Eagles Chick | Philadelphia Eagles Football From a Chick's Perspective

Another Great Goal Line Stand Helps Eagles Improve to 5-5

Please allow me a few moments to stop and savor that right now, we no longer have a loosing record and we're finally at 500.  As optimistic as I tend to be, realism does set in, and I realize this moment will be shortly lived likely coming to an end after next Sunday night.  This Thanksgiving, I'll be thankful that these "Birds" are 5-5 rather than 4-6 or 3-7, and look like they might have some feathers left to try and fly.

So - how about them Eagles Defensive Linemen?!  Let me tell you, they rock!  You guys and goal lines stands, just really impressed me yet again this week.  You guys give the fans the hope that there still really is life in the football team in green.  I actually jumped up and cheered after each stop, and I haven't done that much at all this year, so thank you!

Takeo Spikes and Brian Dawkins certainly have lead some kind of rallying cry for this part of the team.  These guys have in two weeks managed to change the entire "feel" of a game.  Last week's amazing 7 or 8 play stand against the Redskins was amazing, and to turn around and be able to do it for a 4 play stand this week again, was just awesome.  When our defense "clicks" it really can be a force to be reckoned with.

And how about "B-West"?  Brian Westbrook had a career high game, and looked just about damn near unstoppable.  On the ground it was tough for the Dolphins to stop Westbrook once he got moving.  He had 132 yards rushing on 32 carries - both are career highs.  It was something amazing to watch, and likely not something we're going to see again this season.  The Dolphins, lets just say, are a team in a bad situation (one worse than the Eagles, and even Ricky Williams can't help them with that!), and that just left it open for Westbrook to pick away and exploit everything that was wrong with the Dolphins' defense.

Donovan McNabb went out of the game with a sprained ankle in the first half.  Prior to that, he had been picked off for two interceptions both in the red zones - both at points where it was almost certain the Eagles were going to score.  I think it's really sad when Philadlephia fans were cheering when he went limping off the field and into the locker room.  Some of Eagles fans are just so fickle, there's a reason why the fans have been nick named the "boo birds", and unfortunately that kind of display of "eagle fandemonium" is what makes the rest of America think there's no intelligent life in the stands of the Linc or in Philly.

AJ Feeley came in and replaced D-Mac, but he wasn't much better.  Picked off again down in the red zone, just as they were about to score, Feeley made me through my hands up in disgust.  Then they came back out after the half, and it seemed like a different team.  However, they obviously decided to go with what works, their running game with Westbrook.  Hand off after hand off from Feeley to Westbrook kept chipping away the yards and the time.  Westbrook got the Eagles into the red zone, and Jason Avant topped off the drive with a 9 yard reception in the end zone.

I think the fact that Feeley seemed to have just as much difficulty getting a passing game going as DMac has, goes to show, the Eagles desperately need someone to step up and be "THE" receiver, you know like that overbearing, self inflated, ego maniacal idiot that use to play for the Eagles?  The fact Feeley had to turn to Westbrook again and again, keeps going back to how one dimensional we are right now.  Unfortunately that will just make it all the more tough to beat the Patriots and the Cowboys.  So for this week, I'll savor the non-loosing record, and enjoy a 2 week winning streak.

Just 1 More Stop - Defensive's Goal Line Stand Wakes up the Eagles

"Just 1 More Stop"

Those words from the Eagles' Jon Runyan to Takeo Spikes were enough to rouse the Eagles defense into a awe inspiring 7 play goal line stand that limited the Redskins to just a field goal - despite a penalty that gave the Redskins an additional set of downs.  What a powerful display of defense it was.  It was like someone woke up the defense and told them the game was going on.

Up until that goal line stand, I kept wondering where in the hell the defense was.  The Redskins were just controlling the field and blowing by the Eagles left, right and center.  Then it was like waking a sleeping giant, and if Johnson put caffine in the Gatorade for his players, I'm thankful, and if it was Runyan's words -  Jon Runyan, you rock (even if you do need a hair cut).

The 4th quarter was the best playing I've seen of the Eagles in a few games.  It was encouraging to see LJ Smith and Reggie Brown doing great.  It was even more awesome to see the offensive line make some spectacular blocks to free Brian Westbrook right up to go for a touchdown.  Shawn Andrews and Jon Runyan made two amazing blocks on that play, and seeing the brief replay on it, it just made everyone here watching the game with me go "WHOA!"

"He's really tough if you let him in the open field, and we did, " was London Fletcher's response when asked about blocking and covering Brian Westbrook.  Westbrook, once again carried the offensive.  We as Eagles fans cheer for his 5 catches for 83 yards and his 20 carries for 100 yards and hoot and holler for those 3 touchdowns he made.  His playing is just awesome, and without him the Eagles wouldn't have won.

Unfortunately though, the Eagles rely way too much on Westbrook.  As great as he is, right now the Eagles offensive is one dimensional - the Westbrook dimension.  No one wide receiver is stepping up to help out.  Sure today we saw a lot more of Hank Baskett (this chick likes that!), finally LJ Smith is really back, and Greg Lewis even shined a bit.  But no "one" is standing out and taking some of that weight off of Westbrooks shoulders.  With 7 more games to go, it's difficult to see how the Eagles can win on just Westbrook.

The defensive had some impressive numbers - Takeo Spikes had 12 tackles, 9 of those unassisted.  Brian Dawkins had 9 tackles.  Then just looking at their 4th quarter, it was like night and day, compared to the rest of the game.  Great job to the defense, it was like you woke up the entire team - kudos!

Kudos to Donovan McNabb as well with a 138.5% QB rating on the day, despite his fumble, Donovan looked good.  Connecting on passes, scrambling and being patient - at least this game he didn't eat as much grass.  He looked good - much better than last week.  I'm not of the opinion that "McNabb needs to go" - unlike the other Eagles fans who are screaming for his head.  Personally I think, he needs 2 things 1) more weapons beyond Westbrook and 2) more time to heal that injury.

Can this win, turn into a streak?  So far this year, that hasn't happened, but we are playing Miami next week and they haven't won a game yet in 2007.  That could be either a blessing ... in the form of an easy win, or a curse in the form of the Eagles being their first win that they've been trying desperately to get.  I think the Eagles might just have turned a corner, hopefully we'll be on a two game winning streak next week and improve to 500, that'd be really nice, wouldn't it? :)

Jon Runyan - thanks for kicking the team into gear, us Eagles fans really appreciate it!

Eagles vs Redskins - Will the Eagles Show Up to Play?

After last weekend's severe pummeling given to the Eagles (and us fans) by the Dallas Cowboys, the thought on every Eagles fan's mind, along with all the sports analysts on FOX, CBS, NBS, ESPN and the NFL channel, is are the Eagles going to show up to play?  Has the team's "ass", so to speak, be thoroughly kicked into alignment that they finally realize the season is half way through and they look like a team from pre-Andy Reid days, not a football team that's played in this new millennium?

Last night I checked out the injury report for the Eagles vs. Redskins game.  While the Eagles' offense seems a bit banged up with 4 wide receivers having some kind of injury - Reggie Brown (neck), Jason Avant (groin), Kevin Curtis (knee), Greg Lewis (chest), along with Westbrook being listed with a shoulder injury, Jon Runyan with a glute injury and LJ Smith with a back injury - but all are playing, one might be wondering if the Eagles are going to be able to show up and catch balls for Donovan McNabb.  Looking at the other side of the ball the Redskins are out three major weapons.  Santana Moss is out with an injury to his heel, Cornelius Griffin is out with a back injury and Antwaan Randle El is listed with a hamstring injury is out as well.

With the Redskins missing at least 2 major weapons on offense, Eagles fans might be breathing a little easier.  I know this chick looked at the injury report and thought - "well the Eagles might have a chance to win".  However, for the Eagles to win, the rest of the team has to show up and Donovan needs to be "on target" today.  No more of the 40% QB rating crap.  Although Donovan cannot be blamed for all the current "whoas" of the Eagles, he does carry some of that weight and he needs to improve and get the ball away a lot quicker instead of constantly being sacked.  I don't think Donovan has eaten as much grass in any year prior to 2007 - but then again, prior to that he had a great offensive line that included Jeremiah Trotter.

I have a feeling today's game might be a nail biter, but certainly hope the outcome is one we'll be cheering about.  We so need to cheer about something, a win over an NFC rival would be great.  If we can't get that - then maybe the Giants with pummel the Cowboys?  I know, we're not suppose to like the Giants either, but on game days, I root for 2 teams, the Eagles and who ever is playing against the Cowboys!

Andy Reid, His Sons & The Eagles

Andy Reid is not going to be able to escape the comments, the out loud thinking and the flat out questioning of whether or not his sons' situations that came to a head this past week, affected what happened on the field last night at the Linc.  Granted, the Eagles are not the better team (I've been saying that since week 2 or 3), but how could the Eagles look so unprepared, confused and just down right bad?  That falls on the coach and after so much noise was made, we all know that it is Andy who's coaching the team, not Mornhinweg or Johnson.

What I find most disturbing about the mess Reid's sons have made with their lives is the hypocrisy.  Sure, they are his sons, and he loves them, and wants to support them, what parent wouldn't?  But these "kids" are 22 and 24 and still living at home, not holding down any jobs and who knows about school.  Wait, I'm wrong, I believe Garrett was holding down the job of "Drug Dealer in North Philadelphia", according to his statements.  So where does the hypocrisy come in?

Andy Reid notoriously passes on great players who have drug issues.  This year, rumors flew around Dante Stallworth not being re-signed just for that reason.  He was the one receiver who was the closest we've seen to filling the void of the overbearing, self inflated, ego maniacal idiot that helped to embarrass the Eagles last night.  Now Stallworth is on the one team that is likely super bowl bound, catching balls from Tom Brady along side Randy Moss - not in Eagles' green, syncing with McNabb and making our offense look more than one dimensional.  The Eagles have lost a hell of a lot this year because of this hypocrisy.

I like Andy Reid, I think he's a good coach, but I think he's got to seriously stop and take a look at how his sons' situations are affecting the Eagles.  What message does this send, not just to players but to the kids who look up to him as a coach?  Not one but two sons, addicted to drugs, one pulling weapons in road rage, another dealing drugs in north Philly.  You are telling me Andy didn't have a clue?  Come On ......

According to authorities, they found 89 prescription drug pills in Garrett Reid's jail cell Thursday morning. They believe he smuggled them in his rectum when he was jailed earlier this week.  That's some serious addiction when you are putting pills up your ass, pulling them out and taking them.  That kind of addiction doesn't happen over night, and can only go unnoticed if you are never home to see your family. 

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill noted that searches of the Reid home found illegal and prescription drugs throughout the house. He said both boys had been over-medicated throughout much of their lives."It sounds more or less like a drug emporium there, with the drugs all over the house and you are an addict," O'Neill told Britt Reid.

In a Yardbarker article back in August, they question the role of Reid's wife Tammy in all of this. With this latest comment from the judge, it really makes a parent wonder.  As an Eagles fan, it also make you wonder if this is affecting Andy's thinking a lot more than what everyone's been lead to believe.

Watching Vai and Howard in the post game wrap-up on NBC 10 last night, I couldn't help but to agree with with Vai about Andy undoubtedly having to take a long look at things after the season and maybe even stepping down on his own accord.  We can't make any assumptions either way, however if the Eagles continue to slide into a pit of lost games and embarrassments, we won't have to make assumptions, Jeffery Lurie's going to make sure something happens.

Howard made an interesting comment as well last night, "it's the end of an era".  That's pretty much the same as saying "it's time to rebuild".  I agree with him, that it's the players that have to be looked at, and not so much the coach.  However, don't be surprised if the coach himself thinks its the end of his own era and doesn't return next year.

I Hate To Say This, For the Eagles, It's Rebuilding Time

For a team with such hope and promise at the beginning of the season, what a disastrous season this has really turned out to be.  Even the most loyal and most optimistic of us fans can only shake our heads in disgust.  The game has probably just ended the third quarter against the Cowboys, and I couldn't even handle to watch anymore of it.  Small glimpses of great plays, but nothing, nothing at all the even resembles a heartbeat of a team.  The only positive thing about tonight's game - the return of Brian Dawkins.

The three most dreaded words in any fan's vocabulary at this time in the season is "It's Rebuilding Time", and right now, that's what it is for the Eagles.  No hope of a playoff birth, we'll all be cheering for any opponent of the Patriots and any opponent of the Cowboys for the rest of the season, and what games happen after December. 

I love the Eagles, but man, what a let down, what a real let down.  After so many years of the Eagles dominance over those "Plowboys", it's tough to be on the opposite side now.  It's tough to see your team loose to that overbearing, self inflated, ego maniacal idiot who unfortunately for the Eagles was the best receiver McNabb ever had. The signs were written on the field in that first set of plays with a McNabb fumble, resulting in a Cowboy's touchdown.

"This is a rebuilding season", we'll be some type of phrase used in the coming weeks, mark this chick's words.  I just know that McNabb had better improve and they better find him a receiver for next year, since this year was just pretty much slammed shut on us after the first half.  If those two things don't happen, heads will roll and either McNabb will be on the fast train to Chicago or we'll be seeing Kevin Kolb a lot sooner than we thought.

Have The Eagles Found Their Heart To Play Again?

The Eagles actually found the Red Zone on Sunday.  They actually looked like a team who wanted to play football and win.  So does that mean their heart is in the game?  Seeing as this past week's game was against their old Offensive Coordinator, one might say yes.  But, some might say it was because they had something to prove.  I'm going to try and lean towards the optimistic side and I get the feeling the guys just might have figured out that they need to play together to win, not just play to collect paychecks.

The playing was actually impressive this past Sunday, blocking, tackling, making the plays all looked solid.  The nonsense of weeks past seemed to be a distant memory as we watched the offense actually score touchdowns in the red zone instead of field goals.  Don't get me wrong, David Akers, I love ya and your very lovely kicking leg, but I'd just rather see those green jersey crossing that touchdown line and scoring 6 points rather than just 3.

The true test of whether the Eagles are playing as a team is always against the Cowboys.  The last couple of years, the Cowboys just sucked.  The last few years the Cowboys managed to stink up the field worse than the Eagles did during the Kotite years.  This year though, it's a different Cowboys' team - totally.  the "other 81" has got something to prove, and so does his QB, Romo, and you can bet they are aiming to make an example of the Eagles.  Emotions are going to be running high as always, so this will definitely be a test of two teams, not just another battle of #81's.

Are the Eagles good enough to beat the Cowboys?  Optimistically?  If they play like a team that wants to win, they can beat them.  If stop with causing stupid penalties, and work together to stop the Cowboy's assuallt both on the ground and in the air, and then the offensive plays as good as they did this past Sunday, there's hope. Boy, do I have a lot of optimism, don't I?

The Eagles Need To Play Like A Team Who Wants To Win

I don't know what's happened to the Eagles.  You know the real Eagles, not this team that's come out to only play to collect a paycheck this year. 

All throughout this season so far, all I can think is "when are they going to come out and play like a team who wants to win? When are the coaches going to coach them into a team who wants to win?"    Even during their game with the Jets, which they won, there was no shine, no sparkle.  It's not fun or enjoyable to watch the Eagles play football this year, its just plain painful and torture.  This team just do not seem like they want to or have the desire to put the effort into winning consistently.

Here's a note to Andy Reid and the rest of the Eagles Coaches & Players:
Stop torturing us Eagles fans already, if you don't want to play to win - get off the damn field.

That's probably a little harsh, but where are the guys that made the game fun?  Where are the guys who could score a few touchdowns in the redzone? Where are the guys that made you proud you were an Eagles fan?

The team needs to realize it cannot just rely on the marvelous play action of Brian Westbrook, Donovan McNabb, Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins.  Without Sheldon Brown, yesterday's game would have been lost in the first half.  Without Brian Dawkins, they Eagles' defense just caved in the last 1 minutes and 30 seconds.  Geesus, they were at the 3 yard line to start!

The Jets game, was just so "nothing to write home about" accept the fact Andy improved to 9-0 the week after the by.  I seriously wonder, does this team want to win any games at all?  Really now, come on guys, make it at least look like you want to win, not that you are just there to play and collect your paycheck from Jeffery Lurie.

A team cannot win on individual efforts alone.  Donovan can throw the passes, but the receivers need to catch them and the front line needs to block so those receivers can get open.  Sheldon Brown and Omar Gaither can do some of the blocking and bat down passes, but not all of them.  It takes a team to win football games and the Eagles are not playing like a team, they are playing like a bunch of individuals.

To my beloved birds (and I don't mean those pigeons on the field yesterday), I ask just one question:
Where is your heart to win games again?

12 Sacks....132 Penalty Yards... Adds Up to an Eagles Disaster

No team can win with 12 sacks, and 132 yards in penalties.  Tonight has to be one of the most disappointing Philadelphia Eagles games I've ever watched.  Just so disappointing after a game the week prior that was record setting for positive reasons.

No emotion.  No drive.  Where the hell was the offensive line?

Despite the fact that most of the media will undoubtedly blame Donovan McNabb, this disaster of a game totally goes on the offensive line and more importantly, it's coaches.  How the hell can any quarterback get anything going when they are constantly getting sacked or hurried or forced out of the pocket?  They can't, Farve, Romo (yes it pains me to say that), heck not even Marino or Montana could have done anything with an offensive line as leaky as the Eagles were tonight.

Sure, we didn't have 5 starters, William Thomas in particularly.  But the offensive coaching tonight was horrible.  Absolutely, positively horrible.  They are the ones that call the plays, they are the ones the pull the players in and out.  Osi Umenyiora just obliterated Justice.  I really feel for Winston Justice, it was his first time out there at left tackle, replacing Thomas,  and the guy was victimized.  There was no way he wasn't ready for that.  Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid really should have adjusted the play calling can added someone to help Justice.  If anyone is to be blamed - these are the two that should be hung out to dry by the Philly media. 

I have to hand congrats to Osi though, he played one hell of a game.

The Eagles were just out played and out classed.  If there's a miracle left, I sure hope the Eagles can find it, because right now they are looking like the sucky team they were when Kotite was coach.

And if anyone says one word about them wearing those ugly uniforms, I will hurt your superstitious butts.  We aren't going to win any games playing like this, with or without those Swedish colored blue and yellow attire (throwback uniforms).  The defensive played well, be we need an offensive that can score point, not get their quarterback sacked 12 times.

* Picture courtesy of Giants.com

Eagles Throwback Uniforms aka Those Ugly Blue & Yellow Jerseys

The superstitious Eagles fan might chalk up the Eagles amazing rout of the Detroit Lions on Sunday to the fact that they were wearing different uniforms.  The tactical/superstitious Eagles fan might chalk the win up to confusion by the Lions, as they were blinded by the colors of the throwback uniforms, or perhaps, the Lions were confused because they thought they were playing a college team?  No matter what the Lions thought, honestly, they didn't loose because of the ugly uniforms that the Eagles wore on Sunday.

But what about those ugly throw back uniforms?  Where the heck did they come from and why on earth would any team wear them?  Well here's a little background into those really ugly yellow and blue uniforms the Eagles sported in the Sunday home game against the Detroit Lions.

1933-2007 - 75 Philadelphia Eagles Seasons - Anniversary Celebration
To help commemorate the 75th Season of Philadelphia Eagles Football, the team announced back in April that on September 23, 2007 in the home game against Detroit, the Eagles would wear replica uniforms of those worn by the first Eagles team in 1933.  With the help of Reebok, the Eagles reproduce these "beauties" for the entire team.

Now you are probably wondering, why the heck these Swedish colors?  Why those really ugly colors?  Well it has to do with a number of things.  Not just the fact that those colors use to be the official colors of Philadelphia, PA.

The blue and yellow colors were the first colors worn by the Eagles, after the Frankford Yellow Jackets went bankrupt.  So when the NFL awarded the Philadelphia franchise to a syndicate headed by former University of Pennsylvania teammates Lud Wray and Bert Bell, the new Eagles, inherited these ugly colors on their uniforms.

Whether it was coincidence or not when the Yellow Jackets first wore the colors, they are actually the official colors of the City of Brotherly Love.  Prior to William Penn arriving here, the Swedes had settled the area, so he felt compelled to incorporate the color of Sweden into the City of Philadelphia's flag.

It's not just Philly fans gawking at those ugly replicas, it's the entire nation.  On NBC's Sunday night football, Keith Olberman even named the "Most Hated Person in the NFL" this week, as whoever made the Eagles wear those really ugly throwback uniforms.  Sports commentors on CBS, Fox, ESPN and local news stations ALL had something to say about those uniforms.

The only player that looked like they got a "reprieve" from wearing those colors was Dawkins, as he wore normal Eagles colors (not a uniform) of Eagles gear on the sidelines.  He's probably thinking, "Thank Goodness!"  :)

Eagles vs Lions: Dreading Another Sunday Letdown

Who would have thought at the beginning of the season going into Week 3, that the Lions would be 2 and 0 and the Eagles 0 and 2?  I can tell you, I certainly wasn't in that camp.  The Lions are flying high, and the Eagles seemed to have their feathers clipped at the moment.  Two key team players, Westbrook and Dawkins, watched from the sidelines at practice today.  Buckhalter practiced with the 1st team offensive as backup, as Westbrook looked on. 

The injury report for the Eagles that came out earlier this afternoon still has big questions marks on Brian Westbrook and Brian Dawkins.  These are two key players on both sides of the ball, without them, things really do look bleak. Sure we have Correll Buckhalter, and Tony Hunt back up Westbrook, but still, Westbrook is just so damn good, it's tough to imagine games without him busting tackles and gaining yards.

Then we look to the other side of the ball, at the lack of back up for "Weapon X" Brian Dawkins.  The Eagles top defensive guy, at free safety, there's not much in the way of back up for B-Dawg.  He is a force to be reckoned with, but unfortunately a neck stinger sidelined him for most of the 4th quarter against the Redskins.  Defensive coach Jim Johnson is optimistic that Dawkins will play.

"We anticipate he's going to be there Sunday," Johnson said of Dawkins. "We don't plan on Lito right now."

Lito of course being Lito Sheppard who's been sidelined with an MCL sprain since the opener with the Packers.

I just have a bad gut feeling that Sunday's going to be another let down for us Philly Eagles fans.  I guess though, it's a wait and see game, so to speak, whether to dread the upcoming game, or look forward to it.  Perhaps if Westbrook and Dawkins both play, there's a little bit more optimism in me that the Eagles will finally "get it right" and win one on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.  Hopefully too, it'll take some the focus on the nonsense of what Donovan said this past week, too.

McNabb Will Be Philly's Target in the Morning for Loss to Redskins

Tonight, the only good news was that .... at least the Phillies won.

I sat in the All-Star bar out in Gilberstville, off of Ridge Pike to watch the game tonight.  I thought this would be a pretty interesting game.  But after the first first, I was thinking to myself, "should I just go home now?"

Donovan McNabb's game was just off.  His accuracy wasn't there, more than a few times he over threw his wide receivers and it wasn't for their lack of trying either.  Granted, there were parts of drives that showed guts and brilliance - but you need 4 quarters of guts and brilliance to win a football game, not just 2 minutes here and 3 minutes there.

Donovan's going to be roasted for this performance.  The defense as well, will have to answer for their performance.  Overall, it was just a general "total let down" feeling and the fact that our Birds are 0 and 2, and two of our division rivals are 2 and 0 doesn't make swallowing this loss any easier.

Not many bright spots to write home about tonight - Westbrook when given the opportunity performed brilliantly, Takeo Spikes came off with some great plays too, but it just wasn't enough and the Eagles came up short on thie Monday night outing.

When listening to Charles Barkley talking with Jaws and the crew, you know I couldn't have agreed with him more.  He said that Donovan's performance over the years, should cut him some slack - however in Philly it doesn't work that way.  I just really think a lot of people take the last 5 or so years for granted.

Sure our Eagles are 0 and 2, but the guys are probably really beating themselves up right about now, and who better than them knows the pain of this 2nd loss?  There's really not one finger to point to and blame, it was a combination effort, The Eagles lost this game together as a team this time around.

Are the Eagles Ready for the Redskins?

Tomorrow night's game is the first NFC East divisional match-up for the Eagles of the 2007 season.  There's a lot of questions swirling right now whether the Eagles really are truly the contenders the fans hope and pray they are every year.

If there were any bright spots in last week's game it was the defense.  Jim Johnson's defense didn't allow a touchdown to be scored.  They also held the Packer's to only 46 yards on the ground.  That number was the lowest surrender around the league in the first week.  So, yes, despite some our Birds' issues last week, there was definitely some great "sunny" spots to give us some hope going into this week's game.

The Redskins aren't the push overs they were the past 3-5 years.  If their overtime game last week with the Miami Dolphins was any indication, the Eagles (all of the Eagles, not just the defense) need to come out to the Linc and actually play.  All eyes are going to be on Special Teams too, especially with the return of Reno Mahe at Kick Returner.

Sav Rocca is also under a microscope, he didn't have a spectacular game either at Green Bay.  His performance had a lot of fans speculating why we got rid of our "sure" thing with Dirk Johnson, who just signed with the Chicago Bears (he'll be visiting the link in October folks!).   If he can really kick the ball the way he was in pre-season and just make sure he can hold that darn ball with the laces out for David Akers, he'll be o.k., otherwise, he might be run out of Philly pretty darn quick and we'll see Koy back soon enough.

One thing I think we'll all be seeing a heck of a lot more of - Sean McDermott calling his plays from under the towels those two guys were holding up last Sunday.  At the time I thought, "Man, isn't that a little extreme?"  Now in light of the cheating scandal out of the Patriots camp, it really makes a heck of a lot of sense why he was doing it - kinda makes me wonder if they knew what was going down?

I just hope the whole team has thought long and hard about last week's loss and learned from it.  No more stupid penalties like Jason Avant's 15 yard personal foul, or delay of games that are totally avoidable.  That kind of stuff just saps any and all momentum right out of the field.  Let's hope they all have Brian Dawkins' frame of mind.

"We're going to strive to be better than what we were last week," said Dawkins. "There were obviously some plays that we could have made, some tackles missed in third-down situations that kept drives going for them. But, we can fix those things."

New England Patriots Cheating Scandal Leaves Questions About the Eagles Superbowl XXIX Game Loss

The Patriots under suspicion for cheating, say it ain't so! 

• The NFL has seized tapes
• Belichick has issued an apology
• Goodell has determined the Pats broke the rules
  • Is it for video taping and stealing signals?
  • Is it for deliberate "communication" issues at Foxboro?
• Anonymous members of the Goodell's investigation team have indicated the investigation has been under way for a while now
• Various players from around the league have been very vocal about the cheating (both signals and communication issues) that has going on for years under Belichick's tenure
• And discussing how it crosses ethical lines.

So now, all of us Eagles fans are sitting here wondering, could this have affected the outcome of Super Bowl XXIX?  Even though my gut says "no", there's still this nagging bit of wonder and a ton of "What Ifs".  I'm sure a lot of the teams that met up with the Patriots in their SuperBowl and Playoff match ups are wondering the same thing. 

Everyone, no doubt is questioning the "greatness" of their dynasty now and just how tainted Tom Brady is, as the receiver of a lot of this information.  There's no doubt that few will believe that Brady didn't know about how the method of how the signals were obtained.  Perhaps someone should interview Drew Bledsoe, too?

At this point in time, the Patriots could become the more hated team above the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia.  Eagles fans are rabid, and don't like to be cheated, and this scandal just wreaks of nothing but cheating to win.  There is no doubt a lot of fans will now believe "our birds" were robbed.  It makes you wonder what T.O. might even say about it - will he change his tune from blaming D-Mac to now blaming Belichick's cheating scheme?

Whatever the case, it really makes an Eagles fan wonder, did they have our defense calls too?  If they did, they surely used them.  If they used them, then weren't the Eagles robbed, just as the Steelers were?  We only lost by 3 points in the Super Bowl, isn't it realistically possible that cheating won the Patriots that Vince Lombardi trophy that year?

What's your take?  Got an opinion, I'd love to hear it!

Special Teams Loose Opener For Eagles

Reid cut Bloom for this?  Two muffed returns lost the game for the Eagles.  Reid cuts Bloom, and puts in J.R. Reed and Greg Lewis (who has stated he's not a return guy) as punt returners, and what does it do for the team?  That change manages to loose the game for the Birds.

Was it just me, or was this game just torture to watch?  Each team not doing much of anything, is nothing but torture.

Between the penalties and the inability to really get anything going, and the high number of 3 and outs - this game just seemed to drag out and torture us fans who watched.  Of course there were great moments of beautiful plays, but they were few and far between.

The first quarter was just abysmal, by 6 minutes into the game the Packers are up 10 to zip.  All I could do is just sit and curse about the Eagles special teams.  Finally close to the end of the 1st quarter there was some sign of hope and by the time the end of the first half came, Jason Avant finally gave me something to cheer about in stead of curse.

Only later would Avant make me curse, a 15 yard penalty on a personal foul, just added to a really bad day of penalties for the Eagles.  I did find myself cheering again, a few plays later, when Kearse recovered a Brett Farve fumble after Farve was blind sided from behind by Trent Cole. 

There were some brightspots though, Donovan McNabb looked great, as did Kearse (although when he limped off the field I nearly had a heart attack) and the new #81, Jason Avant was nothing like the old #81 the Eagles had 2 years ago.  The defense had some key turnovers, sacks and tackles including a nice interception by Sheldon Brown.  Brian Westbrook had a decent game, too, racking up 85 rushing yards and 46 receiving yards in the game, up against a defense that was touted as being on of the tops this season.

Lito Sheppard left the game and didn't return with a sprained knee, guess we'll be hearing about that status tomorrow.

Now on top of a lousy way to loose a close game (thank you, again, Eagles special teams), I've only now just discovered that this lousy cable system I'm on (Viking Cable Communications) doesn't have Comcast Sports Net and I can't watch Post Game Live.  I even tried accessing it via the internet, but again, this lousy cable system that I'm on, has a slow ass connection that makes molasses in January seem to move a lot faster than the live streaming video feed.  Guess that's what I get for moving after the football season is over and just getting the "Default" service this apartment community has.  DirectTV will be getting a new customer very shortly.

Think I'll just wait to see how the special teams is crucified on philly.com tomorrow.  What a disappointing opening game for the season.