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.

A Beatdown, a Meltdown, a City Showdown and a Touchdown (Record)

This was one hell of an eventful weekend here in Philadelphia. Saturday was jam-packed with action, as the Flyers hosted the Bruins, Temple took on Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl in football while the basketball team headed to Austin to take on Texas, and Villanova traveled down Lancaster Avenue to St. Joe's for this year's rendition of the Holy War.

Then, the Eagles took on the Jets yesterday to try and keep their playoff hopes alive, and in between, Jimmy Rollins re-signed with the Phillies and Matt McGloin got punched out by teammate Curtis Drake and suffered a seizure.



After a relatively sports-free Friday night, I awoke on Saturday to a text message from my buddy at 10 a.m. that simply read, "Flyers/Bruins at 1. You in?" That might as well have been a rhetorical question, because of course I was in.

As I was waiting for my friend to get out of work and pick me up, I nabbed a couple hoagies from Slack's and got ready for a busy day of sports. Running a bit behind, we got to our seats just as the puck was being dropped … and literally as I plopped my ass into my seat, the Bruins scored the first of many goals in a 6-0 route.

Nothing was going right for the Flyers at all. They couldn't make a simple pass, couldn't defend whatsoever, couldn't really do anything. The only guy on the ice that looked remotely alive was Max Talbot.

Ilya Bryzgalov got hung out to dry on most of the four first-period goals he let in, though he also let in a huge softy by Zdeno Chara.

Chara, by the way, was an absolute force on the ice in his first game back in about a week. While the Flyers were missing their big defenseman, Chara showed up and dominated. He had a goal and an assist, both power play points, completely shut down any and all Flyers' chances, and also rabbit-punched Jody Shelley to death in a fight.



Now, even though Shelley clearly was bested by the enormous Chara, I'll take that trade 100 times out of 100. It's way more detrimental to the Bruins to lose Chara for five minutes than it is for the Flyers to lose Shelley for five minutes. Although that really wasn't the case here, as the Bruins scored almost immediately following that and forced the Flyers into perhaps the worst period of hockey they've played all season.

To make matters even worse, Sean Couturier took a Kimmo Timonen slap shot right off the head, dropped to the ice and laid motionless for a while. It was a frightening scene that added to the already worrisome head injuries sustained to Chris Pronger, Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn.



Thankfully Couturier did get up and skate off under his own power, but he clearly didn't look right. He was taken to the hospital and stayed overnight, and he's currently listed as day to day. Hopefully he's OK. As I've said before, Couturier has become one of my favorite players on the team. In fact, I was just telling my friend on the way down to the arena that Couturier sort of reminds me of a young Rod Brind'Amour, minus the face-off dominance. He's incredibly responsible defensively, a tremendous penalty-killer, and while he doesn't have incredible speed or awe-inspiring puck-handling skills, you can see he has the scoring touch to development into a pretty decent goal scorer. Plus, he's only 19, so he's only going to get better.

Beyond wishing him a quick recovery, his injury also brings more concern over the PK. Without Giroux and Couturier, the Flyers are without two of their top four PK forwards — not exactly good for the team that leads the NHL in minor penalties.

We knew it was only a matter of time before the injuries would harm the Flyers at least for one game. Saturday, that was the case, and that first period was about as disastrous as it gets. With a few minutes left in the 2nd, as it became clear the Flyers really had nothing to generate a comeback and fell behind 5-0, we departed so we could watch the Temple action.

I checked in on Temple's bowl game and saw the Owls were trouncing Wyoming behind a big game by Bernard Pierce. Thus, I focused my attention on the basketball team's game in Texas. Early on, things were going well with Temple leading virtually the entire first half against a young Texas team. But then they let the Longhorns go on a run and tie it before Khaliff Wyatt hit a tough three at the buzzer to put Temple up 3 at half.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. The Owls couldn't buy a buck and Texas got out in transition rather easily to pull away. To make matters worse, Juan Fernandez limped off the court after getting tangled up. Ugly all around, though not as ugly as the what I was seeing on Twitter — that Penn State wide receiver Curtis Drake punched out his quarterback Matt McGloin in the locker room after practice and that McGloin suffered a seizure.

Not good. At all. The football program clearly could have done without this as the Nittany Lions prepare for their Jan. 2 bowl match-up with Houston given all the turmoil this season. Damn.

That was a pretty bad start to Saturday, but good news was sprinkled in. Beyond Temple winning its bowl game, news also circulated the Jimmy Rollins re-signed with the Phillies, keeping him in the only professional uniform he's ever worn for at least three more years.



Then, we were all given a tightly contested first half between Villanova and St. Joe's before the Hawks trounced Nova in the second half behind the shooting of Langston Galloway and Carl Jones, and especially the shot-blocking of C.J. Aiken.



Aiken, who had four blocks Saturday night, leads the nation in blocks, averaging an insane 4.7 blocks per game. This is fascinating to me. I had the opportunity to watch Aiken play a few times in high school for Plymouth Whitemarsh. He was clearly a very good player and used his size and length to block shots, but I never thought he'd turn into the premier shot-blocker in the nation in college. Yet that's exactly what he's become this year, absolutely owning the paint and altering shots.

On Saturday, you could see the Wildcats were hesitant to challenge Aiken inside. The sophomore, who set a St. Joe's freshman record for blocks last year, was in Nova's head all night long, and he was a big reason the Hawks blew away the Cats in the second half.

It's clear that St. Joe's is the real deal and will be among the A-10's best teams, on par with Temple and St. Louis behind Xavier. And this game showed that right now, Villanova is at best the third best team in the city.

Yesterday was a little less crazy, though plenty exciting. The Redskins went out and upset the Giants pretty easily, giving the Eagles' slim playoff hopes a boost. Then the Eagles went out and trounced the Jets at the Linc despite their best efforts to allow New York back in the game.

After going up 28-0 behind a defensive touchdown and an interception by Asante Samuel, the Eagles started their own turnover brigade to put the Jets back in it. But it didn't matter. LeSean McCoy continued his MVP-type season, scoring three touchdowns and gaining 102 yards to break the franchise record for single-season touchdowns and rushing touchdowns, passing Steven Van Buren for both.



McCoy has 20 touchdowns on the season, 17 on the ground, setting new franchise marks. The man is incredible.

Brent Celek also had a huge game, hauling in five catches for 156 yards and a score.

But even more impressive than the offense in this 45-19 win was again the defense. Suddenly, the Birds don't look as horrid on that side of the ball as they have for most of the year.

The Eagles held the Jets to just 241 yards of offense, forced four turnovers and got the off field on third down time and time again. Jason Babin had three sacks. The secondary looked really good. And Casey Matthews even had a nice game, flying all over the field and making plays. It was crazy, almost like these guys care about playing defense all the sudden.

Even more crazy, the Eagles really are alive for the playoffs despite this whirlwind of a season, though they still need help. First and foremost, the Birds have to win their remaining two games, next week at Dallas and home against the Skins on New Year's Day. Then the Jets have to beat the Giants next week, followed by the Giants beating the Cowboys in week 17. Still a lot that has to happen, and probably still unlikely, but certainly not impossible. Unreal.

Watch this be the dumb year where the Eagles back in and then win the whole damn thing. Wouldn't that piss off everyone after a steady chorus of "Fire Andy!"?

I can't even believe this team has even a remote chance at the postseason, yet here were are. Crazy.

What a Difference a Week Makes

A week ago, I was on a sports high: the Flyers won in impressive fashion, Penn State remained undefeated in conference play despite its offense and the Eagles put it on the Cowboys, finally looking like the team everyone expected them to be.



Heading into the NHL season, I had my reservations about the Flyers after overhauling the roster. Penn State has been so hard to watch that I had to believe they'd lose some game they shouldn't. And the Eagles were so dreadful early on that it was hard to fathom them turning it around. Last weekend helped me reverse my thinking a bit, with the Flyers playing pretty good hockey early in the season, Penn State still finding ways to win, and the Eagles looking poised for their annual late-season run thanks to that demolition of the Cowboys following the bye week.

Things were finally starting to look up. There Penn State sat as the only undefeated team in Big Ten play, and the Eagles pulled themselves right back into the thick of the NFC East race.

One week later, and the doubt has crept back in. The entire university is in shock for Penn State, and you can't help but wonder if these damning allegations will derail the Nittany Lions' run toward the first ever Big Ten Championship Game. And the Eagles just put forth a sloppy, undisciplined game against a Bears team that tried to give the game away, losing 30-24 at home on Monday night.

What a difference a week makes.

Against the Cowboys, the Eagles dominated every facet of the game. Offensively, Michael Vick was as sharp as he's ever been, the receivers were making plays and LeSean McCoy continued to establish himself as one of the best running backs in the league. Defensively, Juan Castillo let his cornerbacks loose, completely shutting down Dallas' passing attack, and the rest of the unit followed suit. Nothing could go wrong.

Last night, none of that was the case. There wasn't a single player on defense who had a good game, and the only guy who even looked competent was Kurt Coleman. The defensive line didn't get any pressure on Jay Cutler despite going against a line that has let its quarterback get killed all season long. In fact, the only time they even touched Cutler, Jason Babin was called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty.

A week after putting forth their best effort of the year, the linebackers reverted to their previous ways, getting run through by Matt Forte and getting burnt in coverage against the do-it-all back. On the opening drive, the Bears just ran it right down Philadelphia's throat. And the corners played awful all damn night.



To be fair, Asante Samuel was having a strong game most of the night. Jay Cutler spent a lot of the game going to Asante's man, and for the most part, he did an excellent job in coverage. But on the Bears' go-ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter, Asante got burnt badly, and I'm not even sure what the hell he was doing. However, at least Asante was fired up and into the game. The same cannot be said about Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

I keep hearing about how DRC is perhaps the best athlete on the team, how his defensive teammates are in awe of his natural ability. But you know what? None of that matters one bit if you don't give a damn, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie does not give two shits about playing football this season. Maybe he isn't happy being a nickel corner and can't get comfortable in his role here, but that doesn't excuse his complete indifference on the field. Watch any game except last week, and it's clear he isn't coming close to giving his full effort out on the field. Last night, he gave up on at least 6 plays, once letting a guy completely go and not even remotely trying to make a tackle after giving up a reception.

It's reached the point where he shouldn't even be allowed on the field with that type of pathetic effort. He's insulting his teammates and the fans with what he's doing out there. I mean, it really does look like he's not even trying. He should be ashamed of himself.

And Nnamdi, well, he just hasn't been what we expected. Against Dallas, he was awesome. And last night, he generally took away Devin Hester or whoever else he was covering, as Cutler avoided throwing his way for the most part. But when the Eagles really needed him to make a play, just to not give up a play actually, he got called for a pass interference penalty against Johnny Knox on a 3rd-and-11 with 5 minutes left, allowing the Bears to milk more clock before kicking the field goal that put them 7.

That was a theme for the night, the Eagles not getting off the field on third down.

On offense, it was LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek but no one else. The receivers were terrible all night, with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin dropping balls the entire game. Vick played about as stupid as you can, literally throwing balls right to Chicago defenders. He's lucky as hell he only got picked off once, a terrible throw that looked like Lance Briggs actually was his intended target. There was a stretch of games last year where Vick really looked like an evolved quarterback, but he's back to playing stupid football with boneheaded decisions excluding last week's game.

Then there was all the normal high jinks we've come to expect. DeSean Jackson fumbled a punt with a minute left in the half, leading to a Chicago touchdown. After taking a 24-17 lead on a 33-yard run by LeSean McCoy with 5:521 remaining in the third quarter, Shady only touched the ball three more times all game. Three. Your best player only got the ball three times in the final 20 minutes of the game even though the Eagles had a lead heading into the 4th quarter. Following a field goal by Robbie Gould that made it 24-20, the Eagles came out and called three straight passing plays before punting. They were winning. In the 4th quarter. With their best player being their running back. And they didn't run the ball once with that lead in the final quarter. That's what you call terrible coaching.

Then there was the Eagles using a timeout with the clock stopped after an incomplete pass, trailing with four minutes left. And who can forget Chas Henry's laughable pass attempt on that fake field goal?



Colt Anderson was wide open. No one covered him as the Eagles lined up for the punt. All Henry had to do was get the ball to him and it was a sure first down to continue the drive with a chance to tie the game. But he underthrew him by at least 5 yards, and the game was over. Unreal.

It looked just like the Eagles prior to the Washington game. The Bears were literally trying to give the game away. Matt Forte, who did gash the Birds for 133 yards on the ground, fumbled twice. He never fumbles, yet he did twice. Still the Eagles couldn't win.

Last week, they could do no wrong. Last night, they couldn't do anything right.

Just a week ago, hell just a few days ago, Penn State and the Eagles looked to be in good position. Now they're both scrambling in one form or another.

What a difference a week makes.

Some Things I Just Don't Understand

Three sporting events dominated my weekend: Penn State hosting Purdue, the Flyers hosting the Kings and the Eagles taking on the Redskins. In all three instances, things I just don't understand kept happening.



I don't understand Penn State still insisting on playing two quarterbacks now seven games into the season. I don't understand why some people felt the need to boo Mike Richards every time he touched the puck. And I don't understand anything about the Eagles at all.

Let's start with Penn State's hideous 23-18 victory over Purdue, which had plenty more things I just don't understand beyond the quarterback situation — though that's exactly where we must start.

I'm as guilty as anyone in flip-flopping on the Rob Bolden vs. Matt McGloin debate. After the Alabama game, I was convinced Bolden was the guy. But as the season has gone on, it's become abundantly clear in my eyes that McGloin is the better option. Chris Spielman and Urban Meyer both endorsed McGloin as impartial outside observers, and everyone who watches this team outside of the locker room sees the same thing: the offense moves the ball better and has more confidence with McGloin under center.

After outshining Bolden for weeks and essentially finishing off the game against Iowa in the second half, damn near everyone thought the quarterback carousel would finally be over. McGloin is the starter, Bolden the backup and that's that. So of course on Saturday, Rob Bolden trots out for the opening series and handles the duties in the first quarter as usual, and the carousel continues. Unreal.

Bolden led Penn State down the field on its first scoring possession with two big plays through the air, both to Brandon Moseby-Felder, but after that, he looked lost yet again. Those were his only two completions of the game, and the offense really couldn't do anything with him in the game after that.

McGloin on the other hand led Penn State on the remainder of its scoring drives, and the coaches clearly showed more confidence in him by dialing up much more pass plays for the junior. Don't get me wrong, McGloin is far from perfect at this point. His numbers weren't very good (8-17 for 145) and he threw an absolutely horrible, stupid interception, but it's clear this offense moves better with him out there. I don't understand why a team that is still in the mix in the Big 10 continues to rotate quarterbacks. I just don't.



One explanation that was given during the game is that Joe Paterno said one of his biggest coaching regrets is the way he handled the Pat Devlin-Darryl Clark situation, in which he ultimately picked Clark as the starter, which led Devlin to transfer to Delaware. Obviously it would have been nice to keep Devlin around, especially to be the unquestioned starter as a fifth-year senior last season. But the simple fact that Paterno regrets how he handled the decision to go with Darryl Clark proves to me that Joe really can't be involved in the big decisions anymore. How could a coach regret picking a guy who won a Big 10 title and had two 11-win seasons? He made the right choice picking Clark, and he needs to make a choice for this team. Yet he won't and it's hurting the offense far more than it's helping.

I also don't understand, even though it worked, why on earth Penn State went for it on 4th-and-1 with less than 2 minutes left and up 5 at the Purdue 10 instead of kicking the chip shot field goal to go up 8. I know Penn State picked up the first and won the game, and I know that Penn State's defense is good, but if they would have been stopped, Purdue could have won the game with a touchdown. And as hard as it is to score on this Penn State defense, Purdue would have had more than a minute and a half left, and the Boilermakers had hit on some big plays already. All it would have taken was a stop and one big play for Purdue to upset Penn State. Had they kicked the field goal to go up 8, there was virtually no possible way the Nittany Lions could lose in regulation. Baffling decision to me, even though it worked.

I also don't understand how tossing a ball up in the air after a big play because you're excited constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct, but that's what happened Chaz Powell, a la Jake Locker.





What I do understand is that Silas Redd is turning into everything expected of him. The sophomore running back had his third straight 100-yard game, proving to be a workhorse and Penn State's best offensive player with 131 yards on 28 carries. After a slow start to the season, the offensive line is finally giving Redd some holes to run through, and he's making the most of them. That guy is good.

I also understand that Justin Brown has star potential. With Derek Moye out, Brown stepped up to lead Penn State with 4 catches for 86 yards, including an absolutely sensational catch before McGloin threw his inexplicable interception.



He is definitely my favorite player on this team.

I also have to give huge praise to Anthony Fera. After doing his time for some off-the-field trouble, the do-it-all kicker/punter is showing why he was so highly regarded coming out of high school. Fera once again hit all three field goals, continuing to be perfect this season, boomed a few kickoffs and averaged 44.5 yards per punt, including an absolutely awesome 69-yarder that was downed at the Purdue 1 on a nice play by Nick Sukay.

And as always, Devon Still and Jordan Hill were beasts, though the defense wasn't on its A game this week. And that game was incredibly painful to watch. A not very good Purdue team hung with Penn State for 60 minutes. That's not good. I have to think this is the worst 6-1 team I've ever seen. For real.

I honestly couldn't wait for the game to be over just so I no longer had to watch it. Viewing Penn State is extremely unpleasant right now, even with that 6-1 record.

Thankfully I had something other than drinking to look forward to because for a nightcap I attended Mike Richards' homecoming to Philadelphia.



It was, of course, a homecoming for several former Flyers, as the Kings employ Justin Williams, Simon Gagne, Terry Murray, John Stevens and Ron Hextall in addition to the former captain. And as it turns out, the former Flyers had a huge hand in the outcome, with Justin Williams scoring two goals, Gagne notching an assist and Richards setting up the overtime game-winner in vintage Mike Richards fashion.

The game itself was a good, tough contest. Even though the Flyers suffered their first loss of the season, they still picked up a point, played a pretty good game and lost a tough one to a good team. Danny Briere and Matt Carle both tallied on the power play, and the Flyers had plenty of chances, outshooting the Kings 34-26. But they just couldn't quite finish it off.

The game itself was sort of secondary to be honest. This was more about Richards' return and the reaction he would get. When he was named as a starter prior to the game, he got a pretty nice ovation. After the first stoppage in play, the Flyers then put up on the jumbotron a note welcoming Richards back along with an announcement from the PA system. That's when he received a rousing, thrilling standing ovation from the crowd, us Flyers fans showing our appreciation for all the hard work Richards put in during his time in Philadelphia.



That was a moment to be proud of, though that feeling didn't last all that long for me. Why? Because after that initial show of appreciation, a good number of fans decided to boo Richards the remainder of the game every time he touched the puck the way they do when Sidney Crosby comes to play in Philadelphia, and frankly, I just don't get it.

Listen, I'm not going to say people were wrong for booing Richards or shouldn't have done it — after all, I wrote this. If you want to boo, by all means boo. I just don't understand it. I really don't. What is there to boo about Richards? The fact that he liked to drink and maybe wasn't the most vocal leader? All right, I guess. But I don't really get that when you look at the indisputable facts: Mike Richards played really, really hard every game he took the ice here in Philadelphia, he played in all situations, he was one of the game's best two-way forwards, he was the best penalty killer on the team, he threw crushing body checks, he was a really good player, and he wanted to stay here. He loved Philadelphia. He never said a bad word about the organization or the fans. He signed what he thought was a lifetime contract because he wanted to be here. I'm not sure what reason there is to boo a guy like that.

Sure, he wasn't perfect, but he was really good, worked really hard and loved being a Flyer. Doesn't make sense to me to boo him for that. He didn't ask to be traded. And I didn't see anyone booing Gagne or Williams, two other guys who were traded away.

I could understand booing him if he scored or something like that, because after all, he is no longer a Flyer. But to treat him with the same type of contempt as Crosby, a heated rival, I just don't get it.

Such is life. And regardless, it didn't seem to affect Richards' play. He was his normal self, doing a masterful job on the PK for L.A., manning the point on the power play, doing great work at both ends of the ice, and in my humble opinion playing as well, if not better, than anyone on the ice. He also had a Mike Richards special, leveling Jakub Voracek.



And he of course set up the game-winner with the primary assist on a perfect slap pass.



It was a little bit of poetic justice. And no matter what goes on moving forward, I will always be a Mike Richards fan. Of course, I'm a Flyers fan first and foremost, so booing that assist I completely understand. It's giving him the Crosby treatment that baffles me.

Then there is the Eagles. Winning that game yesterday was a very Eagles thing to do, bringing everyone back in just when you thought they were dead. And they did it all as some bizarro team.

We grew accustomed this season to the defense playing terrible football, especially the safeties, with the corners underachieving and the run defense as a sieve. Only the pass rush lived up to the hype. So naturally on Sunday, the defense played really well, surrendering just 13 points and forcing four turnovers. The safeties actually stood out, with Kurt Coleman playing the game of his life, picking off Rex Grossman three times, and Nate Allen continuing to look better and healthier, also intercepting Grossman. The corners took away the receivers, as only tight end Fred Davis could find any room to roam, and Nnamdi Asomugha even took out Chris Cooley with a vicious hit, finally deciding to do something during this 2011 season.



Furthermore, the run defense was impeccable, holding Washington to just 42 yards on the ground. Only the pass rush looked lackluster with Trent Cole absent. Like I said, it was a bizarro performance.

The same could be said offensively to an extent as well. Brent Celek, who had been MIA ever since Mike Vick became the regular quarterback, finally broke out with a four-catch game and a score, including an acrobatic grab thanks to his own doing.



And in some odd twist of fate or Andy just playing a cruel trick on us, LeSean McCoy actually carried the ball 28 times as the Eagles won 20-13. He also added 2 catches for 13 yards. Go figure that when you give your best player the ball 30 times you actually win. Seriously, LeSean should be touching the ball 25-35 times every week. The guy is the best player on the team.



This week, he did, and the Eagles won. At some point this year, he'll only get 9 or 11 carries, like he did the last two weeks, and the Eagles will lose, and you just won't understand.

That's the way of the world, I guess. Some things you just won't understand.

An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

I was out of it at work all day yesterday. Tired, sluggish, mind drifting. I couldn't wait to get home, wake myself up out of my haze, order some food and watch the Eagles host the Texans on the NFL Network's stupid Thursday night game. Then at about 6:40 p.m., as I'm in mid-stretch in preparation of hitting the treadmill, my phone rings. For some reason, I decided to see who it was and answer, normally not something I do as I'm preparing to go for a run. Boy am I glad I did.

Just a scant hour and 40 minutes before scheduled kickoff, Adam EatShit calls to tell me some guy at work just gave him a ticket, free of charge, and wanted to know if I wanted it. There was just one catch — it was a lone ticket, meaning I'd have to sit "by myself" without anyone I knew. It took me about 2 seconds to accept. What kind of fool would turn down a free ticket? He made me an offer I couldn't refuse.



Of course, I was bemoaning the fact that now, instead of relaxing and watching the game in the warm comfort of my home, I would be freezing my nuts off in 30-degree weather. Actually, I didn't care about that at all. Hurriedly I started to get dressed — four pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, a T-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, two hoodies, Jerome Brown jersey, boots and two winter hats and a pair of gloves just in case. Before long, I was out the door and on the subway headed down to the Linc.

I arrived about an hour before kickoff, met up with Adam to get my ticket, saw The Charles briefly, downed a beer and headed in. Then I hit a god damn roadblock. I've been to many Eagles games over the years, including a ton at the Linc. I know that as game time gets closer, it becomes a pain to enter the stadium. That's normally why I like to get in relatively early. But I've never experienced the trouble I had last night getting into the stadium. It was just awful. I got ready to go in a good 40 minutes before kickoff, and it took me damn near that entire time just to get into the building because of the backup. Several people in line told me the Linc is by far the toughest stadium to get into that they've been to, with some of them having gone to games at 7 or 8 stadiums or more. It's a real pain in the ass, never more so than last night.

Thankfully, I fought my way through and got to my seat just as the kickoff was taking place, but the Eagles really need to figure out a better way to securely get fans into the stadium in a timely fashion. And the security guards who do the patting down could be a little fucking faster.

Regardless, I found my way to my seat, an aisle seat no less — section 228, row 16, seat 1 — in time and took in the game. Plus, I had the added bonus of having the seat next to me vacated the entire game, meaning I had a built-in buffer and an aisle seat. It was pretty fucking awesome, though I'm not sure what the guy who gave Adam the ticket did with the other one. Because I know plenty of people who would have loved to take it. Either way, it was quite nice for me, and the section was pretty good too. The guys in front of me were season ticket holders who knew their shit and were very friendly, and no one else really bothered me. The only downside was the fact that there were beer guys coming up and down the aisle, clogging things up and making it difficult to see with all the people trying to get around them. But I managed just fine.



The way the game started proved to be foreshadowing for the way the rest of the game would play out. For starters, the Eagles finally looked competent on special teams, as Jorrick Calvin — who really, really sucks by the way — returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Only he didn't because it was called back due to a pretty obvious holding penalty on Clay Harbor. Thus the theme began for the Eagles and their penalties, something that's become far too commonplace this season. In all the Eagles finished with 11 penalties for 85 yards last night, several of which extended Houston drives or backed the Eagles up incredibly far. Sitting in the cold stands, I swear it felt more like 20 penalties or more. Terrible.

But the Eagles did offset the bad with a very, very good drive, easily marching down the field 88 yards in 11 plays that took 6:50. On the first play from scrimmage, Vick hit a wide open DeSean Jackson for 30 yards. Clearly Jackson came ready to play after a short week. The big plays didn't stop there. Vick hit LeSean McCoy for 16 yards, Brent Celek for 20 and Jeremy Maclin for 12, finally capping the drive off with a touchdown pass to LeSean. It all looked so easy.

After the Texans responded with a field goal, the Eagles offense picked up right where it left off. Calvin somehow miraculously had another good kickoff return, this one for 31 yards. First play, LeSean gains 12. Three plays later, Vick hits DeSean for another big gainer, this time 21 yards. Before you know it, McCoy's fighting his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game to cap off yet another impressive 11-play drive — 72 yards in 5:18 to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead. Two possessions, two long drives, two touchdowns. The Eagles were making it look effortless.

When the Eagles stopped the Texans and then added a field goal to go up 17-3 — thanks to a 34-yard pass to Maclin — the game looked to be in the bag. The Eagles had already limited a potent Houston attack early, and the Texans showed absolutely no signs of being able to slow down the Eagles.

Then all the sudden things took a turn for the worse. After David Akers banged home the 36-yard field goal, I went to take a piss. I got back to my seat when the Houston offense came back onto the field. Too bad the Eagles defense didn't show up. Matt Schaub made three clutch throws, hitting Kevin Walter for 14 yards, Andre Johnson for 42 yards and then tossing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones. On the drive the Eagles defense looked like swiss cheese. There was no pressure to hurry Schaub and no coverage whatsoever to speak of —  something that reared its ugly head quite emphatically last week against the Bears and never left after this drive.

Though after being stopped for the first time on offense, the defense did come up with a huge play. With less than two minutes remaining, Trevor Laws got spun around, but as he turned back to Schaub, the West Chester native tried to float a pass over him. Laws somehow alertly got his hands up and actually intercepted the pass in one hell of an athletic play. He did fumble the ball as he returned it, but luckily Trevard Lindley was there to pounce on it.



I don't know exactly what lit such a fire under Laws' ass, but he's been a pleasant surprise this year after underachieving in his first two seasons.

The Eagles took over with great field position at Houston's 18 and had a tremendous opportunity to step on the Texans' throats. Instead, they had to settle for a field goal again, making it 20-10 at halftime instead of going up two touchdowns. It was a missed opportunity, but still a good half.

The third quarter was not good. At all. Following the precedent set on the Texans' first-half touchdown drive, the Eagles' defense simply failed to show up to start the second half. No one got any pressure whatsoever up front, giving Schaub all day to pick apart a battered and weak Eagles secondary. He did just that, as the Eagles compounded the lack of pressure with a lack of coverage. The Texans did a wonderful job mixing in the run and the pass, and Schaub was shredding the Eagles by dumping down easily to the tight end or finding pretty much any receiver in single coverage.

Dimitri Patterson is right now the only competent cornerback the Eagles have with Asante and Ellis Hobbs out, not that Hobbs was any good when he was healthy. Joselio Hanson is being exposed for what every Eagles fan knew he was — an adequate nickel corner who simply cannot be on the field every down. And Trevard Lindley is a disaster. The rookie has no business being on an NFL field right now. He's just not ready.

The thing that compounded all that was Sean McDermott's baffling coverage schemes. With the Eagles only having three true corners healthy in Patterson, Hanson and Lindley, the Texans kept lining Andre Johnson up in the slot. Instead of sliding coverages or doubling Johnson, most of the night McDermott just left him to be covered by a safety or occasionally even Ernie Sims. It was baffling, and fucking stupid. More times than I care to count, Quintin Mikell was matched up one-on-one with Andre Johnson. Quintin Mikell. The same guy who has made only handful of good plays since Brian Dawkins headed to the Mile High City. Then, when the Eagles did have a corner on him, it was still in just single coverage. Even when Patterson was doing a fairly good job staying with Andre, Johnson was still making plays. Because he's Andre Fucking Johnson. You can't put single coverage on him unless you have Nnamdi, Revis or Cromartie, and even then it's a gamble.



Unsurprisingly, Johnson caught six passes for 149 yards. And the Texans started to roll. Taking a cue from the Eagles, Houston took the opening second-half possession 79 yards down the field in 11 plays, with Arian Foster scoring on a 13-yard touchdown.

Then the Eagles came out on their first possession in the second half and didn't call one run play. On first down, Vick did rush for 13 yards, but it wasn't a called run. Then he hit Celek for 7, threw an incomplete pass, and on 3rd and 3 threw an interception that equated to a great punt, pinning Houston at its own 14.

The Texans actually decided to use their heads and keep Philadelphia off-balance, running it behind Foster on three straight plays after an incomplete pass to get a first, then opening up the play-action. Schaub made it look easy marching Houston right down the field again, this time in 13 plays that covered 86 yards and took 6:23 off the clock. It was finished with a touchdown run by Foster, who while not exploding for many big plays, helped wear down the Eagles' D and scored two touchdowns. It was the same old, same old with the defense, failing to get pressure — minus one Mike Patterson sack — and looking horrible in coverage. Though to be fair, the drive was aided by a 31-yard pass to Andre Johnson on 3rd and 17 in which it looked like Johnson pushed off of Dimitri Patterson to create separation. But still, it was 3rd and god damn 17, and the Eagles gave it up. And Johnson was single covered. On 3rd and 17. It made no god damn sense. Sean McDermott is a horrible defensive coordinator. No one can convince me otherwise.

Just like that, the Eagles were trailing. 14 straight points by Houston, and the offense somewhat sputtering. I was finally beginning to feel the cold. Thankfully that wouldn't last long, and it was largely due to two men more than any others, with a nice helping hand by two more.

I'm not entirely sure what more we can say about Michael Vick at this point. The man has been tremendous all season, and he was tremendous again last night. Yes, he did make some truly baffling throws trying to squeeze a couple balls in that he had no business throwing, but for the most part he was smart and dynamic again. Facing a 24-20 deficit in the fourth quarter and all the momentum in Houston's favor, Vick didn't panic. Instead, he calmly led his team right back down the field, hitting Brent Celek for 9 yards and DeSean Jackson for another huge 33-yard pass and put the Eagles ahead with a QB sneak touchdown.

On that drive, he got a helping hand from LeSean McCoy, who led the drive off with a 5-yard run and then weaved his way for 9 more on a catch to set up Vick's TD run.

And after the Eagles held Houston and got the ball back, LeSean took a seemingly harmless screen pass 40 yards as the Eagles looked to ice the game.



The two were truly awesome last night. When it was all said and done, Vick had yet another 300-yard passing game, throwing for 302 yards on 22-33 passing, tossing two touchdowns and just the one "punt" interception. He also added 48 yards on the ground and another score. Meanwhile, LeSean gained 44 yards rushing and had a touchdown to go along with 8 catches for 86 yards and a score to lead the Eagles in receiving. Those two men were spectacular, just as they have been all season long.

And they got a helping hand from DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek.



DeSean finished just behind LeSean with 84 yards receiving, and all three of his catches went for over 20 yards. He had the 30-yarder on the first play from scrimmage and a 21-yarder on a 3rd and 3. Both helped set up the first-half touchdowns. And then after Houston took the lead, he had a 33-yarder that led to Vick's go-ahead score. Big, clutch plays from DeSean.

But no play was as clutch as Brent Celek's final reception of the night. In the box score, Celek's numbers from last night look modest: 4 catches for 55 yards. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Three of his four catches went for first downs, two of them coming on third-down plays. The first was a 20-yard reception on 3rd and 9 on the opening drive, a huge play that was necessary for the Eagles to take the 7-0 lead. And his last was a thing of beauty.

The Eagles were up just a field goal when they took over with 10 minutes remaining. Following McCoy's 40-yard screen pass and 20 yards on two carries by Jerome Harrison — who has become quite the good backup running back here in Philadelphia I might add after his breakout 2009 season in Cleveland — the Eagles had the ball at the Houston 9 with 7:30 remaining. Then they committed a false start, backing them up to the 14. On the very next play, Michael Vick had his facemask grabbed by Mario Williams, or it appeared so, and ran for a few yards. A penalty marker came out, and everyone in the stadium thought it was a personal foul for a facemask on Vick. Instead, King Dunlap, who was forced into action when Winston Justice got injured, was called for a hold. A hold that didn't seem to exist, mind you, but a hold nonetheless. That's it. No penalty for the facemask on Vick.

I couldn't believe it. No one in the stadium could. Regardless of whether or not Dunlap held Williams (I still don't think he did), and even regardless of if Williams got Vick's facemask or not, there should have been a flag on Williams. Why, you ask? Because even if he missed the facemask (I think he grabbed it), he most certainly got a piece of Vick's head, and a good piece of it. That's contact to the head of the quarterback, and by rule a penalty, especially if it's Peyton Fucking Manning.

But because it was Michael Vick and not the NFL's Golden Boy, no flag. So just to be clear once again — if you tap Peyton Manning's helmet barely in a fashion that doesn't affect the play whatsoever, it's a 15-yard penalty. If you grab Vick's head/facemask, it's not a penalty. If you tackle a wide receiver, it's a $40,000 fine. If you punch a guy in the head, it's a $25,000 fine.

What's the moral of this story? Roger Goodell is a cock. A big, douchey cock. And I hate him and his army of terrible referees. The NFL sucks such complete balls. And oh by the way, Trent Cole got called for a roughing the passer on Schaub for the whole Tom Brady rule, where a player on the ground can't go for the legs of a QB because oh no Tom Brady got hurt once, even though Cole hit Schaub as he was throwing the ball. Fuck you, NFL. You might as well just let Brady and Manning make all the fucking rules, you fairies. Ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, Brent Celek's play. After the back-to-back penalties, the Eagles went from the Houston 9 to the Houston 24. After an incomplete pass on 2nd down, they faced a 3rd and 19. Vick dropped back, hit Celek well short of the marker — but Celek fought tooth and nail to get there, was spun around but not down as he was on top of a defender, and lunged forward in an awesome individual effort to pick up the first down. The horrible officials originally marked Celek short, and everyone in the damn building urged the worst challenger in the history of the NFL to throw the damn red flag, led by none other than Celek himself. We all watched infuriated as Andy just stood there with his fat ass, looking and waiting and looking with the red flag in his hands. Being that he is statistically the worst coach ever at challenging plays, it wouldn't have shocked anyone to see that fat fuck put the flag back in his pocket. But Reid did know what he was doing, waiting for the play clock to wind down, then throwing it.

Rightfully, the play was reversed, the Eagles were awarded the first down, and two plays later, Vick hit Owen Schmitt (another nice mid-season pickup) for the touchdown that would ice the game, 34-24 Eagles.

Still, this is the Eagles we're talking about, and it wouldn't be an Eagles game without Andy and Marty doing something truly moronic to piss me off. They had already used two timeouts in the first half at horrible times, but that didn't top this. Up by 10 with 3:17 left and Houston already exhausting all its timeouts, the Eagles just needed to run the ball and keep the clock moving. They did that on first down, losing 6 as no one blocked. Then they rightfully ran again on 2nd, burning more time. But facing a 3rd and 11, stupid ass Marty and Andy call a god damn pass play, it's incomplete and the clock stops with 3:09 remaining. The Eagles could have essentially run the clock down to the two-minute warning and given Houston practically no time left to do anything. Instead, thanks to a fucking retarded call, they stop the clock and give the ball back to the explosive Texans with three minutes remaining. That's a lot of time, even with no timeouts, when all you need is a touchdown and a field goal. Andy and Marty failed to realize this, because sometimes these two really good coaches are dumber than the 18-year-old in 8th grade.

Sav did pin Houston at their own 11, but just to make things a little more annoying, the Eagles gave up 39 yards on the first play to Andre Johnson. Luckily Nate Allen forced Schaub to fumble on a great blitz, Darryl Tapp recovered and the Eagles actually ran the ball and milked the clock the rest of the way to come away with the 10-point victory, but that was still a fucking awful play call.

The good news is the Eagles won, stayed atop the NFC East and the offense looked really good for the most part. Vick and LeSean were awesome. DeSean and Celek had several big plays. Maclin continued to be quietly consistent and efficient. And the offensive line actually handled themselves really well, with Jason Peters completely manhandling Mario Williams most of the night.

The bad news is this defense sucks donkey balls, especially without Asante Samuel. Yes, the Texans have a very good offense, and they did limit them to 24 points, but still. The defensive line got absolutely no pressure at all, and the cornerbacks are awful.

Brandon Graham hasn't done a damn thing this year. Nothing. He's been completely invisible, making the Eagles' decision to move up and take him over a guy like Earl Thomas even more maddening than it was at the time. I mean, Nate Allen got off to a great start before he was hurt and should be a very good player, but my god, Earl Thomas has been great in Seattle. He has 63 tackles and five interceptions, just two behind Asante, who leads the NFL with 7. I'd much rather, at least right now, have Earl Thomas and some other second-round pick than Brandon Graham and Nate Allen. And I certainly would love to still have Sheldon Brown. The defense would look a whole lot different with Brown in the secondary to make plays alongside and Asante, and the absence of Samuel these past two games wouldn't have hurt as much.

Then again, no one really expected the Eagles to be doing what they're doing this year, and hindsight is always 20-20. When you're complaining about a team that's currently 8-4 and leading its division, things are going pretty good. It's been a fun ride through 12 games so far, and there are still two matchups with the hated Cowboys, a rematch with the Giants up 95 and Brett Favre throwing gift interceptions to come.

The NFL still infuriates me though.

Pro Bowling

Well, the list of the NFL's Pro Bowlers are in, and the Eagles did quite well for themselves. Six Eagles in all were named to the team. Yesterday, before the teams were announced, I told Adam EatShit that four would definitely make it and potentially six could. True story. That doesn't mean I got all the guys right. Let's take a look.

Defense: Asante Samuel, Trent Cole


Asante was one of my four locks to make the team. He's tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with nine (along with Jarius Byrd and Darren Sharper), and he has a reputation of being a big-play corner, which he is. No surprise in him making it. However, truth be told, I don't think Asante Samuel necessarily deserves to be on the team. Don't get me wrong, he's a fine player and just about every one of his 9 interceptions have been huge, but you watch the guy play week in and week out and he's certainly no shutdown guy. Very good, yes. Great, great playmaker. But he offsets that with the worst tackling in the NFL. As good as he's been taking the ball away, he's been just as bad giving up big plays by horribly missing tackles. Still, the guy has 9 interceptions, leading the league, so of course he was going to make it. Hard to argue.

As far as Cole goes, he was on my could make it list. Not a lock, but a guy I thought had a good shot. The reason I didn't have him as a lock? I had no idea that he was third in the NFC in sacks and fifth in the entire NFL. Had I known that, I would have definitely called him a lock. His 12.5 sacks are even more impressive if you get to watch this team every week. This is not exactly the Eagles defense we've grown accustomed to over the years, the one that punishes opposing quarterbacks. The Eagles struggle at times to get any pass rush from anyone not named Trent Cole, and the blitzes seem to have lost their luster with the passing of Jim Johnson. That leaves opposing offenses with one guy and one guy only to key on in passing situations, yet every week, Trent Cole has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks, running backs and every single offensive lineman he's lined up against. I used to be a guy who knocked Cole a bit early in his career, saying he was a bit overrated and nothing more than rush specialist. Over the past few years, he's proven that sentiment wrong, becoming one of the most dominant ends in the NFC. He's been a master this season both against the pass and the run, snuffing out screens, running down plays … basically, Trent Cole has been a beast. He most definitely earned this bid.

Offense: DeSean Jackson, Jason Peters, Leonard Weaver


DeSean and Weaver were two more of my locks. Let's face the facts, DeSean Jackson is the best wide receiver in the NFC East, and frankly, he's every bit as dangerous as any player in the entire league. His 8 touchdown plays of 50 yards or more this year are tied for the NFL record, and he still has the game against Dallas to make that record all his own. He more than any other player has made this offense impossible to stop, because his speed and big-play threat demand attention, opening up the rest of the field. And sometimes, DeSean simply can't be stopped. He's just too damn good. His selection was a no-brainer.

As was Leonard Weaver's, which I'm sure no one would have ever guessed heading into the season. Now, the Eagles' fullback woes from a season ago were well-documented, so it was no surprise when they went out and got themselves a true fullback this offseason. And by all accounts, Leonard Weaver was the best available one out there. When the Birds signed him, everyone was happy, but everyone also sort of questioned how big of a deal it would be. After all, the Eagles run a ton of empty or one-back sets, meaning a fullback can only have a minimal impact. Yes, as last season showed, that minimal impact is still very important, but chances were Weaver wouldn't be a key cog on most downs. Boy did that change in a hurry. Of course Weaver is an excellent blocker who has created holes for Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy all season long, not to mention done a great job helping keep Donovan McNabb clean. That alone doesn't get you to the Pro Bowl though, unless you're the lead blocking back for a 1,500-yard rusher. Weaver was not. No, what he became was the most versatile fullback in the entire NFL. The former college tight end showcased his sick hands throughout the season, making clutch catches and huge plays. When Westbrook went down, he displayed his deceptive speed and running skills, lightening the load of the passing game. He has arguably been one of the most valuable players on this explosive offense, and he certainly has been the most dynamic, most versatile fullback in the entire NFL. Again, no-brainer.

Jason Peters on the other hand was a bit of a shocker to me. In the first few games, Peters was less than stellar, committing a slew of false start and holding penalties. He looked a bit slow and a bit out of shape. He's certainly progressed as the season has gone on, and frankly, he's been damn good. Well worth the big contract, and making everyone forget about Tra Thomas. But Pro Bowl good? I don't think so. He wasn't especially good on Sunday, and he's had more moments where he's gotten beat than you'd expect from one of the best tackles in the game. In the run game, he's a complete mauler, a truly dominant force, and he's good as a pass blocker, but honestly, he didn't completely wow me. Again, he's very good, and he's been great in a good number of games as well, but I was a bit surprised at his inclusion.

Special teams: David Akers, DeSean Jackson


Akers was my fourth and final lock. The guy is leading the NFL in scoring with 139 points, has made an NFL-best 32 field goals and has missed just four kicks all season, going 32 of 36. He's shown he still has it from long distance, making a 52-yarder and having no trouble getting the ball there, he's a perfect 11-11 from 20-29 yards, 8-9 from 30-39 and 11-13 from 40-49. Basically, David Akers has been brilliant this year. Rumors of his demise the past few seasons were grossly exaggerated, including by yours truly. Most points and field goals gets you to the Pro Bowl every time. And rightfully so.

DeSean was also named as the punt returner, which was another lock. He leads the NFL in punt return average at 16 yards per return, has the longest punt return in the league at 85 yards, and is tied with Patrick Crayton with two returns for scores. Basically, he's the best punt returner in the league.

Who should have made it: Sheldon Brown and Brent Celek




In the words of Matt Mosley:

For the Eagles, I think cornerback Sheldon Brown and tight end Brent Celek should have been on the team. They're both alternates, but that doesn't cut it. Brown has played through injuries and been excellent this season. Celek simply had to overcome too many big names. Vernon Davis had an excellent season for the 49ers and Witten finished strong for the Cowboys. I could make an argument that Celek should've made it in front of Witten. Just look at the huge discrepancy in touchdowns.

In my humble opinion, Sheldon has been the best player on the entire Eagles defense. Better than Asante. Better than Cole. Better than anyone. As Mosley pointed out, he's played through injury, and it hasn't slowed him down one bit. The guy has five interceptions, a forced fumble, a recovered fumble and two touchdowns — one an interception return and one a fumble return. He's third in the NFL in interception return yards with 152, and more importantly, he's one of the few Eagles who rarely misses a tackle. He's a big hitter, sure tackler and excellent player. He's been so good that Asante has been able to get his 9 picks because a lot of teams have been throwing Asante's way more than Sheldon's. It's not the first time Brown should have made the Pro Bowl. For years, he was the better corner while Lito Sheppard was getting the picks and return touchdowns, thus going to Pro Bowls. But this may have been Sheldon's finest season. I thought he had a shot to make it, and I really thought he should have. With the loss of Jim Johnson and Brian Dawkins, not to mention the injuries in the secondary and the poor play at the safety position, Sheldon has been the guy back there that has held everything together. He really deserved a trip to the Pro Bowl this year. He really did. It's a shame that he doesn't seem to get the acknowledgment he deserves across the league.

As far as Brent Celek is concerned, he was the other Eagle I though had a chance but probably wouldn't make it. Vernon Davis scored a league-high 12 touchdowns from the tight end spot, more than anyone, so he was a lock. Then you had to assume Jason Witten would be named on name recognition alone. Plus, he is a damn good player. But as Mosely pointed out, Celek probably deserved it over Witten. Just look at the TDs. Celek has 8, Witten just one. Yes, Witten is a better blocker, but Celek vastly improved on that this season, turning it from a weakness to becoming more than adequate. And yes, Witten caught 88 balls to Celek's 69, but even with 19 fewer catches, Celek has just 79 less yards. Celek's 12.7 yards per catch is nearly two full yards more than Witten's. And those eight touchdowns to just one are hard to ignore. Throw in the fact that I had Jason Witten on one of my fantasy teams and Brent Celek on the other, and I can attest to the fact that Celek has been far more valuable this season than Witten. By all accounts, Celek has had a more productive year than Jason Witten. But Witten has the rep. Those are the breaks. I'm just glad Tony Gonzalez didn't make it over him, because Celek definitely had a better year than him.

Is Macho Harris Cut Yet?

Because if he's not, he should do all us Eagles fans a favor and just kill himself.


Get the fuck off the field

And while you're at it, drop the stupid fucking nickname, because there's nothing macho about your game, Victor. Hitting a defenseless receiver after your teammate just intercepted a pass and returned it to midfield — no matter how annoying the rule itself is — to bring the ball all the way back inside the 5 is not macho. Fumbling not one but two kickoffs, with one of them leading to a touchdown, is not macho. And generally sucking all season long is not macho. Your name is Victor, you stupid jerk. And from here on out, I shall never refer to you as Macho again.

Back in September, I actually wrote this about Harris:

"Oh, and from what I saw, Macho Victor Harris looked like a real player. I think I'm going to like that guy."

I've never been more wrong in my entire life. I hate Victor Harris. Everything about him. His stupid nickname, the way he looks, his suspect returning, his terrible defense, everything. He somehow won the starting free safety job out of training camp and then has progressively gotten worse and worse each and every week. He's horrible at football, and that may be putting it kindly, and he's a moron to boot.

With the Eagles up 27-10 in the 3rd quarter, the Broncos were driving and looking like they were about to score. Then Asante Samuel did what he does best, picking off a pass and returning it to the 50. Only one problem: Victor Harris hit a defenseless Tony Scheffler, bringing the ball all the way back from the 50 to the 4. So instead of working a short field and being in good shape to put up more points, the Eagles were backed up, got stopped and had to punt. That flipped field position, as the Broncos started at the Eagles' 25 and scored to cut it to 27-17.

On the ensuing kickoff, Victor Harris was swinging the ball around so wildly that I could hear LeSean McCoy on the sidelines even telling him to tuck the damn thing away. He did not, got completely leveled, fumbled and the Broncos recovered, getting the ball at the Eagles' 16. Two plays later, Knowshon Moreno was prancing into the end zone, and a 17-point lead turned into a 3-point lead. Two boneheaded, backbreaking plays by Victor Harris, two Denver scores and a big lead cut to a thin margin.

To make matters worse, Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg completely went away from what was working in the first half — whether it was because of the Broncos or their own stupidity — and abandoned the run altogether. Because they are morons. In the first half, the Eagles torched the Broncos for 20 points and could have possibly put up even more. They were extremely balanced, working Brian Westbrook back into the game, getting Leonard Weaver his touches and giving LeSean McCoy some running room.

That opened up the passing game, allowing DeSean Jackson to make a couple of big catches and then when Denver started to take DeSean away, opened up the field for Brent Celek to run wild.



Celek completely killed the Broncos in that first half, getting wide open on a few occasions, making a sick one-handed catch to get going and finishing the half with 4 catches for 121 yards and touchdown, including three catches of more than 30 yards. The guy is having a Pro Bowl season and really should make it, but he probably won't because people are stupid. No matter. Celek has been huge for the Eagles, and he was huge in that first half. And Donovan McNabb was incredibly sharp, finding the open receiver seemingly every pass play, especially Celek. As a result, the Eagles held a 20-7 lead and looked generally unstoppable.

Then in the 3rd quarter, everything changed. Up by 13 points and looking to secure a win and put pressure on Minnesota for that 2nd seed, you'd expect a smart team to continue being balanced, relying even a little more on the run to help wear down the defense and run the clock. Instead, the Eagles do what they are wont to do from time to time and get pass-happy. Extremely pass-happy. On the first drive, McNabb hit Jeremy Maclin for 25 yards, then threw an interception. Two passes. On the second drive, the Eagles ran the ball three times — an 11-yard run by LeSean McCoy, four yards by McCoy and a four-year run by Westbrook. They also threw three times, completing just one pass, which happened to be the touchdown off the tipped pass from McNabb to Jason Avant. It was the only time the Eagles stayed balanced in the 2nd half, and it resulted in their only touchdown. Three runs, three passes, 7 points, 27-10 lead.

It was all downhill from there. From there on out, the Eagles went three-and-out four straight times, calling just two running plays on those four possessions. Two runs in four possessions, zero first downs. This is not rocket science. The Eagles refused to run, meaning the Broncos could just sit back and play the pass, which made the Eagles easy to defend, which resulted in three-and-out after three-and-out and a 17-point lead turning into a tie game.

And to make matters even worse, after Harris had already gift-wrapped 14 points to Denver with his boneheaded hit and terrible fumble, on his very next chance to return a kickoff, he fumbled again. Motherfucker just cost his team 14 points, just fumbled the last time he touched the ball. You'd think he's make sure to secure the ball, run with two hands on it the whole way if he had to. But he didn't. Instead, he again swung the ball wildly and fumbled. I wanted him to die a horrible death right then and there. Lucky for him, Victor Abiamiri was there to fall on it, but that play made it abundantly clear: Victor Harris should never again be allowed to touch a football. If I see him back to return just one more kick ever, I will lose it. Quintin Demps can't get healthy soon enough. And even if he doesn't, put someone — anyone — else back there. Because Victor Harris sucks, and should be put down. I hate him. I hate him so very much.

The way the second half was going, it had all the makings of an epic collapse. But once the Broncos finally climbed all the way back into it, tying the game at 20, the Eagles turned it on. And it's a good thing, because this team still has a chance to catch the Vikings and still has not wrapped up the division.

On the final drive, Jeremy Maclin made the play of the game, McNabb led the Eagles into the field goal range, and David Akers sealed the game. It was wild, and watching that second half was one of the most frustrating things all season, but they somehow pulled it out for their sixth straight win. That's a nice way to cap off Brian Dawkins' homecoming.



I have to say, watching him come out of that tunnel again and doing his thing made me miss him even more. Sure, once the game started and things got going, it was easy to forget about Dawkins and his homecoming, but watching the ineptitude of Victor Harris, the weak play of Sean Jones of late and the health issues hitting Qunitin Demps, not to mention the general poor play out of the safety position for Philadelphia this season, and well, it makes me miss the guy even more. Brian Dawkins didn't stand out on the field yesterday. He didn't have a great game. But he still led the Broncos in tackles, he still was firing up his troops on the sidelines and he certainly didn't do anything to hinder Denver's chances. He has made the Broncos a better defensive team. And he would have made the Eagles a much, much better defensive team this season. And no matter how many times we see it, that No. 20 Denver jersey will just never look right. Brian Dawkins belongs in Philadelphia. It was nice to see him back in the city that grew to love him and he grew to love right back, even if for just one game.

Oh, and Andy, you do know that Leonard Weaver is on this team and has played pretty well, right? Just making sure, because you seemed to completely forget that he existed in that second half.

And I hate Victor Harris. He should be cut. And shot. Along with Sav Rocca. I hate him too.

Dance, DeSean, Dance

What can I say about last night besides man, am I glad No. 10 (and no, I'm not talking about Eli) is on our side. I'm just going to come right out and say it: DeSean Jackson is the best wide receiver in the NFC East. Better than Santana Moss. Better than Roy Williams and Miles Austin combined. And certainly better than Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks. Hell, he's the most explosive player in the division period, and every bit as likely to take it to the house on any given play as anyone else in the entire NFL. If it wasn't for DeSean Jackson, who knows where this team would be.

If you didn't see him do his thing last night, first of all, kill yourself, and secondly, you missed more than a show. In a game that can only be described as a shootout, DeSean provided the necessary bullets to put the Giants to rest and propel the Eagles to sole possession of first place in division, a place Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid — for all their faults — have become accustomed to being. This time, they've gotten there in large part because of the first-round talent out of Cal who somehow kept dropping and dropping and dropping until the Eagles stole him in the 2nd round two years ago. Now they're riding his little shoulders to another late-season charge, never more so than last night in Giants Stadium: 6 catches, 178 yards, a 60-yard touchdown catch, and two punt returns for 83 more yards, highlighted by this impossibly stupid 72-yard touchdown:



That's 261 total yards and two touchdowns for those of you scoring at home. With Maclin leaving almost immediately, no Westbrook, limited touches for McCoy and nothing from Jason Avant, DeSean still couldn't be stopped. Because sometimes, you can't stop a great talent like Jackson, no matter how hard you try. Not that it looked like the Giants were trying too hard to stop him, just as the Eagles defense didn't seem all that interested in stopping the Giants either.

That was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most pathetic defensive games I've ever witnessed in my entire life. For starters, the Giants can't cover anyone at all, which is an unfortunate thing for them when they have to play someone as dynamic as DeSean Jackson. And that defensive line that came in as such a heralded, fearsome group did little to get in McNabb's face. Philadelphia's offensive line did a great job keeping the quarterback clean all night. As did the Giants'. Eli Manning basically had all day to throw back there. The Eagles could not generate any pressure whatsoever. The Giants keyed on Trent Cole and dared the other linemen to beat them. They could not, which is nothing new this season. It's essentially been Trent Cole getting pressure or no one getting pressure. That continued last night.

Add to that the fact that Sean McDermott couldn't fool a third-grade quarterback with his blitzes, and it makes for a long night on defense. I honestly can't remember a single blitz that worked for the Eagles last night. Not a one. Every time the Eagles blitzed from one side, Eli was rolling to the other. Every time a linebacker came, the receiver broke off his route and Eli hit the hot route. It looked as though the Giants knew what blitz the Eagles were running before McDermott and the defense did. Rumor has it that McDermott learned his craft from the late, great Jim Johnson. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear that was a lie. Where Johnson could disguise a blitz and keep a quarterback off-balance as good as anyone, McDermott can't even fool the likes the JaMarcus Russell. He's got a long way to go in that department.

Failing to get pressure especially hurts when your defense can't tackle. Now, I have the NFL Ticket, so I watch enough football games to know that tackling is quickly becoming a lost art across the league. For one reason or another, NFL defenses seem to be getting worse at tackling from game to game. And that is especially true for the Philadelphia Eagles. I honestly can't recall a Philadelphia defense as atrocious at tackling as this one. Off the top of my head, I can only name two Eagles that I actually feel confident will bring down the ball carrier: Sheldon Brown and Jeremiah Trotter. One of those two is too slow to actually be able to catch guys in order to make a tackle. Other than that, this team has no one that I feel confident will bring down the ball carrier.

Asante Samuel is the worst tackler in the history of the NFL. There is no disputing this. It's fact. If you don't believe me, just watch any game he's ever played in the history of his life. I would take Deion Sanders 100 times out of a 100 in a tackling contest with Asante Samuel. I'm not even lying. For all the great plays he makes on the football, he cancels nearly half of them for his sorry excuse for tackling attempts. Watching him attempt to make a tackle is like watching Randy Johnson trying to get a hit. It's just sad and pathetic. And for a guy who makes a boatload of money to play defense, Samuel should be completely ashamed of himself.



As pathetic as Samuel is at tackling, he was far from the biggest perpetrator last night. No, that would be the safeties for your Philadelphia Eagles. While Brian Dawkins was picking off Peyton Manning twice and flying all over the field, Sean Jones and Quintin Mikell were playing some of the worst football humanly possible against Peyton's inferior younger brother. All night long, Mikell got caught out of position, committed crucial penalties and whiffed on tackles. It was quite possibly the worst game he's played in his career. He looked nothing like the player that quietly was the best, most consistent guy in this team's secondary a season ago. He looked awful. Where in the past Brian Dawkins was there to fire up the troops and lead with a big hit and sound tackling to help turn the tides, Sean Jones is whiffing so badly on a tackle himself that even Asante was embarrassed for him (3:35 in):



Good fucking god are these guys awful at tackling. It's absurd. Completely and utterly absurd. Thanks to the poor tackling, lack of pressure and general suckiness of the defense, Eli and company managed to rack up 512 yards of offense — 379 through the air — and 38 points. If it wasn't for Sheldon's fumble return and Eli's fumble, I wouldn't have a single nice thing to say about the defense. It was an embarrassing effort, and that's putting it kindly. Never have I missed Brian Dawkins and Jim Johnson more.

Luckily, the defense was bailed out by McNabb, Jackson and company. Save for his one ground ball, the interception on the miscommunication with Brent Celek and the overthrow of Reggie Brown (who looked like he wasn't really running very hard, by the way), McNabb was excellent last night. He finished 17 of 26 for 275 yards and two scores, taking shots and giving his receivers a chance to make plays. On the opening drive of the game, he marched the Eagles right down the field 67 yards in three and half minutes, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Celek. And he led the charge on the defining drive of the game, that fourth-quarter, 91-yard, 7:24, methodical, 12-play game-clinching drive, where McNabb was a perfect 6-for-6 on pass attempts and Leonard Weaver did the heavy lifting on the ground.

The Eagles did a phenomenal job keeping New York on their heels, staying balanced with 28 passes and 24 runs. Again, amazing how good the team looks when they balance the run and the pass. What a concept. Brent Celek leant a helping hand again with his 5 catches for 64 yards and a score, and the way he's been rolling this year, he just may earn himself a trip to the Pro Bowl. Leonard Weaver continued to give the Eagles that big, bruising back they've lacked for years, and McNabb was sharp.

And then of course there was DeSean, who stood out among them all. In a game in which 83 points were scored, a game in which the offenses combined for 886 yards, it was the undersized receiver with the lighting-fast speed that stole the show.

I'm glad he's on our side.

Jimmy V. and Dmitri Tertyshny Links

I've been so busy lately that Jimmy V. week snuck up on me this year. And since it's an incredibly worthy cause and because Jimmy V. was such a great man, I'd be remiss if I didn't post his speech from the 1993 ESPYs, the greatest speech of all time, something I plan on doing every year for as long as I do this:



For some reason, even before I remembered it was Jimmy V. week, which makes this somewhat more relevant given Valvano's untimely death, I've been reminiscing about former Flyers defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, who was tragically killed in a boating accident on July 23, 1999, at the ripe old age of 22.



Tertyshny was a promising young defenseman who quickly won over the hearts of Philadelphia in just one season. As a rookie during the 1998-99 campaign, Tertyshny played in 62 games for the Flyers, showcasing a smooth-skating, confident game, getting nearly 20 minutes of ice time a night. Both the Flyers organization and fans had high hopes for him as the future standout defenseman of the Orange and Black. Then tragedy struck, and I remember my reaction the moment I heard as a 15-year-old kid. I was saddened, shocked and then uttered the words, "Why couldn't it have been Desjardins?" I know, I know, I was an asshole even back then, but that was my way of complimenting Tertyshny and grieving as a die-hard Flyers fan. Plus, I never liked Desjardins, even though he had a fine career with the Flyers. Something about turning the puck over and never hitting anyone in the playoffs really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm fussy like that. But this was more about what I saw, what everyone saw in Dmitri Tertyshny. On a much smaller scale, he was our Reggie Lewis. For whatever reason, I was thinking of him this week. Can't tell you why exactly. But just wanted to share.

Anyway, let's link …

-Looks like Placido Polanco and his misshapen head are coming back to Philly.



Terms of the deal are reportedly three years at $18 million with an option for 2013, pending a physical. That's a nice way to replace Pedro Feliz as third. I would have been plenty happy to see Pete Happy return for the Phils, but Polanco adds a potent bat, and more importantly, a contact bat that very rarely strikes out, to balance out this free-swinging, high-strikeout offense. Plus, even though Polanco hasn't played third base since early in his first go-round with the Phils, he was a very good fielder there, committing just 15 errors in 322 games at third, good for a .982 fielding percentage. I like this move a lot.

-Philip Rivers better than Drew Brees? Kenny has lost his god damn mind. Seriously. This is the most insane argument in the history of the world. Rivers is good. Really good. But he isn't even on the same planet as Breesus. Lay off the sticky stuff, Kenny.

-More gold from Andrew's Today in Philly Sports History:



-Seriously, back to Kenny for a minute. Not only is his argument insane, and frankly, wrong (yes, I'm saying an opinion is wrong, that's how indefensible it is), but he makes his argument after Drew Brees just torched the Patriots for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18-23 passing, good enough to earn him the coveted Sean Taylor Memorial Meast of the Week and a whole slew of hyperbole to boot:

We’re professional haters at this site. It’s what we do best. But I can’t think of a single reason to hate on Drew Brees. Drew Brees is fucking awesome. He never sulks. He never points fingers. He’s not in every other commercial. And it’s fun to watch him play football. I dare you to hate this man. He should be made an honorary Canadian or Australian, he’s so amiable. He’s the anti-Cutler. In fact, I do believe there’s a meme here.

Drew Brees will pick up the check. No worries, man.

Drew Brees isn’t mad that you crashed the car. Insurance will take care of everything. He just hopes you’re okay.

Drew Brees has heard that birthmark joke 4,567 times before. But he still laughed at it anyway.
Drew Brees uses Lincolns at the titty bar.

Drew Brees is renting a speedboat this weekend. Wanna head out onto the lake with some beers?

Drew Brees dated your sister, and that was all right with you.

Drew Brees cleaned up the bathroom after you booted in it, and didn’t ever bring it up again.

Drew Brees helped you move.

Drew Brees thinks that song you wrote actually had some potential.

That's pretty much the highest praise in the history of the universe coming from KSK. Seriously Kenny, you're fucking insane.

-For those who haven't seen it, I present you with the greatest college football play of all time:



Gee, I can't figure out why Florida State would want to force Bobby Bowden into retirement with a play as brilliant as that.

-I'm sure you already heard, but James van Riemsdyk was named the NHL rookie of the month for November.



In 12 games in November, JVR scored four goals and notched five assists. He has 19 points in 21 games (6 goals and 13 assists), behind only the Islanders' John Tavares, who has 21 points, in points for rookies. JVR is good.

-And in more Flyers news, John Stevens is already creating a goalie controversy. New season, same story. Fun.

-I'm sure you also heard that Brent Celek signed a six-year extension, which given the way he's played this year and the end of last season is a great move.

-Duke lost to Wisconsin last night, proving once again that they're not as good as people always seem to think they are. In the process, the Big Ten won the Big Ten/ACC challenge for the first time in the tournment's 11-year history, and Marcus Ginyard has the line of the year.

Indeed, when Duke loses, we all win.

-Who should be in the dunk contest this year? Here are some ideas:









-The greatest shoes ever made will be back in stores. Yes, I'm talking about The Questions.



I love those sneakers with all my heart.

-Trevor Ariza would like a poster:



-Who deserves to make the Baseball Hall of Fame out of these first-time candidates? I say Barry Larkin and Roberto Alomar for sure. Maybe Edgar Martinez, but I cannot endorse him in good conscious because never took the field, whereas Larkin and Alomar were both amazing, gold-glove fielders AND could hit.

-A Charles Barkley video? Sure, why not?



-I believe it's pronounced Chris Coste, great headline by the way.

-Tough break for Villanova: super recruit big man Mouphtaou Yarou is out for the year with a viral infection, which it turns out is Hepatitis B. Best wishes for the young man.

Lastly, I flipped back and forth between the Bernard Hopkins fight and the Sixers game, watching mainly the Sixers game. But I caught five rounds of the fight, including the final two, and Bernard won pretty easily. But he definitely looks old and slower, though he's still in good shape. The bigger question: Why was a boxing match on at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night? Makes not sense, but congrats Bernard.

Oh, and if you think Philip Rivers is a better quarterback than Drew Brees, seriously, you have to get your head checked.