(Let me preface this post by saying that I knew I was ready to return to this blog when I could watch the Birds win and have nothing but negative thoughts swirling through my head.)
Only the truly smug and offensively over confident try to pull what Andy Reid did with that ridiculous on sides kick to start yesterday's game. It offended me so badly that I was a mess the rest of the day. In fact, it drove me out of the house. I made the conscious decision to go outside and hang Christmas lights instead of watching the Eagles. Yes, I was that pissed off. (Well, in retrospect, I suppose I wasn't that upset. I did put the game on the radio and sucked the life out of my car batter in the process.)
I still haven't figured out a good reason to on sides kick to start the game. Unless, of course, you think you are the smartest guy to step foot on an NFL sideline since Bill Walsh. And with the opening on side kick, Big Red has once again showed us that he thinks he's the Steven Hawking of the NFL.
When you play such an inept offensive football team, such as the Skins, why do you risk starting the game off with giving them fantastic field position to set up a score to give them confidence which they undoubtedly carried throughout the entire game? It really seemed like Big Red said to himself "Eff it...I'm smarter than these guys. No one will ever expect us to on side kick here."
We all know what happened next....The Skins recovered the kick and returned deep into Eagles' territory. They then scored an early TD, which they built off throughout the game as they surprisingly moved the field up and down the field against the Birds' beleaguered defense. Sure, the Birds finally won a life and death struggle of a game, which should have been a much easier game, but did anyone come away from the game with the warm and fuzzies about the state of your Philadelphia Eagles? I know I didn't. Sure, there were positives (McCoy, McNabb, Avant, Weaver, and Maclin), but I have major concerns about this team, including:
-their inability to get off the field on third and long;
-the sloppy tackling;
-Macho Harris (I've had enough of him at Free Safety. He doesn't have the instincts for the position.);
-Chris Gocong (I've seen enough of him to know he's not a play maker. I watch a lot of SEC football and I see four guys every weekend that are better OLB's than him);
-Sav Rocca (Can we have him deported to Italy or Australia or wherever he's from before he shanks another punt?);
-Jeremiah Trotter...can please send him back to his Car Washes? It is painful to watch him chase ball carrier after ball carrier.
-Can we run a special teams play without a penalty? Seriously, is it that hard for all 11 friggin guys on the field to not make a stupid mistake?; and
-Our DE's other than Trent Cole. Can someone put an APB out for Chris Clemons, Juqua Parker, and Victor Abriamiri? I haven't seen those guys all year.
All in all, a win is a win is a win in the NFL, but this week showed that this team is really going to have to win with its offense, which may be difficult if D Jax is out for any extended period of time with the concussion he suffered against the Skins. However, the schedule, which looked like a bear a couple weeks ago, now seems to be softening. The final five games look like this:
-at Atlanta
-at Giants
-49ers
-Broncos
-at Dallas
Do any of these five games terrify you? If Matty Ice and Turner are out next week, the game against the Falcons becomes much easier. The G Men appear to be falling apart at the seams. The 49ers game looks tough, but it is at home. The Broncos were starting to show a ton of cracks before their win over the Giants on Turkey Day and that game is at home as well. I feel like the NFC East title will all come down to the final game of the year in Big D, but that's if Tony Romo doesn't fall apart like he does every December (and we know that's pretty much a certainty, right up there with the Mets falling apart during a pennant race.)
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By the way, congrats to my buddy Aran on the birth of his twin sons. I'm really happy for you, bro!
4 comments:
I was thinking the same thing. Onsides kick to start the game? Going for it on 4th down TWICE in the first quarter?
I think Reid went into the game thinking the Eagles were the 2007 Patriots and could be ballsy & just roll over any team in sight... Nice to see we still squeaked out a three-point win against the hapless Redskins, but I'm still a bit worried about four of the next five games on the road. Even against bad teams, that's still not a good way to wrap up the season.
I can honestly say that I did not watch one minute of yesterday's game. I was too busy doing stuff around the house.
From the sounds of it, I'm not sad that I missed it either.
Oh, and good to have you back on a regular basis, T. I was starting to think that this blog was a lost cause.
Freddy Washington, Juan Ebstine, Arnold Horshack and Vinny Bobarino Welcome Back-T
sure as old saint nick coming to a chimney near you the Birds are ready to make their December run and fortunately the Cow Girls are ready to collapse. We win the East again probably before the week 17 beat down and host the Boys the following week at the Link. Then we dance w/ Brett Favre and the Vikes in the dome. That one will be more difficult.
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