Eagles steal one, beat Skins 33-25
by JasonB on Nov 11, 2007 4:46 PM EST
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintWell, it wasn't exactly pretty but I'll take it. A win over a decent Skins team on the road finally gets us our first win in the NFC East. Plus, how great was it to watch an entertaining football game for once? With a winnable game next week at home against Miami, the Eagles finally have a realistic chance at getting back to .500
Now, onto some headlines!
Talk about making plays
The Eagles waited until the last minute, but they made plays when it mattered. There was the goal line stand, there was the amazing Westbrook play, there was the forced fumble on Campbell, plus the defensive stop when the Redskins had the ball with plenty of time to tie. They made plays when it mattered, which they haven't done all year.
McNabb not as good as his stats
I just think McNabb was pretty poor for large parts of the game today. His stat line (20-28, 251 yds 4 TDs) looks fantastic but doesn't really reflect how he really played in this game. He was inaccurate with most balls over 5 or 6 yards, again was holding onto balls too long and taking bad sacks, had another bad fumble... I have to give him credit for moving the team in the 4th quarter, making some plays with his legs, and ultimately winning the game... In the end he got the job done and I know I shouldn't complain but I honestly think they won in spite of him in some ways. Maybe it's just me being negative and I really don't mean to rain in his parade, but he didn't make me feel much better about his play going forward.
We need another corner, badly
Will James is not only not starter material, I'm not sure he's NFL material. He was awful today. He was torched twice by James Thrash. James Thrash had two TDs!!!! That tells me all I need to know. He's killing us. I also have to call out Jim Johnson a bit here. Without Santana Moss, Randle El was Washington's #1 WR. So why is it that every time he caught a ball he seemed to be covered by Joselio Hanson or Will James? Who were Lito and Sheldon covering all day? Lito gave up the one TD on a quick hit to McCardell, but for the most part Campbell had success throwing away from those two all day yet still finding his primary guys.
Clock management, ever heard of it? Anyone?
Was it only obvious to me that the Redskins allowed the Eagles to walk in for the last TD? Brian Baldinger was talking about what a great job the Eagles line did opening up a huge hole for Westbrook. It was clear that Gibbs told them to let the Eagles walk in. That was Washington's only chance to win the game. The Eagles could have killed the clock and ended the game. However, by letting the Eagles score the Skins got back the ball with over 2 minutes left down 8 with a chance to tie. I'm not sure what's more hard to figure out. How none of the announcers realized it or how Andy didn't just tell McNabb to take a knee. In the end, it didn't matter but it certainly could have. The Redskins had plenty of time and had been moving the ball at will.
I'm running out of adjectives for #36
20 rushes for 100 yards. 5 per carry. 5 catches for 85 yards. 3 TDs on the day. Plus his supreme individual effort(and some great down field blocking) got the TD that really allowed us to steal a game we probably had no business winning. Brian Westbrook has absolutely arrived as one of the elite backs in the game.
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i'll bet iggle fans...
good thing you stayed with him...big win....seems like he responds well to criticism...maybe you guys, or rather media idiots who think he's not a good QB, should criticize him more....anyone that thinks McNabb isn't one of the best QBs in the league doesn't know much about footbal..he showed that today...
i hope you guys get rid of McNabb after the season, like some media pundits have suggested...he's been a thorn in the Cowboys side and if he leaves the Iggles have no shot to dethrone the Romo express.....too bad Garcia is in Tampa.....
big win....congrats...
we'll see you in Dallas......we have a buttwhoppin' waiting for you....
Corners
The Eagles don't have one corner shadow a receiver usually, they play sides.
You may never have noticed this before because Rod Hood from 2004-2006, Brown and Lito in 2003, and Al Harris from 1999-2002 were all starter quality nickelbacks. So when the Eagles put them on the field, they didn't suffer a drop off in defense. Its too bad they couldn't convince Hood to stay as the Nickel, but he wanted to start elsewhere, even though the Eagles allegedly offered him more money to stay here.
by Andrew @ Bleeding Green Nation on Nov 11, 2007 8:07 PM EST reply actions
I know that
Now, I think JJ really needs to rethink the way he does things. You can't allow the other team to line up their #1 WR on Will James whenever they want to. Campbell appeared to me to clearly be looking for whenever James or Hanson was on the field and throwing right at them.
Having Will James on the #1 and Lito Sheppard on the #3 just isn't putting guys in the best position. I know before the season JJ was talking like Will James could be a starter, but that's clearly not true.
Taking a Knee
Totally Agree.
by brooksy on Nov 11, 2007 9:05 PM EST up reply actions
McNabb will not go quietly into the night...
His final numbers were great, but he missed some open wide open receives (Curtis & Celek) in the first half, and I thought that he just looked very in accurate in the first half in general. I thought the long TD to Brown was under thrown (Brown looked like had good separation).
I thought he was very good in the 2nd half (other than the fumble).
The stole this game, but I thought the defense more of a problem than Donovan today.
Westbrook walks it in
Still a great performance by 36. Faulk-esque (is that a word?).
Donovan did not have one of his better games in terms of accuracy. I had to cheer his taking off along the sideline though.
At the time I thought Reid's decision to try to punch it in rather than take a knee was the right one. Always better to score points in that situation, as long as it's a TD margin the other team has to overcome. The defense had gotten some big stops in the 2nd half too. It was a gutsy move by Joe Gibbs to let the TD in instead of playing for the defensive stop, which might have held it to a FG but left no time on the clock.
What did Thrash have, 5 receptions for 85 yards and a TD? That's not right. The Eagles secondary has some explaining to do.
by Dire Radiant on Nov 11, 2007 9:18 PM EST reply actions
The Eagles secondary
Of course, as I may have mentioned 2 or 3 thousand times, the coaching staff that thought that they were solid in the secondary and made little to no effort to upgrade it in the offseason has a lot more explaining to do.
Of course they let him score
Westbrook added one more score with 2:18 to play, a 10-yard run the Redskins admitted they purposely allowed so they could get the ball back with a chance to tie."That's exactly what they did. They allowed us to score," Westbrook said. "I wish I would have known that. I would have stopped at the 1. As an offensive player, any time you have an opportunity to get into the end zone, you get into the end zone."
Of course, why he needed to have known they were letting him score in order not to score is a bit strange, but it is clear that overcoming the instinct to score would be very difficult.
Yeah
Agree
With all of your points
McNabb brought his C game at best.
Westbrook IS this entire team
by JoeD on Nov 11, 2007 10:05 PM EST reply actions
Playoff Talk
Right now in the NFC, there are 3 teams ahead of us in line for the 2 Wild Card spots:
- Giants (6-3)
- Redskins (5-4)
- Lions (6-3)
For the final playoff spot, I'm not too worried about the Redskins or Lions. Of course we hold the tie-breaker edge vs the Lions, but I'm thinking they are going to finish the season quite poorly. They are not a quality 6-3 team; 9-7 max for Detroit.
As for the Redskins, I think we saw today what they are. Decent team, does some things well, has some issues at key positions. In other words, they are sort of like the Eagles. They also play the Patriots next week and half to play a bunch of tough teams the rest of the way. 8-8 sounds right for Washington.
Looking at the teams besides the Eagles at 4-5 in NFC, last year's NFC Championship game participants (Bears and Saints) are both lurking. I can see either one making a decent last season run, especially the Saints.
After we win next week to get back to .500, we will drop back below with the loss at New England in Week 12.
At 5-6, we'll need to go 4-1 to close out: win vs SEA, NYG, BUF at home and beat either New Orleans or Dallas on the road.
I'm thinking the road game at New Orleans on December 23rd will determine if we make the post-season or not. After having our season ended there last year, it would be a nice measure of revenge to win and effectively end their season while extending ours.
However the best case scenario for this season is still probably to just sneak in the playoffs, win one road game at a weak division champion (Seattle, Tampa Bay, etc), then get crushed at Green Bay or Dallas.
Maybe after we win next week we can begin sketching out scenarios of how we can beat the Patriots.
Go Eagles!
The Giants
Sun 11/18 at Detroit 1:00 pm
Sun 11/25 Minnesota 1:00 pm
Sun 12/2 at Chicago 4:15 pm
Sun 12/9 at Philadelphia 1:00 pm
Sun 12/16 Washington 8:15 pm
Sun 12/23 at Buffalo 1:00 pm
Sat 12/29 New England 8:15 pm
There aren't many gimme games in there.
I say it again...
My optimism survives for atleast another week
Tiebreakers
In a tiebreaking situation, NFC record is a big deal. The Eagles already have 5 NFC losses (GB, Was, NYG, Chi, Dal), and the best they can finish in division is 3-3.
It's a real long shot.
well
yeah,,,
McNabb
I have to disagree with the "McNabb sucked" line of reaction that started right after the game. He completed almost every pass yesterday. Yes he had a couple of errant throws on a couple of routes, but no QB has ever completed all his passes in a game. His worst throws were actually on plays negated by Redskins penalties. Its hard to say how much the penalties affected the play to cause the bad throw. As for the fumbling ... ummm hello ... where have you guys been McNabb's whole career? He's always fumbled a bunch on sacks and some of his runs. Career he's had 285 sacks and 63 fumbles (1 fumble every 4 1/2 sacks). In 2004 on the way to the Super Bowl, he fumbled 8 times and had 32 sacks. This year he's had 30 sacks and 6 fumbles. The problem this year is not the fumble rate, but the number of sacks he is taking.
by Andrew @ Bleeding Green Nation on Nov 12, 2007 12:37 PM EST reply actions
McNabb
Much better in the 2nd half, and throughout the game I thought he ran more decisively than he has in any game in quite some time.
His TD pass to Brown was underthrown and Brown made a great adjustment...but to say they won in spite of McNabb is ridiculous. I don't think he was quite as great as numbers indicated, but it was a good, gutsy performance when they needed it.
If people are going to say the Eagles "won in spite of" someone, let's look at the secondary that made James Thrash look like Randy Moss or the defensive line that gave Jason Campbell enough time in the pocket to build a house back there.
2 point
I hardly think he "sucked" and certainly the secondary/pass rush was awful... moreso to balem for the game being close than Mcnabb.
I suppose the fact that McNabb has set such a high bar for himself is why I was underwhelmed with his performance.
McNabb
He should be applauded for:
The audible to the shovel pass for the first TD.
At least two scrambles for first downs on third downs.
Giving Reggie Brown a chance to make a play on a deep ball.
The screen pass to Westbrook -- he made a few quick steps back in the face of a furious rush to draw the defenders back and allow #36 to get in position -- perfect delivery and execution.
He moved the ball well enough to set up an Akers field goal at the end of the first half. Unfortuantely, Akers seems have lost some leg strength.
Recognizing man coverage on LJ and firing a bullet to him for a TD with an oncoming blitz up the middle.
Accuracy
6 incompletions on 18 attempts, so 12 of 18 - 66% completion percentage. Outside the 2 minute drill where he went 2 of 5, he was 10 of 14 in the first half.
"Much better in the 2nd half"
2 incompletions on 10 attempts, so 8 of 10. Including the 2 point attempts he was 8 of 12 in the second half - 75% completion percentage.
How ridiculously high is the "accuracy bar" being set now to qualify for a good game?
Don't you guys see what the run McNabb out of town gang is doing to your expectations?
This was McNabb's 123rd game as an Eagle. It was only his 10th throwing 4 touchdowns. It was his 12th most accurate game passing by completion percentage. It was his 6th highest game ever in passer rating. It was his 20th highest game ever in yards per attempt.
WTF is wrong with you people? Do you expect 30 of 30 for 8 touchdowns and no turnovers every outing?
by Andrew @ Bleeding Green Nation on Nov 12, 2007 11:14 PM EST up reply actions
I think I read somewhere...
I'll see if I can find that breakdown somewhere...
Long and Short
That's why RB catch percentage averages about 70-80%, Tight Ends about 65-70%, and Wideouts 45-65% depending mostly on how many deep balls they get. Running backs aren't better pass catchers, they simply get more short passes.
NFL Play-by-Play now gives a short and deep breakdown on passing. Deep passes are over 15 yards from the line of scrimmage (and thus generally at least 20 yards through the air).
McNabb had 3 incomplete deep passes to Curtis and 1 to Smith. He completed 1 deep pass to Avant, 1 to Smith, and 1 to Brown for a TD. 3 of 7 is hovering near 50%, which is about normal for deep passing completion percentages.
Cambell in the same game had 2 incomplete deep balls to McCardell, 2 to Lloyd, 1 to Randle El. He completed 2 to Thrash. So 2 of 7. Did you have the impression that Campbell was more innacurate than McNabb on sunday throwing deep?
by Andrew @ Bleeding Green Nation on Nov 13, 2007 9:07 AM EST up reply actions
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