Die Hard Sports Fan

The Eagles and Bears fought out a tough, competitive game with the Bears doing a better job of taking opportunity of some turnovers and earning the win.

1^st Quarter

The Eagles received the ball first to open the game.  The Eagles went 3 and out and were forced to punt after being sacked on 3^rd down by Bears Safety Daniel Manning.  On the Bears’ first offensive possession, they marched right down the field ending the drive with a Touchdown strike to Tight End Greg Olsen, who beat Eagles LB Chris Gocong in the endzone.

On the Eagles next possession, QB Donovan McNabb came out on fire, standing tall in the pocket, hitting rookie WR DeSean Jackson on multiple big plays including a 22 yard TD making the score 7-7.  Jackson also had a big run on a reverse, helping set up the Eagles’ first TD.

2^nd Quarter

On a Bears’ possession, they were forced to punt.  A Bears’ 38 yard punt was muffed by DeSean Jackson at the Eagles 24 yard line.  2 Plays later, Bears QB Kyle Orton found WR Marty Booker open in the end zone for a 23-yard Touchdown breaking the tie.  The Bears led 14-7.

The Eagles offense responded on their next possession by marching down the field.  WR Reggie Brown had multiple catches helping to get The Eagles down into The Bears’ Red Zone.  RB Correll Buckhalter then took a screen pass from McNabb 19 yards down to the Bears 1 yard line.  Buckhalter then took the next carry and plunged into the end-zone making the score 14-14.

On another possession, The Bears capped off a 60 yard drive with a 20 yard TD to KR/WR Devin Hester where The Bears took the lead 21-14 at half-time. 

3^rd Quarter

The Bears received the ball to start the 3^rd quarter and were forced to punt after a few plays.  The Bears punted the ball down inside the Eagles 10 yard line where McNabb through a costly interception with RB Correll Buckhalter getting hurt during the interception return.

Inside the Eagles 20 yard line, on the 2^nd play after the turnover, Bears QB Kyle Orton forced an ill-advised pass into the end-zone and right into the arms of Eagles Safety Quintin Mikell.  The Eagles defense gave the Eagles offense back the ball where the score still remained Bears 21, Eagles 14.

On the next possession, the Eagles went 3 and out and P Sav Rocca sent a booming punt deep into Bears’ territory where KR Devin Hester let it go over his head where he finally scooped up the ball and ran backwards, being downed at his own 4 yard line.

The Eagles defense stuffed the Bears down at the Bears goal-line forcing the Bears 3 and out.  On 1^st down, McNabb missed on an attempted pass to WR Greg Lewis.  With 3^rd string RB Lorenzo Booker in for injured RB Correll Buckhalter, Booker was creamed for a 3 yard loss on a screen play.  The Eagles failed to convert on 3^rd down with a pass to TE Brent Celek.  On 4^th down, K David Akers missed by dinking the upright of the goal post, giving the Bears back the ball with decent field position.

On the first play of the Bears’ next possession, Eagles DE Trent Cole sacked and stripped QB Kyle Orton forcing a fumble recovered by LB Omar Gaither who returned it to the Bears 28 yard line.

Almost giving up on the running game, the Eagles moved the ball inside the red zone, sometimes using 4 receivers in the formation.  On 2^nd down and 4 from the Bears 10, McNabb and the Eagles tried some trickery with a shovel pass to WR Jason Avant who took the ball down to the Bears’ 2 while picking up the first down.  On first down, McNabb rolled right, miss-firing on a pass in the end-zone to WR Hank Baskett.  On 2^nd down, McNabb tripped coming out from center and lost 4 yards.  With 3^rd and goal, The Eagles threw an incomplete pass in the end zone, bringing out K David Akers for another field goal attempt.  The Eagles cut the lead to 21-17 after Akers hit the 24 yard field goal.

The Bears responded with a Devin Hester kick return all the way to mid-field with a 51 yard kick return.  The Bears squandered the good field position, ending the 3 and out with a sack by Eagles DE J. Parker.

Upon the next Eagles possession, Eagles RB Correll Buckhalter returned to the Eagles backfield, carrying on first down for no gain.  The Eagles were unproductive, going 3 and out on this possession as well.  The Eagles were forced to punt and on the Bears very next offensive play, Bears RB Kevin Jones fumbled the ball, with it recovered by Eagles LB Stewart Bradley.

4^th Quarter

The Eagles ended the 3^rd quarter with a nifty reverse run to WR DeSean Jackson, who took the ball down to the Bears 15-yard line.  McNabb was sacked on the 1^st play of the 4^th quarter, by Bears LB H. Hillenmeyer.  The Eagles failed again to take advantage of the turnover and were forced for a David Akers field goal, cutting the Bears’ lead to 1 point at 21-20.

The Bears responded with finally their 1^st down of the 2^nd half and moved the ball down to the Eagles 24-yard line.  They stalled there and settled for a 41-yard field goal by K Robbie Gould.  The score was now 24-20, in the Bears’ favor.

The Eagles responded by marching down the field with a nice mix of runs by Buckhalter and pass plays by McNabb.  With 3:40 left in the game, the Eagles offense ran out of gas after calling a time out to discuss the next play.  On a crucial 4^th and goal from the 1, Buckhalter was stuffed by the Bears and their swarming defense, turning over the ball back to the Bears.

Taking the ball at their own 1-yard line, The Bears successfully moved the ball, gaining 1^st downs and making The Eagles burn up their time-outs.   The Eagles were successful in forcing the Bears to punt, but it was too little, too late.  The Eagles got the ball back with 17 seconds left after a DeSean Jackson punt return.  The Eagles ran one last play to WR Reggie Brown.  Brown didn’t get out of bounds and the game ended with the Bears winning 24-20.

Wrap-Up

• Bears QB Kyle Orton threw 3 first-half TD passes for a career high.
• Eagles WR DeSean Jackson caught his first NFL TD in his career.
• Eagles RB Brian Westbrook, TE L.J. Smith, and OG Shawn Andrews did not play.
• The Eagles Defense held RB Brian Forte to just 43 yards rushing, however, Forte also had 42 yards receiving.

NFL.com Game Center post game is attached.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

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It has been over 24 hours now since the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys.  The more time goes by, the harder I am taking this loss.  After the game was over, I felt a disappointment just because how it ended.  Now, I feel more than disappointment.  Its not anger but its definitely something worthy of feeling like I got kicked in the you know what.

With a few minutes left in the game and the Eagles Offense being led onto the field, I had a false sense of hope and promise where I envisioned Donovan McNabb marching the offense down the field as John Elway has done so many times for the Broncos in his career.  I could see it right then and there; with McNabb running the 2-minute drill and leading the Eagles to victory over the hated Cowboys and making the 70,000 plus fans go home with their hearts in their hands.  It never happened, obviously.  Instead, a different Donovan McNabb led the team to failed attempts to bring our team back. 

The first three quarters and #5 was his old self.  Moving around in the pocket, throwing tight rope passes to his receivers down field, spreading it around with no bias.   McNabb was successful during the first three quarters without his two top receivers and with someone that was trying to impersonate franchise Tight End, L.J. Smith.  McNabb was the smiling, happy McNabb.  The quarterback playing for the Eagles last night during the first three quarters was the same quarterback who lead our beloved team to the Super Bowl just a few years ago.

The fourth quarter was a different story.  McNabb looked distant, almost confused at times.  The quarterback out there sporting #5 in green had trouble handing off the ball in the most crucial times.  He missed a wide open Bryan Westbrook on a huge third down play that might have changed the outcome of the game if the ball was thrown correctly.  This quarterback, playing for the Eagles in the fourth quarter against Dallas took sacks that our offense could not afford to let happen. 

After the game, McNabb took it like a man and took full responsibility for the cause of the turnover late in the game when he mishandled a simple handoff on a fake reverse.  “My bad” with the pat to his chest is what I pictured when hearing him talk after the game.  I don’t know what happened to him as I am guessing he was flat out exhausted and ran out of juice.  The Eagles loss was not his fault.  The defense gave up huge plays at the most inopportune times.  LB Stewart Bradley was toasted for a TD reception by RB Marion Barber.  Safety Brian Dawkins was out of place at times.  Why Safety Sean Considine is on the field is beyond me.  Special Teams was almost putrid at times including giving up a touchdown to rookie RB Felix Jones.  L.J. Smith disappeared last night.  (Can we go back to the draft and take Cowboys TE Jason Witten and let Dallas draft L.J. Smith?).  WR Greg Lewis didn’t come up with a sideline pass where it was a catch he had to make.    No one with any football understanding can solely pin last night’s loss on McNabb.

McNabb is a good quarterback.  It was a moment like last night where he could have showed the national audience that he wants to be a great quarterback.  He can make plays that very few others can make.  He is greatly appreciated here by this blogger and I will miss him tremendously when his days run out as a member of the Eagles.  I just wonder what it will take to get him over the hump and catapult him into the next echelon of quarterbacks.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

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I know, I know. You looked at the title and said to yourself: “Michoel Botwinick, you heartless S.O.B., Kevin Curtis is unquestionably the Eagles best wide receiver and is extremely vital to the team.

But is he?

True — he’s been the Eagles best wideout since T.O., but what exactly has he done in terms of creating match up problems, or stretching the field for D-Mac? While Donte Stallworth didn’t exactly put up the numbers that Curtis did, he did make the other receivers next to him better, and why? Because he spread out the field, created match up problems, and generally took some of the pressure off his fellow wide receivers. Remember, that was the year in which Reggie Brown had a breakout season.

In other words, he made the whole corps better, something that Curtis did not do.

Furthermore, Curtis would be a second or third wide receiver with most teams, where he be largely ineffective. Remember St. Louis when he played behind Torry Holt? And those years were supposed to be the prime of his career.

But still, what does Curtis’s injury do in terms of helping the Eagles’ already shoddy wide receiver corps? Here are the top three possibilities:

1. First of all, DeSean Jackson will have to be utilized more. I know Andy Reid has an unpleasant habit of not playing rookies, but how can you ignore this guy?! Already a standout wide receiver at Cal — in addition to his electrifying punt returns — he is clearly the play maker that McNabb has been asking for. And the more touches that D-Jax gets, well we’ll see… But I see great things coming.

2. Reggie Brown came to the Eagles with high hopes three years ago, but hasn’t quite been what he was cracked up to be when the Eagles drafted him in the second round in 2004. He did, however, have a great year in 2006, playing behind Stallworth, but received diminished attention with the arrival of Curtis in the next year. Now we will see what he can do in a starring role, and if his college tapes prove correct, he may be in for an excellent year. The talent is definitely there, that’s for sure.

3. Unless you hadn’t been listening to Philly sports radio around the time of training camp, you may have heard rave reviews about Hank Baskett’s red zone capability. I mean, you look at a guy who is 6′4 and can jump 7 feet high and you see the potential. While he may not be a major factor in the offense other than the red zone, he can definitely be a huge asset in terms of getting 6 points on the board.

The basic premise of these three points is that by the time Kevin Curtis does come back, in about a month or so, Donovan McNabb will have greater confidence in his current set of wide receivers. And then McNabb will depend on Curtis less, spread the field more, and correctly implement the West Coast offense.

And if not…

Well, one of these two things will have to happen:

1. The Eagles will have to finally get a true No. 1 wide receiver. And that’s always a good thing!

2. The Eagles will have to give the ball to Westbrook more. Which, of course, is fine with me, as that would mean a more balanced attack. Just makes you wonder how much longer Westbrook can accommodate being the centerpiece of the Eagles offense…

Or…

The injury plain sucks. Another wasted season. Oh well.

However, with the recent game against the Rams, I doubt any Eagles fan will have to worry about another wasted season. Especially with DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, heck, even Greg Lewis playing the way they did! Now lets just see if they can keep it up against the Cowboys…

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Arguably, no fans are as loud as Eagles fans, and these past few weeks were no exception. It is indisputable that no fans screamed louder, gnashed their teeth in frustration, or publicly ripped their team more than Eagles fans did this past off-season in their vain attempt at a No. 1 wide receiver.

How ironic.

Now, with Week One in the books, we can look back and laugh. Because, which ever way you slice it, here are the facts:

1. The Eagles were the only team in the league to have three receivers who each had 100 yard games.

2. It was only the second time in franchise history the Eagles’ wide receivers accomplished such a feat.

3. It was the only time in league history a combination consisting of or anything like two undrafted free agents and a rookie reached that prestigious goal.

4. It was also the first time a trio of these likes each had a play for over 45 yards - Hank Baskett for 90, DeSean Jackson for 47, and Greg Lewis for 76.

Wow.

Wasn’t it just a couple of day ago that we were complaining about the Eagles wide receivers? Wasn’t it us who said they had no big-play capability? So much for that. So what if it was against the St. Louis Rams, a team with one of the worst pass defenses in the league. It won’t be the worst team the Eagles will face this season, nor do they have the worst pass defense.

Now, with the forthcoming returns of Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis, the Eagles’ wideouts suddenly become a position of depth, a noticeable strength. And hopefully they can prove themselves once more against Dallas, when it really counts, and chase away any last shreds of doubt in the minds of Eagles fans about the current Eagles’ wide receiving corps.

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FLY EAGLES FLY!! The Eagles dominated every where, on offense, on defense, and yes, even special teams:

1^st Quarter:

McNabb started the game with an off target pass, but immediately settled down and led the Eagles to two straight touchdowns and their first two possessions. WR Jason Avant had a nice 3^rd down catch good for a 1^st down on his first reception of the 2008 season. TE LJ Smith showed what a nice Red Zone threat he can be with his first TD of the season.

On Defense, the Eagles looked strong right from the beginning. CB Asante Samuel and DE Darren Howard stood out with helping shut down the Rams offense.

2^nd Quarter:

The Eagles actually had to punt for the first time of the game into the 2^nd Quarter. The Rams QB Marc Bulger continued to look out of rhythm as the Eagles defense continued to frustrate him. RB Steven Jackson was basically taken out of the game, strategy wise with the Eagles jumping on the Rams early, 14-0. Quintin Demps stood out on special teams during punt coverage where he made two terrific plays downing a punt. CB Sheldon Brown put such a solid hit on Steven Jackson that it hurt me more than Jackson. Ouch! WR Hank Baskett scored on a huge 90 yard pass play as the Rams defense looked dazed and confused.

3^rd Quarter:

CB Asante Samuel “almost” scored more points than the Rams Offense did. He had a nice play where he broke on the ball and dropped a sure interception return for a TD. Rookie sensation DeSean Jackson was absolutely brilliant on a punt return, setting up an Eagles TD. FB Tony Hunt lined up as the half-back with DT Dan Klecko leading the way as the FB with Hunt punching it in for a TD.

4^th Quarter:

At 31-0, I was wondering why both the Eagles and the Rams still had their star players in. After the Eagles took a 38-0 lead, McNabb and the starters gave way to the 2^nd string so youngsters Kevin Kolb and company could get some reps in and give the starters a rest. The Rams finally put points on the board with a 46 yard field goal with 9 minutes left in the game.

The NFL.com Game Center: Post Game is attached.

Wrap Up:

• The Eagles had not one but two WRs over 100 yards receiving (DeSean Jackson & Hank Baskett).
• Westbrook had two TDs, one receiving and one rushing.
• Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid is now 4-6 on opening day games.
• The Eagles now travel to face the Dallas Cowboys next week on Monday Night Football.

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