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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For the Eagles Defense to be successful against the Steelers Offense, two things have to happen consistently; 1) put constant pressure and hits on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and 2) be more physical than the Steelers.  Roethlisberger has already been sacked five times this year and has sustained an injury to his shoulder.   During the off-season, the Steelers lost their best offensive lineman in free agency, Alan Faneca.  The Eagles should look to see how they can take advantage of Faneca’s replacement, Chris Kemoeatu.  Ideally, the Eagles would like to get in the face of Roethlisberger all day long, throwing off his rhythm and timing, and causing him to force balls and make mistakes.

An interesting thing to see is who wins the running game match-up.  The Steelers bring a powerful, physical running game with RB Willie Parker.  Last year, Parker led the lead in rushing yardage until sustaining a broken leg very late in the season.  He is a running back capable of splitting a crack between players and breaking it for the home run from any point on the field.  If Parker can get into open space, his speed can bring problems to the Eagles Linebackers and Secondary.  The Eagles will need to hold their ground against the Steelers Offensive Line and not let Parker out into open space. 

Against the pass, if the Eagles do not do a good job of throwing Roethlisberger’s timing off, it could be a long day for the Eagles Defense.  WR Santonio Holmes is a speedster; the type of receiver that quickly gets behind a defense and finds himself open, deep down field with his double moves.  WR Hines Ward is not fast, but is the arguably one of the NFL’s consistent receivers, always coming up with that important catch on third down or being Roethlisberger’s go to guy as a possession receiver.  Additionally, Ward is a physical receiver who loves to stick his nose in and pancake defensive players and has been instrumental in Parker’s success in the past.  The Eagles CBs will always need to know where Ward will be, or they could wind up being surprised by being blown up by Ward on a running play. 

The last match-up which could wind up being the turning point and pointing things towards the Steelers Offense’s way is TE Heath Miller.  A quiet TE overshadowed by bigger name star players such as Roethlisberger, Parker, Holmes and Ward, Miller can be that silent assassin; making that crucial red zone Touch Down reception.  The Eagles have a history of not being able to stop Tight Ends in the past and this year is no different so far.  Last week, my biggest concern was who would shut down Jason Witten of the Cowboys.  The answer was no one was able to stop Witten and his performance last week helped Dallas to victory.  It is my opinion that if Miller starts to be a force catching the ball early in the game, the Eagles should change up their coverage, taking advantage of having three stud Cornerbacks, and put one of them on Miller.  Looking at the current Eagles defense, I do not have confidence in the pass coverage skills on a Tight End from S Brian Dawkins or Linebackers Omar Gaither or Chris Gocong. 

In conclusion, it will be a great dog fight, there’s no doubt.  There will be Steelers’ possessions where they score points and then some.  They are too physical and too talented not too.  My hopes are that the Eagles remain physical and beat the Steelers at their own game, thus minimizing the points scored and hold the Steelers to enough points to let the Eagles Offense pull things out on the other end and therefore our Eagles will be now 2-1.

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

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Assuming Jessica Simpson is not a curse on Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo, let’s take a peak at how the Eagles Defense matches up against one of the NFL’s most potent offenses, The Dallas Cowboys: When given time in the pocket, Tony Romo is just as good as any other starter in the NFL. He has nice mobility and can step up and move around in the pocket, throwing the ball with nice emphasis, down field. Since this game is not a play-off game, we will give Romo the benefit of the doubt that he will perform up to his capable abilities. I expect Romo to have more than some success unless the Eagles Pass Rush can get to Romo and frustrate him, often and early. A tangible that will relate directly to Romo’s success or lack of it is how the Eagles trio of Cornerbacks (Samuel, Brown, and Sheppard) does on locking down Cowboys weapons Terrell Owens, Patrick Crayton, and Jason Witten. The Eagles must rattle Romo’s confidence often and early which will then take Owens, Crayton, and Witten out of the game more times than not. For whatever the reason of the Eagles not trading Lito Sheppard now has its benefits. There is no better example of the importance of having three stud Cornerbacks than this game. The outcome of holding onto Lito will now put the Eagles Defense in a better position in dealing with teams who have multiple threats such as the Dallas Cowboys. The match-up of the Dallas Offensive Line versus the Eagles Defensive Line looks to be a push to me. Both teams have talented linemen. Dallas has a huge offensive line, where the five starters average over 320 pounds. This massive line has the potential to cause issues for the Eagles, but I see Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson using his rotation of Ends and Tackles to deal with the size factor. Additionally, I think Johnson will time the blitzes accordingly to help the D-Line. The Eagles will need good run support from the Linebackers and Safeties in order to contain RBs Marion Barber and Felix Jones. If the Eagles Defensive Line does not get good run support from the back seven, the Cowboys will chew up the clock and run the ball successfully all game long. A concern I have that is keeping me up at night is how the Eagles will try to stop Tight End Jason Witten. Hopefully Jim Johnson will come up with a scheme to shut Witten down such as putting one of the 3 CBs on him. If the Eagles try to cover Witten with Gaither or GoCong, it will be a very nice day for Witten and a long day for us Die Hard Eagles Fans as I have no confidence either of these two can cover him consistently. I do not want a Safety on Witten either as that will hurt the run support, as well as the CBs covering Owens and Crayton. The bottom line is this; the Cowboys will definitely get their opportunities and score some points. How many points they score depends on how the Eagles do scheming, preparing, and matching up against the Cowboys. If the Eagles are successful in supporting each other, pressuring Romo continuously, and keeping the Dallas weapons in front of them, then there is a good chance the Eagles can make this a game and really make a statement to the entire NFL with a competitive game or even dare I say a road win against the hated Dallas Cowboys. With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”

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Today, we will look at how the Eagles Defense will do against the Rams Offense.  Although the Rams Offense is no longer the “Greatest Show on Turf”, they still pose a threat when clicking on all cylinders.

The Rams running game is the biggest threat against the Eagles Defense.  RB Steven Jackson has returned from his summer hold out and is a fierce runner who is hard to tackle, and can be a dangerous receiver out of the backfield on swing/screen passes.  It will be interesting to see if he is ready to carry a full work load after his hold out.  Jackson should have a somewhat productive game, with hopes of helping keeping the Rams Defense off the field, and keeping QB Marc Bulger from being hit more than necessary.

The Rams Offensive Line is headed by OT Orlando Pace who is coming off injuries and may be hindered by his health status.  This could benefit the Eagles Defensive Line.  If Pace and the rest of the Offensive Line can give Bulger time, it could mean a decent day for WR Tory Holt.  The Rams will need another Receiver to step up and take the place of WR Isaac Bruce, who is now with the SF 49ers.  Former Titans WR Drew Bennett could help take the pressure off of Holt as I look for Eagles CBs Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, and Lito Sheppard to frustrate Tory Holt as much as possible. 

To be successful at shutting down the Rams offense, the Eagles must do two things:

• Get a consistent pass rush on Bulger and rattle him early, making him have thoughts of getting hit on every passing play. 
• Eagles LBs Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley, and Omar Gaither must step up and provide nice support to the Defensive Line against the run and keeping Jackson in check. 

If the Eagles can do these two things consistently, the Rams should be held under 20 points.  Bulger, Jackson, and Holt will make some nice plays, but it will not be enough to break the Eagles Defense nor lead the Rams to a victory.  With that said “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

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