Philadelphia Eagles Week Eight Report Card

Make way for the big man as he helps the Birds roll.


In a game that could set the tempo for the rest of the season, the Eagles showed up with their A-game and took care of their hated rival, the New York Giants.

A beat-down to the tune of 40-17 is a great way to make a statement to not only to the rest of the league, but to themselves. They've shown the rest of the league that they can stick with the best that the NFC has to offer, and have instilled some confidence in themselves that they can carry with them for the rest of the season.

Well, it would appear as though the Giants may no longer be in the upper echelon of the NFC at this point in the season, but it's still a fantastic divisional win to put them in place for a push in the latter half of the year.

Enough jabbering, let's break it down.


Quarterbacks | Grade: A

Could McNabb have been better? Perhaps, but we're nitpicking at this point.

A few of his passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage, so obviously the trajectory of the passes were a bit off. However, it's also the fault of the offensive line who, while they were much better this week, still were allowing far too much of a push by the defensive line.

Either way, McNabb was on point all game long as he hit the open receivers, made good decisions, and even took off for a first down and added another 14 yards to his impressive career rushing total.

The Cowboys secondary is better than the Giants', there's no doubt about that, but if he can carry the momentum from this game into the Dallas game this Sunday, the Eagles should be able to grab their third straight divisional victory.


Running Backs | Grade: B+

With Brian Westbrook out of the game with a concussion, LeSean McCoy would have to step in and fill the shoes of a superstar here in Philly. It's a pretty big task for a rookie, but I was among the majority who thought he had it in him.

Well, 11 attempts for 82 yards and a touchdown, along with two receptions for 10 yards, is certainly good enough to make Eagles fans forget that Westbrook was watching his protege' from the sideline.

Add that onto the fact that Leonard Weaver beat the Giants defense for 75 yards on eight carries and you have a successful day on the ground. If Reid keeps this up when Westbrook is actually in the lineup, the Eagles could actually have a running game this season.


Receivers/Tight Ends | Grade: A

McNabb's top three targets, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, were all able to haul in a touchdown reception, in addition to having at least 45 yards receiving.

Jackson hauled in three receptions for 78 yards, with his touchdown again coming from over 50 yards out. Celek had four receptions for 61 yards, and Maclin had four receptions of his own for 47 yards. Alex Smith and Jason Avant also chipped in with three receptions between them, McCoy had two catches, and even McNabb caught a pass.

He had one of his passes tipped up into the air, caught it, and promptly took off for a one-yard gain, moving his career receiving total to five receptions and -7 yards.


Offensive Line | Grade: B

While the pass blocking was much better this week, the run blocking was still only good enough to get the job done. They opened up a very nice hole for Leonard Weaver on his 41-yard run, and LeSean McCoy was able to get through the line untouched on his 66-yard romp.

However, outside of that, there were not many holes opening up. This line is still attempting to find itself as a unit, so that will take a few weeks, but until then it's important that Reid continues to run the ball so the line can acquire the mentality that running the ball takes.

Like I said, the pass blocking was very good as McNabb seemed to have all day to throw on most of his pass attempts, with the exception of Jason Peters' two, yes two, blown blocks that both led to sacks.

They need Peters, and Stacy Andrews, to come into their own if this line, and this team, expects to make any kind of push this season.


Defensive Line | Grade: C+

For every time that Trent Cole seemed to get into Eli's face, there were two plays that Eli had all the time in the world to stand in the pocket and do as he saw fit.

On the flipside of that, the line was stout against the run. Brandon Jacobs was still able to rack up some decent numbers on the ground, but that's to be expected from a 265 pound freight train running behind 325 pound mammoths.

McDermott felt the need to blitz because he didn't feel as though he could trust his front four to get pressure, which means the line still is not where it needs to be. McDermott likes to blitz, but as he joked last week before the game, he would only bring one guy if that's all it took.

The pressure, pardon the pun, falls on Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons, and Jason Babin. Trent Cole has been getting consistent pressure, but still needs more help from the other side if he's going to get it consistently throughout the entire season.


Linebackers | Grade: C+

Akeem Jordan and Will Witherspoon have been very good over the past two weeks, but Chris Gocong has been nearly non-existent. Jordan and Witherspoon have been hanging right around seven or eight tackles the past two weeks, while Gocong has only had two or three.

He seems to be a bit nicked up at the moment, and isn't practicing of now, but that hasn't come up over the past two weeks, so it doesn't really explain the Redskins game. It could, however, explain his poor play against New York and also explain why Moise Fokou was covering Kevin Boss on his touchdown reception instead of Gocong.

Either way, the Eagles need more production out of the SAM position. Whether it's Gocong or someone else, something needs to be done.

Jordan and Witherspoon seem to be filling their assigned gaps and making the plays that need to be made, but a lot of the time it just feels that the Eagles could be better off playing the nickel most of the game and fielding only two linebackers.


Secondary | Grade: B

The corners were harrassing the Giants' receivers all game and even though they were able to get some catches and some decent yardage, they were kept out of the endzone for the entire game.

Asante Samuel and Quintin Demps both had an interception of their own, but Sheldon Brown and Quintin Mikell could just as easily had one for themselves. Mikell dropped his opportunity, two of them actually, and Brown had his called back because of a phantom holding call.

The real bright spot was Sean Jones, who is now the starting free safety. It would appear as though he stole the spot from Macho Harris while he was injured, but Reid said that Jones was going to be the starter regardless of whether or not Harris was injured.

Jones may be the physical presence that the Eagles need at free safety since the departure of everyone's favorite Eagle, Weapon X.


Special Teams | Grade: B+

It was nothing special, but the special teams did their job, and that's all you can ask.

David Akers made all of his kicks, Sav Rocca had a long of 57 with two of his three punts inside the 20, Ellis Hobbs averaged 29 yards per return, and the kickoff team was even able to force and recover a fumble that turned into points.

DeSean Jackson also had a 30-yard punt return, but it was right before halftime and didn't wind up meaning much of anything.

Overall, I'd say that's exactly what we need the special teams to do all year.


Coaching | Grade: A-

Andy could have run a bit more for my liking, but then again my personal philosophy would resemble that of Pittsburgh or Baltimore and the run-it-down-their-throats mentality.

However, it's a bit difficult to complain about Andy's playcalling when he only passed the ball 25 times and ran the ball 24 times. If he keeps it that close to 50-50 all year, the Eagles will be the team we saw Sunday, rolling over even a good divisional foe.

On the other hand, if he doesn't stick close to 50-50 and calls plays like he did in Oakland, the Eagles will be the team we saw in Oakland, losing to sub-par, bottom-of-the-barrel teams.

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Goodell Begging Congress to Clean Up His Mess

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has spent a good amount of time in Washington, D.C. over the past couple of days, and I can't say that he appears to have enjoyed himself too much.  He got ripped by Congress for the disgusting way the league treats its former players, and now, according to Pro Football Talk, he's asking the nation's legislative body to close a loophole that he and everyone else in the league offices didn't quite bother to catch until it came back to bite them.

And, as he has since the beginning, Goodell continues to lie his ass off about the circumstances surrounding the StarCaps case:

As the league would have Congress -- and anyone else who cares -- believe it, the NFLPA betrayed the league by assisting the efforts of the members who faced suspension based on the consumption of StarCaps, an over-the-counter supplement that had been secretly spiked with a banned substance.  But the evidence in this case supports a finding that the league knew that StarCaps had been spiked with a prescription drug, that the league knew players had been taken StarCaps, and that the league issued no specific warning to the players that taking StarCaps could be hazardous to their careers -- and more importantly to their health.

See, this is what anybody with a clue has been saying all along.  The question in this case, in my opinion, has always been "What did the NFL know, and when did they know it?"  And damn near all of the evidence in this case suggests that the league knew that StarCaps contained the substance bumetanide way, WAY in advance of the positive tests of Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, Charles Grant and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints, and Grady Jackson of the Detroit Lions.

Quite frankly, Goodell's pathetic begging in front of Congress to get this rule changed as a result of these events taking place tells me one simple thing.

He's conceding a loss.

I think he's under the impression that there's no way that he wins this case against the Williams Wall, and is now trying to get the rule changed so that he and the liars in the NFL front office don't have to potentially face such a problem again in the future.

Sorry, Roger. . .maybe you and yours should have been more honest in the first place rather than fooling around with the lives of your players in a pathetic attempt to yell "GOTCHA" at some of the guys that line your pockets.

As I always say. . .get up, get get, get down. . .Roger Goodell is a joke in your town.

video details and more

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Thanks Again, Ted! Favre is NFC Offensive Player
of the Week

Thanks Again, Ted! Favre is NFC Offensive Player of the Week

A perfect exclamation mark on a season sweep of the Green Bay Packers.

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49ers-Titans Week 9 Announcing Crew

Since the Tennessee Titans, an AFC squad, are the visiting team in an inter-conference matchup, CBS will be broadcasting the game this week at 1:15pm pacific time.  The broadcasting crew this week consists of play-by-play man Ian Eagle and color commentator Rich Gannon.

I've heard both of these announcers in the past, but it's been long enough that I can't recall very many specifics about either announcer.  They do represent the #5 crew for CBS though.  Nothing spectacular, but as long as I don't have to listen to Jim Nantz I'm fine.  "Hello friends..."

It's been a while since hearing Gannon, but I thought I recalled he was actually a half-decent color guy.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.  One plus to having a QB as the color guy, is that we'll hopefully get some solid breakdown of Alex Smith.  Smith will be making his second start of the year so I'm certainly curious to hear what a solid QB like Gannon has to say.  Gannon was an athletic QB in college before taking some time to find his way in the NFL.  I'd imagine he'll have plenty to say about Alex Smith.

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Neighbor Bill Looking at a Picture of Him Looking
at the Redskins-Eagles Game

Regressing

We have completed the rewatch of the Monday night game against the Eagles, I am completing the raw post, will go back and doll it up with links, this was an ugly game, it did not look any better on TV than it did in the stadium, except I did not have people getting arrested for fighting and signs being torn out of hands all around me.

If no one can block for Jason Campbell then Jason Campbell will no be able to do shit.



Photo by me.

Read The Full Article:
http://curlyr.blogspot.com/2009/11/neighbor-bill-looking-at-picture-of-him.html

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3-3 felt different, but I think we've seen this
3-4

More photos » by John Russell - AP

1 day ago: Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio looks up at the scoreboard in the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/John Russell)

Browse more photos »

All through the bye week, the sentiment was that this 3-3 was radically different from the 3-3 record the 2008 Jaguars posted. This team's arrow is pointing up, last year's was down. Despite having the same record, it was clear these were two very different teams.

However, a similar challenge lay ahead for both teams. In 2008, the Jaguars were to play the win less Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. It seemed simple enough, win those two games, along with a trip to Detriot, and the ship is righted. In 2009, the Jaguars had to go to winless Tennessee and then come home to play the 1-6 Chiefs. Win those two games and at 5-3, we could officially say this team was a real contender.

In 2008, a disaster occured. The team went up to Cincinnati and proceeded to lay an egg that would even make a Kiwi cry in pain. It was the de facto last game for Mike Peterson, the player who perhaps embodied all the positive qualities of the Jack Del Rio era. That was followed by another loss to Cleveland, and everyone knows the rest of that story.

This year, the Jaguars went to Nashville to take on an 0-6 Tennessee team that they have just beaten 37-17 a few weeks earlier. A win would've guaranteed the Jaguars a non-losing divisional record for the first time in years and set them up for a potential playoff run. Again, a massive egg was layed, though no one outside of Nashville and Northeast Florida noticed because of Brett Favre.

Once again the Jaguars were handed a seemingly golden opportunity and proceeded to give a collective "eh." Things like what happened on Sunday is why this town seems so apathetic towards this team. If it doesn't help itself, then why should the town help it?

What is it about this team that makes it always go the opposite of where you think it's going. Play well against the Colts, blown out by Arizona. Win back to back divisional games only to struggle since. It's simply maddening that this team can't be figured out week to week.

Whether it was the playcalling, the line play, the quarterback play,  things have to turn around somehow. I forgot who said it, but someone on this site described last year's scenairio as "Test taken, test failed." Right now, the Jaguars are on the border between a D- and F. If they want a passing grade, they'll need to take care of business against the Chiefs.

-Jonathan Loesche

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FO: at midseason, no all time great teams but
many very good ones

FO: at midseason, no all time great teams but many very good ones

No teams from this season crack DVOA's all time (1994 to present) top 10, but a whopping 5 (NE, PHI, NO, IND, BAL) make the top 25 of the last 16 years. No other season had more than two.

More in-depth recap coming tomorrow along with Advanced NFL Stats' ratings.

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49ers sign CB Keith Smith, Release WR Micheal
Spurlock

The loss of Nate Clements meant the team needed some cornerback depth behind Dre Bly and Marcus Hudson.  Today the 49ers made an initial move to shore up that depth by signing CB Keith Smith.  To make room for Smith, the 49ers released much maligned KR/WR Micheal Spurlock.

Below are some details from the 49ers about the move.  I was looking for some info and found some interesting stuff.  Our Lions blog had some comments when Smith was released at the final roster cut:

Cornerback Keith Smith was released on Wednesday.  Though Smith was injured for part of training camp and hadn't been great since he returned, this was an unexpected move.  I personally thought Smith would make the team over Ramzee Robinson, albeit not by a very wide margin.  This decision really just came out of left field, especially when news broke a few hours later that Cletis Gordon was claimed by the Lions to fill Smith's spot on the roster.  Gordon is a cornerback who was cut by the Texans after spending only a few days with the team.  Before that he was with the Chargers, where he spent three seasons and was a starter in one game last year.

The folks at mlive.com had some comments when Smith was released by the Lions at the beginning of the season:

Smith was Detroit's best downfield on-ball defender last year, but he never stepped up in training camp this season.

Smith (5-11, 191) was originally selected in the third round (73^rd overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. After spending five seasons with Detroit, he was released prior to the start of the 2009 season.

Smith has played in 71 career games (5 starts), registering 118 tackles, four interceptions, 14 passes defensed, one sack, one forced fumble and one touchdown.

A 29-year-old, native of Leesville, LA, Smith played collegiately at McNeese State.

Spurlock signed with the 49ers on January 23, 2009, after spending one season with the Arizona Cardinals and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He appeared in 11 career games (four with the 49ers) and totaled four receptions for 31 yards and 19 kickoff returns for 498 yards and one touchdown.

In addition, the 49ers have also released TE Carson Butler from the practice squad.

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Bengals release lineman Scott Kooistra; making
the argument that Fui Vakapuna signing makes sense

While the Bengals weren't happy enough to keep Fui Vakapuna on the team's 53-man roster in early September, they've signed him to the team's 53-man roster on Tuesday. However, that's yet to be announced as of this post, but his agent confirmed nonetheless. That left the Bengals with 54 guys on the roster, which is, you know, bad. To make room, the Bengals elected to terminated "the contract of long-time backup offensive lineman Scott Kooistra."

Here's where I think signing Fui Vakapuna makes sense.

Vakapuna brings you versatility. With Bernard Scott and Jeremi Johnson coming off injuries, the Bengals are in optimistic flux. If Jeremi Johnson can't go, throw Vakapuna in there. If Bernard Scott can't go, then Brian Leonard probably goes. But Vakapuna could be a second backup running back. If Bernard Scott and Jeremi Johnson can't go, wham. You have Vakapuna, who could play both spots. Not at the same time, of course. Someone like that would be drafted at least in the third round.

Along with being able to play fullback, Vakapuna is also an accomplished running back, scoring 18 touchdowns (14 on the ground) in four seasons (42 games) with the BYU Cougars. He averaged 4.7 yards-per-rush in his collegiate career. For the sake of a pointless (now) argument, Chris Pressley was a nasty fullback, and if we're looking to have a backup fullback in the category of "oh boy, Johnson is hurt", then Pressley is obviously your guy... if he wasn't already with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But Pressley carried the football 25 times in his career at Wisconsin and scored one touchdown. If the Bengals were in desperate need of a running back (ala against Chicago Bears), Pressley doesn't give you much. Vakapuna gives you more.

I would go so far as to say that even if Pressley were with the Bengals practice squad, Fui Vakapuna is still signed with the Bengals. If Marvin Lewis likes anything (besides busted garage gates at five in the morning), he loves versatility with his players. And since Vakapuna brings that by being able to play fullback and running back, it makes sense to have one guy to fill in both roles while guys work on recoverable injuries.

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49ers sit as 4 point favorites over the Titans

According to the folks at Bodog, the 49ers are 4 point favorites against the visiting Tennessee Titans.  Originally I was going to title this "open as 4 points favorites," but I'm not so sure they opened as 4 points favorites.  While I keep an eye on Bodog, I also visit a site called Scores and Odds.  One thing I like about them is they track how the spread changes.  According to them, the 49ers opened as 5.5 point favorites, but they too currently have the 49ers at -4.  This would indicate a fair amount of money has come in on the Titans so far.

A 4 point spread is a tough one to handle.  However, if the spread opened at -5.5 as Scores and Odds has it, that might actually tell us a bit more.  It tells us the bookies aren't 100% confident in the 49ers, but they do seem them as the relatively clear favorite.  I'd imagine the money coming in on Tennessee has more to do with the fact that they just won their first game and people want to jump on the Vince Young express.

Scores and Odds also has the over/under in at 41 points, the lowest among all the games this weekend.  Are we in for a defensive battle?  Prior to this past week, Football Outsiders had the Titans dead last in defense against the pass but 9th against the run.  They had the 49ers 7th against the run and 13th against the pass.  The Colts put up a lot of yards, but not a lot of scores, so we'll see how that plays out in the rankings.  But it does have me wondering whether that over/under is easily attainable?  I could definitely see this turning into a bruising defensive battle.  We'll keep an eye on how the over/under and spread move during the week.

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