Far From Impressive

Lest anyone believe the Birds are back on track after their sloppy 27 to 3 victory over the Skins on Sunday. As many have noted, the Birds offense got back to many of the same bad habits they showed in the losses to the Saints and Bucs. The over-reliance on the big play is going to kill this team because they simply cannot focus long enough to sustain drives.

Obviously, the talent is there with this offense to patiently go up and down the field, but this group looks like an NBA "two guard" who has fallen in love with his three point shot and no longer does the dirty work and goes to the hole. Or, as my buddy "The Capt" and I discussed on Sunday, we should rename this group the "Pat Burrell Offense". It's either feast or famine. A bomb or a strike out.

This offense drives me nuts. I couldn't even get excited by that ridiculous "fumble recovery" touchdown by Buckhalter. Although, my buddy Mike correctly pointed out seconds after the touchdown that "this play makes up for the 62 yard field goal".

The commotion over Morningwheg taking over the play calling is also a little bit ridiculous. It really didn't make a difference. On the surface, it looks like they ran the ball more, but upon closer inspection it was pretty more of the same run/pass imbalance we've seen all year. The running calls at the end of the game when the game got out of hand and the weather turned bad was the only reason for the supposed balanced play calling. I give this Morningwheg experiment about two more weeks before Reid takes back the reins.

There were a few bright spots. I thought the db's and Reno played well. Westbrook was outstanding as usual, and Stallworth finally looks completely healthy. Boy, does he add another dimension to the offense. Dawk also reminded us why he is a borderline Hall of Famer. The rest of the defense was ok.

One thing to be alarmed about is the fact that Matt McCoy is getting thrown around like former WWF jobbers Rene Goulet and the Brooklyn Brawler. McCoy is simply getting exposed. It's a shame. Johnson has to do a better job at hiding him, but expect him to be singled out again next week as the Titans come to town with the red hot Travis Henry. The defensive line didn't get much pressure Sunday, but that could be due to all the 3 step drops and short passes by Brunell. They've really haven't recaptured the promise they showed in the first month of the season.

Overall, this team has a lot to prove before I get on the playoff bandwagon. However, as I predicted, the Birds have sucked me back in like the Phils did multiple times this summer. Anyhow, I'd like to see our Iggles build off this week and get healthy against a Titans team coming off a tough loss against the Ravens. Could the Titans be heading for a let down? I think so. I also think we'll see the "Michael Vick" defense JJ rolls out against the Falcons in order to frustrate rookie QB, Vince Young.

(I'm shocked that I went a whole article without mentioning Rutgers. Man, was it tough!)