LOL JMan having fun now that the playoffs are actually here.
What is 'one'?
one is unity. one is the heartbeat of
the community. one is a goal.
one is an attitude. one is green hair
and face paint. one is a vision.
one is contagious.
one is a united band of Eagles fans.
one is a team, a city, a dream.
one team
one city
one dream
What is 'one'?
one is unity. one is the heartbeat of
the community. one is a goal.
one is an attitude. one is green hair
and face paint. one is a vision.
one is contagious.
one is a united band of Eagles fans.
one is a team, a city, a dream.
one team
one city
one dream
Koy Detmer struggled. Jeff Blake was slightly better. The Eagles, well, it wasn't a good day in a 38-10 loss to the Bengals on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. But the action in the press box, where a bunch of reporters watched a bed of eight televisions, was riveting.
And the final impact is that we now have a clear picture of the NFC playoff scene, and it's a good one for the Eagles.
Carolina, the team so many in the media touted as "The Challenge" to the Eagles in these playoffs, won't even be in the postseason dance after the Saints marched into Panthers territory and whipped them. Bye-bye, Carolina.
The Saints, who celebrated for a good 25 minutes or so after their fourth straight victory, learned later as the Rams finished off the Jets in overtime that they would also miss the playoffs.
Minnesota again struggled down the stretch, took an embarrassing beating in Washington and slipped into the playoffs as the sixth seed.
St. Louis, then, plays at Seattle in the 4-5 game, while the Vikings play at Green Bay. The surviving team with the lowest seed then comes to Philadelphia the weekend of Jan. 15-16.
There. Schedule set. Now go on vacation.
I know some of you have a lot of questions about these last two games, most notably -- What in the world happened out there?
The Eagles played a lot, a lot, of backups. They kept the game plan very simple. And they made a bunch of mistakes and were beaten in St. Louis and then wacked by the Bengals.
And now we'll find out in two weeks how much of an impact these two weeks of relative down time for the Eagles, plus the bye week coming, will have on the team.
After Sunday's game, offensive coordinator Brad Childress was cornered in the locker room. The questions were the same as he and head coach Andy Reid have answered in the last few days. Here is a sample:
Q. Do you think the fact that you played so many backups the last two weeks will have any affect on the starters in the playoffs?
A. "No, I really don't," said Childress.
Q. Was the game plan different these last two games?
A. "Well, it's cut down a little bit," said Childress, "because you're trying to be as vanilla as you can be, yet (you're calling) things that the guys can execute, so I would probably tell you there aren't a lot of 'specials' in there."
Q. Is it not as fun to coach when you're calling a game like this?
A. "At any point in time I think it's important for you to know who you are and what your guys can accomplish," said Childress. "The No. 1 thing is to put guys in the position, the guys you have playing, put them in a position to do the things that they can do. Different guys have different skill sets and you have to be mindful of that."
Q. How difficult was the decision for Andy Reid to play these two games like he did?
A. "I really don't think it was hard at all. We wanted to go into the playoffs healthy and, so, that's the decision. It's an easy decision to make. We put ourselves in that position, and we're not going to apologize for that, for being in position with two games to go to do as we please."
So there you have it. On the 16th week -- actually, the 17th week and 16th game -- Donovan McNabb rested. Brian Westbrook was active, but did not play. Neither did Jevon Kearse. Brian Dawkins was ill and was inactive.
This was a game played by Mike Labinjo and Eric McCoo and Trey Darilek and, well, it was ugly. Very, very ugly. McCoo had his moments with 54 rushing yards on 9 carries and Reno Mahe caught 8 passes for 62 yards and Freddie Mitchell had a second consecutive game with a touchdown -- he finished with 6 catches and 76 yards -- and that was about all for the highlights.
Now the real part.
The playoffs.
"I'm going to enjoy this bye week, this rest," said Kearse. "It will be good for us to get away, let your body relax, relax your mind and once we get back in next week, everything is on the line.
"We have a one-game season. It's good to relax and get it out of your system, because whatever is out there is going to be there when you're done.
"It will be good to relax and then come back and put all your chips on the table."
What happens next? I don't know. I have every bit of confidence that the Eagles are going to play their best football in the playoffs. They have a whole lot of time to scheme for the postseason. Reid and Childress and Co. will have a whole lot of fun X'ing and O'ing and the teams that they play -- with just a week of preparing -- are going to have a tough time zeroing in on what the Eagles will do.
All I know is that after Owens' injury, the Eagles didn't want to take any more chances. I don't know how it would have worked out had Owens not been hurt.
The Eagles have McNabb good, Westbrook healthy, the defense as intact as it's ever been heading into the postseason.
It's an enviable position to be in: Healthy, motivated, hungry, talented, with a rabid following ready for a Super Bowl.
It's official: The postseason is here. After a 13-3 regular season, the Eagles have earned the right to rest.
And the final impact is that we now have a clear picture of the NFC playoff scene, and it's a good one for the Eagles.
Carolina, the team so many in the media touted as "The Challenge" to the Eagles in these playoffs, won't even be in the postseason dance after the Saints marched into Panthers territory and whipped them. Bye-bye, Carolina.
The Saints, who celebrated for a good 25 minutes or so after their fourth straight victory, learned later as the Rams finished off the Jets in overtime that they would also miss the playoffs.
Minnesota again struggled down the stretch, took an embarrassing beating in Washington and slipped into the playoffs as the sixth seed.
St. Louis, then, plays at Seattle in the 4-5 game, while the Vikings play at Green Bay. The surviving team with the lowest seed then comes to Philadelphia the weekend of Jan. 15-16.
There. Schedule set. Now go on vacation.
I know some of you have a lot of questions about these last two games, most notably -- What in the world happened out there?
The Eagles played a lot, a lot, of backups. They kept the game plan very simple. And they made a bunch of mistakes and were beaten in St. Louis and then wacked by the Bengals.
And now we'll find out in two weeks how much of an impact these two weeks of relative down time for the Eagles, plus the bye week coming, will have on the team.
After Sunday's game, offensive coordinator Brad Childress was cornered in the locker room. The questions were the same as he and head coach Andy Reid have answered in the last few days. Here is a sample:
Q. Do you think the fact that you played so many backups the last two weeks will have any affect on the starters in the playoffs?
A. "No, I really don't," said Childress.
Q. Was the game plan different these last two games?
A. "Well, it's cut down a little bit," said Childress, "because you're trying to be as vanilla as you can be, yet (you're calling) things that the guys can execute, so I would probably tell you there aren't a lot of 'specials' in there."
Q. Is it not as fun to coach when you're calling a game like this?
A. "At any point in time I think it's important for you to know who you are and what your guys can accomplish," said Childress. "The No. 1 thing is to put guys in the position, the guys you have playing, put them in a position to do the things that they can do. Different guys have different skill sets and you have to be mindful of that."
Q. How difficult was the decision for Andy Reid to play these two games like he did?
A. "I really don't think it was hard at all. We wanted to go into the playoffs healthy and, so, that's the decision. It's an easy decision to make. We put ourselves in that position, and we're not going to apologize for that, for being in position with two games to go to do as we please."
So there you have it. On the 16th week -- actually, the 17th week and 16th game -- Donovan McNabb rested. Brian Westbrook was active, but did not play. Neither did Jevon Kearse. Brian Dawkins was ill and was inactive.
This was a game played by Mike Labinjo and Eric McCoo and Trey Darilek and, well, it was ugly. Very, very ugly. McCoo had his moments with 54 rushing yards on 9 carries and Reno Mahe caught 8 passes for 62 yards and Freddie Mitchell had a second consecutive game with a touchdown -- he finished with 6 catches and 76 yards -- and that was about all for the highlights.
Now the real part.
The playoffs.
"I'm going to enjoy this bye week, this rest," said Kearse. "It will be good for us to get away, let your body relax, relax your mind and once we get back in next week, everything is on the line.
"We have a one-game season. It's good to relax and get it out of your system, because whatever is out there is going to be there when you're done.
"It will be good to relax and then come back and put all your chips on the table."
What happens next? I don't know. I have every bit of confidence that the Eagles are going to play their best football in the playoffs. They have a whole lot of time to scheme for the postseason. Reid and Childress and Co. will have a whole lot of fun X'ing and O'ing and the teams that they play -- with just a week of preparing -- are going to have a tough time zeroing in on what the Eagles will do.
All I know is that after Owens' injury, the Eagles didn't want to take any more chances. I don't know how it would have worked out had Owens not been hurt.
The Eagles have McNabb good, Westbrook healthy, the defense as intact as it's ever been heading into the postseason.
It's an enviable position to be in: Healthy, motivated, hungry, talented, with a rabid following ready for a Super Bowl.
It's official: The postseason is here. After a 13-3 regular season, the Eagles have earned the right to rest.
It'll be tough for the Packers to win the rematch after the Vikings win in Green Bay this weekend.
The Packers aren't 31 points better than they were in that game. The Eagles aren't 31 points worse than they were in that game. Yet they would have to be in order for the Pack to win that game.
sb
P.S... 1962. If you know what that means you'll think twice about GB's chances in this year's NFC Championship Game.
The Packers aren't 31 points better than they were in that game. The Eagles aren't 31 points worse than they were in that game. Yet they would have to be in order for the Pack to win that game.
sb
P.S... 1962. If you know what that means you'll think twice about GB's chances in this year's NFC Championship Game.
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I think the Eagles cakewalk to the Superbowl they will be more then 7pt favorite no matter who they play. Eagles in a class all by their self. the rest of the NFC is no COMPETITION for the EAGLES. but I am going to say it again NE is no shoe in to beat the Colts they will not be over 3pt favorite playing at home against Indy. the same goes for Pitts they will not be over 3pt favorite over the Colts I would swim two rivers to take +3.5 against either team they face. I like Indy to go all the way, I know they have no defense but their defense is alot better this year than last year.
