Game 2 Thoughts

- the last two games reinforced something we already knew. protect mcnabb, they win. don't protect mcnabb, they have a tough time winning.

- defense looked terrific. they plugged up the run really well and got decent pressure on rattay all day.

- shawn andrews went out with shoulder injury. hope it's not serious. i also hope this isn't an indicator that he's going to be fragile. he's a heck of a talent.

- mcnabb looked really sharp and made some great throws. none better than the touch pass he made to westbrook in the corner. that's a throw he couldn't make a couple of years ago.

- kearse was a non-factor again, and it didn't really appear to me that san fran was doubling him that much. this is a concern. kalu had a good game though. he had at least 3 mamulas that i counted and he finally did get a sack midway through the third.

- mike patterson played another solid game. don't know if he's going to get credit for a half sack on the first eagles sack of the game (with darwin walker), but he probably should. reggie brown got a couple of catches. it's pretty impressive for a rookie wideout to be playing so much. andy must like him a lot. nice drafting by the birds to snag those two guys.

- lito got the pick, but sheldon had the better game. sheldon broke up several passes and almost had a couple of picks himself. don't know whether the niners were targeting him over sheppard, but it seemed like he got more action. pick your poison i guess, but if i was an opposing coach, i'd target lito who at least is prone to giving up the big play now and then (like when he got burned by lloyd on a double move in the endzone that rattay overthrew). sheldon hardly ever makes a mistake.

- lito got caught by a fat guy on his pick.

- dawkins and michael lewis are flat out mean. every tackle has just a little extra at the end. on the dawkins sack he made sure he got an elbow in rattay's ribs. on a barlow sweep to the left, lewis came in at the end and threw him to the ground even when it was evident barlow was falling down anyway.

- lj had his best game as an eagle. he was involved all day and did a good job of catching the ball. he's been prone to fumble so far in his career so i'm still concerned that he doesn't protect the ball very well (especially when he's trying to evade tacklers), but he's definitely the most athletic TE the birds have had since keith jackson.

- no short arms from TO. great catch as mike rumph popped him in the head. not sure why they picked up the flag on that.

- i'm not sure if he has buckhalter's long speed, but lamar gordon can play. he's pretty shifty and broke a couple of tackles.

- hicks wasn't much better than the last game, but i saw fraley pancake a couple of guys.

- i get frustrated with the lack of a running game, but i've come to the conclusion that andy doesn't run the ball because he knows the eagles aren't good at it right now. the o-line doesn't create holes, parry can't block, and westbrook isn't durable. i think if gordon proves himself to be at least as good as buck was, then we could see the birds run more and more as the season progresses. history has shown that when he has horses he is willing to run (the season when staley, buck, and westbrook were all going strong they were in the top 3 in the league in rushing), so he must have his reasons for not runnning right now. andy's not dumb and he wants to win, so he must think that passing is their best chance for success.