when Clemons flushed Eli and chased him back to the line. Babin went low and tackled Eli. Called for horse collar tackle. Good effort to chase down Eli. Only grabbed the jersey. Looked lik a clean play to me. Had a TFL on a WR screen on the next play when he hustled out in pursuit.
DT
PATTERSON - Good game. Had 3 tackles and played solid run defense. Got a big hit on Eli on 1st Qtr pass. Got by his blocker and hit Manning half a second after he threw. That caused the ball to be high and incomplete. Got penetration on a 2nd Qtr run and hit Jacobs in the backfield, but couldn't wrap him up. Came free up the middle in the 3rd and hit Eli after the ball was out.
BUNKLEY - Solid game. Only had 1 tackle to show for it. Lined him up off the ball at times, but normally kept him right on the line. Came free to the outside on a stunt and flattened Eli on PA pass, but the ball was out. Clean, legal shot. That was our biggest hit on Manning. Also had our biggest hit on Jacobs. Hustled in pursuit of the ball. BJ was bouncing off tacklers when Bunk hit him from behind and knocked him back a step. Got to Eli on his TD throw in the 2nd Qtr, but the ball was gone by then.
LAWS - Showed good hustle on a run away from him. Got down the line and in on the stop of the runner. Had some nice snaps. Played in the Nickel a time or two.
DIXON - Maybe his most playing time yet. Not his best game, though. This was the best OL he's faced. Got moved off the ball a couple of times. Found out the hard way that you have to battle the Giants blockers on every second of every snap. Had a couple of solo tackles. Got his first NFL sack late in the game.
LB
JORDAN - Led the team with 7 tackles (6 solo). Was a real physical presence in the middle of the defense. Got run over by Jacobs on the first play, but Akeem didn't have his feet clearly under him and that's no way to try and take on Big Brandon. Stuffed an inside run by Bradshaw. Met him in the hole and stopped the play for minimal gain. Made a good tackle of Hixon on WR screen in the 2nd Qtr. That play had some potential if Akeem didn't make a clean stop. Made a good tackle of Jacobs on draw up the middle.
GOCONG - Only had 1 tackle, but played well. Helped to shut down Jacobs. Had to leave the game for a while due to injury. Blew up an early run by attacking a pulling G and stuffing him and the FB. That caused Jacobs to stop and re-direct. Attacked upfield on a run play and stuffed Jacobs for only a yard.
SPOON - Solid game. Had 6 tackles (5 solo). Was aggressive in taking on blockers on run plays. Got burned on an Eli scramble on 3rd/long. Spoon was a step too wide and the G cut him off, leaving Eli a huge void to run through up the middle. He did just that and moved the chains. Attacked into the backfield and took out a pulling OL. That let other guys stop Jacobs for a short gain. Blitzed outside on 3rd down and got pressure on Eli, but he got the ball away just before Spoon got there. Made a good stop on Jacobs on a run off right tackle. Had tight downfield coverage on Boss on pass play late in half. Batted pass on 3rd down play just after halftime. Leapt up to break up a downfield throw to Boss, but was unable to get quite that high. Great effort and good timing.
FUKOU - Came in ro replace injured Gocong for a few plays. Did okay on the runs he faced. Looked a bit confused when the Giants went to a spread set and he was out in space. Boss was in tight and went upfield for a TD. That wasn't his man, but Fukou could have helped on the play if he was more sure of himself.
TROT- Didn't play a lot. Tried to blow up a GL run by attacking upfield and diving into the backfield, but didn't hit anyone. They actually scored on that play.
CB
S BROWN - Good game. Had good downfield coverage on WR when throw came that way. The ball was wide. Sheldon tried to play it, but the pass bounced off his helmet and further out of bounds. Gave up long completion to Nicks. Let Hakeem get inside position. Went up to play the ball, but couldn't get to it. Moved inside to cover Smith in the slot at times. Had INT taken away by penalty when he was called for holding Smith. That was a good call. Sheldon got greedy with a jersey tug. Had tight coverage of Boss on 1st/GL pass in late 3rd. Eli had to throw the ball away. Broke up a pass in the 4th Qtr. Got a good jump on the ball. Got beaten by Moss in the 4th, but the ball was off target and incomplete.
SAMUEL - Good game. Had 2 tackles, INT, and FF. Picked off early pass. Read the route and jumped in front of Beckum. Took the ball down the left sideline to set up a TD for the offense. Great read, great break, and good hands on the play. Hit Nicks after short catch and knocked the ball out. Nicks got it back and went to the far side for a gain of 7 yds. Crazy play.
HOBBS - Didn't stand out in coverage. Had 3 tackles.
HANSON - Not his best game. Had 3 tackles, but struggled with Steve Smith in the slot. MmmBop got burned by Smith on early 3rd down. Played off him too much and left Steve wide open in the middle of the field. I do wonder if someone else screwed up. Hanson had outside technique, as if he expected Spoon or Sean to give him inside help. Lost Smith on another 3rd down and gave up a completion that moved the chains. Had tight downfield coverage on Smith on 4th down play in the 3rd Qtr. That helped to keep Steve from catching the pass.
S
MIKELL - Had 4 solo stops and played pretty well. I thought we'd need a huge game from him to shut them down. Not so. Had a chance to pick off Eli in the 1st Qtr on a downfield ball. Q made a good read and got to the ball, but simply couldn't hang on. Should have been a pretty easy pick. Later dropped a pass on an outside throw that was a tougher chance. Outstanding tackle of Steve Smith on 3rd down. Saw the short pass and broke quickly. Put him down cleanly and with force. Gave up TD to Boss. Was sloppy in coverage. Looked like Q got caught flat footed and Boss got behind him.
JONES - Got the start at FS in place of the injured Macho Harris. Good game. 2nd on the team with 6 tackles (5 solo). Made a physical tackle on the Giants second drive. Jacobs ran to his right and Jones came up to stop him. Sean hit him up high, almost always a dumb idea for a FS. Sean hit him hard enough to draw a stalemate and then slung Brandon to the ground. TFL late in the half when Jacobs caught a pass and stupidly ran E-W. Sean chased him down for a short loss. Called for PI on broken play. Got a good shot on Boss after catch down the seam. Got a good shot on Smith after catch over the middle. Tackled Bradshaw right at the line when he blitzed off the back side. Blitzed and pressured Eli into bad throw near the GL.
DEMPS - Good game. Had 2 tackles and picked off bad overthrow by Eli. The INT came late in the half. Demps was deep. He saw the pass sail and easily got to it to make the pick. Returned it about 10 yards. Demps made a good tackle of Jacobs on a screen pass out in space. Blitzed in the 3rd and did hit Eli.
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STs
ROCCA - Quiet, but successful day. Averaged 47.3 per punt. Put 2 of 3 punts inside the 20.
AKERS - 2 of 2 on FGs. Had an extra point blocked. Kickoffs weren't as deep as usual, but the coverage was outstanding.
KOR ---
* Hobbs had a good day. He averaged 29 yards per KOR. His long was 39. He set up a pair of TD drives with long returns. Really focused on holding the ball in traffic.
* Long KOR to start the game. Good blocking.
* Very good return late in the half put us out near midfield.
PR ---
* DeSean only had 1 return. That came late in the half and went 30 yards. He was one player away from breaking it for a TD. I have no idea why he didn't use the Romulan Cloaking Device to hide from that guy.
MISC STs ---
* Laws, Babin, and Buckley all had good blocks on the opening KOR that went 35 yards. We've struggled this year with blocking on returns. That wasn't the case at all today.
* The Giants blocked an extra point. There was penetration at RG, between Dorenbos and Cole. I think Nick was at fault, but it is hard to tell sometimes with STs blocking. The Giants blocked 2 of our FGs last year. Not good. We need to be tighter.
* Jordan made a good tackle in KO coverage.
* Demps and Hanson combined to make a good tackle of Dixon on long punt. Pinned them deep.
* Buckley had a good lead block for Hobbs on KOR late in the half that put us at the 45.
* Fokou recovered fumble on KO.
* Weaver made great tackle in KO coverage early in the 3rd Qtr.
* They kicked a ball short in the mid-3rd. Babin couldn't catch it and the Giants hustled down to recover it. Good job by them. We'll be working on fielding short KOs this week.
* Fokou called for holding on KOR at the end of the 3rd. That backed us up to the 10.
* Joe Mays played on STs. He got in on a tackle in KO coverage.
* NYG missed a 4th Qtr FG.
* Domenik Hixon was red hot as a RS, but had no luck in this game.
I wrote this last night: "Game tied at 13 early in 4th. Let's see what the Eagles are made of." The answer wasn't very pleasant. Dallas was able to make a couple of key plays on offense and they came up with key stops on defense. They won, 20-16.
We needed to see the Eagles play in a tight game. We've struggled in that area the previous 2 years. We were bad in 2007 and awful last year. Every team is different so I was curious about this group. Some people will point to the Oakland game, but I discard that because we were so god awful that day. Last night was a no-brainer. Dallas at Philly. Divison rivals. Tie game. Both teams playing okay. No excuses to be made. They came up with the big plays and we didn't. Now the focus becomes the next close game. We can right the ship with a win. Or we can find another way to lose and see that this truly is in fact a continuation of previous problems. At that point...I don't want to even think about that.
Frustrating game. We didn't get beat by a team that was clearly better than us. We didn't get thoroughly outplayed. We didn't play a bad game. We played a sloppy game and had too many critical mistakes. That is what cost us the game. For example:
* Sheldon Brown jumps on a pump fake and lets Miles Austin get behind him on 3rd/13. The play turns into a 49-yard TD. What the heck is Sheldon thinking? Play smart. I wrote about the danger that pump fakes posed in the preview. I hoped Sheldon would be smart enough not to get burned on 3rd/long.
* LeSean McCoy came up big for us on many plays, but he had some big mistakes as well. His failure to get upfield on 2nd/1 led to 3rd/1 and 4th/1. McCoy should have focused on moving the chains on 2nd/1. Instead he was dancing and looking for a lane. Get the friggin yard.
McCoy also dropped 2 passes. Both came under tough circumstances, but this is the NFL. You have to make plays when you get the chance.
* Asante Samuel got called for taunting when he got in a Cowboy's face. Asante was joking around with the guy, but the official doesn't know that. He threw the flag. Dumb.
* Jeremy Maclin had a rough night. He failed to catch an early pass and it bounced off his hands and was picked off. That led to Dallas' first TD. Maclin failed to look back on a pass that came his way early in the game. I don't know that he could have done much on the play, but you still want him looking for the ball. He later had a facemask penalty on a ball that was picked off on a throw to him.
* Moise Fokou went low on a block and drew a flag on Sheldon's return after an INT. That cost us about 50 yards of field position. He was also called for a penalty on Ellis Hobbs KOR for a TD.
* The coaches made a bonehead decision on a deep pass play in the 1st half. They kept in plenty of guys to block, but left Todd Herremans all alone on DeMarcus Ware. Maclin split the DBs and was wide open for a TD. McNabb saw him and was about to release the ball when Ware hit him from behind and the ball fell short on the throw. It is possible that a player blew his assignment. That simply shifts the blame from the coaches to a player. It doesn't erase the mistake.
* McNabb made an errant throw to DeSean on a crossing route. That play could have been a big gainer. Just put the ball behind him.
* We lined up to go for it on 4th down. A Cowboy jumped offside, but Jamaal Jackson didn't snap the ball. That would have been 5 free yards and a 1st down.
* Tracy White was running into place late in the half on a pass play that went for 64 yards and set Dallas up for a FG. White should have been covering the Crayton on the play or at least in that area.
Andy Reid didn't have his best night. Nor did the officials. I don't know that any call they did or didn't make was going to win us the game. As for Big Red, he challenged on 2 plays and both were very frustrating situations. McCoy caught a pass on 3rd/2 just beyond the sticks, but was coming back to the ball. Since he was untouched he didn't get credit for forward progress. I thought the refs gave us a bad spot, but it turned out to be generous. They reviewed it and didn't change the call. We should have lost a yard on that. We lined up to go for it and McNabb got Dallas to jump, but JJ didn't snap the ball. Then Jason flinched and we got the penalty and punted.
Should Reid have challenged that? As it turned out, no. I had questions even before the review. We were just inches shy. Why not save the challenge and go for it? Or punt, if you want to play it safe.
The next situation was 4th/inches. McNabb sneaked and the officials somehow concluded that he lost ground. Awful job of spotting the ball. I was emotional at the time and yelled for Andy to challenge. That was dumb on both our parts. The ref had shown that he wasn't inclined to change calls based on other challenges by both teams. Also, how do you adjust a spot in a pile? They talked about using landmarks, but that guy wanted no part of anything like that and let the call stand. That left us with no timeouts.
Late in the game we're at the Dallas 34. We have 4th/11. Andy opts to kick a FG instead of going for it. Very questionable decision on his part. As many have pointed out, the FG got you 3 points but still left you needing a TD to win. I have to think Andy was worried about the likelihood of converting 4th/11. Look at the 3 prior plays:
1/10 - incomplete pass to Celek
2/10 - incomplete pass to McCoy
3/10 - McNabb sacked for -1 yards
You couldn't take a timeout to set up a good play and talk about things. You had to call in something that would have netted 11 or more yards. Dallas was likely to blitz aggressively. It's doable, but not easy.
Andy also was showing faith that his defense could ge the ball back. That didn't happen and Dallas was able to seal the game. I know some people feel like this decision cost us the game. No way. There's no guarantee we get the 1st down if we go for it. There's no guarantee we score a TD if we do get the 1st. The game was decided by our barrage of mistakes. This was just one of many.
We did miss Westy. He might not have made the difference in winning and losing, but he would have helped the offense on a few key plays.
MISC
* Bad start on offense. We came out in the Shotgun and throwing. I didn't like that at all. Why not run early and let the guys get warmed up, then throw some?
* Dallas went Wildcat on 2nd series and the a couple of other times in the game.
* Points off Turnovers: DAL 10, PHI 0
They had the short field more than us. Their first TD drive was 37 yards. They also had a FG drive that started at our 42. Our best field position of the night was our own 36, on our final drive. We had to go the long field all night and it cost us.
* We gave a different look on defense. We didn't load up the line as much. We blitzed, but had the guys coming from the second level. Mixed results.
* WR screens were a problem.
______________________________
QB
MCNABB - Up and down game. Struggled in the 1st half (6-14-88). Got sacked 3 times and that didn't help matters. Started 0 of 4, but 2 of those were drops. Played better in the 2nd half. Got better protection and the skill players helped him out. Finished the game 16-30-227. Threw 1 TD and 2 INTs. The first pick wasn't his fault. The ball bounced off Maclin's hands. The second pick was a downfield pass that McNabb underthrew and the CB picked off. Made some good throws. Bullet to Avant on 3rd/long. Great job on screen pass. Had to fight off defender to have time to get the pass off. That was on McCoy's 45-yard play. Donovan made a terrific play on his TD pass. He started to run, then saw Celek come free and got him the ball.
The 4th Qtr - Donnie had 2 drives.
1 - 2-3-23 ... drive stalled when QB sneak failed
2 - 2-4-21 ... led us to FG
Clearly, he wasn't bad. At the same time, he wasn't able to make the critical plays that we needed to win the game. Romo hit Austin for the long TD in the 4th Qtr and later converted a critical 3rd down pass that sealed the game.
RB
MCCOY - 13 for 54. Best run came in the 2nd Qtr. Went up the middle. Spun off a tackler and bounced out wide for 17 yards. Showed a lot of promise in this game. Also had a 14-yard run. His best play was the 45-yard screen early in the 3rd Qtr. Showed a good burst on that. Caught a couple of other passes and looked solid as a receiver. Now for the bad stuff. Dropped 2 passes, both screens. One was a new play (I think). We'll call it the block and release screen. LeSean blocked Ware for about half a second and then released him. McCoy drifted into the left flat. Donovan got the ball to him, but LeSean dropped it. Gotta make that catch. Donovan did his part and took a big hit. It looked like there was room for McCoy to run. Stumbled while releasing on a screen to the right and dropped that pass.
Biggest problem came on a 2nd/1 play in the 4th Qtr. Got the handoff and headed right. Instead of running to move the chains, LeSean was looking for space to run. Dallas had guys in the area. LeSean hesitated at the line and was stopped for no gain. Had he just fired upfield and gotten the yard we would have had a new set of downs. Situational awareness is critical in football. When you need 1 yard in the 4th Qtr of a tight divisional game...go get the stinkin' yard. Forget about big plays.
Looked like he did a solid job in pass pro.
WEAVER - Solid game. Had 8 carries for 33 yards. Ran hard. Didn't break any big plays, but did his job. Had a solid night as a lead blocker. Converted a 3rd/1 on the final drive of the game.
TE
CELEK - Good game. Caught 3 passes for 39 yards, including our only TD. Drew a couple of flags in the game on guys trying to cover him. Had an impressive grab when he caught a ball near the sticks and took a big hit, but still fought to make sure he got the 1st down. Did a good job on his TD. Shoved off a defender and came open in the end zone.
SMITH - More involved in the offense as a blocker and receiver. Had an early 3rd/1 play designed for him, but McNabb was hurried and the ball was too high. Lined up wide left and caught a slant pass for 11 yards. Got beaten by Spencer while blocking on a pass play and that forced McNabb to hurry a throw.
WR
DESEAN - Only caught 2 passes, both in the 2nd half. One gained 20 yards, the other gained 9. Did a good job of blocking on run plays and screen passes.
AVANT - Caught 2 passes for 43 yards. Had gains of 20 and 23 yards. Made a brilliant catch down the left seam. Went up over the DB and plucked the ball. Fingertip catch. Solid game as a blocker.
MACLIN - I mentioned his night up above. Too many mistakes. Caught 3 passes for 44 yards. I was happy that he didn't lose focus because of the early problems and mentally check out. Maclin's best catch came late in the game when he went down to snag a pass on 3rd/long. At first I wasn't sure he actually got the ball. Replay showed it was a good catch.
OL
PETERS - Started off okay, then got hurt late in the 1st Qtr and missed most of the 2nd Qtr. We sure missed his presence. Ware was tough to slow down, let alone block with Jason out. Jason returned before the half and played pretty well despite his ankle issue. Used his power to control Ware on several rushes by pushing him around.
TODD - Solid game at LG. Got some push in the run game and held his own in pass pro. Got a subtle block on defender on Shady's long screen pass. Showed good hustle on that play to get over to that side and down the field. Shifted to LT for a while. Called for not being on the LOS on his first snap. Good block on Brooking on run that Shady broke outside. Struggled when trying to pass block Ware. Was able to make the initial block a few times, but then struggled to sustain the block. Rough shift at LT.
JACKSON - Good game. Excellent block of Ratliff on a run to the right. Drove him a step to the left. Good block on Bradie James on Weaver run up the middle. Made good line calls. The blitz wasn't a major factor in stopping us. Once we had our key guys back on the field we gave Donovan decent time to throw.
STACY - Bad game as a pass blocker. Struggled with Ratliff. Just couldn't handle his explosive ability. Got beaten for one sack and created another. While trying to block Ratliff on a pass play he shoved Jay twice, pushing him outside both times. This created a natural stunt and Jay looped around the outside and got to McNabb. Did better on runs. Got some push. Walled off Ratliff on a run up the middle.
COLE - Played both LG and RG. Had a good block on a Weaver run to his side.
JUSTICE - Good game. Called for false start penalty. Good effort on run plays. Would help on DL, then peel off and get LB. Bad block on a tackle trap play. Winston pulled and had the DL in his sights. Should have been an easy block, but Winston didn't hit the guy hard enough and slid right off him. If Justice hits the guy cleanly, Shady gets up the middle and we move the chains. Runyan was a master at this play. Justice has done it a few times this year. Winston was solid in pass pro.
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DE
COLE - Got a sack, had a TFL, and had 2 solo tackles, but was quieter than I hoped for. I wanted to see Trent in the backfield all night. Didn't happen. His sack came on a 3rd down when Trent got really low and blew by Flozell. Trent used his hands to keep Adams from blocking him. Hit Romo from behind. If only Trent could have knocked the ball out...
PARKER - Early sack on PA pass. Witten blocked passively, then released upfield. Juqua didn't buy the fake and went after Romo. Got him by the jersey and forced him to the ground. Missed a sack late in the half. That would have prevented a FG attempt. Had a couple of tackles.
CLEMONS - Quiet game. Timed a blitz well early in the game and came free up the middle. They threw a screen so Chris wasn't able to get to Tony. Helped chase down the ball on a WR screen late in the half.
BABIN - Good game. Came off the edge from LDE and just missed a sack of Romo. Used a good burst on that play. Lined up at DT and beat the LG with a good burst to get upfield and sack Romo. Also used his hands well.
HOWARD - Too quiet. Pressured Romo on a pass late in the half.
DT
PATTERSON - Good game. Had 3 tackles and was stout in the middle. Good pressure on early pass play. Beat Davis with a quick move. Just missed a sack. Got some pressure by beating the RG to the outside on Romo's INT. Solid game vs the run.
BUNKLEY - Only credited with 1 tackle. Made a terrific play vs run. Held his ground vs OL and then tackled Barber for only a gain of 1. Got a hand in Romo's face on the play where he threw the INT.
LAWS - Didn't stand out.
DIXON - Got regular playing time once again. Had 2 tackles. Hustled downfield on screen to Choice and helped make the stop. Made another tackle on a run play to the other side. Excellent pursuit.
LB
JORDAN - Good game prior to getting hurt in the 4th Qtr. Led the team with 6 solo tackles. Also had a PD. Broke up a screen pass to TE M Bennett. Blitzed off the edge and stopped the RB for no gain on a run up the middle.
WITHERSPOON - Tied for team lead with 6 solo tackles. Solid job on Dallas run game. Got beaten by Witten on early 3rd down. Subtle move by Jason got himself open. Hustled downfield to tackle Ogletree on WR screen. Got flattened by a blocker on short TD run. Made a good tackle of Witten on 3rd/10 to keep him short of the sticks. Had a TFL late in the game when he blitzed up the middle and got Barber down for a 4-yard loss.
FUKOU - Up and down game. Good tackle of Barber after catch and run. Drew a holding call on the FB when the guy threw him to the ground on a run play. Got suckered on an End Around. Fukou bit on the inside run fake and left a big void for the WR to run through. Should have been a TFL. Solid tackle of Barber on a run up the middle. I covered his major mistakes above. Critical blocking penalties.
WHITE - Played in the Nickel and also took over at WLB late in the game. Had a couple of tackles. Most notable moment was the play before the half when he bumped into Witherspoon prior to the snap and that made him late to covering Patrick Crayton. Turned into a gain of 64 yards.
CB
S BROWN - Good game except for one HUGE mistake. I covered it above. Had 3 tackles, an INT, and a couple of pass break-ups. The INT came on a play where Romo didn't step into his throw and the ball was underthrown. Sheldon made a good adjustment and then picked it off. Returned the ball into scoring territory, but that was negated by penalty. Played both RCB and LCB.
SAMUEL - Had 3 tackles and a couple of PBUs. Broke up early pass to Austin. Ball was errant or Sammie might have had a better play on it. Got away with PI on a pass into the end zone. Had Williams' arm tangled up. Tackled well for 2/3 of the game. Then took a knee to the head and wanted no part of making a tackle if anyone else was close enough to make the play. His tackling has improved a great deal in the last couple of weeks. We'll see how that shot to the head affects him moving forward.
HOBBS - Came in at CB when Asante left. Worst moment was a quick pass to Roy Williams. Ellis was playing off him and never came up and made a play. Roy should have been stopped for about 5 yards, but instead he turned it into a gain of 11.
HANSON - Only credited with 1 tackle. Seemed like he was more active than that. MmmBop did break up a pass in the end zone late in the half. He was half a step late in getting over to cover on the play, but recovered quickly and the ball hit him in the back.
S
MIKELL - Had 4 tackles. Blitzed off the edge and forced Romo to throw quickly on 3rd/long. Broke up a pass in the end zone late in the half. Got burned on the critical 3rd down at the end of the game. Witten caught a short pass to move the chains and seal the game. I don't know why Q wasn't more aggressive on the play. Let 'em beat you deep. Don't let 'em beat you short. Not his best game. With as many short throws and runs as they had I hoped Q would be more of a presence.
JONES - Started at FS. Had 5 tackles and a sack. The sack late in the half. Several guys were about to hit Romo, but Sean got there first. Looked like he took a bad angle on the TD pass to Austin. Sean was playing off the ball and should have been able to come over and stop him for a 20-yard gain or something like that. Instead he was too flat to the ball and Austin got behind everyone for the TD.
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SPECIAL TEAMS
ROCCA - Got lucky when bad punt hit short and took a good roll. Averaged 44.3 per punt. 2 of 3 ended up inside the 20.
AKERS - Great game. Nailed 3 long FGs (45, 48, 52). Had good depth on his KOs.
KOR ---
* Hobbs finally broke loose for a TD, but a penalty killed the return. Dallas covered well aside from that.
* Maclin ran a KO back 28 yards. Looked better than he did this summer when he was so hesitant and indecisive.
PR ---
* DeSean only got one return. Took that wide right for 9 yards.
MISC STs ---
* Big play. Dallas had 57-yd punt downed at our 2. Penalty for ineligible down field forced a re-kick and we got the ball at the 16. We drove down and kicked a FG. Without that penalty you have to wonder what might have happened.
* Joe Mays had a good tackle on KO coverage.
* Fokou was called for holding on Hobbs KOR TD.
* We covered KOs pretty well. Jones only got free on one (28 yards).
* We had to kickoff from the 15 due to a celebration penalty and Akers nailed the ball. That helped us to keep them from having great field position.
* Eldra Buckley flew down on the final KO and nailed Jones at the 11, but couldn't wrap him up. Great hustle, but you have to finish plays like that. Bad field position would have put extra pressure on Dallas.
We lost 31-23. That's now 2 losses in a row. Last week it was 4 points to Dallas. Now we lose by 8 to the Chargers. Both games have one common denominator: mistakes. If you could change a handful of plays from either game...we win. The problem is that you can't do that. You have to learn from mistakes and play better the next week. We didn't do that.
* Moise Fokou was called for a late hit penalty. Stupid play. Last week he had a pair of bonehead penalties which really cost us.
* Jeremy Maclin was called for offensive interference on a 3rd down where he made the catch to move the chains. Jeremy got his hands on the CB and didn't do much, but you can't be so blatant with extending your arms when trying to push off. Gotta be subtle. That penalty killed a drive. Jeremy also fielded a punt at the 5. Last week Maclin had some costly mistakes that hurt us.
* Sav Rocca shanked a punt when we were backed up near our goal line. That set up the Chargers at our 40 and led to their first TD. Earlier this year Sav had a shank in a similar situation.
* We had an offside penalty on 3rd/2. That's happened before this year. This one was real costly because the next play was a TD.
* Asante blew a coverage that led to a TD. Looked like he bit on a pump fake. Sheldon did the same darn thing last week and it cost us a TD. Ugh.
* Tracy White was called for an illegal block on a PR where DeSean had gotten to the SD 35-yard line. Blocking penalty cost us a TD last week.
These mistakes have nothing to do with lack of talent. These are mental errors. I'm sure the coaches have gone over these situations time after time. I don't understand why the players continue to screw up. Several of the mistakes were made by rookies. You understand that rookies are going to screw up. You just hope they play well enough to counter-balance the mistakes. As for veterans...harder to forgive them. They should know better. Either the coaches aren't harping on the mistakes enough or guys just aren't listenting. No matter what...they must find a solution. Penalties and unforced errors are killing us.
I didn't have a beef with the playcalling for the most part. The early Red Zone struggles were very frustrating. On the first trip we ran Weaver up the middle, threw an incomplete pass to Celek, and then ran Buckley up the middle. I love the fact they used Buckley, but why give him the ball on 3rd down. Eldra had 2 meaningless carries late in the Giants win. He hasn't had a touch since. He hasn't carried in a pressure situation...maybe since college. If you want to use him, give him the ball on 1st down and then again on 2nd down. Let him get a feel for things. Just throwing him out there on 3rd down was dumb. I'm sure they've practiced the play, but that isn't the same thing as running it live in a pressure situation.
What is wrong in the RZ? Combination of things: 1. Personnel 2. Playcalling 3. McNabb. We have smaller, quicker skill players. The RZ is a condensed space. Speed and quickness aren't as useful in there. Size and strength are more important. As far as plays...we tend to be a horizontal team in the RZ. That just doesn't work well. Our offense is vertical by design. We stretch the field and that creates good gaps for receivers. Down deep we can't do that. We need to run base plays and execute them precisely. I don't understand why we won't run a slant.
The McNabb comment is based on the last couple of years. Early in his career Donovan was a huge threat near the goal line. He ran for 6 TDs in 2000 and 2002. That threat put tremendous pressure on defenses. Donovan wasn't a great passer, but he didn't have to be. Play fakes were more effective. We've had RZ problems for 3 years now. Donovan has 3 rushing TDs in that time. Defenses don't have to worry about him as a runner. Now there is pressure on McNabb to throw the ball well. There are a couple of problems with this. Donovan doesn't often "throw guys open". He likes receivers to be open. In the RZ you need to anticipate what will happen. Donovan waits to see guys come free of coverage and then targets them.
Think about the best QBs in the league now. Brees, Brady, and Manning will take chances. They put the ball up there and let their receivers make plays for them. McNabb seems reticent to do this. He's given Maclin and Celek some chances, but too often Donovan wants to be perfect with his read and throw. That's impossible in the RZ.
The lack of a consistent running attack is also a major factor. Offensive linemen need to get into a rhythm. They can't spend most of a drive going backward in pass protection and then be expected to fire off the ball in the RZ and blow defenders off the ball when they are in a short yardage defense. This is one thing that I don't get about Marty and Andy. They either don't understand this or seem oblivious to it.
Settling for FGs instead of going for it...complicated subject. I wanted Andy to go for it on the first situation, but I also understand the George Blanda wisdom that the first points are the hardest. Make sure you get on the board. The next series we had to kick because it was 4th/7. The third FG situation was most annoying to me. We had 3rd/1 from the 7 and threw an incomplete pass to DJax. Even worse...the play was the rollout to the right. I cannot stand that damn thing. Why oh why???? We were down 21-6. The smart thing would have been to run up the middle. That either gets you the 1st or might set you up with 4th/inches. Down 15 you really need to score a TD.
The best argument for kicking is that we'd driven to the 7 from our 16 and getting no points would have been crushing. There is logic in that argument, but I think we screwed up starting with the 3rd down call.
I think Reid screwed up by not going for 2 after our first TD. We had just cut the lead to 28-15. Kick the extra point and it's 28-16. Doesn't do you any good really. Get the 2 and you're down 28-17. 11 points = FG + TD/2 pt conversion. Didn't affect us in the long run, but I thought we should have gone for 2.
I don't know what's wrong with the defense. 2 weeks in a row they couldn't get off the field. That is killing us. We're really banged up, but we still have enough talent to get the job done. Sean McDermott didn't have a good game. He tried to mix things up. He played Cole at LDE and Parker at RDE. I don't mind experimenting, but that should have ended at halftime. Wasn't working. We should have blitzed the LBs more. The guys were struggling off the ball. Let 'em make mistakes on the attack. San Diego did a great job of blocking in the game. I do want to give them credit. They handled our DTs and really blocked well on the edges. I'd like to have seen more of Abiamiri at LDE to help vs the run.
MISC
* How bad were penalties? Early in the 4th the ref went to explain a call. He started to signal offside on us then had to correct himself and call the illegal formation on SD. It was like he was so used to calling them on us that he didn't know what to do.
BROADCAST
Awful. Horrible. Or worse. I like Brian Billick. I think he does a very good job on the NFL Network with breaking down plays. I thought he was lousy yesterday. He made some boneheaded comments. Thom Brenneman was far worse. This is the genius who did the Florida bowl game last year and said "if you spend 10 minutes with Tim Tebow, you're life is better for it". He is a hyperbole machine. I actually turned off the volume and watched in silence for the 2nd half. Never done that before that I know of.
______________________________
OFFENSE
* Nickelback Steve Gregory blew up a trick play when he blitzed off the edge. We tried to run a double reverse, but he was in DeSean's path and threw off the timing. We lost 6 yards.
* Jammer looked like he got DeSean's facemask while tackling him on a 3rd down, but no call.
* Off tackle run to Westy on final drive of the half was an odd call.
QB
MCNABB - Strange game. Put up huge numbers, but they felt hollow. 35-55-450. 2 TDs, 1 INT.
Inconsistent in the 1st Qtr. Made some good throws, but also made some bad reads. Had a couple of costly mistakes. Got better in the 2nd Qtr. Led us on a couple of long drives even though we had to settle for FGs.
Really came alive in the 2nd half. Donovan took charge of the offense and we started moving up and down the field. The biggest thing for me is that we got into a rhythm. The blockers developed a flow. The receivers got open and caught the ball. McNabb dropped back and got the pass off in pretty quick fashion.
If you go back to the 2nd Qtr, 6 of our final 7 drives crossed into SD territory. 5 resulted in scores. One stalled due to an offensive PI penalty and the other was the final drive of the game. The offense got going. Can that carry over to Chicago????
STUFF
* Threw downfield to Reggie on 2nd/16. They had 3 DBs in the area. Wasted play.
* Made a horrible, horrible, horrible decision on 3rd/8 from about midfield. Threw deep to Reggie down the left side. Ball was incomplete. Avant had chipped on the RDE on the play, then released on a shallow cross. The Chargers D lost him completely. There wasn't anyone within 15 yards that I could see. Would have been an easy 1st down.
* Had Celek open on 2nd/GL from the 1. The play worked. McNabb was slow in getting the ball out and that made the throw tough and led to the incompletion. Donovan executed the fake well and Brent had a step on Jammer. There was room to work with. McNabb was too slow in making the throw and that killed the play. And we're only talking half a second slow. Not much. But that's the problem with the RZ. Can't hesitate at all.
* Had a terrific play before the half. Stood in the pocket as long as possible and fired a pass downfield to Reggie. Got hit by blitzer a half second after throwing the pass. Outstanding throw.
* Took a weird sack. Westy picked up a blitzing LB and knocked him to the ground. McNabb was in the pocket. He didn't see anyone open and started to run. He tripped over the LB for the sack. You never want the QB to watch rushers, but I'm not sure how Donnie didn't sense the guy was right there. Weird.
* Overthrew an open Weaver right at the GL. The next pass was almost picked off. LB dropped the ball. We scored on the drive, but those are the kind of RZ mistakes you can't have.
* Threw a strike to Celek on 4th/4.
* Good TD to Brent. Moved up in the pocket, but kept his eyes on the receivers. Good touch on the throw. Very catchable pass.
VICK - Okay throw to DJax on a deep crossing route. Ball was a bit behind the receiver, but it was very catchable. Drop.
RB
MCCOY - Only finished with 3 carries for 5 yards. Didn't see much action early in the game. Was on the field all down the stretch run. Did a solid job in pass pro from what I could tell. Also helped as a checkdown target. Caught 3 passes for 18 yards.
WESTY - Played about 2/3 of the game before leaving due to a concussion. Had a solid game up to that point. Was 6-28 as a runner. Effective on screens. Caught 2 of them for 26 yards. Best run of the day came on the shotgun draw to open the 2nd half. Went up the middle for 11.
Westy might be done for the year. There are 7 regular season games left. I'm sure we'd sit him for at least 3 weeks. Is it worth it to take a chance that he'll be ready to play at that point? Maybe. We'll see.
WEAVER - Quiet game. Had 2 carries for 2 yards. Was open for a TD pass, but McNabb overthrew him. Did a solid job on the few plays where he was the lead blocker.
TE
CELEK - Solid game. Caught 6 passes for 47 yards and a TD. Had a couple of key grabs. Made a big time catch on 4th/4. I couldn't tell if he had the ball or not initially so I didn't know whether to cheer or yell. Brent was in some traffic, but McNabb got him the ball and Brent made a good catch. Also caught a TD pass. We threw a TE screen to him on an early 3rd down, but the Chargers read it well. Brent wasn't able to get many RAC yards in this game.
SMITH - No passes came his way. Okay job of blocking.
WR
DESEAN - Caught 8 passes for 91. Got a lot of action early (5 catches in the 1st half). We forced the ball his way. I was happy to see that. Ran a very good route on the pass from Vick. The ball was behind him, but DJax still should have made that catch. Special players need to make special plays. Might have dropped a pass. McNabb threw a pass his way along the sideline. The view was obscured by the players on the sideline. The ball bounced off him and fell incomplete. Caught a short pass on 3rd/3 that moved the chains. Didn't have any highlight type plays but moved the chains on a consistent basis. Was involved in a double-reverse that went awry.
AVANT - Great game. 8 catches for 156 yards. Best catch came on the last play of the 3rd Qtr. We faced 3rd/18. Avant was covered near the right sideline, but Donovan took a chance and threw over there. Jason went up with one arm and essentially knocked the ball to himself. He used the hand to hit the ball and then brought it into his body and wrapped it up. Great, great catch. Longest play came early in the 3rd Qtr. Caught a pass over the middle. Shrugged off a hit by a DB and went down the right sideline for a gain of 58. Jason did a fantastic job of working down the seams and across the middle. Caught everything that was thrown his way. Also got good RAC yards.
MACLIN - Solid game. Had 6 grabs for 76 yards and a TD. Drew a PI call on Jammer in the end zone that set us up at the 1. Caught a pass on a short crossing route before the half. Fought to get out of bounds and secure the 1st down on the play. Caught a short TD in the early 4th. Ran a passive slant route and then tried to get lost. That worked, but it was an odd looking play. It looked as strange as it sounds. I don't recall any key drops. Hustled to get downfield and block for Avant on his long gain. Maclin caught a lot of intermediate passes.
BROWN - Best game of the year. Had 2 catches for 36 yards. Actually looked pretty good. Made a catch and run on the second drive of the game. That was a 3rd down play. Moved the chains. Made a good catch before the half on a downfield route. Had a good catch and run wiped out by a holding call in the 4th Qtr. We might need to use more 4 WR sets.
OL
We didn't run much. Pass blocks generally aren't noteworthy so I won't have as much to say about the guys. McNabb dropped back 57 times, but only got sacked twice. The pass protection was very good, by the OL and other blockers.
TODD - LT. Good game. Had one holding call in the 4th, but generally kept McNabb's backside clean. Got some help, but did most of his blocking on his own. Normally backup LTs stand out because they make so many mistakes. That wasn't the case with Todd. Uses his hands well. Really worked hard to stick with his blocks. Shawne Merriman had a very quiet game (1 tackle).
COLE - LG. Failed to get good push on 3rd/GL run to his side. Got upfield on a couple of screens, but didn't block anyone.
JACKSON - Got stood up and knocked back on the 1st/GL run. That one bad block killed the play. Weaver ran into JJ's back. If Jamaal gets a stalemate, he wins. Getting stood up and pushed back killed the play. Earl Campbell would have had no chance. Had a pair of good blocks to open the 2nd half. Controlled the NT on Westy's run up the middle for 11. Then had an even better block on the NT when we ran up the middle on 2nd/3. Good block on a screen to take out a DL who was chasing Westy from behind.
STACY - Played the whole game at RG. Because we faced a 3-4 front he didn't have a specific defender to block for much of the game. Helped with doubling the NT quite a bit, but I'm not sure the guys they rotate at NT necessarily needed to be doubled that much. Helped on a screen by diving at a LB and putting him on the ground. Looked like he was at fault for not picking up blitzing DB who sacked McNabb in the late 3rd. Stacy was doubling the NT on that play.
JUSTICE - Pretty good game. Had one great play. We had a 2nd/10 pass. Justice blocked DE Luis Castillo. Luis ended up on the ground and Justice then got a blitzing DB. Two guys, one play. McNabb had time to get the pass off and move the chains. Got driven back by good bull rush by #70.
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DEFENSE
* We didn't play the run well in this game. LT got to the edge too easily. There was confusion among the front seven on several plays.
* They ran a Wildcat play on the second drive and we looked confused. Howard didn't stay wide. Gocong didn't get wide. Easy seam for them to run in. Gain of 11.
* Motion hurt us on run plays. They motioned late and either had us outnumbered on a side or the guy would outflank our edge defender and let LT get wide.
* This was a poor game by Sean McDermott. He played Trent on the left side. That should have been scrapped at halftime when it was clear that it wasn't working. McDermott played the LBs off the ball. With a makeshift group I thought the smart thing would be to attack more often.
* Stopped them on 3rd/2. Huge play. Unfortunately we were called for being offside. They called it on Ramzee Robinson, but it looked like Juqua was the guy at fault. Next play was a TD pass.
DE
COLE - Started at LDE. I think McDermott was trying to throw off any blocking schemes they might have had set up for Trent. Instead the change worked against us. Trent had his quietest day of the year, 1 tackle. Chased Rivers on one play when he tried to rollout. Trent force a throw away. Got late pressure on Rivers in the mid-4th to flush him.
PARKER - Played mostly RDE. Didn't do much. Got a sack from LDE in the early 4th. Bull-rushed the RT and simply drove the guy backward. Got to the QB just before Trent did. Forced Rivers to throw the ball away on a 4th Qtr pass when he was flushed to Juqua's side. Had 3 tackles. Looked like it was him who jumped offside on 3rd/2.
CLEMONS - Way too quiet. Played, but didn't do anything of note.
BABIN - Played some LDE. Got pressure on Rivers on second drive, but couldn't get a good hit on him. Hurried the throw. Had 1 tackle. Moved around a bit on defense as McDermott tried some new things.
HOWARD - Got half a sack early in the game when he was at RDT. Beat the LG and then got by another blocker. Hit the QB at the same time as VA. Had 3 tackles.
VA- First game back from injury. Manhandled the RG on a pass play. Drove him back, got him off balance, and then got to Rivers. Only got half a sack as DH was there also. Got some pressure on Rivers on critical 3rd down late in the game, but was a step away from hitting him. Stood up on one 3rd down play as an ILB and blitzed. Got blocked. Didn't seem to play much LDE.
DT
PATTERSON - Not a great game. Slanted to the inside on 2nd/goal. SD ran right to the gap he vacated. Normally does a good job of eating up blocks, but still affecting the play. That wasn't happening on Sunday. Just got blocked.
BUNKLEY - Made a couple of tackles vs the run, but didn't have a good day. Was credited with 3 tackles. Didn't make any standout plays.
LAWS - Got some penetration. Got pressure on a pass play. Blew up a draw play and got a TFL. Had some good moments.
DIXON - Got driven off the ball on early run by double team. Chased Rivers out wide and forced a hurried throw. Disappointing game.
LB
WITHERSPOON - Played WLB. Had a quiet game - 3 tackles. Made a good tackle in space on a WR screen. Hustled to chase down Gates on play where he was wide open due to a blitz.
FOKOU - Starting SAM. 10 tackles, 7 solo. Hustled to the ball and tackled well most of the game. Missed early tackle of Gates on short pass. Cost us a couple of yards. Made a terrific stop of Sproles on 3rd/inches. Hit him in the backfield and stopped him for no gain.
GOCONG- Got his first ever NFL start at MLB. And it showed. Not good. Got burned on the TD pass to the FB. Chris took a couple of steps outside when he saw the FB pick up a blitzer. Then the FB released into the void created by Chris. Easy pass and catch. The play was set up when LT went in motion and lined up wide. That drew another LB out there and created space in the middle of the field. Struggled with reading plays and shedding blocks. You could see he's nothing close to a natural MLB. Chris was always thinking instead of just reacting and attacking. Credited with 4 tackles.
WHITE - Played in the Nickel. Made a good play to force out Sproles on a screen pass. Barely got him, but did push him out of bounds. Could have been a huge play.
CB
S BROWN - Not his best game. Beaten by Gates on slant pass for gain of 16. Got beaten by Floyd for catch down the sideline. Slipped on the play. That set up a TD. Gave up another catch and then hurt his hamstring. Had 1 tackle.
SAMUEL - Not a good game. Gave up TD to Naanee. Missed a tackle of LT on a run early in the 3rd Qtr. Should have been no gain. Instead it went for 7 yds. That's also the play where Fokou got the late hit penalty. A gain of 0 turned into a 22-yd play. Costly mistake. Only had 1 tackle. Controlled Vincent Jackson most of the game, but SD was able to throw on Samuel a couple of times to other guys.
PATTERSON - Did okay. Broke up a downfield pass to Gates. Beaten by Gates on 3rd/6 late in game. Made a good tackle of LT late in the game. Finished with 6 tackles. Started out in the slot and then moved outside when Sheldon got hurt.
ROBINSON- Called for critical offside penalty, but I thought it was Juqua.
S
MIKELL - Good game. Had 8 tackles and broke up 3 passes. Broke up early pass to Gates. Got a good break on the ball and then got a hand on it as Gates tried to make the catch. PBU on 3rd/3 on crossing route. Hit Jackson just as the ball got there. Dove for LT on his long TD run, but couldn't get him. Almost picked off a pass along the sideline in the mid-3rd. Dove for the ball and got hold of it, but couldn't completely control it. Would have been a huge play.
JONES - Started at FS. Quiet game. Had 5 tackles, but didn't stand out in coverage. Tried to break up a pass to Floyd over the middle, but wasn't able to get the ball cleanly. Tried for the pick. Should have focused on the break-up.
MACHO - Played in some packages. Good physical hit on Sproles on draw play. Unfortunately it was 15 yards downfield. Had 3 tackles and moved around pretty well.
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SPECIAL TEAMS
ROCCA - Didn't have a great day. Put 2 punts inside the 20, but hurt us with a bad kick. Shank from our end zone. Set them up at our 40. That led to their first TD.
AKERS - Nailed all 3 FGs and had a solid day on KOs.
KOR ---
* Maclin bobbled the first KO, but got control of it and took the ball out to the 24. Averaged only 18 yards on four KORs. Didn't look good at all.
* Macho took over the job and returned the last two. Had returns of 27 and 30 yards. Looked really good. Not the most talented guy, but he gets the ball and goes full speed upfield. No hesitation.
PR ---
* DeSean one very good return early on was nullified by penalty.
* Maclin took over in the 2nd Qtr. Fair caught a ball at the 5 after backpedaling for 15 yards. Sadly, they didn't have to punt after that.
MISC STs ---
* We did a good job on Sproles. His long KOR was 29 yards. His long PR was 8 yards.
* Joe Mays played his best game on STs. Made a good tackle of Sproles on 2nd KOR. Had 3 tackles.
* Ramzee Robinson made a good tackle in punt coverage. Nailed Sproles right at the 7-yd line.
* Penalty on Trot backed us inside the 10.
* Penalty on Tracy White nullified a good return by DJax. We should have started at their 35.
I wrote something on Donovan McNabb in response to some readers comments. It was supposed to be a paragraph, but grew long enough that it is worth posting here.
by Tommy Lawlor
11-17-09
Understanding and talking about Donovan McNabb is difficult. He's had a really unusual career. Early in his career Donovan was forced to put the team on his back. He did a great job of making plays, limiting mistakes, and doing whatever the team needed. He started to change in 2002. I've always attributed that to his natural progression (year 4) as well as the arrival of Antonio Freeman. Donovan suddenly had a gifted receiver who could make difficult catches. We also opened up the playbook because we had 3 solid receivers. Thrash looked good back then and Pinky was a player on the rise. There was hope for our receiving corps. I digress.
Donovan was great in the final 10 games of 2003. The offense featured our Triple Headed Monster at RB. The WRs were adequate. We had a pair of good TEs. Donovan was efficient and led us up and down the field every game. Then Westy got hurt in the finale and we sputtered in the playoffs.
The conference title games of the 2003 season featured brutal press coverage by NE and CAR. That drove the NFL to enforce contact rules more stringently, thus opening up the passing game around the league. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Daunte Culpepper, McNabb, and Drew Brees all had career years. That wasn't by accident. The change in rules had a profound effect.
Two other things changed Donovan. One was the arrival of Terrell Owens. All of a sudden Donovan had an outright weapon to throw to. The two of them formed a deadly duo. That year the offense went from efficient to explosive. We'd never seen anything like that. It was great at the time, but has somewhat haunted us ever since. The other event was a famous play against Dallas on MNF. Donovan scrambled for 14 seconds before firing a pass to FredEx for a 49-yard gain. That play really instilled in Donovan the belief that if he could wait long enough someone would get open and a big play would be there for the taking. The next 2 weeks we played the Skins and G-men. Donovan was sacked in each game while running around and trying to keep the play alive. He also fumbled on those sacks and we lost the ball.
Donovan seemed to be at the top of his game coming off the great '04 season. However, circumstances changed. Todd Pinkston got hurt in TC and missed the year. That took away a starter and guy who could stretch the field. Correll Buckhalter got hurt. We had a talented rookie named Ryan Moats, but he was struggling to learn the playbook. Suddenly Westy was our only real RB. We added Lamar Gordon, but the coaches weren't fully comfortable with him. Things got bad when TO went all TO on us.
You had Donovan without Pinky and with a belligerent TO. Rookie Reggie Brown was learning on the fly. Chad Lewis was gone. L.J. was solid, but still inconsistent. Westy was the only RB we trusted. He was somewhat fragile so that meant we wanted to be careful about overworking him. The pressure was on Donovan and the passing game to carry the team, but there weren't the weapons to make it work the same way.
Donovan quit running in 2004. He only had 41 runs in 15 games. In a full season with him healthy that number had been in the mid-80s. Donovan thought of himself as a pocket passer in 2004 and moving forward.
Complicating matters in 2005, McNabb took a huge shot to his chest in the season opener. He also was dealing with a sports hernia injury. He's not at 100%. He doesn't have a full array of weapons. He has little in the way of a running game. Donovan is convinced he's a pocket passer because of the success of 2004. Unfortunately the NFL relaxed on enforcing the pass defense rules. Receivers were back to fighting DBs to get off the ball.
Donovan hasn't been the same guy since the beginning of 2005. He's not the athletic QB we remember from the old days. He's not the elite pocket passer that he thinks he is from 2004. He had a chance to maybe develop into a top flight pocket passer, but the brutal circumstances of 2005 basically killed that idea. Also, physically gifted players like Donovan usually lack top fundamentals because they've been able to get the job done on sheer athleticism. His love of big plays from 2004 hurt him. He has the ability to be an efficient QB, but lacks the consistency to do it week to week, sometimes half to half or even drive to drive. Those old instincts kick in and he wants to go downfield.
Donovan used to be a great QB late in games. He would run if needed. He would make things happen. He came alive when the pressure was on. That stopped after 2004.
2005
* beat OAK late, but game was tied at 20 when he led us on a FG drive
* beat KC in a comeback, but game was tied entering the 4th Qtr and we got the lead
* lost at ATL 14-10
* lost at WAS 17-10
* beat SD 20-17, but it was on the return of a blocked FG by Matt Ware
* lost to Dallas 21-20...we had the lead when McNabb threw pick-six to Roy Williams
2006
* lost to NYG 30-24 in OT ... we had 24-7 lead ... no points in 4th Qtr
* beat DAL 38-24 ... McNabb hit Reggie on flea flicker for 40-yd TD to give us lead
* lost at NO 27-24 ... had 4th Qtr lead
* lost at TB 23-21 ... Westy had long TD off screen pass to give us late lead
* lost to JAX 13-6
* team proceeded to win several close games down the stretch with Garcia at QB
I won't go into all the struggles in close games of 2007 and 2008. We know them pretty well.
The point in all of this is that Donovan seems to have lost his mojo. He is still athletic enough to run, but won't do it. He has enough talent to be a solid game manager type QB, but prefers the long ball. Notice that in a couple of the '06 games he did connect for long plays to give us the lead. He just can't seem to lead us on a long drive to do that.
The long ball is great when it works. The problem is that you're going to have off days. That's when you must be able to move the chains and play down-to-down football. McNabb has trouble doing that.
He's not helped by the offense as run by Andy and Marty. As I've noted before, that trio seems to bring out the worst in each other.
I think one of the keys to judging McNabb is what your standard is. He used to be compared to Brady and Manning (rightfully so). Those guys continue to play at an elite level. Manning is better now than ever. Donovan is a descending player. If you compare him to Romo, Eli, and Campbell...McNabb is still a good player. He was an elite QB. He was an elite player. That is no longer the case. I don't have full confidence that he can win a Super Bowl, unless we get lucky enough to build a huge lead because of big plays and oddball TDs. Donovan just doesn't seem to have the ability to go toe-to-toe with a good QB. Rivers made clutch throw after clutch throw for SD on Sunday. Romo did that in the 4th the week before. Donovan hasn't shown that ability since the playoffs last year, but even then we always had the lead. Can he handle the pressure of playing from behind?
Quick note...I do love McNabb for what he's done for us Eagles fans. Don't ever think I'm anti-Donovan or anything like that. He has been a godsend for our franchise. I'm just trying to give you an honest opinion about what the situation is with him and the future. Guys don't tend to get back their mojo after they lose it.
RE: Reid
Andy Reid is a terrific head coach, but he's still a flawed guy. No doubt about that. I won't even get into the running game discussion. We just talk in circles because the normal world sees things one way and Andy sees it another.
I do think AR can win the SB, but I have serious doubts as to whether he and McNabb can get that done together. I think a more efficient QB would make a huge difference. I'd love to have seen the 2006 offense (Garcia at the helm) with the 2008 defense. That might have won the SB going away.
Andy is also guilty of relying on Donovan's ability too much. He lets that get him in the mindset that going for big plays is okay. We then face DAL or NYG and he plays small ball. The offense clicks a little better. The next week we're back to chucking it around the yard and playing inconsistently. I'm not sure why Andy can't see that correlation.
He is changing a bit each year. Andy used to coddle McNabb. That no longer happens. He really went after Donovan following the TB loss in '06 when Mcnabb threw the ball to LJ prior to the half and he was tackled. The clock ran out and we missed an easy chance to attempt a FG. Andy benched Donnie last year. That was unheard of a few years back.
Andy is now more vocal on the sidelines. He doesn't call plays anymore and you see him interacting with all our players. He is supportive, but also will get in a player's face. Coaches too. He was really on Ted Daisher a few weeks back for a mistake.
Andy changes a bit each year, save for the running game. That gives me hope that he could lead us to a title.
Donovan has been more of the same each of the last few years. I'd love for him to prove me wrong and start winning some close games. I would gladly eat crow. I'm just Doubting Thomas at this point.
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