The All Saints Day Massacre--Eagles 40 Giants 17

This was a really fun win. We were aided by some poor decisions by the Giants (particularly one specific player who happens to be the highest paid in the league), but still you have to call this game an all around great win. The team was excellent in all three phases.

I loved the decision to incorporate Weaver so much, which apparently was not featured in the game plan worked out in practice earlier in the week (unless Weaver was dissembling about not having carried the ball much in practice last week). That was a good way to cut McCoy’s workload a bit. Moreover, because he carried it so infrequently, when the Birds used a single back set with him in the backfield it seemed to telegraph passing play to the Giants D.
On his 41 yard touchdown rumble (the longest rush of his career), Weaver lined up as a single set back with two tight ends, in what must have appeared to the Giants to be a max protection passing formation, with WRs Jackson, Maclin, and possibly TE Celek likely receivers for the 2nd and 7 play. The Giants D originally showed a cover two look but then brought in safety C.C. Brown for a blitz. When Brown didn’t get there in time, it was just a simple running play and with the extra TE in, we got a hat on a hat—seven blockers to handle the Giants’ front 7. Celek got just enough of Justin Tuck (and perhaps got away with a negligible hold), and that gave Weaver just enough of a hole to squeeze through a small hole and a last gasp attempt by Tuck to arm tackle our big back, who then was off to the races—great call but great execution too. The other 3 DBs (aside from blitzer Brown who continued to usnsuccessfully pursue Weaver all the way downfield, although he ran a lot further b/c of his blitz) were playing pass all the way, which meant Weaver had a lot of space to work with once he got to the second level. With just enough of a touch block from both Jackson and Maclin, Weaver had only to beat the safety running at him from the other side of the field and Brown pursuing him from behind. End result: the beginning of a very fun day. Nice play call on that one, and great blocking and great running. This was the beginning of a long day of Mandy Reidinwheg outsmarting the Giants D and Bill Sheridan repeatedly.

For the team's next big play, Asante Samuel capitalized on a bad play call and a terrible decision by Eli. Travis Beckum, who apparently barely touches the ball except on plays just like this one, ran a bad route (lazy and soft into his break, and not using his body to block a potential defender), so Samuel jumped the route, recognizing that he had zone help behind him from Akeem Jordan.

Some other thoughts on the impressive defensive performance:

Nice tackling by Sean Jones in both the run and pass games. We used him a lot as a blitzer and he was effective. It will be interesting to see how he and Macho split time when Harris returns.

Great penetration by Trent Cole on pass and run plays—a superb game by the best defensive lineman we’ve seen in Philly since, dare I say it, White, Simmons, and Brown (think about the other possibilities: Harmon—Cole’s way more disruptive; Fuller—didn’t do it here for all that long; Douglas—Cole’s so much better against the run; Simon—do I need to bother?; Kearse—not a complete pass rusher, had only one move and lost his speed after his 2005 ACL tear)

Witherspoon’s been making some nice plays to take on OL blockers and hold his ground in the run game, and he’s looking to be a very good blitzer. Seeming like we really fleeced the rams on that trade (pun intended).


Love Quintin Mikell’s tackling and he’s pretty solid in coverage, but can we work on the hands drill with him, he dropped two big INT opportunities on the same 1st quarter drive.

The Giants seemed to have some success on sweep plays run at Parker, especially before our lead forced them to pass a bit more. It will be good for our run D when we get Abiamiri back.

A shout out to Clemons for his second-effort sack. He stuck to it after missing the first time and the coverage gave him time to make it happen. I especially like that he’s going for the ball the entire time as he’s trying to make the sack, Cole coming at Manning’s legs was key too, forcing manning back into Clemons. The Eagles rushed six, one being Jones on a delayed blitz. Clemons was just too fast for Giants tackle Kareem MacKenize, and Clemons's initial pressure extending the play gave Cole, Babin, and Witherspoon time to beat their men and ultimately limited where Eli could scramble and forced him to slow down enough for Clemons to get back to him before Eli could make a downfield play.

On the first giants td, Mikell bit on double move, although I’m not sure if he was supposed to have help from Foukou who looked lost on that play.


On the Demps interception, it was just a horrible throw and read (Nicks was wide open on the edge), but his fellow backfield mate (and fellow Quintin) Mikell dropped a couple, so give Demps credit for bringing in the catch. Nice to see Demps getting on the field more and contributing. I know the Eagles once had high hopes (if not quite high apple pie in the sky hopes) for Demps. It would be great for the future of this defense if they can solidify the free safety position with some combo of Demps and Harris.


Coming back to the offense, both the O-Line and McNabb looked great—perhaps his best game of the season—excepting the batted balls. That needs to be corrected. Luckily Mcnabb’s first batted ball was not intercepted—it could have totally changed the momentum of the game. Heads up play by McNabb though to swipe the ball back from tuck. Mcnabb has too many passes batted. On timing pass plays I’d like to see a bit more push from Jamaal Jackson, both consecutive red zone deflections in first quarter were by guys being blocked by Jackson (the second one by Robbins is actually a double team by Jackson and Stacey Andrews), but still, it’s on McNabb to make sure he gets the ball over the line. Don also needs to adjust more if a screen is sniffed out, and perhaps consider a run towards the sideline and then toss it out if you have to, which would help with the batted balls, at least one of which was on a screen.

Aside from this, he was great. He had good protection (including some nice blitz pickup from Weaver and an improving McCoy) and McNabb took advantage. Mcnabb made a great play fake on a pass to Alex smith in first quarter, and then released the ball at just the right time, showing no fear of the hit after the catch.

Also, let’s hope we see a continued inclination for early running calls. Even though most (excepting Weaver's TD) weren’t all that successful, it kept the D honest for later play fake passes.

Through much of the first half, Corey Webster was doing a damn solid job covering Jackson. Even on Jackson’s nice slant catch, Webster blanketed him to prevent run after the catch. Then a couple minutes before half, Jackson got wide open. Webster seemed confused about his assignment, and tried to come up and help on Celek in the flat which was a big mistake. Then C.C. Brown gave Jackson way too much space to the outside, since he expected Jackson to run a cross and Jackson made a nice move. Also give McNabb credit for hitting Jackson in stride with a perfect throw.

Moments later, Maclin’s TD was just a spectacular catch by Maclin, after a perfect throw by D-Mac that gave Maclin a chance to go up and get the ball. Maclin has really impressed me with his ability to snatch up balls like this.


Last but not least let’s remember the great special teams play (aside from the Babin fumble), with notable praise for Rocca’s punt, some nice Hobbs returns, and great Tracy White tackling in kickoff coverage. Also, did you notice that Jordan and Gocong both saw some significant special teams action.

Eagles win.

What more can you say about this game ... Well, below is what I can say.

The Redskins are just a total joke and the ESPN commentators encapsulated that nicely. My favorites were when Gruden responded to Antwan Randle-El’s muffed punt by saying, “Lightning continues to strike.” Later Mike Tirico reacted to the Redskins fumbled snap on 4th and goal: “And that summarizes the Washington Redskins”

With several quick drop plays early, Mcnabb looked crisp at first, although he did rush the throw on the Eagles’ first failed third down conversion. I really thought Andy Reid scripted some good plays early. He got Westbrook on the field a lot before he got concussed, and the Eagles had a lot of good scripted plays designed to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers: Westbrook, Maclin, Jackson, but after the first couple series, things broke down.

On the whole, Donovan rushed way too many throws. Really a weak game by McNabb after the first six or eight throws. Over a third of McNabb’s passing yards were on the one TD throw to Jackson, and even that ball was a bit underthrown. Mcnabb also underthrew McCoy on the 3rd quarter swing pass that went for a loss, but they got a facemask on London Fletcher anyway. McNabb really has struggled with accuracy and he seems to be jittery when there’s a strong pass rush, not giving himself a chance to set up his feet and deliver the ball accurately. Right now not throwing intereceptions just isn’t enough.

I did love Andy's call of FB dive for Weaver on the 3rd and one situation midway though the first quarter. Let’s do more of this.

On Vick’s designed run for first down on 3rd and 2 in the fourth quarter, Leonard Weaver also made a great block to take out a DE, which enabled Herremans to pull and block for Vick at the second level. That Weaver block just is not made by Josh Parry or Thomas Tapeh (and don’t even ask me about Tony Hunt)


On defense, I liked the blitz packages, and Mikell played a great game both blitzing and tackling and holding down his assignments in the run game.

Witherspoon was on the field a whole lot and looked quite good, doing a lot of different things, and he definitely showed that he can blitz. McDermott blitzed withersppoon quite a bit. On the Babin sack in the 3rd, Witherspoon attacked the same gap as Babin enabling Babin to release from his man.

Even more impressive was Witherspoon's heads up play to come down with the batted ball to score a TD. This play also really showed the creativity of McDermott. On that Witherspoon TD, Babin lined up in 2 point stance over Patterson who lined up at LDE. Then Babin, Trent Cole, and backup tackle Dixon (all 322 pounds of him) dropped back into coverage which took away any checkdown plays over the middle. With only four rushers, I suppose it’s not really a blitz, but it was impressive and in created major confusion for the blocers who failed to drive the rushers back enough to give Campbell a throwing lane. With Bunkley, Witherspoon, Mikell and Patterson coming in, Mikell did a great job to take advantage of the confused redskins protection to get a hand on a ball that ultimately became a pick-6 for Spoon Jr. (as Eagellectual reader Dan the Student has taken to calling him).

On Witherspoon’s strip of Campbell, it was just a great overload call by McDermott, Witherspoon followed Mikell and Gocong (who basically lined up as a DT) in and there was no one to block him. The announcers talked about the simplicity of the Eagles blitz packages, but what I saw was a lot of mixing and matching personnel in new and interesting places, and it all seemed to work.

All those sacks were certainly fun. Great coverage on Bunkley’s late 3rd quarter sack. Really a coverage sack. Good blitz design early in 4th quarter to get Cole one on one with a TE. Fred Davis cannot handle Cole, come on now.

The Eagles run defense really was stout and that played a big role in the win. Patterson and Bunkley both seemed to be around the ball carrier whenever he went down, but Clinton Portis is a far cry from where he was a couple years ago.

Also, a great play by blitzing Sean Jones to bat a Campbell pass in the late 3rd. Jones disengaged from FB Sellers to chase Campbell, and Trent Cole did a great job of covering up Sellers when he released from Jones and went into a checkdown route. McDermott’s comfort, and success, using Trent Cole in coverage situations just further opens up the pass rush playbook.

Still you’d like to see the Defense hold a little better in the Red Zone (not counting the botched snap the Eagles had little to do with). Devin Thomas’s TD was inexcusable. I’m not sure whether it was Samuel’s or Mikell’s responsibility to hold down the back of the end zone, but one of them definitely needs to stay back there and not bite on the pump fake (a possible theory is that it was Mikell’s responsibility but he came up on the short throw pump fake b/c he didn’t trust Samuel to make a goal line tackle, but that’s just a theory).


This team’s inability to close out a game is a real concern. This was a real problem for last year’s team and seems likely to become one for this year’s team when. You’d like to see the defense just shut these guys down, but again, these problems must be pinned (like the tale on a DONkey) on the offense.

The second half made clear what the two big Jackson plays masked in the first half—the complete stagnation of our offense once Westbrook went out. The team had a ton of trouble establishing the run in the second half. McCoy looked like he was running OK, but the blocks just weren’t there. McCoy did, however, struggle in pass protection a couple times.

Overall, the pass blocking was not the disaster it was against the Raiders, but it still needs real work. Peters seemed to get beaten multiple times by athletic DE Andre Carter. Herremans seemed to have even more problems. He had a penalty in the pass game that almost gave Washington a safety, struggled to keep Hayneworth from collapsing the pocket (a tall order though), and on at least one running play—which went for a McCoy two-yard gain—Herremans failed to push his man out of the hole. Also, though, Jamaal Jackson needs to help Herremans out against a guy like Haynesworth when there’s no A-gap blitz. Would like to see better awareness from the veteran center.

The only real offensive bright spot that half was Maclin working to extend the play on the 3rd quarter third-down catch to move the sticks. Maclin did a nice job breaking off his route to come back away from the coverage when Mcnabb scrambled to his left. Maclin is definitely showing flashes of why he will, soon I hope, be a very nice NFL starter … and perhaps much more.

The offense will have a tough challenge next week against the New York Football Giants, who desperately want to avoid a three-game losing streak. On top of all that, it seems almost definite that Westbrook will miss this game (the signing of Saints practice squad rookie PJ Hill pretty much advertises this). It’s hard to see our offense sans B-West keeping the Giants D off-balance (or on the field), but maybe, just maybe, our D can keep us in this by making Eli Manning (is he the most overpaid American there is?—watch out former AIG execs!) throw three interceptions. He did it last week! All this is so much less frustrating thanks to the Phightins, though! Thank you Clifford Lee.

Almost too disgusted to blog--Or the day the Eagles scored less than the Phillies

I can’t bear spending too much time on this blog entry, but as promised, here’s at least a weekly look-see at some of what went so dreadfully wrong.

I think it’s hard to get too upset with the defense. After all, they only gave up 13 points, but the inconsistency of the run defense was a bit disconcerting and our inability to cover tight ends is a real problem. On the, ultimately game-deciding, TD catch and run from Russell to Zach Miller, Trotter has taken a lot of heat for biting on the play fake and letting Miller get behind him. This criticism is fair, but I blame that TD on Samuels. Asante whiffed worse than Manny Ramsteroidirez on an inside fastball. Samuel had a chance to make the tackle and didn’t even get a piece of Miller. If Samuels even knocks him back a bit, Trotter makes that tackle.

As for the offense, I think you’ve got to put this game on the shoulders of the line. The pass protection was abysmal. That said, let’s give some blame to Mandy Reidinwheg and McNabb. The run-pass balance was unfathomable. It reminded me of the backyard games I played as a little kid in which the offense was allowed one run play for every possession. As for McNabb, well the best you can say is that he was inconsistent, looking a lot like the McNabb of a couple years ago when he came off that ACL injury. In the face of consistently bad protection he still held the ball too long into late in the game, and it does seem like we very rarely beat the blitz with our hot reads the way good teams sometimes do to us. On the whole, McNabb made a few real nice throws, but several were just too far off in important sistuatons. I tend to be a McNabb defender, but he does seem to usually fail when given the chance to muster up the leadership and clutchness that the great ones all seem to have. I’ve long believed you could win a super bowl with McNabb, but it does seem that he rarely puts the team on his back to eke out a close one. Great teams and great leaders always seem to come through at the end even when they’ve been outplayed for most of the game—see Brady, Tom; Manning, Peyton; Roethlisberger, Ben; Rollins, Jimmy!

Still the biggest goats of the game (if these guys gave milk, you could stock Le Bec Fin with chevre for the year) are our o-linemen. The worst of the lot in pass protection was Max Jean-Gilles. I know he looked awesome on the screen to Westbrook, but he got destroyed by the Raider rush again and again. It was embarrassing. MJG was wholly responsible for the second sack of McNabb when MJG was way late responding to a twist as Ellis slid out to engage Justice. He was beat bad again on the first play of the second quarter and on a first half incompletion to Avant, on which McNabb rushed his throw because of the pressure. I’m foreseeing an increase in Stacey Andrews’s reps in the near future. By the second half, I stopped taking notes on the blunders of the offensive line, but everyone really had a poor game. I blame Andy a bit for not giving Dunlap more help, but still Dunlap, Justice, Cole, and of course, MJG all looked atrocious on specific plays during that game. Celek and McCoy also bear some responsibility for the pressure that often overwhelmed McNabb.

All I can say after a game like that is ... Go Phillies!

I think there was a football game last sunday?

Well this was a solid win against a bad football team. We saw some nice things from both sides of the ball and some things that would be a problem, especially on defense, against a team that actually plays like they belong in the NFL. The truth is that we won’t know how good our team is until the Giants game on November 1, and we may not even know until much later than that, since that is, after all, only one game. So here’s my best attempt (or best attempt I’m able to give in the midst of the exhilarating, exhausting Phillies playoff run) to glean some valuable insights from this past Sunday’s debacling (Oh, Emmitt).


The Eagles defense definitely had a weaker performance than the score suggests, although some of it may simply have been a case of playing down to their competition. It’s hard to get that intensity up game in and game out, especially when you can win without it. Still, I guess the defense bears a further look this week, keeping in mind that it is hard to complain too much about a 33 to 14 win.


Facing a quarterback whose head coach called him his “Jason Garrett” (by which Coach Morris meant his “career backup”— not his future disappointing offensive coordinator prematurely deemed the heir apparent by an obnoxious billionaire oilman owner whose team can’t win a playoff game [and can barely beat the lowly CHEFS—what a great snickers commercial that was back in the early 90s]), the Eagles’ D gave up a lot of passing yards, and that was with some real help from the Tampa offense, starting with Johnson’s 4th down fumble. The Gocong sack on the last play of the first quarter was completely a mental mistake on the part of the Tampa TEs. Johnson made a bunch of bad decisions when the pressure got there too. And on Trent Cole’s sack, that was a rookie mistake by Josh Johnson to not unload the ball out of bounds—although I guess it worked out for Johnson with the unnecessary roughness call on Macho Harris (an idiotic play) negating the stop. The Eagles also were blessed by boatload of Tampa drops (rumor is that Na Brown coaches the wideouts there—I kid).

At times the pressure seemed to be not as effective with the Eagles facing such a mobile qb . Nice pressure by Gaither on a couple passing downs though.

On the whole the line play was decent. Trent Cole looked great as usual. Bunkley looked great getting pressure up the middle as a run-stopper and then also doing a nice job breaking up a screen play to Cadillac Williams early in the first. Also a nice 4th quarter sack by Abiamiri, using a spin move from the tackle position on first down as the Eagles lined up a lot in the nickel once it became clear that it would be passing situations for the rest of the quarter.


Very aggressive blitzing DBs this week, teneded to work well on some plays, but the Eagles were burnt bad on a few plays too many.


As for the LBs against the run, Akeem Jordan looked better against the run than lately I thought, although he still got taken out of some plays. Trotter seemed to play ok against the run—rarely far out of position but not really making any great plays either.

The defense especially struggled to cover Winslow. Good fast TEs seem to give us trouble. Shockey partied all over the middle of our defense in the first half of the saints game, and Winslow did so much more, dominating nearly everyone we threw at him. None of our LBs could handle Winslow and we had some issues with their other TEs at times as well. Winslow beat Gocong to pick up a PI penalty and for a catch on another play. Even double covered by Hanson and Parker, Winslow caught a ball for a first down. Mikell seemed to handle Winslow the best, although he too got beat by Winslow on the Bucs’ second touchdown, but it was a pretty damn impressive catch on a ball only Winslow could reach.


On offense, McNabb looked real good, and the protection was pretty impressive on most plays, although I thought Justice had one of his shakier games of the season—giving up two sacks, although on the second half sack, it was partly the fault of D-Mac for holding it so long.

Maclin really looked great, even beyond his numbers, although some of the credit really should go to DeSean Jackson, whose statistically-quiet day masked some crucial contributions. A lot more double coverage for D-Jax then we’ve seen so far, but that meant a whole lot of open man on man looks for Maclin. This was why the Eagles drafted him. With him and Jackson and Westbrook/McCoy there’s just so much speed for which opposing defenses have to account. He showed great hands on the sixteen yard curl he ran on the first play of the 4th quarter too.
Maclin’s first two catches (long play action TD on the team’s second offensive snap and then a play off the middle) are both great routes and good catches. The third one (the second TD) was pretty nice too, although Will Allen might very well have picked that ball if he ever turned on it (although I guess one could say the same think about Macho Harris and Kellen Winslow’s TD).

Great route by Celek on his 38 yard 2nd quarter catch and love the hurdle move over Barber (a lot more than I liked watching Dexter Fowler reprise it the next night over Chase Utley). Celek is looking better and better every week. HE also did a nice job sealing off the edge a couple times as a blocker, including on the first Maclin TD which doesn’t happen if Celek doesn’t hold up as a blocker.

B-West has a way to go but he made some real nice plays, esp the catch and then the run on the TD drive in the 3rd qtr.

Clearly the jury is still out on the wildcat, but so far it seems to look best when McCoy takes the snap and carries it himself, with the end around action from Vick or Jackson serving simply as a decoy.

And the penalties were ridiculous!
Go Phillies, (oh yeah and Eagles, against the raiders [lower case intentional]).

The Kasas City Beat Down (and the AxMan Cometh ... Again)

A big win was necessary, but we do need to remember that the Chiefs are a terrible team. They have now lost twenty-six of their last twenty-eight games.

The defense looked great against a pretty bad offense.
Excellent tackling this week to rebound from last week’s poor display. Especially impressive was Quintin Mikell who had several nice open field tackles

Cole is becoming a really impressive player. He’s already better than Hugh Douglas was, since Cole’s as explosive in the pass rush while being a much better run defender. He really can't be run at. Meanwhile, Abiamiri was much improved in run defense after a week in which the Saints exploited Abiamiri’s gimpy groin (can a groin be gimpy?) in the previous week.


McDermott dialed up some real intense blitzes. They had more zero-coverage blitzes (no deep safety) and single safety looks then I can remember in a long long time. Anyone afraid that McDermott would be timid in replacing Johnson should feel quite reassured.

Gocong has been panned lately by local sports writers, but I noticed several times where he looked good on the blitz and helped provide the pressure that prevented Cassel from rolling away from pressure up the gut. He got beat for an eleven yard play by a TE in man to man coverage midway through the second on the Chiefs’ first TD drive.

On the touchdown two plays later, it was just an incredible throw and catch by Cassel and Bradley taking advantage of the height differential between KC WR Mark Bradley and Ellis Hobbs who actually had Bradley covered like glue (my apologies for mixing metaphors). Gocong remains who I thought he was—unspectacular, but serviceable—a better fit for this defense than Dhani Jones definitely and a much better value than Takeo Spikes at the SAM position.

The interior of the defensive line was impressive as well. Bunkley and Patterson repeatedly disrupted the Cheifs’ efforts to get the run game going and played a big role in Gaither’s highlight reel game.

Great game by Gaither, helped by great line play. The line played strong against the run , so that Gaither could come free many times to the ball-caririer and a bit at the qb as well, which brings us to the newest piece of news at the MIKE position.

I really don’t know what to make of the Trotter signing. He obviously gives them a great run-stopper for plays straight up the middle. The man can shed blocks and tackle—that we know. But when we last saw him, he couldn’t do anything else. He couldn’t flow to the ball on runs much outside the guards and he certainly couldn’t cover most rb’s or te’s in the pass game. Consequently teams routinely exploited this weakness, most notably when the Patriots did this with numerous screen plays across the middle, many of them to MVP WR Deion Branch in the Eagles loss in Super Bowl XXXIX, and Trotter was five years younger then. But the Eagles have worked him out, so they seem to think he can play. Another interesting twist in a season which has had more bizarreness in three weeks than most have in seventeen. I guess at a minimum he may know some stuff about Tampa’s defensive scheme from his season there two years ago.

Which do you think you could have gotten highest odds for four months ago, Maclin on the Eagles, Vick on the Eagles, Garcia on the Eagles, or Trotter on the Eagles—I’d probably say Trotter. All I know is if I could have bet a parlay on all this, I’d probably be in the market for an NFL team of my own. The Los Angeles Eagellectuals? The London Pints?




Anyway, on to the offense.
Great play on the DeSean TD. It was just a quick slant that D-Jax made into a big play. That’s what’s so impressive about DeSean Jackson. He has the speed and elusiveness to make any routine play into a gamebreaker. Kolb took a quick three step drop and made a perfect timing throw to Jackson, and kudos also to Nick Cole and Peters for clearing a huge throwing lane for Kolb. There was no one between Kolb and Jackson once Peters pushed his man outside and Cole forced his man towards the A-Gap (and Jamaal Jackson).

Celek looked great too. He has really gotten good at using his body to shield defenders from the ball, and then his power when running with ball makes him a real threat for major yac. Nice blocking too. He looks like he could be on his way to developing into the best Birds TE since Keith Jackson (apologies to Chad Lewis)—let’s keep our fingers crossed.


Still, I think we need to take the success of the Eagles’ passing game with a grain of salt. It was amazing to me how softly the Chiefs played the Eagles receivers. Jackson actually saw a bunch of single coverage early in the game, before the 64 yard touchdown. The Chiefs defense is seriously bad.


I’m still unconvinced that Kolb is an NFL starter. Not saying he can’t be but I don’t think we’ve seen enough to feel comfortable with him. Kolb still seems to rush decisions under pressure
Kolb made a few really good throws this game, much more so than in the previous game. Especially notable was in the 3rd when Kolb whizzed an eleven yard out to Maclin where only he could catch it before going out of bounds.

Kolb’s reads on many plays seemed to be simplified. He often looked like he was only reading half the field. Whether this was his own failing or Andy’s intentions to make things easier for Kolb against a defense that was going to leave more than one guy open on many plays, I don’t know. I will say though that there were several plays on which he did not seem to see the most open or deepest open receiver. Kolb missed a few plays and threw a few balls behind his receivers. Against a better defense some of these balls are possibly intercepted. Kolb especially seems to have trouble reading defenses on the run. Too often he tossed passes to covered receivers once he began moving out of the pocket. Hopefully we won’t have to see Kolb in meaningful playing time again this year, and I’m not sure how much we’ve learned about his future, but we now definitely know for the present that he is an effective spot-duty backup, and for that at least we should be glad.

As for Vick, I thought he looked good on a couple pays and rusty on a couple others, but I also think we must reserve judgment on the wildcat. As Eagellectual reader Ron the Doctor pointed out, Andy Reid is probably approaching this new formation like a chess master. The point is not what happens on any given play, but rather how it sets up potential opportunities to observe holes in the defensive tactics that will ultimately, hopefully, open up chances for big big plays later on.

McCoy, I thought, looked great. He looked quick, fast, and tough, and had some nice blocks in blitz pick up, including a crucial one on the first quarter 43 yard pass to DeSean. A great route combo on that play by the way, where the Eagles exploited the holes in the Chiefs' zone by running Maclin on a deep route and Avant shallow on the same side, enabling Jackson to cross towards their side at an intermediate distance able to grab the ball in stride and turn up field before anyone could hit him.

Love the play call of a QB sneak on the Eagles’ 2nd TD. Great play by Jamaal Jackson to push forward and let Kolb dive right over him. Good play also to have Nick Cole fill in Jackson’s hole as Jamaal pushed forward. A well-designed QB sneak. Let’s run this every time we have goal to go from inside the one. How ‘bout it Andy? Instead, though, when we had 4th and one later on in the first half, Andy inexplicably lined up with an empty backfield. I loved the call to go for it, and I’m even ok with throwing it, but at least make them have to defend the run. Line up with a back in these situations, please!

Justice continues to look strong. Clearly he has turned a corner and may be beginning to realize his second-round potential. In general the offensive line is really protecting well. It will be interesting to see if this holds up against better defenses. We’ve got two chances to see the O-line against decent pass defenses (the Raiders and the Redskins) before the real challenge against the Giants on November 1 at the Linc.


Definitely some C-grade announcers on CBS. First time I’ve ever heard the Linc described as being in downtown Philly.

Also, notice how fear of Jackson’s return prowess led the chiefs’ punter Colquitt to punt a bit shorter to get the ball high enough up to prevent a return. Not as good as a D-Jax return TD but still helped our field position all day (plus it’s harder to get a special teams penalty when there’s no return—so in that sense they’re doing us a favor.)

"Aboslutely Horrendous"

- Andy Reid

First of all, let's not panic. Our defense laid a huge egg week 2 in Dallas last year, and went on to be the third best D in the league. That said, this was a frustrating performance, and now on top of that we have injury questions about Westbrook, Samuel, and Jackson as well as lingering issues for McNabb, Curtis, and I'm assuming based on his play Abiamiri. I'm worried, but I believe that the Chiefs suck enough that we should beat them and then hopefully get right durng the bye week.

This post may be a bit briefer b/c rewatching this game has been a lot less fun, but here's what I saw.


On the Saints opening drive, it became clear to me that we may have some coverage issues wiht our LBs this year. On that drive it was clear that Jordan can’t cover shockey. It also early became clear that our line could’t get pressure with Brees’s quick release which became a big part of the story of the game.

The other story was poor tackling, the likes of which it's hard to remember from an Eagles D. Issues just across the board. Everyone was missing tackles—Jordan, Gaither, Harris, Samuel, Hanson, ... it goes on. Perhaps Cole and Sheldon Brown and maybe the starting DTs can be exempted from this criticism, but everyone else on the D, including normally excellent tackler Quintin Mikell. I’m not quite as down on Samuel as most other people are, but it was not a good game for him. He played too far off of Devery Henderson on a big play, and his tackling could definitely be better, but I still think we’ve seen much worse from the corners who’ve worn green and silver (Bobby Taylor anyone)—when no one else tackled either I think it actually magnified Samuel’s flaws. Abiamiri looked bad on multiple plays. I don’t know if some of this is his injury, but I’m still real concerned about that LDE spot and our apparent inability to generate much of a pass rush without blitzing, and this week Abiamiri also struggle in run defense, which is supposed to be his strong suit.

I saw one great play from Trevor Laws, muscling through a double team early in the first half (I mean literally just being stronger on that particular play than both the fat guys blocking him combined) to force Brees back into Trent Cole’s bone-crushing sack. It will be interesting to see what we get from Laws going forward.

Kolb was better than I anticipated, but that’s not saying much since I kind of expected old man river Garcia to be playing by the end of the game. The TD to Jackson was a beauty and he made a couple nice intermediate throws, especially to his road roommate Brent Celek--maybe they read the playbook together for bedtime stories. Kolb rushed some throws when the pressure wasn’t there, perhaps b/c his reads were oversimplified. Most egregiously, this happened on Kolb’s backbreaking INT early in the 3rd quarter. Kolb zeroed in on the out route on that play even though the slot receiver (I think it was either Celek or Alex Smith) was much more open because Saints LB Scott Shanle had already committed himself to jumping DeSean Jackson’s outside route. Kolb also seemed to struggle throwing the ball on the run, including not only numerous incompletions but also on the nasty bailout catch by Jason Avant in the end zone. Kolb did a good job of not taking sacks, but he has a lot to work on before he can be called a legitimate NFL starter, not least being his accuracy while running from pressure. I also wonder a bit about his arm strength on some of his sideline throws. Whether he continues to develop remains to be seen, but right now he’s looking to me like a very serviceable backup, but not the answer for the future—but of course, the jury is still out and will be for awhile.

As to the wildcat, I’m basically cool with it (although I’m a bit uncomfortable with the formation where the tackles were split out wide—a play that should have been a disaster without D-Jax being a superfreak … superfreak, he’s superfreaky!). In general though it put the ball in the hands of Westbrook and Jackson and they picked up some nice yardage, so I have no problem with it, and it will get a bit more interesting once Vick is back there—for example maybe he throws Weaver a bit more catchable ball than Westbrook does in the red zone late in the 3rd—so that maybe teams can’t commit to a Vick run as much later on. I would, however, have liked us run to the ball not in the wildcat, with Weaver blocking, a bit more. The Saints’ run defense was excellent last week against Detroit but it was pitiful for most of last year, so I would have hoped to try to establish the power run a bit and let our big boys get out there and bang on their linebackers to try to wear them down (and believe me it was HOT in the sun on Sunday, just ask Eagellectual readers Meredith the consultant and Alison the teacher, the first person I've ever sat with whi ran to buy ice cream during a time out).

Special teams sucked—too many penalties, two devastatingly lousy punts by Rocca, one of which only happened b/c of an illegal shit punishment shift penalty (Freudian slip), and poor ball security by Ellis Hobbs—a veteran like him should realize that after bouncing around traffic, someone will be coming up from behind, and I didn’t like the way he was holding his ball on the last kick return of the first half either.

I thought the protection Kolb got was pretty excellent. I’m starting to feel good about the Winston Justice Experiment Part Deux (a.k.a. playing his natural position on the right side).

Correction on Reggie Brown

Because next year is scheduled to be an uncapped year, all of Reggie Brown's prorated signing bonus would be accelerated onto this year's cap if we cut him, which would add about four million dollars to the Eagles' current cap number (7.3 million in bonus minus 2.35 of which is already allocated to this year and 844,000 of base salary that the Eagles would no longer be on the hook for). With a reported 9 million dollars left in cap space, the Eagles seem reluctant to give up almost half their remaining cap space just to unload Brown--or to maintain a spot for Baskett, apparently.

Crazy Week 1

I had originally intended to post yesterday, but so much has ahappened in the last fifty or so hours that I had to delay. On the Shawn Andrews move to IR, I just have to say wow. The Eagles, I think, are just giving up on him. Hard to know whether it’s mental or physical with Shawn, but it seems plausible that he just has a gimpy back from which he’ll never recover. A doctor who spoke on 610 WIP explained how he tells people with that sort of chronic back pain that they have to totally avoid heavy lifting (which means pushing up against on 280 pound DEs 70 times every week is probably not advisable). Now the reason this happened yesterday is because the Eagles signed Jeff Garcia. This combined with the decision to bring Michael Vick back before the end of his suspension so he can practice suggests some real concerns at the quarterback position. I think it’s fairly likely that we won’t see McNabb until after the bye week. He seemed to be in A LOT of pain on Sunday afternoon, although he did play with a broken ankle against Arizona in . By the way, what’s the deal with the Panthers being allowed to take cheap shots at McNabb. They did it without a penalty in the NFC championship game in 2004, ultimately forcing McNabb to leave the game (which the Eagles lost 14-3) and then again last sunday McNabb got landed on after his play was over. When the league reviewed it they claimed it was all good. The play should have been a penalty. Whether it was intended to be dirty or not, the lineman clearly did not leave his feet until after McNabb was down in the end zone. I don’t understand why the Eagles so rarely seem to get these sorts of personal foul calls.
I just don’t get it.
So assuming McNabb is out, then we have to think about Kevin Kolb’s abilities, and I’m not at all optimistic. The fact that the Eagles dumped Baksett and activated Vick to start practicing during a week when they won’t be implementing any wildcat plays specially for Vick tells me that they are envisioning a real possibility that Vick could be the every down qb sometime soon here. Consider this Sunday as very possibly Kevin Kolb’s last tryout. If he looks bad, I’d yank him for Garcia at half.
As for the move to dump Baskett, I think that is a bit of a head-scratcher, especially in light of his activation on Sunday while Brown and Gibson were healthy scratches. Cutting Reggie Brown would cost the Eagles 2.7 million dollars in a cap acceleration for the prorated portion of his signing bonus, but that doesn’t seem like enough to determine the Eagles decision, since I think they still have ample cap room. The Eagles must feel like Gibson can contribute on special teams enough to replace Baskett and that Reggie Brown will do at least as well as a replacement receiver in the case that Curtis or Jackson goes down and Maclin is not yet ready to step in. Still, I think we may miss Baskett’s blocking abilities.

I’ll touch next week on the changes in Westbrook’s contract—just too much going on for the first regular season practice week.

To the game. Since McNabb’s and Shawn Andrews’s injuries have trained our attention on the QB and RT positions, I decided to focus on Winston Justice and Kevin Kolb when I re-watched the game against the panthers. Here’s some of what I noticed.

There were a lot of questions about Justice coming into his first start since Osi Umenyiora debacled Justice (wonder why Emmit Smith no longer commentates?) on the last day of the 2007 baseball season (I remember watching the Phils winning and Mets choking on two computer screens earlier that day). The difference though is that now Justice is back on the right side—his natural position. In college at USC Justice was one of the best blindside blockers int eh nation, and for this reason the Eagles made him the second tackle selected in the 2006 NFL draft, but Justice blocked for a left-handed quarterback, so playing the blindside meant playing on the right, but the Eagles nonetheless assumed he could protect McNabb’s back on the other side of the line. Most, but not all, tackles can make that transition, but Justice failed miserably as a left tackle. I’m hoping he really can play as long as he stays on the right. On two key third downs early, the Eagles’ first two third downs actually, Andy Reid left Winston Justice alone on the outside. Justice blocked very well on the first third down, which resulted in an 18 yard completion to Avant. On the next one, though, Justice totally missed his Peppers which may have forced McNabb to rush in a tight throw to Celek which he dropped (but probably should have caught), instead of getting off a swing pass to a wide open Brian Westbrook.

In run blocking I though Justice looked pretty damn good. He was able to get his pad level low to drive defensive linemen on multiple plays, and he also showed he could get out and run.

Later I tried to observe Justice when playing in front of Kevin Kolb. Initially Andy seemed to want to run a lot with Kolb or give him some short passes, but even some of those plays were near disasters. On the sack which Kolb fumbled, Justice was entirely responsible though (smoked by Peppers—a.k.a. chipotle’d).

In the 4th quarter, Andy briefly took the handcuffs off Kolb and let him try to toss one deep toward Jackson. On that play Justice received blocking help, ensuring plenty of time for Kolb to throw, but he still made a terrible throw that came up short of Jackson and was nearly intercepted. Kolb followed that misfire up on 3rd and 3 with another poor throw but then he converted on 4th and 3 with an easy sideline throw to Celek out of a five step drop. Andy’s playcalling after that Kolb deep miss suggests some lack of confidence in Kolb, although it’s hard to diassociate that from the conservative playcalling that normally goes hand in hand with a 28 point fourth quarter lead. Later in the 4th quarter Kolb was sacked because he held onto the ball for way to long, even with a max protect scheme.

I’ve been pretty underwhelmed with everything I’ve seen from Kolb so far. Andy claims that everything will be different once Kolb gets to spend a full week practicing with the first team, but I’m skeptical, and the moves made this week tells me that folks who eat lunch a lot closer to Jeffrey Lurie’s office than I do share my concerns. Hopefully we’re wrong, but there’s a reason this team went from carrying 2 QBs to 4 QBs in the last three days.

As for the rest of the game, first of all, I’ll state the obvious: a great performance for the Defense, especially against the pass. McDermott’s blitz packages were an impressive homage to his late mentor’s strategy of attacking protection schemes in ways designed to confuse blockers. McDermott did a great job attacking the interior pass blocking through the a-gaps, including the in the fumble TD on which the linebackers cleverly switched place with the DEs and on the 3rd and 5 Akeem Jordan sack in the middle of the 2nd quarter, wherein Jordan and Gaither both attacked the center. On that play the Eagles brought six against five blockers, but I love that the overload was in the center of the line, so that the guy who got through was in the qb’s face as soon as he broke down the protection, especially against a fairly immobile qb like Delhomme, who is unlikely to scramble away from a head-on blitzing linebacker. Certainly, though, McDermott mixed the blitz packages up. On the sack of Delhomme for 10 yards in 3rd quarter, Gaither and Gocong both attacked over the late side, one with a brief delay so that both ended up coming right at the running back in blitz pickup—it was impossible to block both. On the third interception of Delhomme (by Akeem Jordan), there actually was no blitz on, but McDermontt confused the hell out of the Panthers blockers with a well designed play. Chris Clemons lined up as a linebacker over Cole’s shoulder as Cole played end on a three man line. Clemons engaged the tackle and then Cole ran a twist over a guard who had already left to block for a screen that Akeem Jordan had sniffed out and covered up. Cole hit Delhomme and then Jordan caught Delhomme’s ill-advised pass. The defense was just stellar and credit the secheme all you want, but our guys made plays. Still, we have to give a shout out to the Rajun Cajun qb that the Panthers just guaranteed 20 million dollars. This guys stinks. Even when he took the Panthers to within 3 points of a super bowl, I’ve never believed he was any good. His mechanics and decision making both suck. Nice to see the Eagles help expose him. Boy are the Panthers feeling bad about that contract extension. Nonetheless, credit the Birds for holding on to his ducks, and the first Sheldon int was a truly amazing catch.

And here’s a few quick observations on some of the Eagles other TDs:

On the D-Jax return TD there was excellent blocking, including a great downfield block by Juqua Parker. Great speed on Jackson, all he really ends up having to do is make the gunner and the punter miss him, no problem!
Great playfake on the first offensive TD (9 yard pass to Celek). Everyone on the line, including Celek, did a great job of selling a run to the left before he released to the right and was instantly open.
Good audible by McNabb to the shovel pass to Westbrook that made it 31-7. There was especially great blocking by Leonard Weaver on that play. Weaver really was stellar—what a great addition—it may turn out to be one of our most important offseason moves (says the man who loves loves loves a powerful fullback).

Looking forward to see what happens Sunday, although it will be a tall order. We’ll need similar defensive production against what figures to be one of the league’s most prolific offenses this year. Unfortunately the suspensions for use of a banned supplement that saints starting DEs Charles Grant and Will Smith have been postponed pending a review by a Minnesota court of the appropriate punishment for Pat and Kevin Williams. Profootballtalk.com has been all over this story but the upshot is we don’t get any breaks there since both Saints starters at end will play. Their starting OT Jamaal Brown, however, is injured, but their offense didn’t miss a beat last week. We just have to hope that our defense can continue to create crazy turnovers and that Westbrook and Shady can cut up a mediocre linebacking corps. Go Eagles!

The Good, The Bad, and The Struggly or Eagles-Jaguars Preseason

I just returned home from the preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field, and I was less than impressed with what I saw, but there were some good things. The Eagles' starters outgained the Jaguars' starters about 2 to 1, but the turnovers and red zone were a problem.

The Michael Vick entrance was greeted warmly by the fans, including incessant, and annoying, "woo woo woo woo woo" chuckles from the two college-age fans behind me (who later attempted to pick a fight with a pretty big dude in his thirties who wore a B-Dawk Broncos jersey and booed McNabb and called for Vick). Vick looked OK. He didn't wow me on any play but he didn't make any big mistakes, and his red zone throw to Baskett was an excellent read and a decent throw. It will be interesting to see what else they do with him, but I suspect in future appearances, they'll ask him to run quite a bit more.

So here's what I noticed from my perch in the stands:

The Good

The defense looked solid I thought, if you can except the asinine failure to pick up the fumbled ball that became the Jaguars' first touchdown.

Trent Cole played a lot early and looked healthy, and Asante Samuel was awesome as ever. Every time I watch him play, I'm more and more convinced he was worth the massive contract.

Abiamiri didn't do a whole lot from the end spot when he was lined up there, but he really looked great as a third round pass rusher from the DT spot in the nickel.

Bunkley was a beast--if you didn't know it yet, you're talking to the new President of the Broderick Bunkley fan club. He made plays against the run, and he just ate up blockers on pass plays. I saw him triple-teamed more than once. I love it!

Ellis Hobbs had a great first quarter both in coverage and tackling, making up for his Colts game debacle.


Shady McCoy looked real fast. His touchdown run was great--the way he pressed the hole and then was able to bounce it out and get himself moving faster laterally than the defensive players chasing him. He showed similarly impressive speed a couple other times, including on a third and short play (in which Vick was under center) in the red zone. Also, I was really impressed with his blitz-pick up on more than one play--this is what usually keeps rookie RBs buried on our depth chart. He seems to be a kid who really gets it, and that is exciting. Expect him to be on the field way more than any rookie rb we've seen here under Reid (including Westbrook, who barely carried the ball his rookie season after randomly being the anchor in Reid's way too conservative second half game plan in our come-from ahead opening day loss to Tennessee in 2002--for a bit of trivia. Incidentally, that was the game where my mom threatened I might not be allowed to watch Eagles games in her home, after I threw a pillow at the family room blinds. I have never again thrown anything in her home and have watched dozens more games there, but this is becoming a longer digression than is usual for even me. Let us return to August '09)


D. Jackson looked fast as hell and was open way more than he got looked at, and Avant's hands really are great. Too bad Braylon Edwards and Mario Manningham didn't take catching lessons from him when they were in "school" together. This guy catches everything. With the balls he's catching, Avant could be an injury insurance policy for Paul Bako.


Buckley looked good and he made a nice special teams play too, which will be crucial for him to make the team. Right now, he's the fourth RB I'm keeping (after B-West, Shady, and Weaver)


The Bad


Hank Baskett had a couple real bad drops, but he had a nice catch there too, and a couple good blocks, so I'm seeing him making this team.

McNabb looked out of sorts in the pocket several times. He made more lazy throws that couldn't clear the linemen's paws than I care to remember. The pass to McCoy that turned into a fumble touchdown was a bad pass and a terrible decision (if he catches it, he's smacked down for a loss anyway). Though he showed some flashes, in general McNabb was ineffective. Then in his press conference, he bristled about Vick's sets messing up the team's rhythm. So much of McNabb's problems are mental. I hope he can be a man about this Vick thing and not let it get to him--and memo to the Idiot fans on their seventh Coors Light, stop with the "We Want Vick" chants, all that's going to accomplish is to get inside the head of our actual, very sensitive, starting QB. As for McNabb, I'm almost always a defender, but he really needs to grow a pair and simply focus on doing what he can to win the game. McNabb's (and the line's at times) troubles getting into a rhythm were not about whether or not #7 was on the field, they were about failing to make plays himself. I just hope he can realize this.

DE Bryan Smith was difficult to find, and I was looking. I didn't see him do much that was awful, but last year's third round pick seems to have bumped down the depth chart by Jason Babin. I don't really see a space for both on the team, although Smith has shown so little on film that the Eagles may feel comfortable that he can clear waivers and be stashed on the practice squad.

The Run-Blocking. I can't single out anyone on the line, but as a unit this group did a lousy job of opening holes up for McCoy, and I saw nothing to impress me at FB from Eckel. I'm doubting he or Booker makes the team. We need Weaver back soon (and incidentally, we need to sign him to a contract extension if he stays healthy). I tried to specifically watch the tackles a bit, and I'll say that Peters did little to impress but little to upset me. Justice looked serviceable in the pass game, but seemed to me to be getting no push in the run game, surprising, b/c I expected the opposite from him.

Demps missed multiple tackles.

Mays seemed to have some trouble getting off blocks in run defense, especially on plays that moved laterally. We'll have to watch for improvement there, I hope we'll see it.

A little concerned about Westbrook not suiting up.

The Struggly

Kolb looked awful! Even several of his completions were mediocre throws. He hung Buckley out at least once, and his first red zone completion to Reggie Brown on the right side was a bit late and forced Reggie to sit down when he didn't really need to. Kolb didn't have the quite the time to throw that he should, but the pressure should have been manageable for the alleged future hopes and dreams of our storied little American football club. Maybe it's Kolb and not McNabb who needs to be worried about being bumped by Vick. After all, Vick's closer in age to Kolb than he is to McNabb. If that's the real Kevin Kolb, then I'm thinking about a long term deal for Vick ASAP--that was just terrible football.

Our red-zone playcalling in the first half. That swing pass was unconscionable. It should never have been called, although I still blame McNabb for throwing it when it was so well covered up, and how about hanging on to one timeout to preserve the possibility of running the ball down there at the end of the first half. Our three passes in a row were predictable and without a great catch by Mr. Kendra (which we cannot be counting on unfortunately) they're not working.

That Eckel fumble--protect that ball if you want to make an NFL roster (Incidentally, I'm still uncomfortable with how Maclin holds the ball when he runs but he did hang onto a couple nice catches in traffic).

Special teams were pretty pitiful, especially the kickoff coverage unit. This could be a real problem this season, although here's hoping that Omar Gaither's (Ike Reese Jr?) return can help those units out.

The Lincoln Financial Field Production. The inflatable helmet tunnel didn't inflate, and that delayed the start enough that they had to introduce the Eagles simply as a team (although this may have been the plan regardless?), and Swoop really seemed out of his element. Maybe he's allowed to drink before preseason games? Also, can we get the Phillies scores up on the out of town scoreboard--Come on, we're the World F---ing Champions here!

Welcome Number 7?

I’ve spent the past few days convincing myself that this Vick move is a good one, and, well, I’ve basically succeeded. I don’t want to get too deep into the moral dilemma of bringing him in, because I really want this post to be about football. Suffice it to say that I love dogs and find what he did to be horrible, almost unforgivable. But if he is sincere in his intentions to “help more animals than [he] hurt,” well that’s a start, and even better would be if he can reach out to impoverished youths tempted to get involved in dog fighting (I read he first started with it at age 8) and perhaps help discourage a mindset that promotes callousness and tolerates cruelty among some youths growing up in rough places--or at least Jeffrey Lurie hopes he can, and so do I. Having met several men who have developed a constructive outlook on life while incarcerated, I’m inclined to give Vick some benefit of the doubt that he really has rehabilitated/is rehabilitating himself. If Roger Goodell, Tony Dungy (who I often find annoying and holier than thou, but must admit seems to be a decent, moral man), Andy Reid, and Jeffrey Lurie are all willing to give Michael a second change, well, then I guess I am. (Although as Eagellectual reader Josh the Writer has pointed out, I’d probably be less supportive of him getting a second chance, if that second chance happened to be in Silver and Blue attire or at East Rutherford, New Jersey—but that’s the ambiguity of how morality and self-interest interact for all of us at some time or another, but I digress).

Now for the football part. For that I’m excited. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King correctly assessed, although in phrasing that would make me cringe if I read it on a freshman paper: “Vick is most definitely going to play an important role on what the Eagles do on offense.” Vick, when healthy, was one of the most dynamic players we’ve ever seen. Indeed the man has run for a thousand yards in a season from the quarterback position. The Eagles are saying that they brought Vick in to be a qb, but don’t let them fool you, and for what it’s worth, it doesn’t seem like any one is being duped by assertions that he’s really here to be a straight QB. Vick WILL be used for the wildcat, and a whole heck of a lot more than the 12 times they used DeSean last year (eleven runs, and one Monday night pass for an interception in the Cleveland end zone by current Eagles safety Sean Jones). Indeed, if Vick’s back in playing shape, he might be the ideal wildcat qb. As a younger qb, he at times struggled with accuracy and timing, but his rocket arm was never in question. With Vick taking a direct snap, teams would have to choose between bringing a safety forward to help defend him in the run or leaving the safety back to prevent a deep fly route. In that scenario, Vick is dangerous to either run for a first down, or launch one deep to one of our multiple ultra-speedy receivers. The amount of speed this team can put on the field between DeSean, Westbrook, McCoy, Maclin, Curtis, McNabb, and now Vick really will be downright scary for opposing defenses. Basically, I think we can expect to see Vick everywhere all over the field, plus if McNabb gets hurt and Kolb turns out to be a huge disappointment (although I’m still optimistic), well Vick is another option, one I’d personally take over Adam Joshua Feeley (I both have the same tendencies to throw interceptions but Vick has a cannon arm and lighting speed).

As for the roster spot, it will be interesting to see if they keep all four QBs or not, but it’s a decision they won’t have to make until Vick is fully reinstated, probably around week 6. If Vick really is going to be used as a weapon in the running game, I don’t see why they couldn’t keep him and the other three. Part of this question stems from the fact that I believe Vick is probably just going to be a one year rental, unless he comes in at QB for a hurt Donovan and blows everyone away (let me get back to that in a second). The thing about this roster right now is that it’s not clear that there are five running backs worth keeping. Traditionally, the Eagles keep four tailbacks (although for most years that number requires you to count the Mormon fair catch machine Reno Mahe as a tailback) and one fullback. If we keep five backs, then right now, we’ve got Westbrook, McCoy, and Weaver, leaving two spots for, in all likelihood, two of the following three: Eldra Buckley, Kyle Eckel, and Lorenzo Booker. I see no reason to assume that the Eagles wouldn’t consider cutting one of the remaining two come week six, if/when Vick is cleared, especially if it turns out that one of those last two RBs has injury issues by then (although hopefully not).

Concerning Vick’s future, it seems unlikely that it remains in South Philly beyond this year, unless McNabb suffers a pretty serious injury and Kolb does not turn out as advertised. Next year the Eagles have a team option to pay Vick over 5 million dollars (this year he comes in around 1.6 million), so that would be a whole lot for a guy who is not starting, especially if Kolb remains (and we have every reason to believe he will) the heir apparent. If indeed, Vick is only intended as a one year rental, then it makes it harder to cut A.J. Feeley to make room for Vick, but Feeley is only under contract through 2010, so they’d only be wasting one year of a backup’s contract against the caps, so it’s possible. It will be interesting to see how the Eagles use Vick and what this means for the rest of the roster, but I don’t think Donovan has much to worry about right now (if he stays healthy that is). It will probably be quite some time before we really get to see what Bick can do for this offense. He is slated to play in the final two preseason games, but Andy will probably play things pretty close to the vest and simply let Vick take a quarter or so under center. For the real creative uses of Vick, we’ll be waiting until mid-October, or later, but that’s usually just about the time of the season that the offense needs a good kick-in-the-ass, which makes this signing very intriguing, if equally complicated.

Bradley Out!

I heard it first from the Comcast cable installation guy (admittedly not the most credible source) and I didn't want to believe it, but in my heart I knew it was true. When he finally got the cable hooked up and then rehooked up (he switched the box before realizing the remote wasn't working), he turned to ESPN2 and while our fat friend Michael Golic jabbered about what Roger Goodell was going to do with Plaxico Burress while he awaits trial, I saw a blurb rolling across the bottom of the screen: "ESPN Radio 950 Philadelphia is reporting that Eagles LB Stewart Bradley suffers season-ending ACL tear" (or something like that). My heart sank. As you saw from my last post, I really believed that Bradley was ready to make the leap to pro-bowl caliber. Instead we're left with a big hole in the middle, perhaps the position on the defense where we haev the least NFL-tested depth. The obvious candidate to replace Bradley is Gaither, whose body-type screams weakside (235 lbs compared to Bradley's 255), even if Gaither seems to have a better grasp of the Mike position than the Will. Gaither will not be as stout against the runs up the middle, so we better hope that Bunkley and Patterson are as impressive this year as last year, and he tends to overplay at times against outside runs and the short passing game. That said, I do think Gaither has the tendency to be a playmaker, if also to make some mistakes. He has a nose for the football, and is a damn good hitter for his size (but is still small for the MIKE), but he won't be what Bradley could have.

The other possible backup here is Joe Mays, a second-year player who was a dynamo in the preseason last year but rarely made it onto the field thereafter. The kid looked like a bowling bowl bouncing around last year carrying ten pounds more than Gaither while being two inches shorter. I doubt though that he can grasp the intricacies of Johnson's defense enough to take over the Mike position, which is traditionally the signal-caller spot--something else significant we lose with Bradley going down.

Let's hope Gaither or Mays can be disciplined and play bigger than their size, or this Bradley loss will be a serious problem for a defense that I hoped would again be in the top 5 in the league. I hope he'll be back at full speed for 2010.

A NEW SEASON IS HERE (ALMOST): PRESEASON LOOK AT THE DEFENSE

Well, I'm back from a long hiatus. To avid readers who have been nagging the Eagellectual, my apologies for the extended delay. The truth is that I've been too busy to post before this week, because I've been in the midst of a move back to Philly, so that I can be better positioned to blog on the Birds. This blog being the reason, of course, that I have returned to Philly, every day I've spent on moving, has in effect been work for the blog (this is directed at you, Mike the Lawyer and Dan the Businessman).



As we know, the Eagles are about to begin the full team-full contact version of training camp--the unoffical start of the 2009 NFL season.



Before I look at some key issues facing this team goign itno camp, I want to again acknowledge the change in Defensive Coordinator. Jim Johnson will be sorely missed.



As for his replacement, young Sean McDermott (still older than the Eagellectual) of LaSalle High, he is a true Jim Johnson disciple and should be well prepared to implement Jim's scheme. What he does not have, though, is the dcades of experience. Sean will be very much on his own as well. Believe it or not, at age 35, he really is the senior defensive guy on this team. There is no more Steve Spagnuolo, Jim Harbaugh, or Pete Jenkins (not to mention Brian Dawkins) for McDermott to lean on, so he'll be taking on an awful lot of responsibility with less veteran help than even Johnson had for most of his career. It is quite a responsibility, and I hope he is up for it, but he has been being groomed for this position ever since Spagnuolo left for New York.



Now, let's look at some of the key issues and battles facing McDermott's new defense. (My next post will discuss the offense).



More Pass Rush from the front four.

If you read the Eagellectual, you'll know that I've been beating this drum like Todd Rungren all offseason. I love blitzing, but it made us so vulnerable in that Cards game. We need more consistent pass rush from the front four, particularly from the RDE spot. This is where, I hope, Victor Abiamiri comes in.

This will be the difference between being a very good defense and a great one. The main candidates for the RDE spot are Victor Abiamiri (out now for three weeks with a stained pec, from offseason lifting), Chris Clemons, and 2008 3rd round pick Bryan Smith. I think the Eagles' plan is to rotate these three. Clemons and Smith are just too small to play every down in this league, but they have speed that Abiamiri has rarely shown. If, by some chance, though, Abiamiri can stay healthy and put it all together, and somehow justify the use of a 2007 second round pick on him, he could be a difference maker for this defense. If not, he’s probably out of here after this year and the Birds are probably looking at Defensive Ends next offseason. The other possibility here is that Darren Howard takes on a larger role, but I think the Eagles would like to primarily keep him in that nickel defensive tackle role. He’s not getting any younger, and he was great in that role in the second half of the season and playoffs, and so I expect the Eagles would like to keep him in the role so that he doesn’t wear down. There are also some unsubstantiated rumors afloat that the Eagles might make a play for Derrick Burgess who is holding out not for money, but simply to get the hell away from the Raiders (who could blame him).

At tackle we’re looking good as long as everyone stays healthy. Patterson and Bunkley both came off their best NFL seasons. Their ability to control the middle, especially Bunkley’s strength at controlling the point of attack, even int eh face of frequent double teams (Bunkley’s so strong he really plays like he weighs about 15 pounds more), was really the key to the Eagles’ vast improvement in run defense. Trevor Laws is also an intriguing player that I expect to rotate in more often, provide some injury insurance, and perhaps take on a third down role alongside Darren Howard. In third and long, though, expect the Birds to continue sliding Abiamiri into the tackle spot next to Howard and then bringing in Smith or Clemons on the right edge.

At linebacker, the Eagellectual loves Stewart Bradley. Bradley maed a couple bad plays in the Championship Game against Arizona, including being out of position on that Tim Hightower fourth down conversion, but I think he will continue to improve. By all accounts he’s a real smart kid (and the Eagellectual always likes smart kids), and he plays aggressively and has shown that he is strong—he doesn’t get pushed around by RBs or TEs. Look for him to continue to improve. Gocong did what he needed last year. He may never be a star but he’s clearly serviceable, and last year was probably the best season we’ve had from any one at the strongside position since Carlos Emmons was here. Dhani Jones, you are not missed (you know he has a cable show, and a line of bowties, now—unbelievable how a mediocre defensive player can become famous just by wearing a bowtie). At the weakside, there is ostensibly a position battle between last year’s end of the season starter Akeem Jordan and the man whose job he took: Omar Gaither. Jordan seemed bigger and more disciplined and not much slower than Gaither, so I believe the job is Jordan’s to lose. Gaither tries too hard to make plays some time, and I think the Eagles know this. I think the Eagles intend to use Gaither the way they used Ike Reese in his Eagles prime—as a utility linebacker that can back up every position (weakside, middle, and strongside by way of stepping in at middle and letting Bradley slide out to the position he first played for the Eagles), and also as a special teams beast. The remaining two linebacker spots (usually the Eagles keep 6) will be the site of one of the Eagles’ fiercer position battles, with last year’s rookies Andy Studebaker and Joe Mays competing with special teams aces Tank Daniels and Tracy White for those two spots. To make the team, Studebaker and Mays will both have to be very impressive on special teams.

The defensive backfield is another site of fierce competition, and it would not be a surprise to see the Eagles keep ten defensive backs and maybe even only run with five linebackers. At corner we have three excellent veterans in Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, and Sheldon Brown. I’m not sure what to make of Brown’s contract situation, but I think most likely, he’ll just have to shut up and play, and I think Brown will probably play much more steadily than Lito did last year. Partly, I believe this b/c Brown seems to have a bit more even-keeled personality, but more importantly, Brown is a better corner and he is not a gambler. Lito, when he played last year, was dying for interceptions, so I think he gambled even less responsibly than in previous years. Brown will win his new contract, here or elsewhere, not by flashy interception returns, but by continuing to lock down by himself the number two receiver on every team he faces, just like he did last year. I’m not overly worried about this, but Hobbs is a heck of an insurance policy if there are any problems. Then, if you read the Eagellectual, you know I love Joselio Hanson as a slot defender. Figuring out how to best use these guys, in tandem with a very interesting safety corps will be one of McDermott’s big challenges.

At the safety spot, Quintin Mikell is coming off an amazing year. He did everything you want a safety to do, playing deep, playing near the line, in coverage, in the run game, in goalline situations, blitzing, you name it. Mikell was a revelation last year, and I expect him to become a defensive star this year. Then the big question on everyone’s mind is how they replace Dawk. In terms of Dawk’s fading skill set, I think it was time to move on. While a heck of a hitter still, Dawkins had lost too many steps in coverage, and so Johnson had to do all sorts of things to scheme Dawkins into positions where his skills could be on display and his weaknesses could be covered up. The team, will, however, miss the veteran presence on a very young defense with a very young coaching staff, especially with Johnson gone. The most veteran Eagle on that defrense is Sheldon Brown, and it’s hard to see him being THE team leader when he’s upset with his contract. To replace Dawkins on the field though, the Eagles have all sorts of confidence in Quintin Demps (without checking the NFL record book, the Eagellectual can say with some confidence that this probably is the first all-Quintin safety tandem in league history). Demps is fast and long and was a great ball-hawk in college. While a lot of people are hung up on the flea flicker touchdown to Fitzgerald where Demps slipped (which, incidentally, was as much the fault of Dawkins who had Fitz at the line of scrimmage and bit too hard on the run action), I think the main place Demps needs to improve is in the run game. On key run plays in that Arizona game last year, twice he was out of position. But they have a nice little insurance policy in Sean Jones from Cleveland. Coming off a year where he was slowed by injury, Jones can step in and play at either safety position, but he is more of a strong safety, enough that they might be more likely to move Mikell over to FS if necessary. The other two players in the mix here are former Raider Rashad Baker and fifth round draft pick Victor “Macho” Harris, a hard-hitting Virginia Tech corner, who figures to work more at free safety in the NFL, and has been doing so in camp thus far. Baker is strictly a reserve player, but he would provide an excellent replacement for Greg Lewis’s role as gunner (first man downfield) on the punt and kick coverage teams.

This could be an excellent defense. We’ll have a look at the offense too, between now and the first preseason game.

Rest in Peace Jim Johnson

I was actually just about to publish my first post for the 2009 season when it was announced that Jim Johnson has passed away at age 68, after a struggle with melanoma that had spread to his spine . Johnson was a class act, a brilliant football mind, and an epic worker. Johnson was brusque but candid and wore a near-constant scowl that did nothing to belie his kind heart but everything to demonstrate the seriousness with which he approached defensive football, demanded excellence, and loved the game. Johnson, even as the oldest guy on the staff was consistently the last one to leave the NovaCare building, even during the early offseason when a coach should normally, one would imagine, be less busy than the personnel department. The Eagles, the NFL, and the Philadelphia community lose a lot with the passing of Johnson. He was renowned for blitzing aggressively and creatively. He was especially a proponent of overload blitzing and he executed incredibly successful blitzing defenses with a multitude of different personnel. From his disguising blitzes by using Jevon Kearse as a joker during the Super Bowl run, to his rare but effective use of a double corner blitz in the days of Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, and Al Harris, to his skill at accentuating an aging Brian Dawkins's strengths and masking his weaknesses over the last two seasons, Jim Johnson was always looking for new tricks and wrinkles to confuse opposing coaches, quarterbacks, and offensive linemen. A nice analysis of Johnson by a non-partisan observer can be found in an unfortunately too prescient Washington Post article about the strengths and flaws of Johnson's strategy as applied by his January 2009 team as they approached their NFC championship game in Phoenix. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011603627.html.



Nonetheless, Johnson as much as Andy Reid deserves credit for the success this team has had this decade, especially early in McNabb's career when the offense often consisted of little more than slants to Chad Lewis and timely Donovan scrambles. Johnson will surely be missed and never forgotten.



Look for my intended post in the next couple days.



Pasted below is the team's official statement on Johnson's passing (courtesy of Philadelphiaeagles.com):



July 28, 2009
The Philadelphia Eagles are saddened to announce Jim Johnson has passed away Tuesday afternoon at the age of 68 after a courageous battle with cancer.A veteran of 22 years as an NFL assistant, Johnson is regarded as one of the top defensive masterminds in National Football League history. Over the last decade, he gained a great deal of praise as the orchestrator of the renowned Eagles defense. His aggressive style kept Philadelphia at or near the top of the NFL in nearly every major defensive category since joining Andy Reid's staff on January 22, 1999.


Jim Johnson was beloved by his colleagues, players.



From 2000-08, Johnson's units ranked second in the NFL in sacks (390), 3rd down efficiency (34.0%) and red zone touchdown percentage (43.9%), and fourth in fewest points allowed (17.7 per game). During his 10-year tenure in Philadelphia, the Eagles earned seven playoff berths, five trips to the NFC Championship game and one Super Bowl appearance (following the 2004 season).



As the Eagles' defensive chief, Johnson's defense has produced 26 Pro Bowl selections: Brian Dawkins (7), Troy Vincent (5), Jeremiah Trotter (4), Hugh Douglas (3), Lito Sheppard (2), Asante Samuel (1), Trent Cole (1), Michael Lewis (1), Corey Simon (1), and Bobby Taylor (1).



Four of his defensive assistants have gone on to successful careers with other NFL franchises: Steve Spagnuolo (head coach of the St. Louis Rams), John Harbaugh (head coach of the Baltimore Ravens), Ron Rivera (defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers) and Leslie Frazier (defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings).



Prior to his tenure in Philadelphia, Johnson served as the linebackers coach with Seattle in 1998. That year, Johnson helped the Seahawks register 10 touchdowns on defense, including eight interceptions returned for scores, second-most in NFL history. He arrived in Seattle after a four-year stint in Indianapolis, the last two as defensive coordinator. While with the Colts, Johnson helped them secure a berth in the AFC Championship game at Pittsburgh in 1995.Johnson spent eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (1986-93). After overseeing the Cards defensive line for four seasons, Johnson excelled as their secondary coach, helping Aeneas Williams become the first rookie cornerback to lead the league in interceptions (6) since 1981.



Johnson began his coaching career as head coach at Missouri Southern (1967-68), before serving four-year tenures at Drake and Indiana. From 1977-83, Johnson served as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Notre Dame, a stint that included a national championship in 1977.An all-conference quarterback himself at Missouri (where he played in the same backfield with long-time NFL executive Bill Tobin), Johnson went on to spend two seasons with Buffalo as a tight end (1963-64).A native of Maywood, IL, Johnson (born 5/26/41) earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in physical education from Missouri.



Johnson is survived by his wife, Vicky, two children, Scott and Michelle, and four grandchildren, Katie, Justin, Brandon, and Jax.

Night Before Draft Day

So you'll see below that I think the Eagles will likely draft a running back with their first pick. I don't like Wells, as I've suggested. While I believe Wells could play a situational role this year and later be paired with an effective third down back (more effective than Moats or Booker), I think the Eagles are well aware that they need someone who can carry the load for the likely 2-4 games that Westbrook misses or isn't 100% for. That guy, I hope is Moreno. It is looking less and less likely that Moreno is there at 21. I'm hoping he will be, but he is definitely a possibility for the Saints or the Chargers, or another team that tries to move ahead of the Eagles. The Saints, I think, are less of a concern than the Chargers. They could use a bigger back like Wells, b/c they've already got so much money invested in Reggie Bush that they need to get him onto the field at least on third downs. Wells would resemble McAllister in their offense, a combination with which the Saints had such success, to Eagles' fans dismay, a few years back. More likely though, I think the Saints go defense. Their offense was nasty last year, and their defense sucked. Expect them to look to draft the best secondary player on the board, or to be a possible trading partner for the Eagles and then move down and draft a corner at 21. The bigger concern seems to be Moreno going to San Diego, who perhaps may be looking for a replacement for LT after this year. If Moreno looks good, it would enable them to cut LT after this year and pair Moreno and Sproles, since Sproles doesn't have the body type to hold up as a feature back over the long term.

If Moreno is not there, look for the Eagles to move back to take Donald Brown or LeSean McCoy (I think McCoy early in the second is prob more appealing to the Birds than Brown late in the first), or to draft another defensive end, especially if Robert Ayers or Everette Brown is still on the board. Michael Johnson could also be a possibility, but he may be available much lower than that.

As for TE's, Pettigrew is an option, but I expect the Eagles to address the TE position in the second round most likely. I don't think that Reid and co. really believe in spending a first on that position. Jared Cook is the next most intriguing TE prospect, and probably the only other one aside from Pettigrew that looks like he has a good chance of being a difference-makers. The guy is fast and has hands, but he played in Duckface Spurrier's spread offense with the Gamecocks, so we really don't know if he can block. Very successful tight ends that also were more pass-catchers than blockers that may interest the Eagles in the third, such as Chase Coffman of Missouri, who was unbelievably prolific as a receiver in college, but had some injuries and lacks the kind of speed of a player like Cook. The other guy with blazing speed for a TE (in the 4.5 range) is Southern Miss's Shawn Nelson, who seemed to be a decent blocker in college, but at 240 is a bit light to expect him to excel as a blocker in the NFL.
A lot of this hinges on how much better the Eagles think Celek is going to get. If they feel that he's a real number 1 pass-catching TE, then they may wait until day 2 to take a TE who will really only be on the field on running downs and in two TE sets, but if they think Celek was at or near his ceiling late last year, expect them to be intrigued by anyone with the speed to create mismatches between the hashmarks. In that case, look for them to take a DE or DB.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of TE's, as far as Gonzalez, I wouldn't believe everything you read about the Birds' interest. My guess is that the rumor about the Eagles' interest came out of Kansas City in an effort to prevent the Falcons from waiting until they could see if Pettigrew was still available when they pick late in the first round.

If the Birds do go with a DE or Pettigrew in the first and McCoy is gone by the time their second round pick comes around, they are likely to look at Andre Brown of NC State or Rashad Jennings of Liberty in the third. Shon Greene of Iowa is one powerful runner, and could be appealing if he lasts until the third, but without much receiving experience, he's prob not ever going to an every down back in this offense, so I don't think they'd spend a second on him.

Basically, I think, if the Eagles pick three times in the first three rounds, we should expect an RB, a TE, and either a DB or DE, but as you have noticed. I think there's a pretty good chance we'll be picking four times in the first three rounds, and an outside chance we'll only pick twice (b/c we use a third to move up to 13 or 14 to draft Moreno).

And of course, there is always the possibility that the birds surprise us all and simply take the best available player. If they move back into the first half of the second, for example, and Alex Mack of California (GO BEARS!) the best center prospect in the draft, is sitting there, it would be about as hard for the Eagles to resist drafting him as it is for them to win over the fans by assuring us that John Street (honestly, why would you ever bring that guy up, Joe) told them they didn't have to pay the city back.



So with tomorrow's draft, aka Christmas morning (or Christmas 4:00) of the NFL offseason just hours away, I've left youse guys a poem to close out my post.

Twas’ the night before draft day, and all through NovaCare
Joe Banner was adjusting his full head of “hair”
The drunks got their High Lifes and Colt 45
In hopes Anquan Boldin soon would arrive
And Howie the cap guy (but not to his face)
Tried to discern how Pettigrew plays in space
Then up from the kitchen came Big Andy Reid
Looking for linemen with both size and speed
“On Johnson, On Jackson, On Ayers, On Everette Brown ”
Or maybe a running back so the fans can calm down
“Now Moreno, now Donald, now Lesean McCoy,”
Which of you’s gonna be Marty’s new toy
To the top of the draft boards, or should we just trade
By the time we pick, the fans will have passed out in the shade
So please dirty thirty don't boo this year’s McNabb
Since we know that makes millionaires so very sad
So Andy’s post-draft speech is done (all eleven words)
Happy Draft Day to All, and to All, Let’s Go Birds

Peters's sacks last year

Check out this on the Bills message boards if you want to see which of the alleged 11.5 sacks he gave up were Peters's fault and which weren't. It links to NFL replays where you can see every sack and judge for yourself too:
http://boards.buffalobills.com/showthread.php?t=127203

The Eagellectual's Thoughts on Boldin, Brown, and Saturday's First Round

The big talk since the Peters trade is the question of whether the Eagle would still consider trading for Boldin. My inclination is to say no. Supposedly the Cards are seeking a first and a third, and Boldin is seeking a contract in the neighborhood of 4 years for 40 million dollars. It's hard to imagine the Eagles giving up more in picks and as much in annual salary for a wide receiver than they did for an offensive tackle, a position the Eagles clearly value more. It wouldn't be a total shock if they moved for him, but my guess is the recent language out of Joe Banner about doing whatever they can to help the team when asked about Boldin is simply an effort to drive up Boldin's price in case the Giants make a move at him. If I had to predict though, Boldin will be more likely to end up either in the AFC (maybe Baltimore?) or still on Arizona.

Sheldon Brown has just gone public complaining about his contract. He is making less I think than Joselio Hanson this year, but the fact is he agreed to the big long term contract, and he has four years left on it. There is no way the Eagles do a new deal with him this year, if for no other reason that it weakens the Eagles negotiating position with McNabb. As usual, the Eagles here hold all the leverage, so expect Brown to boycott a minicamp or two but come in and play as usual. If he plays well for another two years, then maybe the Eagles will sit down with him.
I hope this works. Sheldon Brown is really, really good. There's a reason that the Eagles were trying to trade Lito and not Brown last year. Brown is a lockdown cover corner who can play press man or zone. He's a great tackler and has incredible instincts downfield and as a blitzer. They need him for at least one more year. It is strange though that the birds have brought in first round quality CB talents Vontae Davis (who scares the heck out of me that he could be another workout warrior like his brother SF tight end Vernon, whose biggest catches have come on an UnderArmour commercial) and Sean Smith (who may be an NFL safety). My guess is that is just due diligence on the part of the Birds but we'll see.

Everyone seems to think the Eagles first pick in this draft will be a RB. I tend to agree. This is by far our biggest need for this year and is also one of our more important long-term needs. Knowshon Moreno is all the rave right now, and for good reason. He's got good enough size and can do everything. He runs screens excellent and is effective both up the middle and running to the outside. He has good field vision and is capable of making two cuts behind the line of scrimmage. He is fast but not ultra fast, but he does a decent job of using his body to make defenders miss. He is excellent at making sure he always falls forward to pick up a few extra yards. From what I've read, he was also superb in blitz pickup in college, which is crucial for running backs to be able to contribute early to this complicated Eagles offense. He really does seem to be the total package, but he may not be around still at 21. I've definitely seen him linked to the Saints at 14 and the Chargers at 16 (although I'm skeptical about whether they want to invest first round money in a rookie RB with sproles making a bunch of new money). As for the Saints, I think, and hope, that Ohio State's wells, a big powerful two-down back, might be a better complement to Reggie Bush. Wells lacks the receiving experience to play a lot of downs in this Eagles offense next year. Let's hope Knowshon falls to 21, although I think if he's really their guy, the Eagles might be willing to move up to draft him. It would prob. take a 3rd to get up to 12 or 13. Plus the Eagellectual loves a guy with the word "Know" in his first name.

If Knowshon is gone when the Eagles pick, I'd look for them to trade down which many dumb eagles fans hate (but I have no problem with picking up an extra first day player). Donald Brown (UConn) and/or LeSean McCoy (Pitt) should be available in the last six picks of the first and first six picks of the second, although there is significant talk that the Colts will draft one of them with the 27th pick in the first round. The Patriots, also, might be in the market for a running back. Possible trading partners with extra picks in the second are the Giants, Patriots, Dolphins, and Browns. Brown is a fairly complete back who can do most things well, but may not be exceptional McCoy is a speedy back who can catch the ball out of the backfield. From what I read he needs to learn to play the blitz, but has the instincts to be a decent blocker--so did Westbrook when we brought him here, and now he's the best pound for pound blocking tailback in the league--the Sugar Ray Lewis of blitz pick-up, if you will. In many ways McCoy's game is like Westbrook's. He's bigger then B-West and played against better college competition, although he lacks the second gear that has made Westbrook such a scary big play threat in the NFL.

There are two wildcards here that might change the Eagles first round strategy. The first is named Brandon Pettigrew. He is a beastly large Oklahoma State tight end with very good hands and good route-running skills. He is an excellent blocker, which the Eagles desperately needed last year (but might need less this year with a healthy Shawn Andrews, joined by Jason Peters and Stacey Andrews as stud run-blockers on our line). I'm inclined to think the Eagles don't believe in drafting tight tends in the first round, especially one who lacks the speed to challenge good NFL safeties downfield, but if I'm wrong, he's there at 21 and prob. not there all that much later.

The other wildcard is Mr. Victor Abiamiri. We still don't know how good this guy is. Hopefully someone in the Eagles organization does. We need more pass rush for the other DE spot (opposite Cole), and if the Eagles don't have faith in Abiamiri, they might look to draft a DE--perhaps Michael Johnson if he falls (GA Tech) or Robert Ayers (Tenn). Andy Reid treats defensive end prospects the way he treats cheeseburgers--there's no such thing as too many, and Tom Heckert and Jim Johnson love "to throw fastballs" (maybe we should send them over to Brett Myers's house).

I suppose there's also an outside change that the Eagles could draft a first round receiver if a top flight guy like Heyward-Bey is there and is the best-guy on the board, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that all you receiver-loving birds fans, and to be honest, I don't think receiver is anywhere near our biggest need short-term or long-term. A project there might be more likely in the second or third. I'll post again before the weekend to suggest what they might do in rounds two and three.