Showing posts with label michael vick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label michael vick. Show all posts
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Monday, October 15, 2012
Eagles-Lions: The Battle of Dumb and Dumber
On Saturday night, I received a text asking if I was interested in going to the Lions-Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday. Naturally, I accepted, prepared to see the most frustrating division-leading team in the NFL take on one of the most undisciplined teams in the league.
It had the makings of a odd day to begin with, and an odd day it was indeed.
For starters, the temperature in Philadelphia was already in the 60s when I awoke, and it reached the 70-degree mark in the second weekend of October, a rarity in these part. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, truly short-sleeve weather. Couldn't ask for a better day to take in a game.
That is, if you could get to the game to begin with, which was a giant pain in the ass thanks to one of the most poorly run and patently absurd public transportation systems in the country.
If you live in or around Philadelphia, you've surely come across the overly optimistic I SEPTA Philly campaign, with commercials and ads from supposed everyday SEPTA riders praising Philadelphia's public transportation system. As an everyday SEPTA rider myself, I cannot help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, seeing as SEPTA is one of the dirtiest and inanely operated systems I've encountered in my lifetime. For christ's sake, SEPTA doesn't even have a smart card system, and it's 2012. That alone is evidence enough.
Anyway, thanks to the brilliant planning of SEPTA, the Market-Frankford el was consolidated to one track yesterday afternoon, meaning both eastbound and westbound trains were running on the same track. Thus, the trains were delayed and running behind as the westbound train had to wait for the eastbound train to pass by and vice versa. This was done on a Sunday on which the Eagles were hosting the Lions. Thousands of Philadelphians take the el and the subway to the Linc on an Eagles home game Sunday. The game has been scheduled for months. And yet SEPTA decided it was a good time to delay everyone. I can't make this stuff up.
As a result, not only was I waiting at the Girard platform for longer than usual, but I then was stopped and was left waiting on a motionless train for more than 15 minutes at 5th Street.
So what typically is a 20- to 30-minute trip tops from my door to the stadium took a solid hour. Philly most assuredly does not love SEPTA, trust me on that one.
Thankfully, we had left plenty early to do a little tailgating. It was a gorgeous day, and good times were had pregame. That, however, is when the good times ended because honestly, despite the one touchdown drive in the first half, the highlight of the game was the pre-game festivities.
From there, the game devolved into an ugly battle between two incredibly stupid football teams. You all saw the game, so there's no point in breaking down the play by play. But there are a few things worthy of discussion.
For starters, can we talk about how poorly coached and undisciplined these two football teams are for a minute? I mean, look at Detroit. The Lions committed 16 penalties yesterday, accounting for 132 yards. Sixteen penalties. In one game. Sixteen penalties and a turnover. That's a recipe for disaster, right? At least a recipe for a loss … Only the Lions wound up winning, because the Eagles out-dumbed one of the dumbest teams in the league.
How? In typical fashion: turnovers, horrid game-planning and baffling adjustments.
Let's take these in order, shall we? First, the turnovers, namely Michael Vick. Once again, the Eagles turned the ball over without any regard, as Vick threw two absolutely atrocious interceptions and also was involved in the lost fumble thanks to miscommunication with center Dallas Reynolds. Oh, and he also fumbled earlier in the game, but managed to recover his own fumble.
The one the Eagles actually lost happened due to confusion between Vick and Reynolds. I can't say with 100 percent certainly who was at most fault, though looking at the replays you do see Vick lift his leg slightly, which is typically the indication to the center that the quarterback is ready for the snap. It wasn't an exaggerated lift, which is the norm, but he did lift it slightly. On Monday Night Football a week or two ago, this happened, and Steve Young explained that he thought it was the fault of the quarterback for lifting his leg at all. If Young's logic is correct, I'd have to say this was a little more on Vick than Reynolds. Either way, it resulted in a turnover, one of three.
The other two were totally on Vick no matter how you look at it. His interceptions were not dropped or tipped. They were not miscommunication with the receivers. They were just poorly thrown balls at inopportune times, mistakes you simply cannot make on a weekly basis and expect to win. Finally, it caught up to Philadelphia and cost them.
Listen, I know that Vick is being hampered by an atrocious offensive line and that the play-calling isn't doing him any favors. But at the end of the day, the quarterback is responsible for the offense and especially taking care of the football. Right now, there isn't a player in the NFL who can even remotely enter the conversation with Vick as being the most careless with the football. It's like he doesn't think turnovers are a big deal at all. Through six games, Vick has turned the ball over 13 times. That's more than two turnovers a game by the player who has the ball in his hands more than anyone else. Frankly, it's a miracle this team is even .500 with a statistic like that.
Bottom line: Michael Vick is careless with the football, and he compounds it by making mental errors on top of that. Take the back-to-back sacks he took in overtime to essentially hand the game to the Lions. On the second, Vick had plenty of time to get rid of the ball, plenty of room to roll out and throw it away. Instead, he tried to do more than is humanly possibly and took a devastating sack. Michael Vick just does not play intelligent football. Truthfully, he only has for a seven-game stretch two years ago. You tell me which Michael Vick is the real one.
Now let's get to the ridiculous offensive game plan by Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid.
Heading into yesterday's game, the Eagles' two biggest offensive problems were clear as day: a struggling offensive line and a quarterback who cannot stop getting hit and turning the ball over. The easiest way to cut down on the pressure of the offensive line and cut down on the number of hits and potential turnovers for your quarterback is to come out and run the football. This allows your offensive line to actually push forward and attack defenders, giving them a little more aggression and confidence, and also gives your QB a little bit of a break. When you have one of the premier running backs in the NFL, all the better. Come out and pound the football. Feed it to your best player and ride with him.
Of course, we all know how much Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg hate to do this. Even though LeSean McCoy does typically get his touches, rarely do the Eagles come out and establish the run early to make things easier for Vick and the patchwork offensive line. They tend to lean on Shady more in the second half, which is all well and good when things are going well. However, it makes no sense to continually ignore your best offensive player to start a game, particularly when your offense is struggling, yet the Eagles keep doing it.
On the opening drive, a three and out, McCoy didn't get a touch. He then proceeded to get a grand total of seven carries the entire first half, despite the Eagles struggling to do anything until McCoy capped off a nice nine-play, 79-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown reception. In all, McCoy had just 14 rushing attempts. That is not enough, even if the Eagles were struggling to run block.
Of course, the Eagles did manage to take the lead before halftime and take a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after three Alex Henery field goals and a 70-yard touchdown pass from Vick to Jeremy Maclin, with the Lions inexplicably deciding not to cover Maclin at all.
At that point, the Eagles looked poised to escape with another baffling victory despite those three turnovers, and a large contingent of fans seemed to think the same. At least, it seemed that way, because following Maclin's score, the Linc emptied. And I mean emptied. I've never seen an Eagles crowd dissipate so quickly with that much time left on the clock. And those who fled for their cars were actually lucky, since they didn't have to witness the Eagles completely unravel in those final five minutes.
That brings us to the bad adjustments portion of the game. For the majority of the game, the Eagles employed a scheme that saw Nnamdi Asomugha shadowing Calvin Johnson on nearly every play, and Nnamdi was having arguably his best game as a Philadelphia Eagle. Through three quarters, the game's best receiver had one catch for 28 yards. Nnamdi was all over him. Calvin really couldn't get open. Asomugha finally looked like the guy the Eagles thought they were signing. I was marveling at his play all game.
But then, with the Eagles trying to protect a 10-point lead late, Juan Castillo suddenly switched up his entire defensive scheme. While it's true that the underachieving defensive line could not get to Matthew Stafford to save their lives yet again yesterday, the defense wasn't playing poorly. Then, all of a sudden, Castillo decided to dial up the blitz … and even more baffling stop having Asomugha shadow Johnson on every play.
Several times in the fourth quarter, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie found himself matched up with Megatron, and seemingly every time that happened, Stafford went Johnson's way. The result? Five catches for 107 yards in the fourth quarter alone for Calvin to finish with 135 yards on the day, and almost all of those catches coming with DRC covering him, not Nnamdi.
Finally, Asomugha was utilized the way he was in Oakland for nearly an entire game and was actually living up to his reputation, and Juan takes him off his assignment at the most critical juncture of the game. It just made no sense, and it's a big reason why the defense fell apart in the fourth quarter. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. If I was Asomugha, I'd be upset too.
Give Detroit credit for overcoming their own mistakes and capitalizing on Philadelphia's. But also admonish this team and its coaches.
Every year, it gets less and less fun being an Eagles fan, and it's largely because they just make it so hard to like them. The offensive line is a complete joke right now. There literally isn't one lineman playing well at all. Demetress Bell stinks. Dallas Reynolds stinks. Danny Watkins looks like he just isn't strong enough to play in the NFL. Evan Mathis has struggled. And Todd Herremans is playing the worst football of his Eagles career. Howard Mudd has a lot of work cut out for him. The absence of Jason Peters and Jason Kelce has really hurt this unit to a point that looks beyond repair right now.
And it's not much better on the other side of the ball. This defensive line that ran roughshod over the league last season and looked like the biggest strength of the unit in first three weeks has been completely nonexistent the past three weeks. As in, the Eagles, with Trent Cole and Jason Babin and a slew of alleged pass rushers, hasn't gotten a sack since there third quarter of the week three loss to Arizona. Jim Washburn's unit has been underachieving for weeks, and it continued yesterday. You can count the number of times the line even got close to Stafford yesterday on one hand. It was a pathetic showing once again. Perhaps the wide nine has been figured out. Whatever the case, Washburn needs to correct things in a hurry.
The good news is that the Eagles are just a game behind the New York Giants in the division and have already defeated their rivals up north. Plus, the Birds have a bye week coming up, meaning that I don't have to watch this team I hate next week and also that they have extra time to figure things out moving forward. And as infuriating as Andy Reid is, he always has his team prepared following the bye week.
The bad news is I wasted hours upon hours of my life yesterday. First, it was the horrifying trip to the game. Then it was the four-hour overtime loss itself, with the game not even ending until 5 p.m. And then of course, there was the trip home, which was even more horrible than the ride there.
You see, SEPTA runs special game day express trains on the subway during sporting events in South Philly. Catching the express, I only have to take it to the second stop at City Hall before transferring over to the el. It's literally a two-minute ride. I mean, it's usually only a two-minute ride.
However, as the subway took off, it suddenly stopped at the Ellsworth-Federal station, not one of the express stops. And I don't mean stopped to let people on and off. I mean stopped, stopped. Then there was announcement that there would be a slight delay. According to SEPTA, a slight delay is 20 minutes. Express train my ass.
So there we sat. And sat. And sat. All of us miserable, and all of us just wanting to get the fuck home and try to forget about that ugly loss. Again, it took me another hour to get from the stadium to my house thanks to SEPTA being SEPTA.
So yeah, I SEPTA Philly too, and from the bottom of my heart I'd like to say fuck you, SEPTA. Fuck you for real.
I'm not sure what infuriates me more these days, the Eagles or the public transportation in my city. Dumb and dumber indeed.
It had the makings of a odd day to begin with, and an odd day it was indeed.
For starters, the temperature in Philadelphia was already in the 60s when I awoke, and it reached the 70-degree mark in the second weekend of October, a rarity in these part. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, truly short-sleeve weather. Couldn't ask for a better day to take in a game.
That is, if you could get to the game to begin with, which was a giant pain in the ass thanks to one of the most poorly run and patently absurd public transportation systems in the country.
If you live in or around Philadelphia, you've surely come across the overly optimistic I SEPTA Philly campaign, with commercials and ads from supposed everyday SEPTA riders praising Philadelphia's public transportation system. As an everyday SEPTA rider myself, I cannot help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, seeing as SEPTA is one of the dirtiest and inanely operated systems I've encountered in my lifetime. For christ's sake, SEPTA doesn't even have a smart card system, and it's 2012. That alone is evidence enough.
Anyway, thanks to the brilliant planning of SEPTA, the Market-Frankford el was consolidated to one track yesterday afternoon, meaning both eastbound and westbound trains were running on the same track. Thus, the trains were delayed and running behind as the westbound train had to wait for the eastbound train to pass by and vice versa. This was done on a Sunday on which the Eagles were hosting the Lions. Thousands of Philadelphians take the el and the subway to the Linc on an Eagles home game Sunday. The game has been scheduled for months. And yet SEPTA decided it was a good time to delay everyone. I can't make this stuff up.
As a result, not only was I waiting at the Girard platform for longer than usual, but I then was stopped and was left waiting on a motionless train for more than 15 minutes at 5th Street.
So what typically is a 20- to 30-minute trip tops from my door to the stadium took a solid hour. Philly most assuredly does not love SEPTA, trust me on that one.
Thankfully, we had left plenty early to do a little tailgating. It was a gorgeous day, and good times were had pregame. That, however, is when the good times ended because honestly, despite the one touchdown drive in the first half, the highlight of the game was the pre-game festivities.
From there, the game devolved into an ugly battle between two incredibly stupid football teams. You all saw the game, so there's no point in breaking down the play by play. But there are a few things worthy of discussion.
For starters, can we talk about how poorly coached and undisciplined these two football teams are for a minute? I mean, look at Detroit. The Lions committed 16 penalties yesterday, accounting for 132 yards. Sixteen penalties. In one game. Sixteen penalties and a turnover. That's a recipe for disaster, right? At least a recipe for a loss … Only the Lions wound up winning, because the Eagles out-dumbed one of the dumbest teams in the league.
How? In typical fashion: turnovers, horrid game-planning and baffling adjustments.
Let's take these in order, shall we? First, the turnovers, namely Michael Vick. Once again, the Eagles turned the ball over without any regard, as Vick threw two absolutely atrocious interceptions and also was involved in the lost fumble thanks to miscommunication with center Dallas Reynolds. Oh, and he also fumbled earlier in the game, but managed to recover his own fumble.
The one the Eagles actually lost happened due to confusion between Vick and Reynolds. I can't say with 100 percent certainly who was at most fault, though looking at the replays you do see Vick lift his leg slightly, which is typically the indication to the center that the quarterback is ready for the snap. It wasn't an exaggerated lift, which is the norm, but he did lift it slightly. On Monday Night Football a week or two ago, this happened, and Steve Young explained that he thought it was the fault of the quarterback for lifting his leg at all. If Young's logic is correct, I'd have to say this was a little more on Vick than Reynolds. Either way, it resulted in a turnover, one of three.
The other two were totally on Vick no matter how you look at it. His interceptions were not dropped or tipped. They were not miscommunication with the receivers. They were just poorly thrown balls at inopportune times, mistakes you simply cannot make on a weekly basis and expect to win. Finally, it caught up to Philadelphia and cost them.
Listen, I know that Vick is being hampered by an atrocious offensive line and that the play-calling isn't doing him any favors. But at the end of the day, the quarterback is responsible for the offense and especially taking care of the football. Right now, there isn't a player in the NFL who can even remotely enter the conversation with Vick as being the most careless with the football. It's like he doesn't think turnovers are a big deal at all. Through six games, Vick has turned the ball over 13 times. That's more than two turnovers a game by the player who has the ball in his hands more than anyone else. Frankly, it's a miracle this team is even .500 with a statistic like that.
Bottom line: Michael Vick is careless with the football, and he compounds it by making mental errors on top of that. Take the back-to-back sacks he took in overtime to essentially hand the game to the Lions. On the second, Vick had plenty of time to get rid of the ball, plenty of room to roll out and throw it away. Instead, he tried to do more than is humanly possibly and took a devastating sack. Michael Vick just does not play intelligent football. Truthfully, he only has for a seven-game stretch two years ago. You tell me which Michael Vick is the real one.
Now let's get to the ridiculous offensive game plan by Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid.
Heading into yesterday's game, the Eagles' two biggest offensive problems were clear as day: a struggling offensive line and a quarterback who cannot stop getting hit and turning the ball over. The easiest way to cut down on the pressure of the offensive line and cut down on the number of hits and potential turnovers for your quarterback is to come out and run the football. This allows your offensive line to actually push forward and attack defenders, giving them a little more aggression and confidence, and also gives your QB a little bit of a break. When you have one of the premier running backs in the NFL, all the better. Come out and pound the football. Feed it to your best player and ride with him.
Of course, we all know how much Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg hate to do this. Even though LeSean McCoy does typically get his touches, rarely do the Eagles come out and establish the run early to make things easier for Vick and the patchwork offensive line. They tend to lean on Shady more in the second half, which is all well and good when things are going well. However, it makes no sense to continually ignore your best offensive player to start a game, particularly when your offense is struggling, yet the Eagles keep doing it.
On the opening drive, a three and out, McCoy didn't get a touch. He then proceeded to get a grand total of seven carries the entire first half, despite the Eagles struggling to do anything until McCoy capped off a nice nine-play, 79-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown reception. In all, McCoy had just 14 rushing attempts. That is not enough, even if the Eagles were struggling to run block.
Of course, the Eagles did manage to take the lead before halftime and take a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after three Alex Henery field goals and a 70-yard touchdown pass from Vick to Jeremy Maclin, with the Lions inexplicably deciding not to cover Maclin at all.
At that point, the Eagles looked poised to escape with another baffling victory despite those three turnovers, and a large contingent of fans seemed to think the same. At least, it seemed that way, because following Maclin's score, the Linc emptied. And I mean emptied. I've never seen an Eagles crowd dissipate so quickly with that much time left on the clock. And those who fled for their cars were actually lucky, since they didn't have to witness the Eagles completely unravel in those final five minutes.
That brings us to the bad adjustments portion of the game. For the majority of the game, the Eagles employed a scheme that saw Nnamdi Asomugha shadowing Calvin Johnson on nearly every play, and Nnamdi was having arguably his best game as a Philadelphia Eagle. Through three quarters, the game's best receiver had one catch for 28 yards. Nnamdi was all over him. Calvin really couldn't get open. Asomugha finally looked like the guy the Eagles thought they were signing. I was marveling at his play all game.
But then, with the Eagles trying to protect a 10-point lead late, Juan Castillo suddenly switched up his entire defensive scheme. While it's true that the underachieving defensive line could not get to Matthew Stafford to save their lives yet again yesterday, the defense wasn't playing poorly. Then, all of a sudden, Castillo decided to dial up the blitz … and even more baffling stop having Asomugha shadow Johnson on every play.
Several times in the fourth quarter, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie found himself matched up with Megatron, and seemingly every time that happened, Stafford went Johnson's way. The result? Five catches for 107 yards in the fourth quarter alone for Calvin to finish with 135 yards on the day, and almost all of those catches coming with DRC covering him, not Nnamdi.
Finally, Asomugha was utilized the way he was in Oakland for nearly an entire game and was actually living up to his reputation, and Juan takes him off his assignment at the most critical juncture of the game. It just made no sense, and it's a big reason why the defense fell apart in the fourth quarter. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. If I was Asomugha, I'd be upset too.
Give Detroit credit for overcoming their own mistakes and capitalizing on Philadelphia's. But also admonish this team and its coaches.
Every year, it gets less and less fun being an Eagles fan, and it's largely because they just make it so hard to like them. The offensive line is a complete joke right now. There literally isn't one lineman playing well at all. Demetress Bell stinks. Dallas Reynolds stinks. Danny Watkins looks like he just isn't strong enough to play in the NFL. Evan Mathis has struggled. And Todd Herremans is playing the worst football of his Eagles career. Howard Mudd has a lot of work cut out for him. The absence of Jason Peters and Jason Kelce has really hurt this unit to a point that looks beyond repair right now.
And it's not much better on the other side of the ball. This defensive line that ran roughshod over the league last season and looked like the biggest strength of the unit in first three weeks has been completely nonexistent the past three weeks. As in, the Eagles, with Trent Cole and Jason Babin and a slew of alleged pass rushers, hasn't gotten a sack since there third quarter of the week three loss to Arizona. Jim Washburn's unit has been underachieving for weeks, and it continued yesterday. You can count the number of times the line even got close to Stafford yesterday on one hand. It was a pathetic showing once again. Perhaps the wide nine has been figured out. Whatever the case, Washburn needs to correct things in a hurry.
The good news is that the Eagles are just a game behind the New York Giants in the division and have already defeated their rivals up north. Plus, the Birds have a bye week coming up, meaning that I don't have to watch this team I hate next week and also that they have extra time to figure things out moving forward. And as infuriating as Andy Reid is, he always has his team prepared following the bye week.
The bad news is I wasted hours upon hours of my life yesterday. First, it was the horrifying trip to the game. Then it was the four-hour overtime loss itself, with the game not even ending until 5 p.m. And then of course, there was the trip home, which was even more horrible than the ride there.
You see, SEPTA runs special game day express trains on the subway during sporting events in South Philly. Catching the express, I only have to take it to the second stop at City Hall before transferring over to the el. It's literally a two-minute ride. I mean, it's usually only a two-minute ride.
However, as the subway took off, it suddenly stopped at the Ellsworth-Federal station, not one of the express stops. And I don't mean stopped to let people on and off. I mean stopped, stopped. Then there was announcement that there would be a slight delay. According to SEPTA, a slight delay is 20 minutes. Express train my ass.
So there we sat. And sat. And sat. All of us miserable, and all of us just wanting to get the fuck home and try to forget about that ugly loss. Again, it took me another hour to get from the stadium to my house thanks to SEPTA being SEPTA.
So yeah, I SEPTA Philly too, and from the bottom of my heart I'd like to say fuck you, SEPTA. Fuck you for real.
I'm not sure what infuriates me more these days, the Eagles or the public transportation in my city. Dumb and dumber indeed.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Rides, Rain, Rainbows, Ridiculousness and Andy Reid
This past weekend, I traveled some 500-plus miles from the moment I left my house Friday to the moment I returned to my Philadelphia residence, heading to my first Penn State game with Bill O'Brien as coach, enjoying a birthday celebration and doing a little dog-sitting for my parents in the process.
My venture began by heading back to my parents' house to spend the night as the Phillies were taking the series opener with the Atlanta Braves behind yet another sterling effort from Kyle Kendrick, who has somehow miraculously transformed into a really good pitcher.
My old Penn State season-ticket partner Arkansas Fred lives close to my parents, so I figured I'd head up north and rest my head in my old bedroom before meeting up with AF to head out to the game. When I got to his house at 8 a.m. sharp, I was greeted at the door by a new addition to the AF household: a tiny bulldog-puggle puppy. Naturally, I spent the next half hour playing with the dog, which is about a tenth of the size if it's lucky of my nearly 80-pound black lab, as AF got ready for the road trip.
It was going to be a quick turnaround, just a day trip out to our alma mater to take in the game with another one of our college roommates and his fiancé, but a trip I was looking forward to nonetheless. Being the nice guy that I (sometimes) am, I procured tickets to the game at the request of my buddy, whose future bride had never been to a Penn State game.
So at around 8:30, AF and I began our journey, and shortly after we hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike, we encountered this:
Just a wall of fog encompassing the landscape as far as the eye could see. I sure am glad AF was driving instead of me, because it certainly wasn't the best visibility out there. However, we made it to State College in relatively good time, thanks to the scheduled 3:30 p.m. kickoff helping spread the traffic out. And shortly after we reached I-80, the fog began to dissipate and the sun started to shine through. Perhaps it wouldn't be the dreary, rainy day projected by the weathermen.
When we arrived in the place we called home for four — well four and half for AF — glorious years, we did the usual taking in of the scenery, found a place to park and searched out The Charles and his wife-to-be. We then proceeded to walk through downtown and our old campus, hitting up Canyon Pizza for some slices, strolling through the Old Main walkway, past the library and back to the car for a little light tailgating.
As the clock struck 2:30, we made our way toward the stadium, stopping by my buddy's dad's tailgate and quickly saying hello before entering the stadium. Now, I have been going to Penn State for literally more than 20 years to watch games, more times than not securing tickets from my uncle. The past few seasons, he's had 10 tickets to every game, with six seats near the 10-yard line and four seats around the 40-, 45-yard line. Minus the four years I was a student and the two years I had season tickets with AF, I've pretty much always sat in one of those two locations. But my uncle recently upgraded his pair of six, to right on the 50-yard line. Thus, we had basically perfect seats at midfield … seats that just so happen to be right next to my friend's dad's section — the same guy who we stopped to say hello to at his tailgate.
It was quite the pleasant surprise, both because of the view and because I got to see my buddy's father in action. Let's just say he gets incredibly into the game.
I can't say the same for the rest of the crowd Saturday afternoon. I don't know if it was the dreary weather — it rained lightly on and off all game — the opponent or the slow start and difficult circumstances surrounding the season, but there were a whole hell of a lot of empty seats at this Temple game. It was certainly the most lightly attended game I've been at in Beaver Stadium in a long while.
As for the game itself, it was frustrating for a while until Penn State finally came through with a touchdown late in the first quarter. All quarter long, we watched as Temple played Allen Robinson, the third leading receiver in the nation coming in, in one-on-one man coverage. Naturally, you would think Matt McGloin would be tossing him the ball every chance he could against man coverage, yet that wasn't the case the first few drives. Robinson was targeted so little that AF began to get incredibly irritated, asking why they weren't throwing Robinson the ball and demanding they do so.
Finally, on a 4th and 5 from the Temple 41-yard line in a scoreless game, Bill O'Brien decided to go for it and called Robinson's number. I didn't think the Nittany Lions should have gone for it, and if I was the coach I certainly would have punted given the way the defense was playing, but O'Brien's gamble paid off. McGloin hit Robinson on a quick slant, and the breakout wide receiver took it to the house for the opening score.
The rest of the game was fairly uneventful. A slew of penalties slowed down the game. The rains made for a light nuisance, and the competition was not up for the challenge. Penn State controlled the lines on both sides of the ball, with the Penn State offensive line creating huge holes that allowed Michael Zordich and Zach Swinak to both average five yards a carry, and the defensive line led by Jordan Hill put constant pressure on Chris Coyer, even if they did give up a few big runs. It was just another example of Penn State simply being better across the board than the Owls.
Matt McGloin had another impressive day, throwing for a career-high 318 yards, tossing the aforementioned touchdown pass to Robinson and adding two rushing touchdowns of his own in the 24-13 victory. Despite not looking to Robinson enough, he was effective all game, really relying on his tight ends, particularly impressive freshman Kyle Carter. Even the interception was not McGloin's fault, as it went right off the hands of Brandon Moseby-Felder.
The redhead isn't going to win any awards or play football beyond this year, but he has been much more impressive through four games in 2012 than he was in 2011, and this is coming from someone who is not exactly a Matt McGloin fan.
However, while I had no problems with McGloin on Saturday, I had a big problem with whoever the hell is in charge of the music at Penn State. Truthfully, this has been an issue since forever, something that irritates me to no end. Many times on Saturday, Penn State went to the no huddle with Temple on its heels. That means McGloin was making the calls at the line and trying to communicate with his teammates. In your home stadium, that means you want the place to be quiet until the ball is snapped. Yet time and time again, as has been the case for years at Penn State, there is pumped in music and crowd noise between plays, even with the Nittany Lions on offense and even with the home team trying to run the no huddle. It's so god damn counterproductive and flat-out stupid that I can't even handle it. I want the person in charge of that fired. I know wishing someone to lose his or her job is not a nice thing, but this has been going on for years. Whoever is the person who makes that decision is an incompetent fool who knows nothing about football.
But hey, at least Penn State won and there was a cool rainbow that appeared.
Oh, and the 1982 national championship team was honored at halftime, which is always nice.
Once the game was over, we said our goodbyes and then decided to head back east, seeing as both AF and I are old and tire easily, and because he had to get back to the family and help take care of this brand-new puppy.
The ride back was fairly torturous, as we both struggled to keep our eyes open. If it wasn't for a desperately needed McDonald's stop to nab a few double cheeseburgers — a tradition we started while college students — we may not have made it at all. The weariness was taking over, and as you know, the drive back is always worse than the drive there. All the anticipation and excitement are gone, and all you want to do is be out of the car and in your bed.
However, bed was not my next destination. On our way home, two of my friends said I should come out to a bar that was more than a half hour away from AF's house. For some reason, I decided, what the hell, and took them up on the offer.
Despite being ridiculously tired, it turned out to be one of the better recent decisions in my life. Not only did I meet up with my friends to celebrate the birthday of my one friend's girlfriend, but I wound up getting plenty drunk, meeting a very nice, interesting young woman, finding a nice place to rest my head and getting a ride back to my car the next morning. That's what you call a pretty full Saturday.
So full, in fact, that I barely had anything left in the tank for Sunday. When I reached my parents' house, I collapsed, slept until just before the 1 o'clock kickoffs and spent most of the day taking care of the dog and going in and out of consciousness until it was time for the Eagles-Cardinals game.
It would have been just as prudent to stay in my slumber, it turns out, given how awful the Eagles looked yesterday.
There's not much I can add to the game beyond everything I've been reading. It was a brutal game, with the Eagles simply getting beat by a very good Arizona Cardinals team that has an absolutely dominant defense through three weeks.
I will say that it makes absolutely no sense for Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg to come out and throw the ball 25 times and run it just 5 times to open the game despite: 1. having two ineffective backups starting for an injured offensive line; 2. playing against a ferocious defense with a dominant line; 3. having one of the best running backs in the NFL; and 4. having a quarterback who has struggled against pressure and cannot stop turning the ball over. It was a flawed game plan from the start, and shockingly, it exposed the team's flaws.
Daryl Washington and Kerry Rhodes were absolute beasts for Arizona defensively, with Washington flying all over the field and Rhodes destroying people and coming up with arguably the biggest play of the game. No, not the sack, fumble returned for a touchdown to close out the half, which obviously was huge, but the play before that sequence of plays at the 1 — the tackle by Rhodes to stop DeSean Jackson at the 1 and prevent a touchdown. It was huge, and wound up setting up that fumble return that sealed the game.
On the other side of the ball, Larry Fitzgerald did what Larry Fitzgerald does, giving the Eagles fits. That guy is good.
Of course, the game was defined by terrible clock management, wasted timeouts and turnovers … par of the course with the Eagles. It's maddening and inexplicable, yet it continues year after year after year. Reid and Marty are infuriating to watch call a game, and MIchael Vick is infuriating to watch play quarterback. Yes, Vick was poorly protected and running his for life per usual and got no help from his coaches, but he was also staring down receivers, holding on to the ball too long and taking unnecessary hits due his lack of awareness for the position. The man is an electrifying talent and still better than a large portion of quarterbacks in the NFL, but he just is not a very smart signal caller. When you compound that with poor play-calling, poor protection, neglecting the running the game and turnovers galore, you have a debacle like yesterday.
The Eagles are 2-1, which is a good thing, and the Cardinals are a lot better than anyone anticipated heading into the season. But the Eagles also have an offensive line relying on unreliable players and are averaging four turnovers a game through three games, with teams like the Giants, Steelers, Lions and Falcons on the way.
Yesterday's loss provided reason to worry, particularly if the line cannot improve against the pass rush of those teams coming up.
It was not a good Sunday for the Eagles … and the Phillies lost their second in row to the Braves, all but wiping away their postseason hopes, now a full five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for that second wild card spot.
But hey, at least Penn State won, the scenery was great and I had fun while I could. Because god knows watching that game yesterday was anything was but.
My venture began by heading back to my parents' house to spend the night as the Phillies were taking the series opener with the Atlanta Braves behind yet another sterling effort from Kyle Kendrick, who has somehow miraculously transformed into a really good pitcher.
My old Penn State season-ticket partner Arkansas Fred lives close to my parents, so I figured I'd head up north and rest my head in my old bedroom before meeting up with AF to head out to the game. When I got to his house at 8 a.m. sharp, I was greeted at the door by a new addition to the AF household: a tiny bulldog-puggle puppy. Naturally, I spent the next half hour playing with the dog, which is about a tenth of the size if it's lucky of my nearly 80-pound black lab, as AF got ready for the road trip.
It was going to be a quick turnaround, just a day trip out to our alma mater to take in the game with another one of our college roommates and his fiancé, but a trip I was looking forward to nonetheless. Being the nice guy that I (sometimes) am, I procured tickets to the game at the request of my buddy, whose future bride had never been to a Penn State game.
So at around 8:30, AF and I began our journey, and shortly after we hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike, we encountered this:
Just a wall of fog encompassing the landscape as far as the eye could see. I sure am glad AF was driving instead of me, because it certainly wasn't the best visibility out there. However, we made it to State College in relatively good time, thanks to the scheduled 3:30 p.m. kickoff helping spread the traffic out. And shortly after we reached I-80, the fog began to dissipate and the sun started to shine through. Perhaps it wouldn't be the dreary, rainy day projected by the weathermen.
When we arrived in the place we called home for four — well four and half for AF — glorious years, we did the usual taking in of the scenery, found a place to park and searched out The Charles and his wife-to-be. We then proceeded to walk through downtown and our old campus, hitting up Canyon Pizza for some slices, strolling through the Old Main walkway, past the library and back to the car for a little light tailgating.
As the clock struck 2:30, we made our way toward the stadium, stopping by my buddy's dad's tailgate and quickly saying hello before entering the stadium. Now, I have been going to Penn State for literally more than 20 years to watch games, more times than not securing tickets from my uncle. The past few seasons, he's had 10 tickets to every game, with six seats near the 10-yard line and four seats around the 40-, 45-yard line. Minus the four years I was a student and the two years I had season tickets with AF, I've pretty much always sat in one of those two locations. But my uncle recently upgraded his pair of six, to right on the 50-yard line. Thus, we had basically perfect seats at midfield … seats that just so happen to be right next to my friend's dad's section — the same guy who we stopped to say hello to at his tailgate.
It was quite the pleasant surprise, both because of the view and because I got to see my buddy's father in action. Let's just say he gets incredibly into the game.
I can't say the same for the rest of the crowd Saturday afternoon. I don't know if it was the dreary weather — it rained lightly on and off all game — the opponent or the slow start and difficult circumstances surrounding the season, but there were a whole hell of a lot of empty seats at this Temple game. It was certainly the most lightly attended game I've been at in Beaver Stadium in a long while.
As for the game itself, it was frustrating for a while until Penn State finally came through with a touchdown late in the first quarter. All quarter long, we watched as Temple played Allen Robinson, the third leading receiver in the nation coming in, in one-on-one man coverage. Naturally, you would think Matt McGloin would be tossing him the ball every chance he could against man coverage, yet that wasn't the case the first few drives. Robinson was targeted so little that AF began to get incredibly irritated, asking why they weren't throwing Robinson the ball and demanding they do so.
Finally, on a 4th and 5 from the Temple 41-yard line in a scoreless game, Bill O'Brien decided to go for it and called Robinson's number. I didn't think the Nittany Lions should have gone for it, and if I was the coach I certainly would have punted given the way the defense was playing, but O'Brien's gamble paid off. McGloin hit Robinson on a quick slant, and the breakout wide receiver took it to the house for the opening score.
The rest of the game was fairly uneventful. A slew of penalties slowed down the game. The rains made for a light nuisance, and the competition was not up for the challenge. Penn State controlled the lines on both sides of the ball, with the Penn State offensive line creating huge holes that allowed Michael Zordich and Zach Swinak to both average five yards a carry, and the defensive line led by Jordan Hill put constant pressure on Chris Coyer, even if they did give up a few big runs. It was just another example of Penn State simply being better across the board than the Owls.
Matt McGloin had another impressive day, throwing for a career-high 318 yards, tossing the aforementioned touchdown pass to Robinson and adding two rushing touchdowns of his own in the 24-13 victory. Despite not looking to Robinson enough, he was effective all game, really relying on his tight ends, particularly impressive freshman Kyle Carter. Even the interception was not McGloin's fault, as it went right off the hands of Brandon Moseby-Felder.
The redhead isn't going to win any awards or play football beyond this year, but he has been much more impressive through four games in 2012 than he was in 2011, and this is coming from someone who is not exactly a Matt McGloin fan.
However, while I had no problems with McGloin on Saturday, I had a big problem with whoever the hell is in charge of the music at Penn State. Truthfully, this has been an issue since forever, something that irritates me to no end. Many times on Saturday, Penn State went to the no huddle with Temple on its heels. That means McGloin was making the calls at the line and trying to communicate with his teammates. In your home stadium, that means you want the place to be quiet until the ball is snapped. Yet time and time again, as has been the case for years at Penn State, there is pumped in music and crowd noise between plays, even with the Nittany Lions on offense and even with the home team trying to run the no huddle. It's so god damn counterproductive and flat-out stupid that I can't even handle it. I want the person in charge of that fired. I know wishing someone to lose his or her job is not a nice thing, but this has been going on for years. Whoever is the person who makes that decision is an incompetent fool who knows nothing about football.
But hey, at least Penn State won and there was a cool rainbow that appeared.
Oh, and the 1982 national championship team was honored at halftime, which is always nice.
Once the game was over, we said our goodbyes and then decided to head back east, seeing as both AF and I are old and tire easily, and because he had to get back to the family and help take care of this brand-new puppy.
The ride back was fairly torturous, as we both struggled to keep our eyes open. If it wasn't for a desperately needed McDonald's stop to nab a few double cheeseburgers — a tradition we started while college students — we may not have made it at all. The weariness was taking over, and as you know, the drive back is always worse than the drive there. All the anticipation and excitement are gone, and all you want to do is be out of the car and in your bed.
However, bed was not my next destination. On our way home, two of my friends said I should come out to a bar that was more than a half hour away from AF's house. For some reason, I decided, what the hell, and took them up on the offer.
Despite being ridiculously tired, it turned out to be one of the better recent decisions in my life. Not only did I meet up with my friends to celebrate the birthday of my one friend's girlfriend, but I wound up getting plenty drunk, meeting a very nice, interesting young woman, finding a nice place to rest my head and getting a ride back to my car the next morning. That's what you call a pretty full Saturday.
So full, in fact, that I barely had anything left in the tank for Sunday. When I reached my parents' house, I collapsed, slept until just before the 1 o'clock kickoffs and spent most of the day taking care of the dog and going in and out of consciousness until it was time for the Eagles-Cardinals game.
It would have been just as prudent to stay in my slumber, it turns out, given how awful the Eagles looked yesterday.
There's not much I can add to the game beyond everything I've been reading. It was a brutal game, with the Eagles simply getting beat by a very good Arizona Cardinals team that has an absolutely dominant defense through three weeks.
I will say that it makes absolutely no sense for Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg to come out and throw the ball 25 times and run it just 5 times to open the game despite: 1. having two ineffective backups starting for an injured offensive line; 2. playing against a ferocious defense with a dominant line; 3. having one of the best running backs in the NFL; and 4. having a quarterback who has struggled against pressure and cannot stop turning the ball over. It was a flawed game plan from the start, and shockingly, it exposed the team's flaws.
Daryl Washington and Kerry Rhodes were absolute beasts for Arizona defensively, with Washington flying all over the field and Rhodes destroying people and coming up with arguably the biggest play of the game. No, not the sack, fumble returned for a touchdown to close out the half, which obviously was huge, but the play before that sequence of plays at the 1 — the tackle by Rhodes to stop DeSean Jackson at the 1 and prevent a touchdown. It was huge, and wound up setting up that fumble return that sealed the game.
On the other side of the ball, Larry Fitzgerald did what Larry Fitzgerald does, giving the Eagles fits. That guy is good.
Of course, the game was defined by terrible clock management, wasted timeouts and turnovers … par of the course with the Eagles. It's maddening and inexplicable, yet it continues year after year after year. Reid and Marty are infuriating to watch call a game, and MIchael Vick is infuriating to watch play quarterback. Yes, Vick was poorly protected and running his for life per usual and got no help from his coaches, but he was also staring down receivers, holding on to the ball too long and taking unnecessary hits due his lack of awareness for the position. The man is an electrifying talent and still better than a large portion of quarterbacks in the NFL, but he just is not a very smart signal caller. When you compound that with poor play-calling, poor protection, neglecting the running the game and turnovers galore, you have a debacle like yesterday.
The Eagles are 2-1, which is a good thing, and the Cardinals are a lot better than anyone anticipated heading into the season. But the Eagles also have an offensive line relying on unreliable players and are averaging four turnovers a game through three games, with teams like the Giants, Steelers, Lions and Falcons on the way.
Yesterday's loss provided reason to worry, particularly if the line cannot improve against the pass rush of those teams coming up.
It was not a good Sunday for the Eagles … and the Phillies lost their second in row to the Braves, all but wiping away their postseason hopes, now a full five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for that second wild card spot.
But hey, at least Penn State won, the scenery was great and I had fun while I could. Because god knows watching that game yesterday was anything was but.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Eagles, Phillies Defy Logic
One short week ago, as I embarked on a weekend of debauchery in Las Vegas, the Philadelphia Phillies suddenly resurrected from the dead and got back in the National League Wild Card race while the Philadelphia Eagles looked beyond putrid offensively in a too-close-for-comfort opening-season victory against the hapless Cleveland Browns.
Heading into this past weekend, it looked as though the Phillies were primed to make an even bigger push taking on the dreadful Houston Astros for a four-game set, while the Eagles were going to have to protect the football and play exponentially smarter to defeat a Baltimore Ravens team that looked like a legit Super Bowl contender in week 1.
So naturally, the Phillies go out and lose three of four to literally the worst team in all of baseball thanks once again to bullpen troubles and underachieving, all but sealing their fate on this tumultuous 2012 season, while the Eagles somehow managed to improve to 2-0 despite turning the ball over four more times against Baltimore yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field.
That's right, the Phillies lost three of four to the Astros, while the Eagles are 2-0 on the season despite turning the ball over nine times in two games. Tell me those things don't defy logic.
There's really not much to say about the Phils other than they missed a golden opportunity to get even closer. They headed down to Houston three games behind St. Louis for the final Wild Card spot and had a chance to gain ground. Instead, they now sit four games back with just two weeks left in the season. You lose three of four to the worst team in baseball and you don't deserve to get in.
As for the Eagles, I just don't get it. I really don't. This team repeatedly does stupid things, whether it be horrid turnovers or killer penalties, and yet they are 2-0, defeating what many people consider one of the better teams in football yesterday. Mike Vick once again threw some truly horrid passes, including an inexcusable interception in the red zone on a 2nd and 9, where he threw across his body for no reason at all.
Don't get me wrong, Vick is electrifying and certainly in the upper half of quarterbacks in the league, but he's also a complete idiot. He threw another interception to up his total to six already this season, and he wasn't the only one making horrible plays out there.
LeSean McCoy, who did have a touchdown and was a workhorse with 25 carries, dropped a crucial pass on a 3rd and 1 and also coughed up the football for the second time already in two games, one more fumble than he had all of last year. Rookie Bryce Brown also fumbled on a 3rd down play, looking very much like the previous Brown who wore 34 for the Eagles.
Then there were the seven penalties for 58 yards, showing more lack of discipline and smarts. Yet, the Eagles made plays when it really mattered, Vick drove the team 80 yards for the game-winning score, had 371 yards passing and the defense looked stout yet again. And here we have it, with the Eagles sitting at 2-0 and leading the division despite those nine ugly turnovers.
To me, there were three players that really stood out yesterday for the Eagles. The first was Brent Celek, who had a game-high 157 yards on 8 catches and was nothing short of beastly. Celek nabbed everything thrown his direction, refused to go down easily and even bounced back up with authority after getting popped by Bernard Pollard, the guy who intercepted Vick on a would-be scoring drive. He also did this:
Then there was DeSean Jackson, who caught 7 balls for 114 yards and was clearly engaged all game. He was out there yapping and hopping around, having the type of cocky fun he does when he's at this best.
On the other side of the ball, it was DeMeco Ryans stealing the show yet again. Man, what a good trade this has been. Particularly in the second half, Ryans was all over the field, making plays and getting his nose in there to make Ray Rice earn everything he got. The guy is a stud.
I also have to give credit to both lines for the Eagles. The offensive line, a week after watching Vick get his brains beat in, did a pretty solid job overall, even with Jason Kelce and King Dunlap going down. Yes, Vick took a beating again, but the line really did protect him well and open up some holes for Shady. Not bad against a defense like the Ravens.
And the defensive line was stellar yet again, with Trent Cole and company doing a nice job hitting Flacco and somewhat containing Rice.
However, I have to admit that if I'm a Ravens fan, I'm furious at Cam Cameron today. For one thing, Baltimore scored a touchdown on its second drive of the game rather effortlessly, running the no-huddle and easily picking apart the Eagles defense. It was the type of drive that looked so easy that it made you think Philadelphia, a team that likes to rotate a lot of players in and out defensively, would have trouble containing the no-huddle all game. Yet, Cameron and the Ravens rarely ran the no-huddle the rest of the day. It was pretty baffling, to tell you the truth. They scored rather easily running it, then abandoned it.
Just like they abandoned the running game somewhat. Whereas LeSean McCoy carried the ball 25 times for Philadelphia, Ray Rice only had 16 carries despite average 6.2 yards a pop. Not exactly a wise philosophy by Cameron and company. But hey, I'll take it.
Two more notes on the Ravens:
1. That kid Justin Tucker can kill the ball. Jesus. The rookie kicker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards, and all of them looked like they would have been good from 70 yards easily.
2. The Ravens entrusted Sean Considine with executing a fake punt. Naturally, the former Eagle flop tripped over his own teammate and came up short. Had he just kept his footing, it would have been an easy first down for Baltimore. Now, the Ravens surely must realize what we here in Philadelphia have known for a long time: Never trust Sean Considine with anything.
So yeah, the Phillies lose 3 of 4 agains the Astros, while the Eagles sit at 2-0 with nine turnovers on the year. The only thing logical about this past weekend was Penn State finally putting something together and destroying Navy, because Navy is terrible. Oh, and Gerald Hodges and Mike Mauti are all sorts of good, no matter who Penn State is playing.
Heading into this past weekend, it looked as though the Phillies were primed to make an even bigger push taking on the dreadful Houston Astros for a four-game set, while the Eagles were going to have to protect the football and play exponentially smarter to defeat a Baltimore Ravens team that looked like a legit Super Bowl contender in week 1.
So naturally, the Phillies go out and lose three of four to literally the worst team in all of baseball thanks once again to bullpen troubles and underachieving, all but sealing their fate on this tumultuous 2012 season, while the Eagles somehow managed to improve to 2-0 despite turning the ball over four more times against Baltimore yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field.
That's right, the Phillies lost three of four to the Astros, while the Eagles are 2-0 on the season despite turning the ball over nine times in two games. Tell me those things don't defy logic.
There's really not much to say about the Phils other than they missed a golden opportunity to get even closer. They headed down to Houston three games behind St. Louis for the final Wild Card spot and had a chance to gain ground. Instead, they now sit four games back with just two weeks left in the season. You lose three of four to the worst team in baseball and you don't deserve to get in.
As for the Eagles, I just don't get it. I really don't. This team repeatedly does stupid things, whether it be horrid turnovers or killer penalties, and yet they are 2-0, defeating what many people consider one of the better teams in football yesterday. Mike Vick once again threw some truly horrid passes, including an inexcusable interception in the red zone on a 2nd and 9, where he threw across his body for no reason at all.
Don't get me wrong, Vick is electrifying and certainly in the upper half of quarterbacks in the league, but he's also a complete idiot. He threw another interception to up his total to six already this season, and he wasn't the only one making horrible plays out there.
LeSean McCoy, who did have a touchdown and was a workhorse with 25 carries, dropped a crucial pass on a 3rd and 1 and also coughed up the football for the second time already in two games, one more fumble than he had all of last year. Rookie Bryce Brown also fumbled on a 3rd down play, looking very much like the previous Brown who wore 34 for the Eagles.
Then there were the seven penalties for 58 yards, showing more lack of discipline and smarts. Yet, the Eagles made plays when it really mattered, Vick drove the team 80 yards for the game-winning score, had 371 yards passing and the defense looked stout yet again. And here we have it, with the Eagles sitting at 2-0 and leading the division despite those nine ugly turnovers.
To me, there were three players that really stood out yesterday for the Eagles. The first was Brent Celek, who had a game-high 157 yards on 8 catches and was nothing short of beastly. Celek nabbed everything thrown his direction, refused to go down easily and even bounced back up with authority after getting popped by Bernard Pollard, the guy who intercepted Vick on a would-be scoring drive. He also did this:
Then there was DeSean Jackson, who caught 7 balls for 114 yards and was clearly engaged all game. He was out there yapping and hopping around, having the type of cocky fun he does when he's at this best.
On the other side of the ball, it was DeMeco Ryans stealing the show yet again. Man, what a good trade this has been. Particularly in the second half, Ryans was all over the field, making plays and getting his nose in there to make Ray Rice earn everything he got. The guy is a stud.
I also have to give credit to both lines for the Eagles. The offensive line, a week after watching Vick get his brains beat in, did a pretty solid job overall, even with Jason Kelce and King Dunlap going down. Yes, Vick took a beating again, but the line really did protect him well and open up some holes for Shady. Not bad against a defense like the Ravens.
And the defensive line was stellar yet again, with Trent Cole and company doing a nice job hitting Flacco and somewhat containing Rice.
However, I have to admit that if I'm a Ravens fan, I'm furious at Cam Cameron today. For one thing, Baltimore scored a touchdown on its second drive of the game rather effortlessly, running the no-huddle and easily picking apart the Eagles defense. It was the type of drive that looked so easy that it made you think Philadelphia, a team that likes to rotate a lot of players in and out defensively, would have trouble containing the no-huddle all game. Yet, Cameron and the Ravens rarely ran the no-huddle the rest of the day. It was pretty baffling, to tell you the truth. They scored rather easily running it, then abandoned it.
Just like they abandoned the running game somewhat. Whereas LeSean McCoy carried the ball 25 times for Philadelphia, Ray Rice only had 16 carries despite average 6.2 yards a pop. Not exactly a wise philosophy by Cameron and company. But hey, I'll take it.
Two more notes on the Ravens:
1. That kid Justin Tucker can kill the ball. Jesus. The rookie kicker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards, and all of them looked like they would have been good from 70 yards easily.
2. The Ravens entrusted Sean Considine with executing a fake punt. Naturally, the former Eagle flop tripped over his own teammate and came up short. Had he just kept his footing, it would have been an easy first down for Baltimore. Now, the Ravens surely must realize what we here in Philadelphia have known for a long time: Never trust Sean Considine with anything.
So yeah, the Phillies lose 3 of 4 agains the Astros, while the Eagles sit at 2-0 with nine turnovers on the year. The only thing logical about this past weekend was Penn State finally putting something together and destroying Navy, because Navy is terrible. Oh, and Gerald Hodges and Mike Mauti are all sorts of good, no matter who Penn State is playing.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Since Michael Vick said very rational things to Derrick Gunn that caused an uproar in the media because the media is horrible, here is the awesome video of the Eagles hula hoop girl doing her thing. I say it qualifies as dancing. Enjoy.
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Familiar Feeling
Throughout my 27-plus years on earth, there has been one common theme to being a Philadelphia sports fan: disappointment. It is something I grew up experiencing as a sports fan in this city. The Phillies being perennial losers. Two blown saves in the World Series. Buddy Ryan. Rich Kotite. Ray Rhodes. Four NFC Championship losses. One Super Bowl loss. The Flyers bowing out spectacularly, whether way too early or painfully too late. John Lucas and everything else the Sixers have done. It's been a city full of sports teams destined to disappoint.
The 2008 Phillies changed all that for a time.
And what the Phillies have done since, becoming a National League powerhouse and bringing in big-name pitcher after big-name pitcher, has spoiled us. But in the back of all our minds, that old familiar feeling began to creep up. When the Phillies couldn't repeat despite Cliff Lee's brilliance, the thought started to resurface. When Michael Leighton let in the softest Stanley Cup winning goal of all time, you could really feel it coming. When the bats went silent last year against the Giants, the first real tinge of disappointment reappeared. And now this. That old, familiar feeling is back in full force.
This was supposed to be the year of Philadelphia. The Phillies pulled off the biggest offseason coup in recent memory, reacquiring Cliff Lee to join Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt to all but ensure another parade down Broad Street. The Eagles nearly matched them, bringing in high-priced free agent after high-priced free agent, headlined by Nnamdi Asomugha and the trade of Kevin Kolb for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. In August, there was no better place to be as a sports fan than Philadelphia.
Now here we are, two months later, with the Phillies sent home after just five games in October and the "Dream Team" sitting at a disgusting 1-4. If that's not disappointment, I don't know what disappointment is.
The real shame of it all is that Roy Halladay has to get lumped into this disappointing team that the Phillies ultimately became. That man deserved way better. Yes, his first-inning troubles were incredibly annoying this series, spotting the Cardinals three runs in game 1 and another in game 5, but all he did is retire 21 in row to win game 1 and go 8 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball in the final game. That man pitched his balls off for this team, and his teammates let him down.
I honestly don't know how his teammates can look him in the eyes after Friday night. I really don't. Sure, Roy is the one who gave up consecutive extra-base hits to start the game and spot the Cards a run, but the Phils were left with nine god damn innings to just put one or two on the board to stay alive and they couldn't do it. Without a doubt, give Chris Carpenter credit. He deserves all the credit in the world. The guy showed exactly why he is an ace, pitching an incredible game, finishing off the complete-game shutout. But it's inexcusable for this team to do so little at the plate, and compound that with boneheaded plays in the field, on the base paths and at the dish.
Three hits with the season on the line, with two of them coming off of Shane Victorino's bat. Chase Utley getting thrown out on the base paths yet again. No production from the high-priced slugger, a guy who ended the season as terribly as you can, making the final out for the second straight season and then seriously injuring his achilles. God knows what effect that will have on Ryan Howard. Placido Polanco became a dinosaur overnight. Carlos Ruiz seems to have used up all his October magic. Cliff Lee let us all down with his game 2 performance. The only guys you can really say didn't disappoint are Doc and Hamels. Maybe Jimmy, who had a great series, but ultimately even he failed to get a hit in game 5 as the Phils went out with a whimper.
A franchise record in wins, four supposed aces and a lineup full of accomplished players turned into one giant ball of disappointment. The Phillies have reached the point that those Andy Reid teams with Donovan McNabb did all those years. Making the playoffs and having a good record no longer matter, it's what you do in the postseason. And just like the Eagles always found a way to come up short, so have these Phillies since that surprising 2008 title. Every year, this team got better in the standings and added more talent on paper, yet ultimately they came up short, seeing diminishing returns in playoffs year after year.
It would be foolish to say that the Phillies are done. Roy and Cliff and Cole are all coming back, and some youth will be infused with the veterans in the lineup. But Chase and Ryan and Polanco aren't getting any younger. Shortstop is a question mark if Rollins walks. No one knows what to expect from John Mayberry and Dom Brown. Oswalt may be gone. There are question marks where this team had so few. This was supposed to be the year, just like it was supposed to be the year for so many years for McNabb and Reid. Then it wasn't.
Sadly, that theme is back with the Eagles as well, and with them, it's not even possible to get worked up anymore. No one on the planet thought they should run a play with 8 seconds left in the half and no timeouts except for the morons on that sideline, so of course Michael Vick held on to the ball too long, then tossed it out of the end zone as time expired, leaving three points on the field.
Of course this defense gave up 24 points and couldn't stop the run. Jarrad Page keeps exposing himself as a terrible football player. Killer penalties from rookie Danny Watkins, making his first start, and King Dunlap derailed a touchdown drive. Vick got pounded all day, and made things worse by throwing four horrendous interceptions. Fred Jackson had a field day running all over this team. Jason Avant, who had an otherwise outstanding game — 9 catches for 139 yards — had a killer a fumble and another ball that got ripped from him for another turnover. That's become another habit for this team, a wide receiver having a huge game only to make a crippling mistake at an inopportune time.
LeSean McCoy, clearly this team's best player period, got too few touches yet again, as Reid and Mornhinweg abandoned run for the thousandth time in their tenure. And then all hope ends when JuquaThomas Parker jumps offsides on a 4th and 1 when all the Bills were trying to do was get the Eagles to jump offsides.
He should be cut today for something so stupid. He really should. It's not like Parker is any good anyway. Cut him now. Send these players a message, because it's clear they need a wake-up call. Or maybe a new head coach.
Plain and simple, this is beyond a bad football team, it's an absolutely terrible one. They can't tackle, they can't protect the quarterback, they can't even cover despite having three of the best cover corners in the league. It is the softest football team in the NFL, one that looks defeated. One that looks like it has lost respect or at least stopped listening to its coaches, especially the fat one with the mustache.
Before the season started, everyone expected the Super Bowl to at least be in the equation. Now it's looking more like Andrew Luck could be the best prize this franchise could win. Pathetic. Disgusting. And disappointing. A familiar feeling that has resurfaced here in Philadelphia.
The only saving grace is that the Flyers have done things in two games that they failed to do in 82 last year. In the opener, they scored two goals in the final minute of the first period, after not scoring a single goal in the final minute of any period in any game the entire 2010-11 season. Then on Saturday night, Ilya Bryzgalov shut out the Devils in a dominant 3-0 victory, stopping all 20 shots he faced. As we all know, the 2010-11 Flyers, with their goalie carousel, didn't record a single shutout all year. Through two games, Bryzgalov has surrendered a grand total of 1 goal, earning a shutout in just his second game in the Orange and Black.
It's impossible not to be impressed with the Flyers in their first two outings. Claude Giroux has scored in both games, Matt Read got his first NHL goal and newcomer Wayne Simmonds scored his first as a Flyers Saturday night. Sean Couturier is quickly becoming my new favorite Flyer, doing an excellent job on the penalty kill. And there is no lack of toughness, evident by Simmonds absolutely destroyed David Clarkson.
Very good start for the Flyers.
Plus, Penn State actually came out and physically dominated a BCS conference team for the first time in a long time, besting Iowa 13-3 by completely controlling the line of scrimmage. Exercising some of the demons, the Nittany Lions were able to run all over the Hawkeyes, racking up 231 yards on the ground led by Silas Redd and his 142 yards.
It was without a doubt the most impressive performance by Penn State all season. The defense continued to dominate, with everyone making plays. I was particularly impressed with Devon Still and Jordan Hill yet again, the two guys who continue to be the best players on the team, along with Malcolm Willis, who finally saw a lot of playing time. Willis played really well last year when Nick Sukay went down, to the point where I thought he was Penn State's best safety, and he impressed me again. He looked like the best safety out there again Saturday to me.
True freshman Adrian Amos also did an outstanding job at corner filling in for the injured D'Anton Lynn and Stephon Morris. It's easy to see why the coaches are so high on him. Amos did an outstanding job on McNutt all game.
Offensively, things started to look a little better as well. The offensive line for the first time really all season got consistent push, clearing the path for Redd and Curtis Dukes to gash the Iowa defense. And once and for all, a Penn State quarterback clearly set himself apart. I don't see any possible way Rob Bolden should see the field again unless Matt McGloin gets hurt.
I was openly pulling for Bolden to take the job, but McGloin simply has been and is better than Bolden. Honestly, Bolden couldn't even make the simplest of throws on Saturday, while McGloin was making plays and controlling the huddle. He still made some mind-blowingly stupid throws, namely his inexcusable interception in the red zone and another jump ball tossed into triple coverage, but he is clearly the guy. Even with how ugly and terrible this team has looked this season, Penn State sits at 5-1 and 2-0 in the conference following this win. If Penn State sticks with McGloin and lets him grow, hopefully the offense can build on Saturday's performance against Purdue and Northwestern in preparation for the tough games to close out the season.
A surprising run by the Nittany Lions and continued success from the Flyers would go a long way to distracting us from the disappointment of the Phillies and Eagles. Though we all know that feeling is back, so disappointment for those teams could be right around the corner.
That familiar feeling of disappointment has returned, and really it probably never left. Now it's back out there for everyone to see, and I have to admit, it feels like Philadelphia again.
The 2008 Phillies changed all that for a time.
And what the Phillies have done since, becoming a National League powerhouse and bringing in big-name pitcher after big-name pitcher, has spoiled us. But in the back of all our minds, that old familiar feeling began to creep up. When the Phillies couldn't repeat despite Cliff Lee's brilliance, the thought started to resurface. When Michael Leighton let in the softest Stanley Cup winning goal of all time, you could really feel it coming. When the bats went silent last year against the Giants, the first real tinge of disappointment reappeared. And now this. That old, familiar feeling is back in full force.
This was supposed to be the year of Philadelphia. The Phillies pulled off the biggest offseason coup in recent memory, reacquiring Cliff Lee to join Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt to all but ensure another parade down Broad Street. The Eagles nearly matched them, bringing in high-priced free agent after high-priced free agent, headlined by Nnamdi Asomugha and the trade of Kevin Kolb for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. In August, there was no better place to be as a sports fan than Philadelphia.
Now here we are, two months later, with the Phillies sent home after just five games in October and the "Dream Team" sitting at a disgusting 1-4. If that's not disappointment, I don't know what disappointment is.
The real shame of it all is that Roy Halladay has to get lumped into this disappointing team that the Phillies ultimately became. That man deserved way better. Yes, his first-inning troubles were incredibly annoying this series, spotting the Cardinals three runs in game 1 and another in game 5, but all he did is retire 21 in row to win game 1 and go 8 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball in the final game. That man pitched his balls off for this team, and his teammates let him down.
I honestly don't know how his teammates can look him in the eyes after Friday night. I really don't. Sure, Roy is the one who gave up consecutive extra-base hits to start the game and spot the Cards a run, but the Phils were left with nine god damn innings to just put one or two on the board to stay alive and they couldn't do it. Without a doubt, give Chris Carpenter credit. He deserves all the credit in the world. The guy showed exactly why he is an ace, pitching an incredible game, finishing off the complete-game shutout. But it's inexcusable for this team to do so little at the plate, and compound that with boneheaded plays in the field, on the base paths and at the dish.
Three hits with the season on the line, with two of them coming off of Shane Victorino's bat. Chase Utley getting thrown out on the base paths yet again. No production from the high-priced slugger, a guy who ended the season as terribly as you can, making the final out for the second straight season and then seriously injuring his achilles. God knows what effect that will have on Ryan Howard. Placido Polanco became a dinosaur overnight. Carlos Ruiz seems to have used up all his October magic. Cliff Lee let us all down with his game 2 performance. The only guys you can really say didn't disappoint are Doc and Hamels. Maybe Jimmy, who had a great series, but ultimately even he failed to get a hit in game 5 as the Phils went out with a whimper.
A franchise record in wins, four supposed aces and a lineup full of accomplished players turned into one giant ball of disappointment. The Phillies have reached the point that those Andy Reid teams with Donovan McNabb did all those years. Making the playoffs and having a good record no longer matter, it's what you do in the postseason. And just like the Eagles always found a way to come up short, so have these Phillies since that surprising 2008 title. Every year, this team got better in the standings and added more talent on paper, yet ultimately they came up short, seeing diminishing returns in playoffs year after year.
It would be foolish to say that the Phillies are done. Roy and Cliff and Cole are all coming back, and some youth will be infused with the veterans in the lineup. But Chase and Ryan and Polanco aren't getting any younger. Shortstop is a question mark if Rollins walks. No one knows what to expect from John Mayberry and Dom Brown. Oswalt may be gone. There are question marks where this team had so few. This was supposed to be the year, just like it was supposed to be the year for so many years for McNabb and Reid. Then it wasn't.
Sadly, that theme is back with the Eagles as well, and with them, it's not even possible to get worked up anymore. No one on the planet thought they should run a play with 8 seconds left in the half and no timeouts except for the morons on that sideline, so of course Michael Vick held on to the ball too long, then tossed it out of the end zone as time expired, leaving three points on the field.
Of course this defense gave up 24 points and couldn't stop the run. Jarrad Page keeps exposing himself as a terrible football player. Killer penalties from rookie Danny Watkins, making his first start, and King Dunlap derailed a touchdown drive. Vick got pounded all day, and made things worse by throwing four horrendous interceptions. Fred Jackson had a field day running all over this team. Jason Avant, who had an otherwise outstanding game — 9 catches for 139 yards — had a killer a fumble and another ball that got ripped from him for another turnover. That's become another habit for this team, a wide receiver having a huge game only to make a crippling mistake at an inopportune time.
LeSean McCoy, clearly this team's best player period, got too few touches yet again, as Reid and Mornhinweg abandoned run for the thousandth time in their tenure. And then all hope ends when Juqua
He should be cut today for something so stupid. He really should. It's not like Parker is any good anyway. Cut him now. Send these players a message, because it's clear they need a wake-up call. Or maybe a new head coach.
Plain and simple, this is beyond a bad football team, it's an absolutely terrible one. They can't tackle, they can't protect the quarterback, they can't even cover despite having three of the best cover corners in the league. It is the softest football team in the NFL, one that looks defeated. One that looks like it has lost respect or at least stopped listening to its coaches, especially the fat one with the mustache.
Before the season started, everyone expected the Super Bowl to at least be in the equation. Now it's looking more like Andrew Luck could be the best prize this franchise could win. Pathetic. Disgusting. And disappointing. A familiar feeling that has resurfaced here in Philadelphia.
The only saving grace is that the Flyers have done things in two games that they failed to do in 82 last year. In the opener, they scored two goals in the final minute of the first period, after not scoring a single goal in the final minute of any period in any game the entire 2010-11 season. Then on Saturday night, Ilya Bryzgalov shut out the Devils in a dominant 3-0 victory, stopping all 20 shots he faced. As we all know, the 2010-11 Flyers, with their goalie carousel, didn't record a single shutout all year. Through two games, Bryzgalov has surrendered a grand total of 1 goal, earning a shutout in just his second game in the Orange and Black.
It's impossible not to be impressed with the Flyers in their first two outings. Claude Giroux has scored in both games, Matt Read got his first NHL goal and newcomer Wayne Simmonds scored his first as a Flyers Saturday night. Sean Couturier is quickly becoming my new favorite Flyer, doing an excellent job on the penalty kill. And there is no lack of toughness, evident by Simmonds absolutely destroyed David Clarkson.
Very good start for the Flyers.
Plus, Penn State actually came out and physically dominated a BCS conference team for the first time in a long time, besting Iowa 13-3 by completely controlling the line of scrimmage. Exercising some of the demons, the Nittany Lions were able to run all over the Hawkeyes, racking up 231 yards on the ground led by Silas Redd and his 142 yards.
It was without a doubt the most impressive performance by Penn State all season. The defense continued to dominate, with everyone making plays. I was particularly impressed with Devon Still and Jordan Hill yet again, the two guys who continue to be the best players on the team, along with Malcolm Willis, who finally saw a lot of playing time. Willis played really well last year when Nick Sukay went down, to the point where I thought he was Penn State's best safety, and he impressed me again. He looked like the best safety out there again Saturday to me.
True freshman Adrian Amos also did an outstanding job at corner filling in for the injured D'Anton Lynn and Stephon Morris. It's easy to see why the coaches are so high on him. Amos did an outstanding job on McNutt all game.
Offensively, things started to look a little better as well. The offensive line for the first time really all season got consistent push, clearing the path for Redd and Curtis Dukes to gash the Iowa defense. And once and for all, a Penn State quarterback clearly set himself apart. I don't see any possible way Rob Bolden should see the field again unless Matt McGloin gets hurt.
I was openly pulling for Bolden to take the job, but McGloin simply has been and is better than Bolden. Honestly, Bolden couldn't even make the simplest of throws on Saturday, while McGloin was making plays and controlling the huddle. He still made some mind-blowingly stupid throws, namely his inexcusable interception in the red zone and another jump ball tossed into triple coverage, but he is clearly the guy. Even with how ugly and terrible this team has looked this season, Penn State sits at 5-1 and 2-0 in the conference following this win. If Penn State sticks with McGloin and lets him grow, hopefully the offense can build on Saturday's performance against Purdue and Northwestern in preparation for the tough games to close out the season.
A surprising run by the Nittany Lions and continued success from the Flyers would go a long way to distracting us from the disappointment of the Phillies and Eagles. Though we all know that feeling is back, so disappointment for those teams could be right around the corner.
That familiar feeling of disappointment has returned, and really it probably never left. Now it's back out there for everyone to see, and I have to admit, it feels like Philadelphia again.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Flu, the Flyers, the Beast Mode and the Letdown
My weekend began by waking up in a pool of my own sweat and ended with an ill-advised throw at the opposite end zone from where I was sitting. Needless to say, I began the weekend as sick as can be and ended it with a sickening feeling.
At some point on Tuesday night, I became incredibly exhausted way earlier than normal. I chalked it up to simply needing to catch up on sleep and thought nothing of it. Then on Wednesday, I felt like I was going to die at work. I was freezing all day long, no matter what I did to get warm, and I was mentally out of it all day. I felt weak and achy and tired. I knew I was getting sick.
I somehow managed to make it through the day, found some Nyquil in my house and again went to bed early. Thursday it was more of the same. Only this time I was alternating between freezing my nuts off and sweating to death. Again, I managed to make it through the day of work, but I was starting to think I may have the flu or something like it. Oddly, I began to feel pretty good late in the day, around 3 o'clock or so, and felt great the rest of the night … until I tried to sleep.
As a precaution, I did finally venture to CVS and pick up some more Nyquil and Dayquil, which I found out you cannot purchase unless you're over 18. That seems odd to me, and even more odd was that I actually got carded by some ancient lady. I'm 26, soon to be 27. And I got carded to purchase Nyquil. Weird.
Anyway, I got back home, settled in huddled under a blanket and was feeling pretty good. I watched the Flyers come back from a shaky first period to destroy the Devils 4-2 thanks to another ridiculous game by the Briere-Hartnell-Leino line, with Briere and Hartnell each scoring twice and Leino notching three assists.
Then I went to sleep, and in the middle of the night woke up with an awful sore throat, slight earache and again was freezing to death. Then I woke up again and was hot as hell, and by the time I awoke to my alarm, I was lying in an ungodly pool of sweat. Literally, it was like I had jumped into a pool in the middle of the night. I felt awful and finally relented, calling out of work. I then proceeded to spend the remainder of the day under a pile of blankets watching every episode of the first two seasons of Parks and Recreation on Netflix.
Mose Schrute and company do some damn good work writing for that show.
Given that I was feeling under the weather, albeit on the recovery side of things (evident by the sweating it out phase Friday morning), I decided to stay in Friday night to relax and recover, and figured I'd do the same all weekend. However, one of my roommates came home and told me he had an extra ticket to the Eagles-Packers playoff game Sunday and asked if I wanted to go, even as I was huddled under the covers and looking like death. I told him that I wasn't feeling so hot, and it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to go sit out in freezing weather on Sunday even if I was feeling better, so he should see if anyone else wanted it. On Saturday, he essentially told me I was going no matter what.
The good news is I was feeling a whole hell of a lot better come Saturday morning. The Dayquil-Nyquil combo had been doing the trick, and I didn't feel like death anymore. Still not 100 percent and still feeling pretty weak and tired, but not like death.
Thanks to the fortunate NHL schedule-makers, I watched the Flyers host the Devils at 1 in the second leg of the home and home series, and again the Flyers won, this time 2-1. The main reason? James van Riemsdyk was all over the place. For the first time in his NHL career, JVR was the best player on the ice. He used his size and speed to give the Devils fits, scoring the game's first goal and asserting himself the entire game. Danny Briere netted what turned out to be the game-winner on an incredible pass by Claude Giroux on the power play that chased Johan Hedberg, and Brian Boucher made 34 saves in the 2-1 win, continuing his awesome play this season. The only goal Boucher gave up came on an unlucky deflection off Ville Leino, popping up in the air and landing over Boucher's shoulder and in the net.
With those two victories over the horrid Devils (that feels so nice to write), the Flyers are back atop the Eastern Conference with 57 points, and they have two games in hand over the Lightning (55 points) and three games in hand over the Penguins (56 points). This team is really good, and they're only going to get better with the return of Chris Pronger.
During the Flyers game, uncle jellyfish came over, and he and my roommate were pondering where to go to watch the first NFL playoff game and get some food. As the Flyers game was drawing to a close, they suggested I come along. Feeling better, I agreed to drink a brew and finally decided to tag along. I have to say that I'm glad I did.
We waited for Adam EatShit to get to our house, and then the four of us headed out to Buffalo Billiards in Old City to watch the Saints-Seahawks game, play some table shuffleboard and eat a little grub. As you know, the Seahawks pulled off the upset against the Saints, thanks to Marshawn Lynch going all Beast Mode on New Orleans.
As that was happening, Adam and I were losing two close battles to my roommate and uncle jellyfish. Then when our food came out, the bar back stopped and asked uncle jellyfish, who was wearing a Mike Richards shirt, who his favorite Flyer was. A little confused, he responded, "Claude Giroux I guess." The bar back said, "Well, look over there. He's right there. I'm friends with him. He comes in all the time. A bunch of the Flyers do."
We looked over and wouldn't you know it, Claude Giroux is shooting pool with a couple of other guys. To be honest, if you didn't know what Giroux looks like, you would have never guessed he was an athlete. I guess that's the case with a lot of hockey players, especially the smaller guys. He just looked like your typical 22-year-old guy hanging out with some buddies. It was pretty cool. And a few moments later, in came Andreas Nodl and Danny Briere as well.
The funny thing is that Giroux is 22 and Nodl is 23, but Danny Briere, who is 33, looks younger than both of them. The cool thing about the atmosphere there is that no one seemed to be bothering the Flyers at the bar. As much as I would have loved to go over and chat the guys up, I also am not too interested in being a nuisance to professional athletes, especially after they've just finished a game. One guy in the bar was hopping around and acting giddy like a little girl, but the rest of the patrons, our party included, kept their wits.
As much as I wanted to stay and maybe challenge Giroux and company to a game of pool or skee ball, I started to feel pretty worn down and tired again. I needed to get home and get some more rest, especially since my other roommate had met us at the bar and point blank told me I'm going to the Eagles game. I walked right by Briere and Nodl on my way out, contemplated saying, "Good game," but instead just walked out the door and headed home.
I watched the Colts-Jets game from the comfort of my bed all Nyquilled up and fell asleep pretty early. By Sunday morning, I was feeling pretty good and preparing myself for the cold. I headed down to the game around noon with the crew and our tailgating supplies. Bundled up in three pairs of pants, four pairs of socks, a long-sleeve thermal T-shirt, a T-shirt, another long-sleeve shirt, two hooded sweatshirts, a jacket, gloves, a hat and boots, I was more than prepared for the weather and getting pretty excited. Truth of the matter is I had no idea what to expect from the game. I was terrified thinking about Aaron Rodgers feasting on the Eagels' secondary, but I also was excited to see what Michael Vick would do in his first playoff start as an Eagle. Turns out, it was a lot like his last playoff start in the Linc as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Vick got hit early and often on Sunday, getting sacked on the very first play from scrimmage, the first of three sacks, and threw a crippling interception that ended the game. At times, he again looked baffled by the blitz, but he also spent a good portion of the game running for his life. Winston Justice had his worst game since the whole Giants debacle, and the rest of the line struggled to contain an aggressive Green Bay rush.
The thing that was so aggravating was all week long we heard about how the best way for the Eagles to neutralize Green Bay's tremendous pass rush, specifically Clay Matthews, was to run the ball. LeSean McCoy hinted at the fact the Eagles would lean that way on offense. But of course this is an Andy Reid team, so it was all pass, pass, pass. LeSean McCoy carried the ball just 12 times all game. Jerome Harrison only had one carry. Of Mike Vick's 8 rushes, maybe three were designed. That's 21 runs altogether if you're counting, only about 16 of which were actually called runs. Meanwhile, Vick threw the ball 36 times. That's a 21-36 run to pass ratio, a 16-41 run call to pass call ratio. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Especially in the cold and windy conditions, and especially in a game where you'd prefer to keep Green Bay's potent passing attack off the field against a suspect defense.
But that's Andy Reid for you. He's a passing guy to the bitter end. And I mean that literally, because every fucking end with this team is bitter.
This one was just as bitter as all the rest. Right from the get-go it was evident this wasn't the Eagles' day. Vick was sacked on the very first play. Then, after being gifted tremendous field position immediately following that first drive thanks to a Packer inadvertently touching the ball on Sav Rocca's punt and the Eagles recovering, they couldn't do anything with it. David Akers missed a 41-yard field goal, and later a 34-yarder. The Eagles lost by five points, 21-16. You do the math.
No NFL kicker should ever miss a kick from 40 yards or fewer without a bad snap, hold or slipping, and honestly, an NFL kicker shouldn't miss from under 45 yards. They're supposed to be the best of the best. Yet Akers, after a great regular season, missed two from short distance in a playoff game. Hell, even if he just makes one of them, the Eagles are trailing by just 2 points on that final drive, actually one because they would have kicked the extra point instead of going for two after Vick's TD, meaning all they would have needed was to get in field goal position, which they did, to line up for the winning kick. Of course, given the way Akers kicked Sunday, he probably would have missed it anyway. He should be forced to give up his Pro Bowl spot and pay back his Pro Bowl bonus money after that horrific, inexcusable performance.
The man has been a really good kicker for a really long time, but now that his contract is up, I'd be more than willing to bid him farewell unless he's willing to take a significant pay cut. He certainly doesn't deserve $2 million or whatever he's making to miss crucial kicks in the playoffs.
To be fair, though, Akers was hardly alone in his ineptitude. The Eagles defense had absolutely no answer for Aaron Rodgers and somehow rookie free agent running back James Starks in the first half. The Packers marched down the field 68 yards in 10 plays on their second possession for a touchdown, then 57 yards on 12 plays on their next possession to take a 14-0 lead. It could have been even worse if not for a dropped ball by James Jones. Coming right toward the end zone I was sitting in, Rodgers threw a perfect deep ball to Jones, who was behind the defense, but Jones dropped it. That's another 7, if not 3 at least, points off the board.
The Eagles couldn't get any pressure on Rodgers, couldn't get a stop to save their life on third down and couldn't stop the run. This despite the fact that the Eagles have actually been pretty stingy against the run this year and the Packers have had no run game to speak of with Ryan Grant out for the year. Yet there they were, getting gashed by James Starks and getting picked apart by Rodgers.
I understand that Sean McDermott has been given little to work with this year thanks to key injuries to Ellis Hobbs, Nate Allen, Brandon Graham and Stewart Bradley, not to mention missed time for Asante Samuel and others, and I get that guys like Ernie Sims haven't produced the way you'd like. But still, McDermott needs to be held accountable for not putting his players in position to make plays. He's been dealing with these injuries for a while now, has had plenty of time to adjust and develop a scheme to suit his personnel or at least try to mask its mistakes. But he hasn't. Not one bit. And the guys he's plugged in have regressed, not progressed. Guys like Dimitri Patterson and Kurt Coleman. Hell, on one 3rd and 10, he played some sort of shitty cover 2 zone, something the Eagles rarely do, and let Greg Jennings, the best receiver on the Packers, get wide open for 20 yards and a first down. That just makes absolutely no sense.
To add to that, after the Eagels came out of the half and forced a turnover, then scored two plays later on a perfect throw by Vick to Jason Avant to make it 14-10, the Eagles turned right back around and let the Packers drive 80 yards in 11 plays for another touchdown on the ensuing drive to put Green Bay back up by 11.
If I had my way, McDermott would be fired today. But Andy has already said McDermott will be back next season, and I guess he deserves the shot to coach a healthy team that will hopefully be revamped — Nnamdi, Nnamdi, Nnamdi. But in two seasons now, McDermott hasn't shown a damn thing. These Eagles defenses are a far cry from the turnover-inducing, pressure defenses of Jim Johnson. In fact, they're the complete opposite. They get no pressure on quarterbacks, and are the worst red zone defense in the entire NFL, as opposed to one of the best in the Jim Johnson era. If he can't turn things around 2011, he should be axed, plain and simple. The guy just seems to have no clue.
Having said that, if you told me that defense was going to only give up 21 points to that offense and that quarterback, I would have felt pretty damn good about the Eagles' chances. Aside from not doing a very good job getting off the field on third down and letting the Packers answer in the third quarter, the defense wasn't completely awful. In fact, you could argue they did their job, giving the offense a chance to win the game.
Unfortunately, blunders prevented the victory from happening. Despite Akers missing two crucial kicks, despite Avant dropping a key third-down pass, despite DeSean Jackson getting banged up, missing lots of time and not catching a single ball in the first half, despite the protection problems, the skewed playcalling, the terrible timeout call on the 4th-and-goal from the 1 that ended up with a QB sneak by Vick for a touchdown, the failed two-point conversion, everything, the Eagles had a chance to win the game.
The defense, even after giving up a first down on Green Bay's final possession, got a stop, and the Birds started to drive. DeSean, who was invisible most of the game, almost broke one, gaining 28 yards and just getting tripped up. The thing is, if he went outside, he would have gained just as much, maybe even more, and been able to get out of bounds to stop the clock. Vick then hit Riley Cooper for 11 more yards after two incompletions to get to Green Bay's 27, which would have been in field goal range to win the game if Akers had hit just one of those two horrible misses. The Eagles rushed to the line after that first down, and there was only one thing and one thing only to do: spike the ball to stop the clock. There would have been around 38 seconds left at Green Bay's 27, time to huddle up and get the right play. But instead, Vick showed he still has a long way to go as far reading defenses and knowing the right thing to do in situational football. He didn't spike it. He called an all go play. And then, with the season on the line, he threw a jump ball to the end zone to the Eagles' 4th wide receiver. And he threw it badly, underthrowing it severely, getting picked off by Tramon Williams.
Not only was it a horrible decision, but it was a horrible throw. If you're going to throw that ball, you have to put it over the back shoulder where only your guy can get it or it's out of bounds. Instead, it was underthrown and Williams ended the game. To make matters worse, DeSean was wide open right in front of Vick, and apparently LeSean was open in the flat. Even worse, none of it should have ever happened, because Vick should have clocked the ball. I don't care what he says about going down swinging, about feeling like he had Green Bay's defense on its heels, you have to clock that ball. You have to. Vick has done so many amazing things this year for the Eagles, turned in a season no one expected and no one will ever forget, but he made his worst play and his worst decision at the most crucial time.
It was disgusting. I was disgusted. And I felt sick again.
Oh, and Gerard Lawson sucks just as much Jorrick Calvin. Nice hold, asshole. Sean McDermott and Bobby April need to go away. I hate everything and everyone.
The Eagles never fail to disappoint, and never fail to amaze at the horrid ways they find to end their seasons.
Update: Claude Giroux has been named an All-Star. Oddly, he's the only Flyer named to the all-star team. It's tough to point out just a couple guys to be named given the incredible balance and depth of this team, but I think Danny Briere with his 21 goals, Andrej Meszaros with his NHL-leading plus-25 and Mike Richards with everything he does probably deserved a nod as well. Oh well, congrats Claude.
At some point on Tuesday night, I became incredibly exhausted way earlier than normal. I chalked it up to simply needing to catch up on sleep and thought nothing of it. Then on Wednesday, I felt like I was going to die at work. I was freezing all day long, no matter what I did to get warm, and I was mentally out of it all day. I felt weak and achy and tired. I knew I was getting sick.
I somehow managed to make it through the day, found some Nyquil in my house and again went to bed early. Thursday it was more of the same. Only this time I was alternating between freezing my nuts off and sweating to death. Again, I managed to make it through the day of work, but I was starting to think I may have the flu or something like it. Oddly, I began to feel pretty good late in the day, around 3 o'clock or so, and felt great the rest of the night … until I tried to sleep.
As a precaution, I did finally venture to CVS and pick up some more Nyquil and Dayquil, which I found out you cannot purchase unless you're over 18. That seems odd to me, and even more odd was that I actually got carded by some ancient lady. I'm 26, soon to be 27. And I got carded to purchase Nyquil. Weird.
Anyway, I got back home, settled in huddled under a blanket and was feeling pretty good. I watched the Flyers come back from a shaky first period to destroy the Devils 4-2 thanks to another ridiculous game by the Briere-Hartnell-Leino line, with Briere and Hartnell each scoring twice and Leino notching three assists.
Then I went to sleep, and in the middle of the night woke up with an awful sore throat, slight earache and again was freezing to death. Then I woke up again and was hot as hell, and by the time I awoke to my alarm, I was lying in an ungodly pool of sweat. Literally, it was like I had jumped into a pool in the middle of the night. I felt awful and finally relented, calling out of work. I then proceeded to spend the remainder of the day under a pile of blankets watching every episode of the first two seasons of Parks and Recreation on Netflix.
Mose Schrute and company do some damn good work writing for that show.
Given that I was feeling under the weather, albeit on the recovery side of things (evident by the sweating it out phase Friday morning), I decided to stay in Friday night to relax and recover, and figured I'd do the same all weekend. However, one of my roommates came home and told me he had an extra ticket to the Eagles-Packers playoff game Sunday and asked if I wanted to go, even as I was huddled under the covers and looking like death. I told him that I wasn't feeling so hot, and it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to go sit out in freezing weather on Sunday even if I was feeling better, so he should see if anyone else wanted it. On Saturday, he essentially told me I was going no matter what.
The good news is I was feeling a whole hell of a lot better come Saturday morning. The Dayquil-Nyquil combo had been doing the trick, and I didn't feel like death anymore. Still not 100 percent and still feeling pretty weak and tired, but not like death.
Thanks to the fortunate NHL schedule-makers, I watched the Flyers host the Devils at 1 in the second leg of the home and home series, and again the Flyers won, this time 2-1. The main reason? James van Riemsdyk was all over the place. For the first time in his NHL career, JVR was the best player on the ice. He used his size and speed to give the Devils fits, scoring the game's first goal and asserting himself the entire game. Danny Briere netted what turned out to be the game-winner on an incredible pass by Claude Giroux on the power play that chased Johan Hedberg, and Brian Boucher made 34 saves in the 2-1 win, continuing his awesome play this season. The only goal Boucher gave up came on an unlucky deflection off Ville Leino, popping up in the air and landing over Boucher's shoulder and in the net.
With those two victories over the horrid Devils (that feels so nice to write), the Flyers are back atop the Eastern Conference with 57 points, and they have two games in hand over the Lightning (55 points) and three games in hand over the Penguins (56 points). This team is really good, and they're only going to get better with the return of Chris Pronger.
During the Flyers game, uncle jellyfish came over, and he and my roommate were pondering where to go to watch the first NFL playoff game and get some food. As the Flyers game was drawing to a close, they suggested I come along. Feeling better, I agreed to drink a brew and finally decided to tag along. I have to say that I'm glad I did.
We waited for Adam EatShit to get to our house, and then the four of us headed out to Buffalo Billiards in Old City to watch the Saints-Seahawks game, play some table shuffleboard and eat a little grub. As you know, the Seahawks pulled off the upset against the Saints, thanks to Marshawn Lynch going all Beast Mode on New Orleans.
As that was happening, Adam and I were losing two close battles to my roommate and uncle jellyfish. Then when our food came out, the bar back stopped and asked uncle jellyfish, who was wearing a Mike Richards shirt, who his favorite Flyer was. A little confused, he responded, "Claude Giroux I guess." The bar back said, "Well, look over there. He's right there. I'm friends with him. He comes in all the time. A bunch of the Flyers do."
We looked over and wouldn't you know it, Claude Giroux is shooting pool with a couple of other guys. To be honest, if you didn't know what Giroux looks like, you would have never guessed he was an athlete. I guess that's the case with a lot of hockey players, especially the smaller guys. He just looked like your typical 22-year-old guy hanging out with some buddies. It was pretty cool. And a few moments later, in came Andreas Nodl and Danny Briere as well.
The funny thing is that Giroux is 22 and Nodl is 23, but Danny Briere, who is 33, looks younger than both of them. The cool thing about the atmosphere there is that no one seemed to be bothering the Flyers at the bar. As much as I would have loved to go over and chat the guys up, I also am not too interested in being a nuisance to professional athletes, especially after they've just finished a game. One guy in the bar was hopping around and acting giddy like a little girl, but the rest of the patrons, our party included, kept their wits.
As much as I wanted to stay and maybe challenge Giroux and company to a game of pool or skee ball, I started to feel pretty worn down and tired again. I needed to get home and get some more rest, especially since my other roommate had met us at the bar and point blank told me I'm going to the Eagles game. I walked right by Briere and Nodl on my way out, contemplated saying, "Good game," but instead just walked out the door and headed home.
I watched the Colts-Jets game from the comfort of my bed all Nyquilled up and fell asleep pretty early. By Sunday morning, I was feeling pretty good and preparing myself for the cold. I headed down to the game around noon with the crew and our tailgating supplies. Bundled up in three pairs of pants, four pairs of socks, a long-sleeve thermal T-shirt, a T-shirt, another long-sleeve shirt, two hooded sweatshirts, a jacket, gloves, a hat and boots, I was more than prepared for the weather and getting pretty excited. Truth of the matter is I had no idea what to expect from the game. I was terrified thinking about Aaron Rodgers feasting on the Eagels' secondary, but I also was excited to see what Michael Vick would do in his first playoff start as an Eagle. Turns out, it was a lot like his last playoff start in the Linc as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Vick got hit early and often on Sunday, getting sacked on the very first play from scrimmage, the first of three sacks, and threw a crippling interception that ended the game. At times, he again looked baffled by the blitz, but he also spent a good portion of the game running for his life. Winston Justice had his worst game since the whole Giants debacle, and the rest of the line struggled to contain an aggressive Green Bay rush.
The thing that was so aggravating was all week long we heard about how the best way for the Eagles to neutralize Green Bay's tremendous pass rush, specifically Clay Matthews, was to run the ball. LeSean McCoy hinted at the fact the Eagles would lean that way on offense. But of course this is an Andy Reid team, so it was all pass, pass, pass. LeSean McCoy carried the ball just 12 times all game. Jerome Harrison only had one carry. Of Mike Vick's 8 rushes, maybe three were designed. That's 21 runs altogether if you're counting, only about 16 of which were actually called runs. Meanwhile, Vick threw the ball 36 times. That's a 21-36 run to pass ratio, a 16-41 run call to pass call ratio. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Especially in the cold and windy conditions, and especially in a game where you'd prefer to keep Green Bay's potent passing attack off the field against a suspect defense.
But that's Andy Reid for you. He's a passing guy to the bitter end. And I mean that literally, because every fucking end with this team is bitter.
This one was just as bitter as all the rest. Right from the get-go it was evident this wasn't the Eagles' day. Vick was sacked on the very first play. Then, after being gifted tremendous field position immediately following that first drive thanks to a Packer inadvertently touching the ball on Sav Rocca's punt and the Eagles recovering, they couldn't do anything with it. David Akers missed a 41-yard field goal, and later a 34-yarder. The Eagles lost by five points, 21-16. You do the math.
No NFL kicker should ever miss a kick from 40 yards or fewer without a bad snap, hold or slipping, and honestly, an NFL kicker shouldn't miss from under 45 yards. They're supposed to be the best of the best. Yet Akers, after a great regular season, missed two from short distance in a playoff game. Hell, even if he just makes one of them, the Eagles are trailing by just 2 points on that final drive, actually one because they would have kicked the extra point instead of going for two after Vick's TD, meaning all they would have needed was to get in field goal position, which they did, to line up for the winning kick. Of course, given the way Akers kicked Sunday, he probably would have missed it anyway. He should be forced to give up his Pro Bowl spot and pay back his Pro Bowl bonus money after that horrific, inexcusable performance.
The man has been a really good kicker for a really long time, but now that his contract is up, I'd be more than willing to bid him farewell unless he's willing to take a significant pay cut. He certainly doesn't deserve $2 million or whatever he's making to miss crucial kicks in the playoffs.
To be fair, though, Akers was hardly alone in his ineptitude. The Eagles defense had absolutely no answer for Aaron Rodgers and somehow rookie free agent running back James Starks in the first half. The Packers marched down the field 68 yards in 10 plays on their second possession for a touchdown, then 57 yards on 12 plays on their next possession to take a 14-0 lead. It could have been even worse if not for a dropped ball by James Jones. Coming right toward the end zone I was sitting in, Rodgers threw a perfect deep ball to Jones, who was behind the defense, but Jones dropped it. That's another 7, if not 3 at least, points off the board.
The Eagles couldn't get any pressure on Rodgers, couldn't get a stop to save their life on third down and couldn't stop the run. This despite the fact that the Eagles have actually been pretty stingy against the run this year and the Packers have had no run game to speak of with Ryan Grant out for the year. Yet there they were, getting gashed by James Starks and getting picked apart by Rodgers.
I understand that Sean McDermott has been given little to work with this year thanks to key injuries to Ellis Hobbs, Nate Allen, Brandon Graham and Stewart Bradley, not to mention missed time for Asante Samuel and others, and I get that guys like Ernie Sims haven't produced the way you'd like. But still, McDermott needs to be held accountable for not putting his players in position to make plays. He's been dealing with these injuries for a while now, has had plenty of time to adjust and develop a scheme to suit his personnel or at least try to mask its mistakes. But he hasn't. Not one bit. And the guys he's plugged in have regressed, not progressed. Guys like Dimitri Patterson and Kurt Coleman. Hell, on one 3rd and 10, he played some sort of shitty cover 2 zone, something the Eagles rarely do, and let Greg Jennings, the best receiver on the Packers, get wide open for 20 yards and a first down. That just makes absolutely no sense.
To add to that, after the Eagels came out of the half and forced a turnover, then scored two plays later on a perfect throw by Vick to Jason Avant to make it 14-10, the Eagles turned right back around and let the Packers drive 80 yards in 11 plays for another touchdown on the ensuing drive to put Green Bay back up by 11.
If I had my way, McDermott would be fired today. But Andy has already said McDermott will be back next season, and I guess he deserves the shot to coach a healthy team that will hopefully be revamped — Nnamdi, Nnamdi, Nnamdi. But in two seasons now, McDermott hasn't shown a damn thing. These Eagles defenses are a far cry from the turnover-inducing, pressure defenses of Jim Johnson. In fact, they're the complete opposite. They get no pressure on quarterbacks, and are the worst red zone defense in the entire NFL, as opposed to one of the best in the Jim Johnson era. If he can't turn things around 2011, he should be axed, plain and simple. The guy just seems to have no clue.
Having said that, if you told me that defense was going to only give up 21 points to that offense and that quarterback, I would have felt pretty damn good about the Eagles' chances. Aside from not doing a very good job getting off the field on third down and letting the Packers answer in the third quarter, the defense wasn't completely awful. In fact, you could argue they did their job, giving the offense a chance to win the game.
Unfortunately, blunders prevented the victory from happening. Despite Akers missing two crucial kicks, despite Avant dropping a key third-down pass, despite DeSean Jackson getting banged up, missing lots of time and not catching a single ball in the first half, despite the protection problems, the skewed playcalling, the terrible timeout call on the 4th-and-goal from the 1 that ended up with a QB sneak by Vick for a touchdown, the failed two-point conversion, everything, the Eagles had a chance to win the game.
The defense, even after giving up a first down on Green Bay's final possession, got a stop, and the Birds started to drive. DeSean, who was invisible most of the game, almost broke one, gaining 28 yards and just getting tripped up. The thing is, if he went outside, he would have gained just as much, maybe even more, and been able to get out of bounds to stop the clock. Vick then hit Riley Cooper for 11 more yards after two incompletions to get to Green Bay's 27, which would have been in field goal range to win the game if Akers had hit just one of those two horrible misses. The Eagles rushed to the line after that first down, and there was only one thing and one thing only to do: spike the ball to stop the clock. There would have been around 38 seconds left at Green Bay's 27, time to huddle up and get the right play. But instead, Vick showed he still has a long way to go as far reading defenses and knowing the right thing to do in situational football. He didn't spike it. He called an all go play. And then, with the season on the line, he threw a jump ball to the end zone to the Eagles' 4th wide receiver. And he threw it badly, underthrowing it severely, getting picked off by Tramon Williams.
Not only was it a horrible decision, but it was a horrible throw. If you're going to throw that ball, you have to put it over the back shoulder where only your guy can get it or it's out of bounds. Instead, it was underthrown and Williams ended the game. To make matters worse, DeSean was wide open right in front of Vick, and apparently LeSean was open in the flat. Even worse, none of it should have ever happened, because Vick should have clocked the ball. I don't care what he says about going down swinging, about feeling like he had Green Bay's defense on its heels, you have to clock that ball. You have to. Vick has done so many amazing things this year for the Eagles, turned in a season no one expected and no one will ever forget, but he made his worst play and his worst decision at the most crucial time.
It was disgusting. I was disgusted. And I felt sick again.
Oh, and Gerard Lawson sucks just as much Jorrick Calvin. Nice hold, asshole. Sean McDermott and Bobby April need to go away. I hate everything and everyone.
The Eagles never fail to disappoint, and never fail to amaze at the horrid ways they find to end their seasons.
Update: Claude Giroux has been named an All-Star. Oddly, he's the only Flyer named to the all-star team. It's tough to point out just a couple guys to be named given the incredible balance and depth of this team, but I think Danny Briere with his 21 goals, Andrej Meszaros with his NHL-leading plus-25 and Mike Richards with everything he does probably deserved a nod as well. Oh well, congrats Claude.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Bye-Bye, Bye
Yes, I was there last night freezing my balls off with Arkansas Fred, his dad and 68,000 other disappointed Eagles fans to witness the Eagles kiss any chance they might have had at a bye goodbye.
Don't act like you don't know every word to that song
The game plan was terrible. The coaching was terrible. The defense was terrible. The protection was terrible. The special teams were terrible. David Akers was terrible. And most of all, Michael Vick was terrible. Beyond terrible, actually. It was easily his worst game as a Philadelphia Eagle, and it probably ranked up there with any egg he laid in Atlanta.
This wasn't MVP candidate and starting Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick we've grown accustomed to. This was immature, impatient, dumb Michael Vick from his days in Atlanta.
To be fair, he was under heavy pressure all night. The Vikings brought the blitz early and often and from all areas of the field, and the offensive line couldn't pick it up. But that doesn't excuse Vick's play. Where he has shown tremendous poise and made great reads virtually all season, he instead neglected to read the defense and continued to throw horrible passes into coverage. He was picked off only once on the night, but he could have and should have been intercepted at least four times, probably five — if only the Minnesota defenders could catch.
He missed wide open receivers, never hit a hot route and made the wrong decision damn near every time he pulled the trigger on a pass. Yes, he did throw a touchdown pass to Clay Harbor on an awesome catch by the rookie tight end and run in the Eagles' other score by faking Jamarca Sanford out of his jock to bring the Eagles within a field goal in the 4th quarter.
But Vick also lost two fumbles, one of which was picked up and returned for a touchdown by Antoine Winfield to tie the game right before half as the Eagles were driving and looking to go up by two scores before the second half.
It was an absolutely horrendous game for the man who was named the NFC's starting quarterback in Pro Bowl prior to kickoff. In fact, not a single Eagle that was named to the Pro Bowl did much of anything. Vick was at his absolute worst. David Akers missed a 54-yard field goal attempt by coming up way, way short, and absolutely killed the Birds by sailing his kickoff out of bounds immediately following Vick's in the 4th touchdown, taking away all of the momentum they had gained. And it proved lethal, as the Vikings took advantage of the great field position and answered with a touchdown of their own to all but ice the game.
DeSean Jackson was held in check and looked at times disinterested. There were several instances where he could have come back and fought for the ball but simply didn't. Jason Peters wasn't altogether horrible, but it's hard to say anyone on the offensive line played well given the severe pressure and hard pounding Vick took all night. And Asante — while not making any glaring errors mostly because Joe Webb was content to pick on Dmitri Patterson, Joselio Hanson and the rest of Philadelphia's banged-up, inexperienced and plain bad secondary — didn't do anything special, and missed a few tackles. Oh, and he got called for another helmet-to-helmet penalty on a hit that is pretty difficult to avoid.
All in all, it was hard to find a single positive thing about last night's game.
But there are times when the players are just not going to have it. It's annoying, and maybe it shouldn't happen, but every team goes through lulls. What I found most egregious about last night was the game plan and the failure to adjust.
The passing game wasn't working at all. Not even a little bit. The line couldn't protect Vick and Vick was playing like he was the rookie making his first start, not Joe Webb. The Vikings were pummeling Vick and taking away the big play for the most part. With all of that combined with the cold, slippery conditions, you'd think the Eagles would have tossed out the game plan that clearly wasn't working and instead look to get the ball in LeSean McCoy's hands as often as possible.
They did not. McCoy only had 17 touches in the game. He only ran the ball 13 times. And it was nearly impossible to remember him being utilized at all in the first half. This is completely baffling and infuriating to me and so many others.
This may sound crazy, but watching everything LeSean McCoy has been able to do this season, I think he may just be the best player on this offense, or at least the most versatile. Saying it out loud, it actually does sound strange given that includes Vick and DeSean, two Pro Bowl players, Jeremy Maclin, et al. But that's how impressive he's been this season to me.
We could see the potential he had last year, and he's done nothing but improve in his first full season as the starter. He can run, he can catch, and he's worked hard to both improve his blocking and curtail his fumbling. Honestly, he has all the tools that Brian Westbrook did. And frankly, I think he should be utilized in the same way.
When Westbrook was at his peak, the Eagles got him the ball a variety of ways throughout the entire game — runs, screens, flanking him out wide, you name it. And it worked magic for Westbrook and the Eagles offense. That's exactly what they should be doing with McCoy because he has that kind of talent. The man is averaging 5.2 yards per carry, yet he only gets 13-14 carries a game. When you combine his catches (78), he's averaging 19 touches a game. That number, given his talent and explosiveness, should be closer to 25-30 touches a game.
I understand that this offense has a ton of weapons, understand that Vick needs to spread the ball around and that he himself takes a lot of the rushing game on his own shoulders by turning called passes into long rushes, but LeSean McCoy needs to be utilized more. It will take pressure off Vick, off Maclin and Jackson and Celek, and it will open up the game for everyone. Plus, it takes some stress off an offensive line that has had stretches where they struggle to protect Vick. Give him the same number of screen plays, swing passes, carries and touches that Westbrook got in his prime. It will only make the Eagles better, especially in games like last night when the passing game struggled.
There's no reason McCoy shouldn't have been a bigger part of the offense last night, and that one rests entirely on the shoulders of Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg.
Oh, and Sean McDermott still sucks. I'll concede that he's been dealt a raw deal with all the injuries to key players on defense, especially in the secondary, but damn. How in the hell can you, on 3rd and long with the game on the line, call a blitz by Joselio Hanson that then calls for Jamar Chaney, a rookie middle linebacker, to cover Percy Harvin, one of the fastest players on the planet? Because you're a shitty defensive coordinator, that's why.
Joe Webb, who wasn't even supposed to be a quarterback, wasn't great, but he didn't make any big mistakes. Adrian Peterson gained 118 yards on 22 carries, bringing the Philadelphia run defense back down to earth, and Percy had a field day running by Chaney, Patterson and Hanson for 7 catches for 100 yards. Things got so bad that Patterson, who played well in his first two games starting but has progressively gotten worse, was benched for Trevard Lindley in the 4th quarter. And Trevard Lindley sucks.
Really, there's nothing good I can say about that game. It was cold, the Eagles sucked and now they have no shot at a bye. On a bright note, they can rest anyone they want next week against Dallas, because the game is meaningless. The Eagles are locked in as the 3 seed in the NFC, meaning they'll host either the Packers, Giants or Bucs the second weekend in January.
Oh, and the Flyers lost, Jody Shelley sucker-punched former Flyer Andrew Alberts and will most assuredly face another suspension, and Kimmo Timonen suffered the dreaded lower-body injury. Awesome.
Don't act like you don't know every word to that song
The game plan was terrible. The coaching was terrible. The defense was terrible. The protection was terrible. The special teams were terrible. David Akers was terrible. And most of all, Michael Vick was terrible. Beyond terrible, actually. It was easily his worst game as a Philadelphia Eagle, and it probably ranked up there with any egg he laid in Atlanta.
This wasn't MVP candidate and starting Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick we've grown accustomed to. This was immature, impatient, dumb Michael Vick from his days in Atlanta.
To be fair, he was under heavy pressure all night. The Vikings brought the blitz early and often and from all areas of the field, and the offensive line couldn't pick it up. But that doesn't excuse Vick's play. Where he has shown tremendous poise and made great reads virtually all season, he instead neglected to read the defense and continued to throw horrible passes into coverage. He was picked off only once on the night, but he could have and should have been intercepted at least four times, probably five — if only the Minnesota defenders could catch.
He missed wide open receivers, never hit a hot route and made the wrong decision damn near every time he pulled the trigger on a pass. Yes, he did throw a touchdown pass to Clay Harbor on an awesome catch by the rookie tight end and run in the Eagles' other score by faking Jamarca Sanford out of his jock to bring the Eagles within a field goal in the 4th quarter.
But Vick also lost two fumbles, one of which was picked up and returned for a touchdown by Antoine Winfield to tie the game right before half as the Eagles were driving and looking to go up by two scores before the second half.
It was an absolutely horrendous game for the man who was named the NFC's starting quarterback in Pro Bowl prior to kickoff. In fact, not a single Eagle that was named to the Pro Bowl did much of anything. Vick was at his absolute worst. David Akers missed a 54-yard field goal attempt by coming up way, way short, and absolutely killed the Birds by sailing his kickoff out of bounds immediately following Vick's in the 4th touchdown, taking away all of the momentum they had gained. And it proved lethal, as the Vikings took advantage of the great field position and answered with a touchdown of their own to all but ice the game.
DeSean Jackson was held in check and looked at times disinterested. There were several instances where he could have come back and fought for the ball but simply didn't. Jason Peters wasn't altogether horrible, but it's hard to say anyone on the offensive line played well given the severe pressure and hard pounding Vick took all night. And Asante — while not making any glaring errors mostly because Joe Webb was content to pick on Dmitri Patterson, Joselio Hanson and the rest of Philadelphia's banged-up, inexperienced and plain bad secondary — didn't do anything special, and missed a few tackles. Oh, and he got called for another helmet-to-helmet penalty on a hit that is pretty difficult to avoid.
All in all, it was hard to find a single positive thing about last night's game.
But there are times when the players are just not going to have it. It's annoying, and maybe it shouldn't happen, but every team goes through lulls. What I found most egregious about last night was the game plan and the failure to adjust.
The passing game wasn't working at all. Not even a little bit. The line couldn't protect Vick and Vick was playing like he was the rookie making his first start, not Joe Webb. The Vikings were pummeling Vick and taking away the big play for the most part. With all of that combined with the cold, slippery conditions, you'd think the Eagles would have tossed out the game plan that clearly wasn't working and instead look to get the ball in LeSean McCoy's hands as often as possible.
They did not. McCoy only had 17 touches in the game. He only ran the ball 13 times. And it was nearly impossible to remember him being utilized at all in the first half. This is completely baffling and infuriating to me and so many others.
This may sound crazy, but watching everything LeSean McCoy has been able to do this season, I think he may just be the best player on this offense, or at least the most versatile. Saying it out loud, it actually does sound strange given that includes Vick and DeSean, two Pro Bowl players, Jeremy Maclin, et al. But that's how impressive he's been this season to me.
We could see the potential he had last year, and he's done nothing but improve in his first full season as the starter. He can run, he can catch, and he's worked hard to both improve his blocking and curtail his fumbling. Honestly, he has all the tools that Brian Westbrook did. And frankly, I think he should be utilized in the same way.
When Westbrook was at his peak, the Eagles got him the ball a variety of ways throughout the entire game — runs, screens, flanking him out wide, you name it. And it worked magic for Westbrook and the Eagles offense. That's exactly what they should be doing with McCoy because he has that kind of talent. The man is averaging 5.2 yards per carry, yet he only gets 13-14 carries a game. When you combine his catches (78), he's averaging 19 touches a game. That number, given his talent and explosiveness, should be closer to 25-30 touches a game.
I understand that this offense has a ton of weapons, understand that Vick needs to spread the ball around and that he himself takes a lot of the rushing game on his own shoulders by turning called passes into long rushes, but LeSean McCoy needs to be utilized more. It will take pressure off Vick, off Maclin and Jackson and Celek, and it will open up the game for everyone. Plus, it takes some stress off an offensive line that has had stretches where they struggle to protect Vick. Give him the same number of screen plays, swing passes, carries and touches that Westbrook got in his prime. It will only make the Eagles better, especially in games like last night when the passing game struggled.
There's no reason McCoy shouldn't have been a bigger part of the offense last night, and that one rests entirely on the shoulders of Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg.
Oh, and Sean McDermott still sucks. I'll concede that he's been dealt a raw deal with all the injuries to key players on defense, especially in the secondary, but damn. How in the hell can you, on 3rd and long with the game on the line, call a blitz by Joselio Hanson that then calls for Jamar Chaney, a rookie middle linebacker, to cover Percy Harvin, one of the fastest players on the planet? Because you're a shitty defensive coordinator, that's why.
Joe Webb, who wasn't even supposed to be a quarterback, wasn't great, but he didn't make any big mistakes. Adrian Peterson gained 118 yards on 22 carries, bringing the Philadelphia run defense back down to earth, and Percy had a field day running by Chaney, Patterson and Hanson for 7 catches for 100 yards. Things got so bad that Patterson, who played well in his first two games starting but has progressively gotten worse, was benched for Trevard Lindley in the 4th quarter. And Trevard Lindley sucks.
Really, there's nothing good I can say about that game. It was cold, the Eagles sucked and now they have no shot at a bye. On a bright note, they can rest anyone they want next week against Dallas, because the game is meaningless. The Eagles are locked in as the 3 seed in the NFC, meaning they'll host either the Packers, Giants or Bucs the second weekend in January.
Oh, and the Flyers lost, Jody Shelley sucker-punched former Flyer Andrew Alberts and will most assuredly face another suspension, and Kimmo Timonen suffered the dreaded lower-body injury. Awesome.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Best Week Ever (New York Sucks Edition)
First, Cliff Lee was delivered under the tree in the darkness of night. Then the Flyers snapped the Penguins' 12-game winning streak and a day later, the Flyers and Sixers both extended their own winning streaks behind their young guns. And to top it all off, the Flyers destroyed the Rangers 4-1 Saturday afternoon, and Philadelphia gave the ultimate fuck you to New York in the most insane 4th-quarter comeback in Eagles history thanks to Mike Vick and DeSean.
The only blemish was the Sixers blowing a 4th-quarter lead on Firday — oh, and the Eagles losing promising rookie safety Nate Allen for the year — against the Lakers, but then they turned around and beat the undermanned Orlando Magic the very next day behind three players (Lou Williams, 24, Andre Iguodala, 21, and Elton Brand, 20) scoring 20 points. When you add it all up, it makes for one of the greatest weeks in Philadelphia sports history. The best part (besides the winning)? The entire week was one giant middle finger to New York.
It started with Cliff Lee spurning the Yankees (and the Rangers) by taking less money and less years to rejoin the Phillies. That hurt New York's ego so much that instead of accepting reality, Yankees fans began to go in a state of denial, saying either they never really wanted Lee in the first place or going off and proclaiming him a "pussy" as one Yankees fan pointed out to me. Because, you know, completely dominating the Yankees the past two years makes him a pussy, or something like that. Jealousy can really bring out the worst in people.
The domination of New York continued on Saturday, and I was in the building once again. On Friday, I drove to Bucks County to attend a birthday party. On the way, I listened to the end of the Sixers-Lakers game and was getting pretty excited. When I stopped for gas not far from my destination, the 76ers were up by 4 in the fourth quarter. I got out to pump my gas and go get a drink. By the time I got back in my car, the Sixers were down by 7. That was the bad news. The good news was that once I got to the birthday party, I was invited to attend the Flyers-Rangers game on Saturday. And it was glorious.
The Flyers absolutely took it to the Rangers Saturday afternoon, outplaying them the entire game. They outshot the Rangers in every single period, finishing with a 39-25 shot advantage when it was all said and done in the easy 4-1 victory. The best part is that for the second time this year, Nikolay Zherdev stuck it to his old team.
There are few things in this world that Rangers fan hate more than losing to the Flyers, but losing to the Flyers as Nikolay Zherdev — a player that Rangers fans despised for his lack of production despite his immense talent — scores two goals in the process is one of them. I couldn't have been happier.
While Zherdev has certainly displayed the inconsistency and maddening play at times that drove Rangers fans nuts, he's been playing really great hockey of late, and he already has 13 goals on the year. Since Peter Laviolette put him on a line with Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk, that trio has been with tremendous, with Zherdev leading the way on the score sheet. That continued on Saturday.
His first goal came courtesy of an absolutely absurd pass by Mike Richards right as a penalty kill ended. Right before, Zherdev took a very stupid cross-checking penalty, putting the Flyers a man down. Luckily for Zherdev, the Flyers killed it off, and to make up for putting his teammates unnecessarily down a man, Zherdev received a perfect pass that went three quarters of the length of the ice and undressed his former teammate Henrik Lundqvist on the breakaway. His second goal came on an impossible angle, a truly impressive feat, to give the Flyers the power-play tally and officially put the game away.
In between Zherdev's bookend goals, Andreas Nodl scored thanks to a gorgeous backhanded pass by Claude Giroux, and Ville Leino added one on a tremendous deflection from the point.
Zherdev had two goals. Mike Richards and Claude Giroux both made ridiculous passes that led to goals, and the Richards-Nodl-Giroux line was strong all game. Brian Boucher stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced. But the best player on the ice Saturday was without question Kimmo Timonen.
With Chris Pronger out the next 4-6 weeks, Timonen will be the guy relied on the most back on the blue line. He showed that he's more than ready for that responsibility against the Rangers. Kimmo led all Flyers in ice time Saturday (23:08), and he was simply outstanding. Each time he was out on the ice, he shut down whatever line the Rangers threw at him. I know I've said it a million times, but I feel like it can't be said enough: Kimmo Timonen is arguably the most underrated player in the entire NHL. The guy is amazing. The more I watch him, the more I am in awe. He really is one of the game's best defenseman. And he was the player of the game in my eyes on Saturday.
The win was the fifth straight for the Flyers, and they just continue to hum along atop the NHL, leading everyone with 49 points through 34 games.
It was quite a nice primer for the Eagles-Giants game on Sunday. However, to be perfectly honest, I woke up with a bad feeling about the game. Even though the Eagles had defeated the Giants the last five times the two teams met, I just didn't feel good about yesterday's matchup, mainly because of the defense.
Philadelphia's defense has been suspect all season, and now they were going into this game more banged-up than ever. Jamar Chaney was making his first NFL start now that Stewart Bradley's out. Brandon Graham, while doing very little in his rookie season, was a regular, but now is done for the season. Ellis Hobbs has been gone, and Asante Samuel hadn't played since the last time the two teams met.
Early on, my fears looked well-founded. The Giants came out and completely dominated the Eagles in the first half. Eli Manning was having a field day picking on Dmitri Patterson, who finally looked like an undrafted free agent who has spent his career as a special teamer. The guy can tackle, but it's becoming increasingly clear that he's not the guy you necessarily want to be starting for you week in and week out. Yesterday, he was repeatedly getting schooled by Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks.
Meanwhile, the Giants defense was pummeling Vick, and the Eagles couldn't get anything going. Seeing the way the game was going, the Eagles down 17-3 and showing no signs of life, I wanted them to just take a knee and get to the half without any injuries and down just 14. Instead, after getting the ball back with 44 seconds remaining in the first half following a Tynes field goal, the Eagles tried to get into field goal range themselves. Vick hit Maclin for 12 yards on the second play, but Maclin fumbled, Kenny Phillips picked it up and returned it 22 yards to Philadelphia's 8, and Hakeem Nicks schooled Patterson once more for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Disastrous finish to the half. It was all New York, and the Giants led 24-3 at halftime.
But after a stalemate on the first few possessions of the second half, the Eagles finally caught a break. Mario Manningham, who was killing the Eagles all game, caught a 10-yard pass, but then inexplicably fumbled, just dropping the ball without being hit near the arms, and the Eagles recovered at New York's 25. Three plays later, Vick connected with Jeremy Maclin to make a two-touchdown game. After forcing a punt, the Eagles suddenly had a little life. Though they didn't do anything and exchanged punts with the Giants again, the Eagles were within two scores and still stuffing the Giants' run game, not allowing Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to tick all the time off the clock. Then early in the 4th quarter, on the first play following a Giants punt, Vick hit DeSean Jackson down the middle for a 30-yard gain, but as DeSean dove forward at the end of the play, he fumbled, and the Giants recovered. Replays showed that DeSean was clearly touched as he was going down, but there Andy sat, tucking his red flag away.
It was one of the worst non-challenges of all time. Even if Andy Reid didn't think DeSean was touched, he had to throw the flag the way Tom Coughlin did when Eli fumbled in the first meeting at the Linc. The time and scored dictated that. Plus, he would have actually won the damn challenge. But instead, Andy didn't challenge, and 7 plays later Eli Manning hit Kevin Boss for a touchdown. Just like that, the Eagles were down by 21 again, 31-10, and it looked as though Andy's no challenge officially cost his team any shot of a comeback.
At that point, I was just wishing the game would get over with so I could focus on watching the Red Zone Channel. Little did I know I was about to watch history be made.
The Eagles were down 21 points with just over 8 minutes to go following that touchdown by Boss. They began their drive with 8:09 remaining at their own 25. Two plays later, Mike Vick hit Brent Celek for a 65-yard score, 31-17. Then, Andy Reid and Bobby April pulled off a stroke of genius. Seeing that the Giants didn't put out their hands team and noticing something about them leaving early, the Eagles called for an onside kick. But they did it in stealth mode, not lining up for an onside kick and not putting out their own hands team, instead just lining up for a normal kickoff. Then David Akers, perhaps the best kicker at onside kicks of all time (Joe Buck passed along the stat that Akers is 8-18 on onside kicks), hit a beauty of an onside kick, and Riley Cooper recovered. From there, Mike Vick went into super man mode.
He hit DeSean for 13 yards, then took off for 35, and two incomplete passes and a penalty later, he was scampering into the end zone, 31-24.
The Eagles did give up one first down to the Giants on the ensuing possession, but they held. And thanks to — unbelievably — good use of his timeouts, Andy Reid made sure there was still plenty of time on the clock for Vick to work with to try and tie the game. Two incomplete passes later, the Eagels faced a 3rd and 10 at their own 12 with 2:56 remaining. The Giants blitzed, but didn't contain. Big mistake. Vick saw it, and took off for 33 yards. Then he hit Jason Avant for 13 yards and two plays later rushed for 22 more. After a completion to Brent Celek, Vick hit Jeremy Maclin for a 13-yard touchdown with 1:16 remaing, tie game. Unbelievable.
Things were only getting started. The Giants took over with 1:10 remaining. Determined to get into field goal range and not let this thing go to overtime, the Giants came out throwing. Eli couldn't connect on his first two attempts. The Giants faced 3rd and 10 at their own 26 with a minute remaining. Trevor Laws broke through and sacked Eli, not the worst thing in the world for the Giants. They let the clock wind all the way down to 14 seconds, called timeout and lined up to punt. I jokingly said it would be awesome if DeSean returned it, never once thinking it could happen. Of course the Giants would kick it away from him, forcing the Eagles to throw a hail mary. Then, this happened.
As he burst through, I started to freak out. And once Jason Avant threw that vicious block, I was leaping for joy, running around my house freaking the hell out. A WALKOFF PUNT RETURN! A MOTHER FUCKING WALKOFF PUNT RETURN! HOLY SHIT! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! DESEAN JACKSON IS THE GREATEST!
I'm with Merrill. I don't care if he dives, does a dance, anything. DeSean Jackson is the best. He really is. Unreal. Un-fucking-real.
I couldn't believe it. A 21-point deficit with seven and a half minutes to go. 28 points in the fourth quarter, the most ever in Eagles history. A walkoff punt return, the first in NFL history. 38-31 Eagles. Incredible. Truly incredible. I called or texted damn near everyone I know. It was the most stunning finish I've ever seen.
The Eagles are in first place all by their lonesome, 10-4 overall. They're in position to get a first-round bye, and even still alive for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. This team is just too much. With Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson (not to mention Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy) anything is possible for these Eagles. Anything.
You couldn't have written a better ending to an absolutely fantastic week. Cliff Lee, Flyers domination, and then Vick and DeSean. New York, OWNED.
The only blemish was the Sixers blowing a 4th-quarter lead on Firday — oh, and the Eagles losing promising rookie safety Nate Allen for the year — against the Lakers, but then they turned around and beat the undermanned Orlando Magic the very next day behind three players (Lou Williams, 24, Andre Iguodala, 21, and Elton Brand, 20) scoring 20 points. When you add it all up, it makes for one of the greatest weeks in Philadelphia sports history. The best part (besides the winning)? The entire week was one giant middle finger to New York.
It started with Cliff Lee spurning the Yankees (and the Rangers) by taking less money and less years to rejoin the Phillies. That hurt New York's ego so much that instead of accepting reality, Yankees fans began to go in a state of denial, saying either they never really wanted Lee in the first place or going off and proclaiming him a "pussy" as one Yankees fan pointed out to me. Because, you know, completely dominating the Yankees the past two years makes him a pussy, or something like that. Jealousy can really bring out the worst in people.
The domination of New York continued on Saturday, and I was in the building once again. On Friday, I drove to Bucks County to attend a birthday party. On the way, I listened to the end of the Sixers-Lakers game and was getting pretty excited. When I stopped for gas not far from my destination, the 76ers were up by 4 in the fourth quarter. I got out to pump my gas and go get a drink. By the time I got back in my car, the Sixers were down by 7. That was the bad news. The good news was that once I got to the birthday party, I was invited to attend the Flyers-Rangers game on Saturday. And it was glorious.
The Flyers absolutely took it to the Rangers Saturday afternoon, outplaying them the entire game. They outshot the Rangers in every single period, finishing with a 39-25 shot advantage when it was all said and done in the easy 4-1 victory. The best part is that for the second time this year, Nikolay Zherdev stuck it to his old team.
There are few things in this world that Rangers fan hate more than losing to the Flyers, but losing to the Flyers as Nikolay Zherdev — a player that Rangers fans despised for his lack of production despite his immense talent — scores two goals in the process is one of them. I couldn't have been happier.
While Zherdev has certainly displayed the inconsistency and maddening play at times that drove Rangers fans nuts, he's been playing really great hockey of late, and he already has 13 goals on the year. Since Peter Laviolette put him on a line with Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk, that trio has been with tremendous, with Zherdev leading the way on the score sheet. That continued on Saturday.
His first goal came courtesy of an absolutely absurd pass by Mike Richards right as a penalty kill ended. Right before, Zherdev took a very stupid cross-checking penalty, putting the Flyers a man down. Luckily for Zherdev, the Flyers killed it off, and to make up for putting his teammates unnecessarily down a man, Zherdev received a perfect pass that went three quarters of the length of the ice and undressed his former teammate Henrik Lundqvist on the breakaway. His second goal came on an impossible angle, a truly impressive feat, to give the Flyers the power-play tally and officially put the game away.
In between Zherdev's bookend goals, Andreas Nodl scored thanks to a gorgeous backhanded pass by Claude Giroux, and Ville Leino added one on a tremendous deflection from the point.
Zherdev had two goals. Mike Richards and Claude Giroux both made ridiculous passes that led to goals, and the Richards-Nodl-Giroux line was strong all game. Brian Boucher stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced. But the best player on the ice Saturday was without question Kimmo Timonen.
With Chris Pronger out the next 4-6 weeks, Timonen will be the guy relied on the most back on the blue line. He showed that he's more than ready for that responsibility against the Rangers. Kimmo led all Flyers in ice time Saturday (23:08), and he was simply outstanding. Each time he was out on the ice, he shut down whatever line the Rangers threw at him. I know I've said it a million times, but I feel like it can't be said enough: Kimmo Timonen is arguably the most underrated player in the entire NHL. The guy is amazing. The more I watch him, the more I am in awe. He really is one of the game's best defenseman. And he was the player of the game in my eyes on Saturday.
The win was the fifth straight for the Flyers, and they just continue to hum along atop the NHL, leading everyone with 49 points through 34 games.
It was quite a nice primer for the Eagles-Giants game on Sunday. However, to be perfectly honest, I woke up with a bad feeling about the game. Even though the Eagles had defeated the Giants the last five times the two teams met, I just didn't feel good about yesterday's matchup, mainly because of the defense.
Philadelphia's defense has been suspect all season, and now they were going into this game more banged-up than ever. Jamar Chaney was making his first NFL start now that Stewart Bradley's out. Brandon Graham, while doing very little in his rookie season, was a regular, but now is done for the season. Ellis Hobbs has been gone, and Asante Samuel hadn't played since the last time the two teams met.
Early on, my fears looked well-founded. The Giants came out and completely dominated the Eagles in the first half. Eli Manning was having a field day picking on Dmitri Patterson, who finally looked like an undrafted free agent who has spent his career as a special teamer. The guy can tackle, but it's becoming increasingly clear that he's not the guy you necessarily want to be starting for you week in and week out. Yesterday, he was repeatedly getting schooled by Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks.
Meanwhile, the Giants defense was pummeling Vick, and the Eagles couldn't get anything going. Seeing the way the game was going, the Eagles down 17-3 and showing no signs of life, I wanted them to just take a knee and get to the half without any injuries and down just 14. Instead, after getting the ball back with 44 seconds remaining in the first half following a Tynes field goal, the Eagles tried to get into field goal range themselves. Vick hit Maclin for 12 yards on the second play, but Maclin fumbled, Kenny Phillips picked it up and returned it 22 yards to Philadelphia's 8, and Hakeem Nicks schooled Patterson once more for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Disastrous finish to the half. It was all New York, and the Giants led 24-3 at halftime.
But after a stalemate on the first few possessions of the second half, the Eagles finally caught a break. Mario Manningham, who was killing the Eagles all game, caught a 10-yard pass, but then inexplicably fumbled, just dropping the ball without being hit near the arms, and the Eagles recovered at New York's 25. Three plays later, Vick connected with Jeremy Maclin to make a two-touchdown game. After forcing a punt, the Eagles suddenly had a little life. Though they didn't do anything and exchanged punts with the Giants again, the Eagles were within two scores and still stuffing the Giants' run game, not allowing Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to tick all the time off the clock. Then early in the 4th quarter, on the first play following a Giants punt, Vick hit DeSean Jackson down the middle for a 30-yard gain, but as DeSean dove forward at the end of the play, he fumbled, and the Giants recovered. Replays showed that DeSean was clearly touched as he was going down, but there Andy sat, tucking his red flag away.
It was one of the worst non-challenges of all time. Even if Andy Reid didn't think DeSean was touched, he had to throw the flag the way Tom Coughlin did when Eli fumbled in the first meeting at the Linc. The time and scored dictated that. Plus, he would have actually won the damn challenge. But instead, Andy didn't challenge, and 7 plays later Eli Manning hit Kevin Boss for a touchdown. Just like that, the Eagles were down by 21 again, 31-10, and it looked as though Andy's no challenge officially cost his team any shot of a comeback.
At that point, I was just wishing the game would get over with so I could focus on watching the Red Zone Channel. Little did I know I was about to watch history be made.
The Eagles were down 21 points with just over 8 minutes to go following that touchdown by Boss. They began their drive with 8:09 remaining at their own 25. Two plays later, Mike Vick hit Brent Celek for a 65-yard score, 31-17. Then, Andy Reid and Bobby April pulled off a stroke of genius. Seeing that the Giants didn't put out their hands team and noticing something about them leaving early, the Eagles called for an onside kick. But they did it in stealth mode, not lining up for an onside kick and not putting out their own hands team, instead just lining up for a normal kickoff. Then David Akers, perhaps the best kicker at onside kicks of all time (Joe Buck passed along the stat that Akers is 8-18 on onside kicks), hit a beauty of an onside kick, and Riley Cooper recovered. From there, Mike Vick went into super man mode.
He hit DeSean for 13 yards, then took off for 35, and two incomplete passes and a penalty later, he was scampering into the end zone, 31-24.
The Eagles did give up one first down to the Giants on the ensuing possession, but they held. And thanks to — unbelievably — good use of his timeouts, Andy Reid made sure there was still plenty of time on the clock for Vick to work with to try and tie the game. Two incomplete passes later, the Eagels faced a 3rd and 10 at their own 12 with 2:56 remaining. The Giants blitzed, but didn't contain. Big mistake. Vick saw it, and took off for 33 yards. Then he hit Jason Avant for 13 yards and two plays later rushed for 22 more. After a completion to Brent Celek, Vick hit Jeremy Maclin for a 13-yard touchdown with 1:16 remaing, tie game. Unbelievable.
Things were only getting started. The Giants took over with 1:10 remaining. Determined to get into field goal range and not let this thing go to overtime, the Giants came out throwing. Eli couldn't connect on his first two attempts. The Giants faced 3rd and 10 at their own 26 with a minute remaining. Trevor Laws broke through and sacked Eli, not the worst thing in the world for the Giants. They let the clock wind all the way down to 14 seconds, called timeout and lined up to punt. I jokingly said it would be awesome if DeSean returned it, never once thinking it could happen. Of course the Giants would kick it away from him, forcing the Eagles to throw a hail mary. Then, this happened.
As he burst through, I started to freak out. And once Jason Avant threw that vicious block, I was leaping for joy, running around my house freaking the hell out. A WALKOFF PUNT RETURN! A MOTHER FUCKING WALKOFF PUNT RETURN! HOLY SHIT! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! DESEAN JACKSON IS THE GREATEST!
I'm with Merrill. I don't care if he dives, does a dance, anything. DeSean Jackson is the best. He really is. Unreal. Un-fucking-real.
I couldn't believe it. A 21-point deficit with seven and a half minutes to go. 28 points in the fourth quarter, the most ever in Eagles history. A walkoff punt return, the first in NFL history. 38-31 Eagles. Incredible. Truly incredible. I called or texted damn near everyone I know. It was the most stunning finish I've ever seen.
The Eagles are in first place all by their lonesome, 10-4 overall. They're in position to get a first-round bye, and even still alive for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. This team is just too much. With Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson (not to mention Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy) anything is possible for these Eagles. Anything.
You couldn't have written a better ending to an absolutely fantastic week. Cliff Lee, Flyers domination, and then Vick and DeSean. New York, OWNED.
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