Game 4 Preview

green bay packers at philadelphia eagles on mnf

this should be another no contest game. there could be some complicating factors -- e.g. looking ahead to the dallas game next week -- but the outcome won't be in doubt.

i'll lay out my thoughts at the end, but first what some others think about the game:

footballoutsiders.com
- eagles jump two spots to 4th overall in DVOA (technically it's "VOA" since it is early season and not yet adjusted for defenses faced), stay at 1st on offense, jump one to 15th on defense, and drop to 17th on special teams
- packers come in ranked 26th overall, 22nd on offense, 22nd on defense, and 26th on special teams

The Eagles have played just over 180 minutes of football this season and have looked unbeatable in about 160 of them. Donovan McNabb is averaging 8.5 yards per attempt and has been picked off just once. The defense has produced 16 sacks and forced seven fumbles (though it has only recovered two). And their 60-40 pass-run split is as close to balanced as Andy Reid is going to get. The Eagles have won the last four meetings, going back to 2003. It all looks bleak for the Packers, who are coming off a solid win but still have work to do on defense and in pass protection. And don't expect the Eagles to look past the Packers to the Cowboys, who are headed to Philly next week. They've had their embarrassing letdown for this month. "We have to continue to strive to get execution," Brian Westbrook said on Monday. Hey, if Westbrook and LaDainian Tomlinson get together, they can begin to strive to begin to get execution! Until then, Rundown will endeavor to persevere.

vegas vic

Here's hoping everyone except Andy Reid has purged the memory of the Eagles last Monday night effort (a humliating 42-0 bagel cooked up by the Seahawks last December), but this is a new season with a healthy and happy Donovan McNabb leading the No. 1 offense in the NFL. The Birds will have no problem strutting their stuff in front of the "MNF" cameras against a Green Bay defense that allows 388.3 yards per game, covering this spot with plenty of room to spare.

Prediction: EAGLES (-11) over Packers

milwaukee journal sentinel

Being an underdog should be nothing new for the Green Bay Packers. They were one 11 times in 16 games a year ago and in their first three games this year.

Nevertheless, it has been a long, long time since the Packers have been the prohibitive underdog that they will be Monday night in Philadelphia.

Their opponent, the Eagles (2-1), have been established as an 11-point favorite. The Packers haven't faced longer odds in a regular-season game since they were a 13-point underdog on the road against the Chicago Bears in Week 13 of 1988.

Pick: Eagles

espn scouts inc

Philadelphia is playing on a level similar to two years ago, when it represented the NFC in the Super Bowl. Donovan McNabb is having fun playing football again and it shows, as he is the leading passer in the NFC. He is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast and Philadelphia is currently the top offense in the NFL.

With an Eagles' defensive front that has been putting tremendous pressure on quarterbacks lining up against a Packers' offensive line starting a pair of rookies, Favre may find himself under fire. Green Bay simply is not good enough to go into Philadelphia and pull an upset over a talented and experienced Eagles' team.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Packers 10

what i think
if this was the packers of 3-4 years ago or the brett favre of 1996, then there would be some points of concern, but this is the mike mccarthy packers -- yes, the same mike mccarthy who was the saints o-coordinator for the last few seasons -- and the real brett favre retired in 1999.

it's possible the eagles come out a little flat as this is the sandwich game before next week's me-o return, but i doubt it. as football outsiders mentions, the motivation from the collapse during the giants game should carry much further than just last week. no let down here.

packers o vs. eagles d
TAFKA brett favre + little speed at wideout + ahman green coming off major injury + inexperienced middle of the o-line (where mike patterson lives) should make it difficult for the packers to do a whole lot of damage. they are coming off scoring 24 and 27 points in their last two games, but they are taking a step up in class from the lions and saints respectively. the eagles may not be in chicago's class defensively (shutout the packers in week 1), but the eagles are good enough and, most importantly, rush the passer well enough to control this matchup.

eagles 0 vs packers d
if i could pick one word to describe the packers d, it would be "meh". the linebackers are ok but don't concern me too much -- they have a good player in nick barnett, a hyped rookie in aj hawk, and some guy named brady poppinga. the d-line can rush the passer a little with aaron kampman and kgb, but the line is both weak and injured at d-tackle. kampman and kgb also happen to be good matchups for runyan and thomas as kampman, a motor guy, will matchup against runyan, who tends to struggle against speed guys, and kgb, a speed guy, will matchup against tra, who tends to struggle against power guys. if the packers have any real advantage over the eagles, it is at cornerback. at corner, the packers have our pal al "personal foul" harris and a guy who was once the best cornerback in the game in charles woodson. both of them are on the downside of their careers, but realistically are still better than the joselio hansons and dexter wynns the eagles can field this week. unfortunately for them, this advantage is probably negated by the fact that the packers have safeties who are average at best. marquand manuel was a guy who was forced into a starting role at seattle due to injuries and nick collins is high draft pick from last season but is still learning the position.

the eagles should be able to run and pass on these guys at will. the only thing that is going to slow the eagles offense down is a lack of interest and/or a desire to not run up the score.

prediction: eagles 31 - packers 13

Making Friends

few people can make friends and influence people like our beloved me-o.

"The officers reacted because they were called to this location to do this job. Now they're being put under a microscope by some fancy little football person," Senior Cpl. Glenn White said. "Give me a break. Those officers are 10 times better than this man. ... We police officers don't go out to these calls and make stuff up."

not only is it 100x more entertaining now that he's someone else's problem, but the fact that it's happening to jerry jones, bill parcells, and the cowboys makes it that much better. also factor in that don has pretty much shattered the myth that me-o was the reason for mcnabb's success and it couldn't have turned out better.

this must be how the niners fans were feeling last season.

Eagles DPAR and DVOA Ranks

we interrupt your regularly scheduled me-o programming to briefly discuss the rankings of various eagles players and units according to football outsiders' DPAR and DVOA.

- QB - donnie franchise ranks 2nd in DPAR and 3rd in DVOA

- RB - brian westbrook ranks 2nd in DPAR/5th in DVOA for rushing and 1st in DPAR/7th in DVOA for receiving

- WR - donte' stallworth ranks 10th/8th, reggie brown ranks 32nd/39th, and greg lewis ranks 61st/61st

- TE - lj smith ranks 3rd/11th

- OL - surprisingly, the jackson 5 ranks 6th in run blocking and 10th in pass blocking. however, validating the empirical evidence we've seen in games, running behind TAFKA tra thomas is an exercise in futility. the birds rank 5th sweeping left, 14th up the middle, 13th off right tackle, 5th sweeping right, and 30th off left tackle. which of these things is not like the others...

- DL - unsurprisingly, the d-line ranks 18th against the run and 3rd in pass rushing

Et Tu Screamin'

gee, all it took was a little suicide scare for screamin' a to stop tossing me-o's salad. what kind of sycophant are you, screamin'? you stink as a writer, you know little about the sports you scream about, you might as well show a little loyalty in your ass kissing.

Aside from being able to make it back for the Eagles-Patriots showdown in 2005, McNabb was Owens' focus. He kept lamenting how McNabb had vowed that the Eagles would make it to the Super Bowl "without T.O.," failing to ask himself: What else was McNabb supposed to say?

One harmless phrase was all it took to set T.O. on a path of destruction.

so it wasn't all donovan mcnabb's fault after all? interesting turnaround screamin'.

at least dan lebatard still loves him some me-o.

Me-O Denies Suicide Attempt

me-o just had a press conference where he denied it was a suicide attempt and that his publicist misread the situation. his publicist also said the police lied.

- she denies saying that me-o was depressed
- she denies saying that she had to reach her fingers into his mouth to take some pills out
- she claims it was all a misunderstanding

Me-O Tries to Commit Suicide?

according to cnnsi, me-o tried to commit suicide.

thanks to steve bowers for the link.

Tough Losses

a couple of tough losses by the phils. i'd be convinced i jinxed them with my stupid poll if i didn't think the real reason they lost both of those games was due to manager imcompetence. egads.

he's making mistakes before the game even begins. how in tarnation does he run pat burrell -- a guy who hits .238 against righties and is limited due to pain in his vagina -- out last night against ramon ortiz while leaving david dellucci -- a guy who not only is a better player than burrell but hits .303 against righties on the bench?

how is gillick not getting a brain aneurysm from watching this guy?

Who is the worst manager in recent Phillies history?
	Charlie Manuel
	Terry Francona
	Nick Leyva
	Lee Elia
	John Felske
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Phillies Playoff Starters (Knock on Wood)

not to jinx the streaking phils or anything, but one of the things i've been thinking about is who cholly is going to have in his playoff rotation. does he take the "safe" route and go with experience or does he take a shot at hitting a home run and go with his most talented guys? does he go with a four man rotation or does he drop down to a three man rotation and bolster his bullpen?

What Should Be the Starting Rotation for the Playoffs?
	Myers, Hamels, Moyer
	Myers, Hamels, Moyer, Lieber
	Myers, Hamels, Lieber
	Myers, Hamels, Moyer, Lieber, Wolf
	Myers, Moyer, Lieber, Wolf
	Myers, Hamels, Lieber, Wolf
	Myers, Hamels, Wolf
	Myers, Moyer, Lieber
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Game 3 Thoughts

as expected, today's game was a workmanlike performance against a backmarker -- nothing to get to excited about, but a good test to see where the psyche of the team is while also working on some things that they need to improve. one of the local columnists called today's game a "no win situation" and he was exactly right. even if the birds had won today's game 70-0, they would have gained nothing. there were a lot of good things today, but still some signs of weakness in critical areas.

- mcnabb continues to look awesome, simply awesome. he's surpassed randall as the best eagles QB i've ever seen. for a couple of weeks, i've been thinking that when all is said and done the me-o circus may have been a good thing for don to go through. he survived the trial by fire and he seems to have come out more determined and tougher. he's playing with an anger and a desire to destroy the other team that i don't think he's displayed before. i've never seen him go through his progressions quicker. i've never seen him throw the ball more accurately. i've never seen him throw the ball with better timing.

- no donte today, but what does it matter? good pass blocking plus good QB play makes skill position players better. ultimately, it probably will end up being a good thing it let reggie brown get into the action and build some confidence -- that is as long as stallworth's injury is not a lingering one.

- niners got a couple of bad spots today, but none more important than the one on their initial drive. the 3rd and 4 pass play looked like a first down based on forward progress, but the refs seemed to short the niners about half a yard. it wouldn't have impacted the result of the game, but the niners needed everything to go right to have a chance and they could ill afford a 3 and out to start the game.

- the running game continues to be a big concern. how is it possible to have 5 massive mashers up front, incapable to doing any mashing? don't let the 150 rushing yards fool you. today was not a successful running day. yes, it was against a 3-4 defense and the eagles have historically struggled against 3-4 defenses, but a) it was the NINERS defense, we're not talking about the steel curtain here and b) that's exactly what the upgrade from fraley to jackson was supposed to target -- the nose guard. i don't blame jackson though. he's not really the problem here. the problem seems to be at LT and LG. these guys are good pass blockers, but cannot get any movement off the line. what yardage they gained today was mostly on misdirection and delays so i give credit for those yards to andy. i did like andy's thinking on the second drive of the game, running two straight power runs on 1st and 2nd downs, but those got stuffed at the line. buck did gain 5 yards or so on the 2nd down run, but that was because he broke two tackles. the line opened no holes for him. andy moved immediately to misdirection on the next series and never really tried the power running again.

- jj did a lot of blitzing today looking to confuse and rattle alex smith. to smith's credit, he took a beating and never flinched. his body language was great and he never resorted to any of the falling away/turning his back to the rush that eli manning continues to display. i was very impressed with smith after the play where darren howard sacked him and clubbed his throwing arm down. after the play, they showed a close up of smith as he was walking to the sidelines and taking off his helmet. you could see the signs of the pretty good bruise forming on smith's right bicep right where howard clubbed him. it looked pretty painful and smith didn't even so much as rub it. he's a tough kid.

- the dropped passes continue to be a bugaboo. brian baldinger said that the eagles led the league in dropped passes last season and they dropped 12(!) passes last game. mcnabb was 27 of 45 last game. those 12 drops mean he really should have been 39 of 45... are you kidding me? 39 of 45? that is sick. what is the deal with the drops? i guess every receiver drops the ball now and then, but the whole team has them.

- the secondary is still a concern. JJ is still playing a lot of zone. he just doesn't trust these guys. it was impressive to see rod hood tough out his injury and play, but it was obvious that he couldn't run. guys were blowing past him all game.

- how impressive was it to see my favorite fat guy mike patterson trucking down the field and not get gassed or pull up lame?

- as i write this, denver just scored to go up 10-0. i wonder if bill simmons is going to write/whine about how this is a "gut punch game". p*ssy.

- the d-line got good pressure today, but they definitely missed freak. he really does add a scare factor that makes other teams take notice.

- i thought dhani jones was supposed to be a "cerebral" type. what's with the back to back stupid penalties he took? when you add those into the mix with the fact that he sucks, i'm not sure why the heck he's on the field. can someone explain to me why s.w. barber can't start at the strong side? does anyone doubt that barber could do a better job covering TEs? or even blitzing for that matter. on the one blitz i saw jones make today, jones ran straight upfield into the running back and stopped dead. as if getting stopped in his tracks wasn't bad enough, he was blitzing toward three yards behind where the QB was. jones looked like he was blitzing at a QB taking a 7 step drop, but smith only took a 5 step drop.

- woo hoo, i predicted the exact final score of the game. not too shabby for an amateur.

it was a good win for the birds but i didn't enjoy it that much for a few reasons: a) it did nothing to salve the pain from last week's collapse, b) they continue to evidence the same weaknesses (the strengths are very strong, but the weaknesses are in some key areas and some e.g. the drops directly impact one of their strengths -- QB play/the passing game), and c) the niners stink. i'm not complaining though. any win in the nfl is a good win and i'll take it.

next up, a date with the interception machine formerly known as brett favre.

Home Run Number 58

wow. when ryan howard hit that ball tonight, i didn't think it had a chance based on how low he hit it. i did think it might put a hole in the wall because he mashed it, but d*mn if that thing just stayed up. it was about the fastest i've seen a ball reach the stands.

the best part is that he is so damn likeable.

Game 3 Preview

if this year's eagles team is not a fraud and they are as good as i think they are, then this game against the 49ers should be no contest.

i'll lay out my thoughts at the end, but first what some others think about the game:

footballoutsiders.com
- eagles drop one spot to 6th overall in DVOA, move up to 1st in offense and 16th in defense, while dropping to 15th for special teams
- 49ers rank a surprising 10th overall, 5th in offense, 19th in defense, and 7th for special teams
- interestingly, the giants drop from 10th to 18th after their "win" last week

Eagles fans: still have that cold feeling in the pit of your stomach? Darwin Walker empathizes. "It hurts me all the way down to my soul," he said after last week's overtime loss to the Giants. The next two weeks will help ease the pain. These Niners aren't last year's pushovers — they've acquired a decent pass rush and, thanks to running back Frank Gore, a wisp of an offense — but they're not ready to beat a good team. Next week, the Packers head to Philly for what should be another easy win. The key is bouncing back from the Debacle at the Linc, but Brian Dawkins doesn't sound too worried. "We've got too many cats on this team that are winners. Too many who have been to Super Bowls and playoff games. We know losses are going to happen. You've just got to stay on an even keel."

les bowen

IF THERE'S no Brian Westbrook, the six-point line starts to look generous. And there's always the possibility the Eagles are just too banged up at crucial spots, such as cornerback. But despite last Sunday's collapse and despite the 49ers' upset of the Rams, the Eagles are the better team, and they should be plenty motivated. Jim Johnson does pretty well confusing young quarterbacks. Donovan McNabb looks sharp and hungry. The Birds are capable of losing this game - hey, after last Sunday, you have to figure they're capable of just about anything - but they shouldn't lose it. If they do, their season takes on an entirely different tone.

Prediction: Eagles 27, 49ers 20

sf chronicle

Quarterback Donovan McNabb and the Eagles squandered a 17-point lead last week in a loss to their NFC East rivals the New York Giants. The 49ers feel validation following a victory over the Rams. Philly has lost defensive leader Javon Kearse for the season (knee) and may be vulnerable.

Pick: 49ERS

espn scouts inc

The Eagles need to play a complete game against the 49ers. In the first two games of the regular season, the Eagles have built early leads and started to get sloppy. Against the Texans it did not matter, but against a good football team like the Giants, it spelled disaster.

The Eagles need to stop the run and get an early lead, forcing the 49ers into a passing mode. The 49ers need to establish the run and keep the Eagles' high-powered offense off the field, while taking shots off play action to take advantage of the Eagles' young corners. These two offenses can put up a lot of points in a hurry. This could be a high- scoring game.

Prediction: Eagles 31, 49ers 24

what i think
the 49ers feature a young potential star at QB, an incredibly talented running back just getting healthy after a devastating knee injury in college, a gifted wideout who has great ball skills, and a young defense with a talented secondary. however, i believe none of that is going to matter in this game. the eagles will come out to redeem themselves and the 49ers will be roadkill. expect the niners offense to score some points in this game, but it will be no contest as the eagles offense will score early and often.

niners o vs. eagles d
alex smith is athletic, throws an accurate ball, and was supposed to be the smartest QB in last year's draft. i haven't seen him play this year, but his numbers indicate that he's made huge strides since last season and he's well on his way to being a success. frank gore is a stud and, if he is all the way back, he can be the best running back in the nfl. antonio bryant is finally getting a chance to prove that he can be a number 1 wideout. starting with the draft, when he came into the league as a potential top 10 pick who slipped into the second round, there seems to always have been something holding him down in the pros. now he's the number one guy building a rapport with a young QB and he brings great ball skills and good hands with him.

none of that is going to matter. alex smith may be talented, but he's still a 2nd year QB. if JJ cannot befuddle him in this game, JJ should retire now as he's lost his touch. expect to see a lot of confusion from smith and a couple of picks. frank gore is talented, but he still needs holes to run through. the niners o-line is improved, but should be no match for the eagles d-line (even without freak). antonio bryant is a good wideout, but is also a good matchup for sheldon brown. sheldon struggles against pure speed guys and tall wideouts, bryant is neither of those. bryant has good quickness but lacks deep speed. he has good ball skills, but at 6' 1" (i've also seen him listed at 6' 2") he won't necessarily tower over sheldon. i'd like to see JJ match up sheldon on bryant instead of locking him to a side of the field.

i expect the niners to be able to score some points because they do have some talented players, but not enough to win.

eagles 0 vs niners d
with or without westbrook, the eagles will score points. they have the top offense in the nfl according to football outsiders and have gained more yards this season than any other team.

the niners defense is young and they have some holes at d-line and linebacker. maybe it's just hubris, but i have no fear of the niners defense. i just can't see them slowing down don and that o-line very much. the birds should be able to run on them and protect don long enough for receivers to find holes.

prediction: eagles 38 - 49ers 24

Dinner With Pat Gillick

from ben:

This is for Corey and Carson, who run an AWESOME blog:

Dinner with Pat Gillick

A cynic might argue that the company foolish enough to employ me spends lavishly on trinkets to convince its rank and file it cares about us. Guys like me can pick from complimentary sweeties like Phillies tickets, Eagles tickets, Symphony tickets, etc. Name a team or organization in the New York-Philadelphia region and my benevolent employer owns season tickets. What does this mean to the Scrapple audience? You guessed it. Yours truly and the biggest 7-year-old baseball fan in the world had supper on Pat Gillick tonight as the lucky recipient of two passes to Season Ticket Fan Appreciation Night at the Bank.

I promised Pete a fair and balanced report as I tried to resolve the angst generated by what I consider the lamest trade the team has made since I’ve been an adult. I’m counting on Pete to provide a spiffy link to previous posts, but if he doesn’t, lets just say that I think a savvy GM could have procured Phil Hughes and a bright future (as well as salary relief) when he booted Bobby to the Big Apple if he’d shown a little patience and tried to see things not just from his own vantage but from Yankee GM Cashman’s. My goal tonight was to ask Pat Gillick face-to-face why he didn’t get the job done. Pete has argued that the deal wasn’t there to be made. I’ve argued that just because Cashman told the press he wouldn’t have made the trade doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have.

Preliminaries:

Make no mistake, the Phillies care about their fans (at least the blue blood’s who pay serious cash for premium full-season tickets). I was Thurston Howell III tonight. Talk about getting your ass kissed. I’ve never been called “sir” so many times in a single evening. I’m enormously happy I resisted the urge to change into “play” clothes before attending the event.

Thank you Phillies for letting me eat from your bountiful table and drink from your loving cup. My wallet never left my pocket and I walked away with a full belly (mostly ballpark food, but a big cut above what regular guys like me get at the concession stand). My son loves his new Phillies ball cap and Aaron Rowand jersey (even though Aaron can’t hit).

The view from the field is spectacular. We’ve touched all the bases, “fielded” grounders from short and second, crashed into the outfield walls, warmed up in the bullpen, smashed line drives off the same batting tees that Ryan and Chase use between at-bats. We’ve stood in front of Jimmy Rollins locker, sat in the dugout, and pretended to be Bobby Abreu shrieking with fear in front of the chain-link and have pictures to prove it. Strictly in terms of the Father-Son experience, what a night!

Main Event:

Our invitation included an enticement I couldn’t possible resist: a 30-minute Q & A session with Pat Gillick. Remembering how influential a similar event proved to the direction of the 76ers several years ago (remember Johnny Davis), I anticipated this event like first date.

I knew I’d be disappointed as soon as Scott Palmer grabbed a microphone. He felt it would be helpful to serve as proxy for Philadelphia fans by asking the first questions. Egad. He offered up several Arthur Rhodes fastballs that allowed Pat Gillick and Mike Arbuckle to put a positive spin on every move, every press conference utterance, and every damn thing you could possibly imagine. The ensuing love fest was predictable. The organization is in great hands because Pat Gillick is “the best baseball mind” Mike Arbuckle has ever encountered in his storied career as a “baseball man.” The minor league system is a diamond because Mike Arbuckle has groomed 12 members of the Phillies and Botavia led the league in ERA, and was “instrumental” in signing Ryan Howard. Not less than 5 times, Phillies personnel referred to this session as a “speech” until finally calling it a “Q & A session” when guys like me asked “what are you talking about?”

Finally, after 15 minutes of self-serving, self-promotion, Scott Palmer acknowledged that some fans might also have questions. He suggested this was a good idea (really?), but also warned that fans could not ask questions about specific players employed by organizations other than the Phillies (because this would leave the Phillies susceptible to “tampering” violations, a term I imagine he heard recently on ESPN with regard to the Jets in conjunction with that Patriots WR, Branch). Okay.

Naturally, my hand shot up immediately. I thought I’d get the ball rolling and since I was sitting about 5 feet from Pat (having strategically camped by the podium). Guess what? They didn’t pick me. Conveniently, a “fan” already had a microphone. The question? “Given the recent geo-political changes happening in Cuba, and the likelihood that players from the island may be free to play in the US, are the Phillies actively scouting talent and aware of the names that may become available?” On the surface, this seemed like an intelligent question, until Mike Arbuckle (who already had the mike in hand) rattled off a 5 minute (I timed it) dissertation on Cuban baseball and its players. He was so thorough that I couldn’t help wondering if the “fan” was a plant and he had consulted George Bush on what the appropriate answer might be.

Next question. “Are you disappointed by the play of Pat Burrell?” Shockingly, the “fan” who asked this question already had a mike in hand. For the record, Gillick was amazingly candid. He shit all over the Bat, implying that he was a complete p$ssy who couldn’t handle anything but positive reinforcement and couldn’t produce even when he received it. The Bat is gone next year, make no mistake about it.

The canned “fan” questions continued for 15 minutes. Each came from a plant. Guys like me were completely ignored. I asked several Phillies employees what I needed to do to ask a question, but no one had an answer. The entire Q & A session was rehearsed and planned. What a disappointment!

The Skinny:

Lieberthal is gone. “He won’t be back next season.” The Phillies will sign a new catcher in the off-season. They will not start the season with Coste and Ruiz. Book it.

The club will spend $90 million next year on payroll. This is a fact. Gillick was crystal on this. I’m guessing this means more money for Howard and Utley rather than big name free agents.

The Phillies will bring in a new 3B next year. “David Bell and Abraham Nunez provided great defense for us (really?), but they didn’t give us what we needed at the plate.”

Gillick will go after pitching. The young guys progressed faster than expected (Hammels), but we need more.

Gillick is really sorry he suggested the Phillies couldn’t compete for a title next year. He still believes we won’t, but regrets pissing off the high rollers more than you might think.

Impressions:

Pat Gillick is a lounge lizard. Think back to the parties your parent threw when you were a kid. Remember the uncle who sat in the corner sipping Gin as his eyes glazed. I wouldn’t trust this guy with my team. There is no doubt in my mind that he was overmatched by Cashman and has one foot into retirement already. Pray that Amaro is ready to step in soon.

Mike Arbuckle is scared shitless that his job is in jeopardy.

The Phillies don’t like their fans, but they’re scared of them (or at least scared that they may stop spending money buying tickets, drinks and food).

If anyone out there in Scrappleland has any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Ben

per ben's request, here are links to the discussion about phil hughes to date:

- june 5, 2006 - ben's initial scouting report and proposal for hughes
- july 31, 2006 - initial reactions to the trade
- august 2, 2006 - second wave of feedback on the trade
- august 20, 2006 - ben's open letter to pat gillick with recommendations for the future
- august 25, 2006 - i decide that i believe hughes was not available based on what i know/presume

Game 2 Re-Revisited

from big dog:

The things that upset me are:
1. They didn't close the deal
2. Reid mismanaged some of the clock and had some suspect play selection.
3. The offense stopped attacking.
4. The defense stopped attacking.
5. The running game was not able to grind out the clock....and we all know that they didn't have enough talent in the backfield, and or the line gave no holes, it is tough to see, but Westbrook was getting hit in the backfield every time. If they stopped being aggressive, which was not a bad game plan, they needed to grind out the clock. This is a problem that we all knew about.
6. Westbrook had a critical drop.
7. LJ had a critical drop (tough catch though)
8. Stallworth had a critical drop.

big dog, i agree with all of your points except for 3 and 4.

3) i think it may have seemed like the offense stopped attacking because they stopped executing well, but when you break down the play selection in the second half and the overtime it does not support that conclusion.

second half play calls:
- run - westbrook run for 13 yards
- pass - mcnabb scrambles for 7
- run - westbrook for 1
- pass - stallworth for 11
- run - buck for 6
- run - westbrook for 8
- pass - brown for 23 - TD
- run - westbrook for 2
- pass - westbrook for 11
- run - buck for nada (runyan penalty)
- run - buck for -4
- pass - LJ for 19
- pass - incomplete (westbrook drop iirc)
- punt
- pass - tapeh for 1
- run - westbrook for nada
- pass - mcnabb sacked -6
- punt
- pass - stallworth incomplete
- run - westbrook for 7
- run - westbrook for 2
- run - buck for nada (turnover on downs. i agree with the call. coaches should almost always go for it on 4th and 1 in opponent terr. there are a number of analyses that highlight why it is prudent to go for it. here is one.)
- pass - reggie brown incomplete (drop along the sidelines iirc)
- pass - schobel for 11
- penalty on mcnabb for head fake
- run - westbrook for 9
- run - westbrook for 2 (fumble)
- now there is 3:22 left, the idea should be to run out the clock
- run - westbrook for nada (giants timeout iirc)
- pass - mcnabb scramble for 3 (giants timeout iirc)
- pass - greg lewis for 13 (first down)
- run - westbrook for nada (2:00 warning)
- run - westbrook for -2 (giants timeout iirc)
- pass - tapeh for 8
- punt

overtime
- pass - stallworth incomplete (stallworth drop, GAH!)
- pass - screen to LJ for -3 (giants knew this play was coming, GAH!!!!)
- pass - LJ incomplete (LJ drop, GAAAAH!!!!!)

that's 14 passes and 16 runs in the second half and 3 straight passes in overtime. i don't know if you can say that he stopped attacking. i think they obviously didn't execute the running plays very well and all the passes directed at the black josh parry didn't make much sense, but every possession in the second half and overtime started with a pass except for 2 (and one of those ended up in a TD).

4) i agree that they stopped attacking on defense, but i don't think that was by choice. they stopped attacking once hood got hurt. after hood went out, JJ pulled back and started rolling coverage to hanson's side. i'm sure it killed most of the gameplan JJ had coming into the game, but i don't know if you can necessarily assign blame here.

i'm not defending the coaching for the game -- i think the giants coaches out-coached the eagles coaches -- but i also don't think it's fair to characterize what happened as a failure to attack.

Game 2 Revisited

reid is going to take a lot of flak over what happened yesterday, and granted there were a few mistakes made (e.g. passing the ball three straight times on a 2nd and 1), but the players lost the game, not big red.

i am hearing people say how he "got conservative" after they got the big lead and "changed his play calling". well, damn that's what you want the coach to do isn't it? isn't that what people have been screaming about for the last two seasons? that he doesn't run the ball even after he gets a big lead?

andy's gameplan was what we have all been asking for. pass to get a big lead, then mash it down their throats and run out the clock. is it big red's fault that the team could not grind out even one or two yards? yes and no. yes because they don't have a big back, but frankly, a big back wouldn't have made a difference. there were no running lanes available. any back would have gotten stuffed. eagles would have won if one or two plays turned out differently (LJ or stallworth catch the damn ball on the last drive, lewis picks up the fumble or any of the other giants fumbles for that matter, westbrook doesn't fumble), but the game was lost because they could not run the ball.

it was a matter of execution. if they run the ball, they win. to andy's credit, he stuck with the run (something that we've all been begging him to do). turns out he was right all along. they can't run the f-ing ball. still.

now, my hope is that he takes this as a lesson and fixes the running game so that it's not such a glaring weakness. my expectation is that the lesson he learns is that he should stop running the ball. sigh.

simon is also right that this is one frigging game. i am still upset about the game, but it is one game. all this talk about being done with reid is ridiculous.

Game 2 Thoughts

i'm still in shock over the indescribably horrible tragedy that took place at the linc today. i had a whole laundry list of good things to discuss and random things i noticed about the game, but meh, who cares about those things now? how could this this game have ended in a loss. it's almost impossible? has there ever been an eagles collapse bigger than this? at least it wasn't in the playoffs like the way the giants collapsed at san fran a few years back, but that still little solace. there is a lot of blame to go around in a loss like this:

- michael lewis. bites hard on a play fake on the giants' first drive and gets burned for the first TD of the game. it looked like they were in a cover 2, so lewis had deep responsibility. there is no excuse for that.

- fargin drops! what was with the drops? schobel, brown, tapeh multiple times, stallworth, lj. can't win a game with so many friggin drops. especially on the last drive for cripes sake!

- fumble recovery in the end zone. lucky play for the giants. it was unfortunate that michael lewis couldn't bring it in, but it was a huge momentum changer.

- the drive that ended with mcnabb throwing it out of bounds on 4th and 1. how could it come to that? how can you not attempt a run on 3rd and 1? or 4th and 1? RUN THE BALL YOU FAT F*CK!

- some people are going to point to the 4th and 1 that the birds went for and buckhalter got stuffed as a bad call. i agreed with the call and would have gone for it there as well. it's unfortunate that buck got stuffed, but still a good call. the giants ended up punting on the ensuing possession anyway.

- JJ has no answer for covering short. the giants adjusted at halftime and started eating up the birds underneath, and JJ didn't adjust accordingly.

- westbrook fumbles. egad.

- o-line got stuffed in the second half. andy tried to run and the birds kept getting stuffed at the line.

- can't fault akers for missing a 49 yarder, but turns out it was a difference in the game.

- how can trent cole take a taunting penalty at that stage of the game? i didn't see it since i was at the game, did he actually do something? can anyone describe?

- the referrees were AWFUL. lots of missed calls for both sides all game, especially offensive holding.

- how many freaking times is andy going to call tapeh's number? he did finally make a catch, but you had to throw it to him 5 times to finally get that catch.

- why is it that our d-line with its vaunted depth looked gassed at the end of the game, but the giants d-line was fresh enough to stuff the birds at the line?

- this game is a perfect example of why westbrook is *not* a franchise back. you cannot grind out the clock with him lining up in the backfield. he's a feast or famine type player and what you really is a guy who always gets you at least 3 yards.

- losing rod hood to injury was huge. the game changed when he left. hope his injury is not serious.

ugh. this is going to be a miserable week.

Game 2 Preview

this is going to be a tough game, any way you look at it. the teams are pretty closely matched in terms of talent and the way the schedule lays out makes this almost a must win for the giants.

i'll lay out my thoughts at the end, but first what some others think about the game:

footballoutsiders.com
- eagles rank 5th overall in DVOA, 2nd in offense, 21st in defense, and 13th for special teams
- giants rank 10th overall, 1st in offense, 25th in defense, and 29th for special teams

Look for the Giants to win this game by pressuring McNabb and attacking the Eagles secondary, with Barber and Jeremy Shockey lining up as wide receivers to force mismatches. The Eagles will do a little less back-patting after this week, but games against the Niners and Packers will bring their chakras back into alignment soon enough.

les bowen

I'VE BEEN GOING back and forth on this all week. I think the Giants are good. They probably should have beaten the Colts last week. I can see them throwing underneath successfully on the Eagles, then pounding away with their running game. I'm not sure I really believe the Giants are going to Seattle next week 0-2. But I think the Eagles are pretty good, too, and it's hard to pick against them in their first home game, coming off a game in which they seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Yesterday's Brian Westbrook practice scare nearly swung me back to the Giants, but I'm going to take the Eagles until they give me good reason not to take them. A healthy Donovan McNabb has been a difference-maker many times in this series. In fact, the Eagles haven't lost to the Giants with McNabb in the lineup since the 2000 season (7-0).

Prediction: Eagles 24, Giants 20

ny post

HE Giants needed a Jay Feely OT field goal to survive in Philly last December, and that was against the battered Eagles' JV. So you certainly have to fear a healthy Donovan McNabb-Brian Westbrook-Donte Stallworth trio. Stallworth, then a Saint, caught eight for 141 yards vs. Big Blue in Week 2 last year. Still, if you go Giants, you get the better team, with points, and maybe a little early-season desperation.

The pick: Giants, +3

phil martelli
picks the giants to win 21-13 based on their better skill position players

espn scouts inc

This game will be a good test for the Eagles, unlike last week. The Giants are a good team that won the division last year. The Eagles must take advantage of a porous Giants secondary by spreading the ball around and using play-action to work the ball downfield. If the Eagles win this game, they have a good chance of starting the season 4-0.

The Giants must find a way of capitalizing on Eagles mistakes and limiting their own. They must get off the field defensively on third down and protect Manning from the Eagles' zone-blitz package. The Giants need to take the crowd out early by mounting a good, long drive or scoring quickly. The Giants need to put away all the excuses for the Week 1 loss, because they are going into hostile territory in Philadelphia. If they are going to win the division again this year, they need to find a way to win regardless of what happens. The good teams do.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Giants 24

what i think
the single biggest factor in this game will be whether or not the birds defense can control tiki barber. despite all of the talent in the skill positions, the giants do not go if tiki doesn't run. tiki's running takes pressure off young eli to make plays and that keeps the giants in games. if eli has to win the game the giants are in a tough spot.

giants o vs. eagles d
as with most games, the matchup between the giants vastly improved o-line vs. the eagles rebuilt d-line will tell the story. if the eagles are able to bottle up barber and get consistent pressure on eli, then the eagles will likely win the game. this will be easier said than done. while i don't think last week's game against the colts will be representative of how effective the giants o-line will be all season (especially on run blocking since the colts defense weighs about as much as a high school team), they were surprisingly effective in pass protection. i think they ate dwight freeney, who was invisible all game. the giants skill position players are impressive overall, but they'll only be as good as tiki and eli enable them to be. if tiki and eli have bad games, then all those skill position players will go to waste.

the eagles will be without lito for sunday's game, but in reality that is a plus. lito hasn't been healthy and has limited effectiveness anyway. if the d-line is able to control the line of scrimmage, then i'm not too concerned about all the what-ifs. if the d-line is unable to consistently control the LOS, then you definitely have to be concerned about who is going to match up with 6' 5" plaxico burress and 6' 5" jeremey shockey. the other concern is how disciplined trotter is going to play because barber feasts on cutting back behind overpursuers.

eagles 0 vs giants d
as per usual, the strahan/runyan matchup will be a key one to watch, but probably not *the* key anymore. the osi umenyiora matchup against a gimpy tra thomas is probably the most important individual matchup. the eagles should be able to run the ball effectively against the giants because the weakness of the giants d is their middle (which is now a strength of the eagles o-line) assuming the fragile brothers don't hurt themselves getting out of the shower and are able to line up in the backfield. giants secondary is nothing special, so i expect the birds receivers will have some room to run.

the giants made a big splash with the lavar arrington and sam madison signings. too bad it's not 2001 because those guys sucked in the first game of the season. madison can't stick to receivers anymore and arrington can't run. giants do have some weaknesses, but their strength at d-end will enable them to pressure donnie franchise. still, having fred robbins, barry cofield, and william joseph as your d-tackle rotation is less than, shall we say, stellar.

how the game will play out
giants will keep this game close because they face the possibility of starting off 0-2 with @seattle staring them in the face. they'll be fired up for this game. the eagles cannot afford to start this game flat, and i don't believe they will. last week's game was a look ahead game for the birds and is one of the reasons they came out flat against houston. this is a game the eagles have been pointing to since training camp, and i expect they'll be prepared. andy played it pretty close to the vest against the texans and i expect he'll have some wrinkles prepared for this game.

despite the improved eagles defense, expect to see tiki barber have a pretty good day, which in turn, will free up the receivers to have a pretty good day. on the flip side, the giants biggest weakness is still their secondary, so expect to see don do some damage. i do not expect this to be a low scoring game.

last note - after a slow start against them, don has owned the giants in recent years and i don't see how that is going to change in his comeback season.

prediction: eagles 27 giants 23

Messing Around With Polls

Who is the best linebacker in Eagles history?
	Jeremiah Trotter
	Bill Romanowski
	William Thomas
	Seth Joyner
	Jerry Robinson
	Frank LeMaster
	Bill Bergey
	Chuck Bednarik
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Who is the best running back in Eagles history?
	Brian Westbrook
	Duce Staley
	Ricky Watters
	Charlie Garner
	Keith Byars
	Wilbert Montgomery
	Timmy Brown
	Steve Van Buren
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Eagles Fans Rank 3rd in Loyalty

according to the american city business journals, the eagles rank 3rd in fan loyalty among the 32 nfl teams.

a description of their methodology here.

here are their full rankings:

Rank	Team
1	Cleveland Browns
2	Kansas City Chiefs
3	Philadelphia Eagles
4	Green Bay Packers
5	Dallas Cowboys
6	Buffalo Bills
7	Houston Texans
8	Denver Broncos
9	Baltimore Ravens
10	Washington Redskins
11	New York Giants
12	Carolina Panthers
13	Miami Dolphins
14	St. Louis Rams
15	New England Patriots
16	Detroit Lions
17	San Francisco 49ers
18	New York Jets
19	Minnesota Vikings
20	Cincinnati Bengals
21	Pittsburgh Steelers
22	San Diego Chargers
23	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
24	New Orleans Saints
25	Indianapolis Colts
26	Jacksonville Jaguars
27	Chicago Bears
28	Tennessee Titans
29	Seattle Seahawks
30	Arizona Cardinals
31	Atlanta Falcons
32	Oakland Raiders

Lito Out for Next Week

lito has what the eagles are describing as a "fairly significant injury" to his right ankle (he hurt his left ankle last season).

this likely ends the bruce perry as a cornerback experiment and sends him back to the practice squad. expect to see donald strickland or dexter wynn back on the roster soon.

i wonder who's going to handle kickoffs? not that perry looked too good yesterday, but he was the number 1 KR heading into the season.

Now Your Number One Source for Peyton Hating

type "i hate peyton manning" into yahoo's search engine and whose site pops up as the first link? that's right, your friendly neighborhood log o' scrapple.

not sure how this happened since i've only written about peyton here, here, and here, but apparently, yahoo knows where to go for real peyton hating...

Monday Links

- football outsiders picks the eagles to win the division

- waiting for the fireworks to start between me-who and bledsoe

- jay glazer is reporting that the cowboys are documenting every me-who transgression in preparation for the inevitable grievance hearing

- donnie franchise is the leading vote-getter for player of the week on espn.com

- according to len pasquarelli, the eagles and donte' stallworth's agent (ahem, drew rosenhaus) have begun a dialogue about a contract extension. also, the saints were prepared to trade stallworth to another team for a LB and a 4th rounder before the birds came in and offered the creative condition on the 3rd rounder (credit goes to banner).

Reggie Bush

yesterday, the announcers for the game mentioned that the saints may regret not taking reggie bush and/or not trading down. this morning, big dog mentions similar concerns in his comments.

i thought about this a bit while watching yesterday's game and i've decided that i think the texans made the right move.

- there's no way they were going to take a running back with the first pick in the draft, "next barry sanders" or not. kubiak comes from the denver system and they believe you can turn anyone into a thousand yard back. heck, terrell davis was a sixth round pick. no way, they take a running back number 1

- they tried to trade down the whole time, if i recall. it's just that no one is willing to pay a ransom for the top pick anymore. especially when history has shown that the trade usually helps the team trading out rather than the team trading into the top spot and you have researchers telling you that the top picks are well overvalued.

in addition, i just don't believe that reggie bush is going to be that special in the nfl. he's fast, but he's not even close to being barry sanders. barry had moves upon moves. no one ever got a clean shot on barry and he was built like a small tank. his ankles were freakishly thick, and that enabled him to go from full speed to stop in one step. in turn, that enabled barry to make 3-4 guys miss consistently. reggie bush cannot do these things.

bush is much faster than barry ever was, but he is thin, has skinny legs, and can make one guy miss consistently. he'll be a home run hitter for sure because of his speed, but i suspect he'll never be a dominator or be durable enough to be an all-timer.

my conclusion is that houston may have made the wrong move in selecting mario williams, but it won't be because they failed to select reggie bush. if they made the wrong move it will be because they failed to select d'brickashaw ferguson to protect their talented QB.

Tapeh Paying Benefits

the decision to dump by not so little buddy is already paying off. tapeh took out two defenders on the westbrook screen pass for a touchdown. that block was impressive for two reasons:

a) he was fast enough to be ahead of westbrook and in position to make the block to spring him

b) did i mention he took out two defenders in one block? that was quite an athetic move

WIP Morons

was flipping radio stations on the way to work this morning to hear this garbage from rhea hughes as they were talking about how eli manning continues to make bad decisions and force balls into coverage

[sarcasm on] "yeah, and it's a good thing donovan never does that" [sarcasm off]

actually, rhea, in fact donovan does never do that. at least as "never" as anyone who has ever played the game.

fact - mcnabb is second *ALL-TIME* in lowest interception rate for QBs

fact - mcnabb ranked second best among starting QBs last season in the football scientist's "bad decision percentage"

oh, but facts don't matter when you have an agenda to push. rotten b*tch.

Game 1 Thoughts

football season is finally here! a good victory for the birds and a good tuneup for the real start of the season next week. looking forward to seeing the standings after the first week. i expect the eagles to be the only team with a win.

- what is it with the eagles and opening day? is it a rule that every season has to start off with a bout of agita? the texans came out fired up and the eagles seemed to be in a bit of a daze at the start. no one panicked though and things settled down nicely.

- T-who? donte' turned in a pretty nice game for just getting here. seems like he's going to be a nice fit as the number 1 receiver here. he probably doesn't have the ball skills that me-o does, but seems like he may have better hands. also, he seems like a more well rounded receiver than anyone has been describing, making catches inside and outside and on deep balls and short balls.

- the first eagles TD was a beauty. what a ball fake by don and what a nice route by stallworth. two professionals at work, hopefully the start of something big. remember, stallworth is only 26!

- on the opening drive of the game, how in blazes does lito let jeb putzier get behind him? that drive should have been 3 and out rather than a TD. you can't have a nobody TE blowing past your starting cornerback. turns out that lito still isn't feeling right on that ankle. i hope he doesn't come back until he is able to cover the jeb putziers of the world.

- greg lewis did a nice job on kick coverage today. twice on kickoffs, he held the corner against a blocker and forced the runner inside into coverage.

- our QB can play a little, no? if you listen to the constant anti-mcnabb bleating of the WIP morning dipsh*ts, you'd think we had brad goebel QB'ing our team. the guy is a legit top 5 QB in the league.

- how about those second team d-ends? the entire d-line played pretty well today. i am hoping that was at least equal parts them being good rather than it being mostly the texans o-line sucking. whatever the cause, the d-line played on the houston side of the ball for much of hte game.

- the jackson 5 played pretty well too. they gave don plenty of time to throw and blew the texans off the line on enough running plays to allow westbrook and buckhalter to combine for 25 rushes and 121 yards. not too shabby.

- wow, buckhalter really is back. he ran harder as the game progressed and broke several tackles. wow. an eagles back who can break a tackle. that's been almost a myth for several seasons.

- i think david carr could have been a good player if he hadn't been stuck on a dom capers coached team for his whole career. it's possible he may become productive under kubiak, but he throws a nice ball and seems pretty nimble.

- linebackers played ok i thought. mccoy didn't make any glaring mistakes and was able to blow up a couple of plays because of his speed.

- the only concern i came away with is the secondary. i think the pressure the defense can apply is going to hide their flaws, but really dawkins is the only star in that secondary. lewis can't cover and has no ball skills. sheldon keeps getting caught looking into the backfield (happened against terry glenn last season). who knows what is going on with lito, he's been in a funk since his pro-bowl season. i don't know, i have a feeling the secondary is going to be the achilles heel of this team.

thoughts on other games

- did everyone see the "shut the f-up" look that jason fabini gave to me-who as he was trying to "fire up" his teammates who weren't paying any attention?

- young eli the overhyped is throwing balls all over the place today. he's thrown some short balls accurately, but he wouldn't have any completions over 10 yards if his receivers weren't all 6' 5" or taller. how can don take so much crap for his occasional worm burners, when guys like eli are chucking the ball without any idea of where it's going? anyone else out there think that cataldi and crew actively root against mcnabb for making him look foolish for that draft day stunt? cataldi definitely seems petty enough.

- everyone's preseason NFC favorite, the carolina panthers, took it on the chin at the falcons. true, they didn't have steve smith in the lineup, but we're not talking about a QB here. he's a wideout. seems pretty weak for a team with superbowl aspirations to be derailed by a wideout sitting out the game.

Eagles Win 40-20

...according to the madden 07 simulation on espn.com.

brian westbrook carried 30 times for 140 yards (guffaw). no word yet on his condition, he was last seen trying to find the ankle that fell off as he was being carted off the field.

Predictions for the NFC East

now that the rosters are coming into focus, here is my prediction for order of finish in the NFC east and a breakdown of each team. i suppose it will be slanted in the eagles favor -- as despite my constant attempts to remain objective, i do remain an eagles fan at heart -- but this is how i firmly believe the season will play out.

predicted order of finish
1. eagles - 11-5
2. giants - 10-6
3. cowboys - 8-8
4. redskins - 7-9

1. philadelphia eagles - 11-5

positives
- the best QB in the division and someone who is on a mission to restore his place in the game and make himself an MVP candidate again -- by itself this should translate into wins
- a rebuilt defense with a d-line that is among the best in the nfl
- brian dawkins
- a young, dynamic wideout corps
- coming out of preseason relatively healthy for the first time in years
- a massive offensive line with a lot of depth at all positions
- no more me-o

negatives
- LBs are suspect -- undersized and/or slow
- RBs are small and injury prone
- TEs cannot block
- FB cannot block
- no more me-o

outlook
eagles should come out of the gate very quickly due to an easy early season schedule. the team does have it's weaknesses, but a) there isn't a team in the nfc that doesn't have its share of weaknesses and b) the team's strengths are very strong, difference making strong. lots of depth at almost every position except for LB, so they should be able to survive some injuries.

2) new york giants - 10-6

positives
- talented skill position players at every position
- great defensive ends
- good linebacking corps (if healthy)
- upgraded cornerbacks
- a QB who should be better than last season

negatives
- several prima donnas on the team
- a young QB with what appear to be fundamental flaws that may limit his potential
- older linebackers who once were good, but are damaged goods
- lots of sniping at the coach and the season hasn't even started yet
- the "toughest" schedule in the league
- below average d-tackles

outlook
i believe the giants will be the eagles chief competition this season. there is a chance for mutiny, but i don't think it will happen until the end of the season. on overall talent, they are on par with everyone else in the division, but this is a team with less depth than anyone except for the redskins. the development of the QB will be a huge factor in how successful the season is. if he becomes a true star (doubtful), then this team can win the division. if not, then the talent at the other positions will overcome his deficiencies much as they did last season. the only area where they have some real depth is at defensive end, so injuries may be a factor.

3) dallas cowboys - 8-8

positives
- good skill position players and probably the most talented pair of wideouts in the game (probably by far)
- good young defense with lots of speed. may be the best defense in the nfc.
- greg ellis was a very good defensive end, but may end up being a great LB. i've always been high on him, but i think he may have a breakout season.

negatives
- improving but still very suspect o-line
- an immobile QB who is a slow decision maker and does not scan the field well. tends to lock onto a guy and wait for him to get open.
- the me-o circus. i don't think the town is big enough for both parcells and me-o. one of them will be gone before the season ends.

outlook
this team has the talent to be a monster, but will be held back by two things: a) QB play, it is very difficult to win without good QB play and dallas will find it difficult to win without getting good play out of bledsoe or romo, my prediction is that QB play is going to hold this team back and b) the inevitable me-o implosion, already people are questioning parcells and his handling of the me-o cycling tour, if it's not me-o feuding with parcells it's going to be me-o feuding with bledsoe. the one thing that may help to keep bledsoe out of the crosshairs is that the cowboys are not "bledsoe's team". one of the big reasons why me-o lashed out at garcia and mcnabb is that they were the focal points of their teams, something that me-0 wanted for himself. since the cowboys are parcells' team. look for that to be the central point of conflict.

4) washington redskins - 7-9

positives
- good skill position players
- good o-line
- lots of good coaches
- good secondary
- good fantasy football roster

negatives
- no depth at most positions
- too much coaching turnover
- suspect QB play
- too many underachievers

outlook
i'm not very optimistic about the redskins chances this season, in fact, i would have put them at 6-10 if everyone else wasn't so sure that they were going to be so good. their QBs stink, they have too many high reputation/low production players, they completely changed their offensive philosophy in the offseason, their number one back is already injured, they have no depth at any position because they are overpaying their starters, their head coach is looking forward to retiring again. they do have a good d-coordinator and their defense should keep them in games, but this team is not going to score points and they'll be hard pressed to win many games.

How Much Butter Can You Eat In One Sitting...

i received this in an email from, i'm guessing, a turkey hill marketing guy. it's an ice cream eating contest for eagles fans, and the prize is a trip to tampa to watch the birds play on 10/22/2006.

WHAT: Eagles Fan Ice Cream Eating Contest

WHERE: Outside Lincoln Financial Field

WHEN: Preliminary rounds: Sunday 9/17 and Monday 10/2

Final round: Sunday 10/8

PRIZE: Autographed stuff (prelims) and a trip for two to Tampa, Florida to watch the Eagles/Bucs game on 10/22 (finals).

HOW TO ENTER: Sign up at http://941freefm.com/pages/71947.php

needless to say, bumble, this has your name written all over it.

53 Man Roster Review

eagles cut down to their 53 man roster last week, and there were a few surprises but no shockers.

QB

mcfranchise, garcia, feeley

no surprises here as the writing was on the wall for koy once the birds started to work dirk johnson in as holder for field goals. picking up feeley was a obvious move for both the birds and for feeley, but a good move nonetheless. only question i have is whether or not we actually need garcia now that feeley is on board. jeff has very little left in the tank, IMO. maybe we can get some value in a trade?

RB

westbrook, buckhalter, moats, mahe, perry

it's nice to see buckhalter back, but i'm a little concerned about the RB corps. all of these guys are injuries waiting to happen. there's not a durable back in the entire group. with andy seemingly set to go to a 2 TE set, is he going to run these backs into the ground? he has mashers up front but no mashers in the backfield.

FB

tapeh

my not so little buddy is gone. good luck in seattle, josh, i honestly wish you well. btw - thanks to whoever sent my the josh parry card. i'll lock it up in my safe deposit box and tell my son about the time josh parry's brother threatened to beat me up via the web. my concern is that tapeh doesn't seem to be an upgrade over parry in terms of blocking. someone (e.g. donovan) is going to get hurt on a missed tapeh assignment.

WR

stallworth, brown, baskett, lewis, avant

only surprise here is how few WR they kept. nobody they dropped was going to be a contributor anyway, so really the only thing they lose is some injury protection.

TE

smith, schobel, bartrum

predictable

OL

thomas, herremans, jackson, andrews, runyan, justice, jean-gilles, cole, young, mccoy

no surprise on the fraley trade. i'm a little surprised they kept 10 guys on the o-line, but they did have a lot of bodies here and really the only one who surprised me was mccoy. i would have thought practice squad for him. they must like him a lot. let's hope he ends up better than our last undrafted FA tackle (hicks). one problem now: with fraley gone, who has the best nickname on the team?

DL

kearse, howard, cole, mcdougle, thomas, patterson, bunkley, walker, rayburn, ramsey

of all the positions on the team, the birds seem to know d-linemen better than any other. they really seem to know what they are doing at the d-line. i've never felt better about a d-line group than this one (even the buddy d-lines didn't go more than 5 players deep). all of these guys can play and we have at least 4 potential/current stars in this group.

LB

jones, trotter, mccoy, barber, gaither, short

by far the weakest position on the team. these guys are either slow (trotter), undersized (mccoy), or undersized *and* slow (jones). JJ doesn't seem to mind though. it was nice to see full throttle make the team (probably the best nickname now?) and gaither seems to be a good young player. barber should be able to fill the ike reese role nicely.

CB

brown, sheppard, hood, hanson

i'm surprised that they kept hanson over strickland. hanson sucked at san fran and he's frigging short. strickland, IMO, played ok last season and he's at least a little taller than hanson. the birds must have the shortest set of corners in the league. matchups against plaxico and me-o scare me a little. brown and sheppard are generously listed at 5' 10" and hood and hanson are both listed at 5' 9". all four are probably an inch shorter than their program height.

S

dawkins, lewis, considine, mikell

i'm disappointed that jr reed didn't make the squad, but he didn't seem to have "it" as a KR anymore and that probably spelled his doom. this is a solid group and i have no complaints.

K

akers, johnson

predictable