First off, can I pick em or what?
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.