What Stood Out to Me Thursday Night

Really proud of the performance the Eagles had last night. I could get all negative and point out that we only scored 13 points and a couple drives stalled at mid-field or that we didn't cover the tight ends that well etc etc etc...but that wouldn't be me. I like to focus on the positives. Why not, we are on top of the world.

People usually hate the Eagles because of our fan base(which is wrong/jealousy) or they are a member of PETA and throw eggs at people(chocolate eggs of course). Now it seems the league hates us because we are a serious Superbowl contender and the rest of the NFL is either scared or just plain bitter(cough cough, Dallas/New York).

There was a lot to like outside of the box score last night...

Wash's Line- I absolutley love our defensive line and their new apporach. Never, ever change it. We have one goal, kill the guy with the ball. The results speak for themselves: 6 sacks. Didn't see a linemen that didn't play well. Phillip Hunt struggled at first but he got his sack and several other pressures as well. Derek Landri will make this team and be a valuable pass rush in obvious passing situations right next to Trevor Laws. Daniel Te'o-Nesheim looks a lot better as well. Tapp was solid as well, no one on BGN saw that coming. NO ONE!!!!!!!!!

The Tennessee Titans great defense of 2008 that had a 13 or 14 win season behind Albert Haynesworth had 44 sacks that year. Our defense should get around 50. Jim Washburn might get into the hall of fame one day and we are lucky to have him for the next two or three years.

Mike Kafka- To me, Kakfa was the most impressive player of the night. Take away his pick, it was a dump pass. He is in his second year as a third string quarterback with no regular season experience, he will makes those. I have never seen a guy make such quick but smart decisions against the blitz. I don't beleive he got sacked once but desite always having two or three guys just a spilt second away from taking him down, he completing passes all over the field. His deep ball isn't very good, but either was Chad Pennington's and he had a good career. Kafka will be a starter one day, not for us but for someone else. I'm thinking the Seattle Seahawks for Marshawn Lynch and a 2nd round pick next year.

Hen(e)ry- I am pretty sure we willbe alright in the kicking game...for the next 15 years. Both guys looked good, not perfect but good. Don't expect Alex Henery to take on blocker in the return game like Akers did, but with this new kickoff rule he probably won't have to. I'm glad with two rookie kickers we won't have to hold our breath like we did with Brad Lidge in 2009, or Danny Baez until about a month ago.

Running backs- Didn't see much of McCoy at all, but that's a good thing. Don't need Shady hurt in preseason. Ronnie Brown looks really good. He seemed to manage to get at least 2 yards with ZERO blocking. Dion Lewis looks good. He should develop into more of a 1A back rather than a number 2 back. A ton of promise, will get McCoy fresh for years to come.

Honorable Mention-

- Chad Hall looked good, good enough to have a bigger impact on team. I think the Eagles keep 6 wideouts b/c of Maclin having pink eye or mono or mad cow disease. DeSean usually misses a game or two each season and Steve Smith getting to 100% this season will be a blessing not an expectation. If it was, he would of signed a long term deal in NY. Giants are welcome to replace him with JLH and replace Boss with Cornelious Ingram.

- Backup tackles stunk it up, but backup guards were decent. Kelce isn't ready to take on being the starting center this season, but I think he will in 2012.

- This is a big season for Herremans. If he has more injury problems that continue to slow him down, Julian Vandervelde will seriously push him for his job next season.

- Finally, to everyone who is already losing faith in Casey Matthews- What happened? You all had a man crush on him in April and apparently you already have moved on. He will be a solid MIKE for us. LB is a position that is becoming less and less important in this league. Outside of Clay, who is really more of a pass rusher than a LB, who stood out for the Packers at LB? The Saints when they won it? Colts? Giants? I don't think you can abandon the position altogether, but you don't invest as much money in it as you would of in the past. Gotta have speed all over the field at all times.