Eagles 16, Jets 9 - A win is a win right?

by JasonB on Oct 14, 2007 8:38 PM EDT in News Comment 15 comments

First off, can I pick em or what?

Prediction: Eagles 17, Jets 9 - It won't be a pretty game to watch but I think the Eagles will win at the line of scrimmage and that should be enough to get out of New Jersey with a win.

Thank you.

Now, the headlines...

Don't call it ugly, call it "unsatisfying"

I heard this on the postgame show and I must agree. An ugly game is one filled with mistakes, penalties, turnovers ect... that wasn't this game. For the most part the Eagles limited the penalties that have plagued them this year, and each team turned the ball over only once. This wasn't an ugly win, what we saw in Buffalo last week was an ugly win. This was unsatisfying.

It was clear to me that the Eagles were the better team on both sides of the ball. However, to use a baseball term, we "left a lot of runners on base." The offense moved the ball well enough to the tune of 413 yards of offense. 262 through the air, 151 on the ground... but we lacked that final killing blow. The Eagles ended up settling for field goal attempts 5 times and only were able to get in the end zone once, and that was from 75 yards out. The fact is it's a step forward from last week and for now we'll have to take that as a positive.

Welcome back Reggie Brown, it's nice of you to show up!

Six catches for 89 yards for an average of about 15 per... finally Reggie Brown shows up. He didn't get in the end zone, but he looked far better today than he has so far this year. He had solid hands, he was doing a good job of turning upfield and getting some big first downs... Let's hope he can build from this.

Another very solid game from Kevin Curtis as well, 5 catches for 121 yards including a spectacular catch/break tackle/run for a 75 yard TD. Like Reggie, he also did a good job catching some short stuff and turning it upfield for first downs.

Brian Westbrook = Eagles Offense

I'm not telling you anything you don't know. The guy is amazing, he can't be stopped by conventional means, he is the Eagles offense. 20 rushes for 121 yards, 6 catches for 36 yards... Plus he and the offensive line(especially that right side which was dominant today) really finished the game off nicely at the end when it seemed to be getting a little too close for comfort. Bottom line, anytime Westbrook is in our lineup we have a punchers chance to win a football game.

Need help building that new stadium in North Jersey?

Because I know a certain Eagles kicker that would love to see the implosion of Giants' stadium. The wind was once again a factor in this game, not just for Akers but for all the kickers. When they were with the wind they were banging in field goals, knocking kickoffs through the end zone, booming 60+ yards punts... against the wind, it was exactly the opposite. Akers has hit less than 50% of his kicks in the meadowlands, he will not be sad to see it go in 2009.

It was nice to see our #1 corner out there today

No, Lito Sheppard didn't end up getting on the field... but Sheldon Brown was in a big way. One big second half pick and a huge game saving deflection on 4th down in the end zone late in the game solidified #24 as our best corner in my mind.

Be thankful for a road win

Bottom line is that it's not easy to go on the road and win out of conference in the NFL. Unless of course you're the New England Patriots(thanks!). I know the Eagles didn't look like superbowl contenders today, but they did what they needed to do to get out of there with a W. If they do that twice more this month they may well be right back in this division race. Dallas & Washington both lost and we still have games to play with them, we definitely won ourselves a reprieve today.

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#1 corner?

Do you mean that you think Brown is our best corner when Lito is healthy (too bad he never is)?

by dawkfan20 on Oct 14, 2007 9:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Unconventional thinking

What other positions' best player is someone who may not be known as the best?

TE: Right now Brent Celek is our best TE. He seems to be improving as a blocker and he catches the ball whenever it's thrown his way.

S: With Dawk out, Sean Consindine is our best safety. He seems to me to be playing very well in all phases of the game. I wonder when Dawk comes back if Consindine might still not be our best safety this year. Consindine's progress has been one of the most pleasant surprises for me this season (I was ready to run him out of town after last season - especially the playoffs).

by slackerjoe on Oct 14, 2007 10:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Considine

I think he's played well this season, but I thought he tackled poorly today.

I didn't get to watch the whole game, but I saw him whiff a few times.

"You say 'groin' and it hurts." -- Mike Quick

by BrianS on Oct 14, 2007 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Was Pennington the difference?

I have to wonder how this game plays out with Clemens in there instead of Pennington. The Eagles run defense was atrocious the first half, however Pennington's early inability to complete anything was the difference between the Eagles playing catchup most of the half instead of playing with the lead.

by brooksy on Oct 14, 2007 11:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A win,

is a win, is a win.

This one was a must-win situation, no matter how they got it done. Next week is going to be much tougher, but after seeing Adrian Peterson rush for 200+ yards against the Bears, I'm feeling a little better about our chances. Of course, the Bears are going to be pissed off after that performance, so you never know. I really wish Grossman was still starting.

The win feels good, it's been a while for my teams.

www.depressedfan.com

by depressedfan on Oct 15, 2007 12:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A mediocre performance...

...against a mediocre team. We beat the Jets by a TD, coming out of the bye week. I was hoping to see more from the offense. The Jets D was giving up nearly 28 points a game coming in.

Red zone play was pathetic. McNabb is still holding onto the ball way too long. I did like the running game and Rocca looked a bit more comfortable.

I hope Andy is out of his funk- we'll see next week.

by AZ Iggle on Oct 15, 2007 10:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We were close...

having a lot more points than we did... Of course nobody cares about that, we only care about what actually makes it onto the score board. But we were super close to another 14 points... we had a touchdown on the westbrook run up the middle that was called back becuase of a hold. And Kevin Curtis almost had that sliding catch in the back of the endzone (which was PI if you want my opinion)...

I know, I know, horseshoes and hand grenades.

But had we made those two plays, everyday would feel differently about the game.

700 Level

by 700 Level on Oct 15, 2007 10:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That's the question going forward

Are we just a bit unlucky and could have easily hung 30 on the Jets? Or can this team really not finish?

That question will obviously be answered in the next couple weeks.

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by JasonB on Oct 15, 2007 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hold

That Shawn Andrews hold looked pretty bogus. Watching the TV picture, it looked like Andrews simply mauled him shoving him back and to the ground.

by Andrew on Oct 15, 2007 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i still see

the next two weeks as absolutely mandatory wins or the season may be lost pretty early. However, hopefully the midgets loose tonight and we can gain a game back across the board. With 5 division games left, we can still turn this thing around

700 Level

by 700 Level on Oct 15, 2007 12:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Time to go on a roll...

This win wasn't "impressive" or anything. The ship is not righted.

But like BGN says, it bought a reprieve, letting the Eagles live to fight and get things fixed.

I'm hoping this turns out like '03, where the team starts very badly, and then start a long winning streak with win a couple ugly wins before things gradually turn around.

Coming up next are:

Bears
@ Vikings
Cowboys
Redskins
Dolphins

Maybe this isn't fair, but I see all 5 of these as "must win". The Bears and Vikings are beatable teams that the Eagles must capitalize on. I can see them winning these games if they have to win ugly. The Eagles are 0-2 in the division so beating the Cowboys (tough to see unless the Eagles are playing better by then) and 'Skins (Despite the last loss, I think the Eagles will beat the skins at the Linc), and the Dolphins are just another bad-to-mediocre team that the Eagles can't afford to lose to.

I'm conceding a loss to NE, already.

"You say 'groin' and it hurts." -- Mike Quick

by BrianS on Oct 15, 2007 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cowgirls

Beating the Cowgirls is not "tough to see". They've coughed up 144 points in 6 games (that would be heading for 380 for the season!). They are really weak against running backs in the passing game (cough ... throw it to Westbrook ... cough), and their defense is generally overrated, being a one man show (DeMarcus Ware). The Cowboys are 30th in the league in giving up passing touchdowns (proudly chasing the Bengals and Browns), 30th in the league in giving up pass completions, and 31st in the league in giving up passing first downs. The only reason their rushing defense stats look good is the quality of opponent they've faced.

As to offense, this is essentially the same offense we held to 7 points last December in Dallas, and 17 points last October in Philly. The "impressiveness" of it is also tempered by noting that they scored 37 against Miami who the lowly Browns just put 41 on, they scored 35 against the Rams who the lowly Cardinals put 34 on, they scored 34 agains the Bears who were just pasted by lowly Minnesota for 34 and woeful Detroit for 37. There is little show here that their offense is really much more impressive than those sort of league bottomfeeders except that they've gotten 4 chances against 4 teams in their division cellars (plus a chance at a horrible Giants team that has since turned themselves around) where most teams have only had a shot at one or two such games.

Smoke and Mirrors folks. Smoke and Mirrors. The Bills undressed them last weekend, the Patriots stomped on their naked body.

by Andrew on Oct 15, 2007 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

I always like when someone gives me reasons to believe Dallas is not that good.

The Eagles were playing much better leading up to the Dallas games last season than they were this year.

They've got a few more weeks to get in synch. I think they can beat Dallas, but I think they'll need to play better than we've seen so far (not counting the Lions!).

"You say 'groin' and it hurts." -- Mike Quick

by BrianS on Oct 15, 2007 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll take it

Still, I don't know why McNabb had 35 pass attempts in a game where we were ahead most of the time. Westbrook and Buckhalter should have gotten more carries. I hope they get more carries against the Bears.

by Blackacre on Oct 15, 2007 4:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Run-Pass

Actually, McNabb dropped back 40 times. 35 pass attempts, 3 sacks, 1 scramble.

Westbrook ran 20 times, Buckhalter 4, Hunt 2. Other than giving Westbrook maybe a couple more carries at most (20 per game is a 320 per year rate), extra carries would need to go to Hunt (and putting him in the game is a blatant telegraphing of intention to run) or Buck (and you want to limit the amount of telegraphing intent to run putting him in causes, so you'd need to throw to him or while he's in a couple of times to to keep the defense honest).

The best chance for running more is probably on first down, where the Eagles split 17 throws, 11 runs, and 1 kneeldown. 5 of those first down runs were in the 4th quarter running out the clock, while none of the passes were. 3 of the first down passes were on the 2 minute-drill drive to end the first half, where you'd never run. So when the Eagles had a choice, they attempted 12 passes to 6 runs on first down.

The Eagles made 105 yards passing on 1st down making a completion on 9 of 17 plays for 5 1st downs, lost 10 yards on 2 sacks, and ran for 54 yards on 11 runs, 9 of which were for positive yardage, 1 for a 1st down, but only 5 of which went for 4 or more yards.

On 2nd down, the Eagles made 15 yards passing, completing 2 of 8 plays for 0 1st downs, taking 1 sack for -6 yards. They also ran 14 times for 71 yards all for positive yardage, took 1 10 yard holding penalty nullifying a touchdown, but 10 went for over 4 yards, 5 produced 1st downs.

On 3rd down they made 158 yards on passes, 4 yards on a QB scramble for a first down, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, completed 10 of 13 with 6 first downs, no sacks. They ran 2 times for 23 yards, both for 1st downs.

Looking at that production, it suggests they probably should have run a few more times on 1st down with Buckhalter, and that might have made some of the 1st and 2nd downs more successful. However, the 2nd down running was remarkably successful, perhaps because the Eagles were running in a lot of non-traditional running situations. 8 of the runs came on 2nd and 7 to 2nd and 16. OTOH, 2nd down passing was atrocious. Maybe more 1st down runs would have just brought us more of that.

by Andrew on Oct 15, 2007 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs