Although the NFL’s official midway point of the 2009 season was last week, the Eagles capped off their eighth game of the year this past Sunday, therefore sending them into their own official midseason section. In this article, a brief recap of the Birds’ season is provided, as well as a look at the roster positions that have been the best and worst thus far, to go along with a list of the top player performers, and a brief look at what the team has done right, and what they need to improve upon. So, without further ado, here is Bleed Green’s midseason report card of the Philadelphia Eagles:

Game Results:

Week 1 @ Carolina Panthers: Donovan McNabb leads the offense and Sheldon Brown leads the defense as the Eagles cruise past the Panthers, crushing Carolina by a score of 38-10.
Week 2 vs. New Orleans Saints: The powerful Saints stomp into Philadelphia and–under the direction of Pro-Bowl QB Drew Brees–rip apart the Eagles and their defense, happily defeating the Birds by a score of 48-22.
Week 3 @ Kansas City Chiefs: Kevin Kolb, LeSean McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin start on offense for the Eagles, who handle the lowly Chiefs with 34 points over Kansas City’s 14.
Week 4 –Bye Week–
Week 5 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Donovan McNabb returns from a rib injury to lead the explosive Eagle offense to a convincing 33-14 victory over the Buccaneers. 
Week 6 @ Oakland Raiders: In what is considered the low point of the season so far, the Eagles dropped what should have been a fairly easy matchup with the determined, but quite bad Raiders. The team scored only 9 points as opposed to Oakland’s 13.
Week 7 @ Washington Redskins: In a rebounding game, the Eagles defeated the rival Redskins for a win on Monday Night Football, however, displayed a large amount of offensive inconsistency.
Week 8 vs. New York Giants: Donovan McNabb looks awesome, the running game gets going, and the defense dominates in a 40-17 clobbering of the previously division-leading Giants.
Week 9 vs. Dallas Cowboys: The offense struggles and defense allows late crucial play as the Cowboys capture a 20-16 win to take sole possession of the NFC East and gain momentum heading into the season’s second half.

Best/Worst Position Thus Far

The best position on the team thus far has been…WIDE RECEIVER. Many will question this selection because of the major inconsistency of the offensive unit, but each and every time the Eagles make a huge play, it seems one of the Wide Receivers is involved. Both the Defensive End and Cornerback positions drew my interest, because for the most part they’ve been dominant all year (barring Week 2’s horrendous loss to the Saints), but the WR spot has been a real stud, especially since the group was questioned a lot for it’s lack of starting experience. 2nd-year target DeSean Jackson is frequently the producer of deep touchdowns, and rookie Jeremy Maclin has done a great job replacing the injured veteran Kevin Curtis. Besides their play, backup Jason Avant has continued to be a reliable relief player, and overall, the position has been one of the best in the league in terms of depth and production. If there is one thing the members of this corps need to work on, it is making an extra effort to eliminate dropped passes.

The worst position on the team thus far has been…OFFENSIVE TACKLE. As much as I have credited Winston Justice for doing a solid job at the Right Tackle spot and Jason Peters for playing well in spite of injuries at the LT position, this spot is definitely among the worst performing so far. Let me throw a statistic at you. Yes, this type of ranking should not be based off of stats, but imagine this: Donovan McNabb was sacked a total of 23 times in 16 regular season games last year. Through one half of this season, McNabb has been brought down 18 times. Now, this disappointing fact is not entirely the Tackles’ fault, but they are certainly responsible for containing the typical sack machines–Defensive Ends, and they haven’t done that consistently. Signs point to improvement, but for now, I hand the lowly award of “Worst Position Thus Far” to the Offensive Tackle.

Top Performers Thus Far

• WR DeSean Jackson: Jackson is well on pace to surpass his astounding rookie totals as a receiver, and is clearly the team’s best offensive weapon as of right now. The sophomore wideout has caught only 26 passes, but has turned them into a great total of 530 yards. He has also found the endzone 4 times off of receptions (twice the amount of receiving scores he had in his entire rookie campaign), and rushed for 115 yards and a TD via trick Wide Receiver hand-offs. As if his contributions on offense weren’t enough to solidify his place among the top Eagle performers, he has also averaged 15.2 yards a run-back while manning the team’s punt returning role.
• TE Brent Celek: In his first season as the official starting TE, Celek has exploded onto the scene. With a team-high 40 receptions, the 3rd-year player has already established himself among the league’s most reliable pass-catchers and blockers at his position. He has 486 receiving yards and 4 scores, and has assisted in allowing the team’s runners time to make big plays with excellent containment of opposing blitzers. If he continues to play at this pace, it won’t be long before he is voted to the Pro-Bowl and potentially earns a long-term contract extension.
• DE Trent Cole: To no surprise, the Eagles’ Pro-Bowl DE–Trent Cole–is dominating and garnering himself worthy of a “Top Performer” mention. Only eight games through the season, Cole has notched 33 tackles, a team-leading 7.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. He is on track to set his personal record for Quarterback sacks, and has even gotten the team to include him in such defensive formations that have him designed to cover opposing receivers. His athleticism and aggressiveness are seen each and every game, and it is only expected he will continue to play at this level as the season heats up.
• MLB Will Witherspoon: It might not be fair to include Witherspoon in this conversation since he’s only been with the team for three games now (he was acquired from the Rams at the trade deadline), but the converted Outside Linebacker has played much better than expected, especially since he moved to the more physical LB spot in the middle of the field. He has compiled 20 tackles, a sack, a pair of pass deflections, an interception (returned for a touchdown), to go along with a forced fumble. If that’s not considered an immediate impact, then I don’t know what is. If his statistics recorded with the Rams in the first 5 games were combined for an overall slate of stats, he would currently have 53 tackles, 1 sack, 2 pass deflections, and 2 forced fumbles.
• OLB Akeem Jordan: Jordan has been one of the quiet stars of the Eagles thus far, and hopefully his recent injury won’t affect his play for the remainder of the year. Playing in his 3rd season, the young defender out of James Madison college leads the team in total tackles (53), and has also been credited with recording a sack and 2 interceptions. If it weren’t for a reviewed and overturned play by the referees early in the season, Jordan would also have a recovered fumble for a touchdown, but his actual performance isn’t bad. In fact, it’s quite impressive, and that’s why he was listed as one of the “Top Performers”. Imagine if Jordan can put up these numbers for years, alongside Witherspoon and young MLB Stewart Bradley, who is expected to be fully recovered from his ACL tear and ready to play by 2010.
• CB Sheldon Brown: Typically not a ball-snatching Cornerback known for making a lot of interceptions, Brown has been around the ball many times this season, snagging 4 picks through the first eight games. In addition to those turnovers, the hard-hitting defensive back has also made 24 tackles and deflected 9 pass attempts. Don’t count on Brown to match his first half total of interceptions, as he tends to play with a different approach than CBs such as teammate Asante Samuel (who is a frequent receiver of interceptions), but don’t expect him to halt productivity. He is a determined veteran hungry to win, and should continue to play hard, passionate football.

What the team has done right…DEFENSE. The Eagles have done a great job pressuring opposing teams defensively this year. Excluding the Week 2 disaster against New Orleans, the team has racked up a total of 27 sacks, while the rest of the league is averaging 21. They have also forced 15 interceptions and 8 fumbles, meaning they’ve constantly produced turnovers, a definite sign of success. They are ranked 10th in the NFL in terms of rushing yards allowed, 8th in points allowed, and 10th in total yards given up. Those ratings can certainly be improved, but so far, the defense has been solid.

What the team needs to improve…CONSISTENCY. As much as the offense has appeared explosive, they need to play at that level on a consistent basis. Too many times they have looked phenomenal but followed their great performance up with a dismal showing. For instance, 40 points were scored against the Giants in an absolutely awesome victory, but the Eagles then managed only 16 points against the Cowboys the following week in a sputtering offensive performance. In order to compete late in the season (and possibly the postseason), the Eagles must improve their consistency.

This concludes the brief midseason look at the Eagles provided in the article, and from here on out, optimism should be cast on the team and it’s future. At 5-3, the Birds are only one game behind the division leader, and have as good a chance as any team to overcome their struggles and succeed down the stretch.