Eagles aren't favored

12/05 9:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Intertops	BoDog	WSEX
Seattle @ Philadelphia	44 3.5	42.5 4	43 4	42.5 4	42.5 4	43 4

Matchup

Yea! 5-6!

In a poorly played mistake-fest the Eagles managed to be the team that sucked the least and came away with a victory. The Eagles should have been up big early considering they started their first 4 possessions of the game on the Packers side of the 50 and Favre was playing terrible, yet they still only led by 3 points deep into the first half. When the offense managed to score what would be their lone TD of the game the defense, in totally predictable fashion, allowed an easy TD immediately after. Nice tackle Dawkins, very Bobby Tayloresque. And just as predictably, the offense went 3 and out on their following possession. That sorry effort though contained one of the highlights of the game -- the sound of the football clanking off the refs head. Fox should have replayed that more.

The defense gave up a late score in the first half to put the Eagles behind but you never felt the Packers had anything really going on and were not going to take over or win the game despite their 43% third down conversion rate. Instead the Eagles capitalized (as feebly as they could) on all the Packers turnovers, rushed for 181 yards, and took those important stats to victory.

Other observations:

• Eagles have yet another crappy punter. Where's Landetta?
• Did Gordon get the ball again after he fumbled it early? I'm thinking maybe once.
• Brett Favre should retire.
• Quentin Mikell can't play.
• Reno Mahe can't play.
• After the Gado fumble on the 50 why 3 straight passing plays?
• Why the stupid trick play at an inopportune time when you've planned to be so boringly conservative all game?
• McMullen had that first down but the refs blew it. He slipped down and extended the ball and then was touched. The ref spotted it as if he had been tackled to the ground. Reid should have challenged.
• I didn't like the Eagles settling so meekly for a FG after the kickoff fumble. A 5 point lead is not safe with this defense.
• Roughing the passer call was weak.
• Rod Hood had a good game, better than any Lito has played this year.
• I hate Jared from the Subway commercials.
• Who puts a bowling ball on their mantle?
• Seahawks are frauds.
• Giants are frauds.
• If the Eagles defense wasn't so bad this year they'd be 6-5, not 5-6 and have a chance in this weak division.

Eagles are favored

11/27 4:15 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Intertops	BoDog	WSEX
Green Bay @ Philadelphia	41 -4.5	OFF	41 -4.5	OFF	OFF	OFF

Matchup

Those Other Things

Yup, the referees (who STUNK), special teams, and a defense that can't BUY a turnover.... they all blew our last few hopes. I guess I shoulda taken Ron's comment to heart: "For the rest of the season the following games will go down alot easier if everyone just accepts that this season is done." I couldn't, though. Now, I do. I'll be going to watch the 4-6 Birds next week against the Pack. How exciting. I hope my beer selection turns out good.

TO wont go

Trotter said on WIP he'd take TO back. You can add Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown to that list too.

Sheppard said he would be in favor of bringing Owens back.

"From my perspective, I'd vote for him to come back," the cornerback said. "That's just my opinion. Take a survey of the locker room, and see what you get."

There's not enough availability or time to take such a survey in one day, but Sheppard thought he had an inkling of what his teammates would say about T.O. returning.

"Some people might not answer that question, and I'm quite sure you'll get some nos," Sheppard said. "But I think the majority will say yes."

Even cornerback Sheldon Brown, who expressed tremendous disappointment in Owens last week, said he'd welcome back the wide receiver.

McNabb is done for the year anyway so why not? There really is nothing to lose. Just cause TO is out of the picture doesn't mean there still isn't dissension in the locker room as there appears to be pro and con TO camps. I also expect the Eagles to lose the arbitration hearing because TO's offenses are totally weak and don't come close to deserving the penalty meted out. It appears to me that the worst he did was hurt people's feelings. Other reasons for bringing TO back include making Eskin look like the juvenile clown that he is as well as avoiding the nightmare scenario of him possibly playing for Dallass next year. And the Eagles might even have a chance to win a couple of the remaining games too!

Is this a good time to remind everyone that the the Eagles chose Fraud Ex ahead of Chad Johnson?

Damn, 7 point dog

11/20 1:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Intertops	BoDog	WSEX
Philadelphia @ New York	42 -7	OFF	OFF	42 -7	OFF	42 -7

Matchup

Officially more pathetic than the Phillies

This game was lost more than once. The top 3 most responsible are:

1. McNabb of course, throwing his 3rd straight game losing interception. I'm sure TO loved it.
2. Reggie Brown who had several drops including the biggest at the end of the game on the 18 yard line. I'm sure TO loved that too.
3. The entire defense that let the Cowboys go 72 yards in 40 seconds. Brutal.

This debacle though has lots of blame to go around. Here is a list of idiotic plays:

• 6 false starts, 1 on a punt, 3 by Runyan
• Draw on 3rd and 13
• Interference on punt reception
• 7 yard pass on 3rd and 15
• Simoneau block in back on punt return
• Kearse offside to give Dallass a free first down
• McNabb's improvised shovel pass
• Holding call on a punt that went into the endzone
• Running shovel pass play when Dallass announced that it knew it was coming. Note to McNabb: that would be a good time to change the play and/or call a timeout
• Not converting a 3rd and 2 with 4+ minutes to go
• Throwing the ball right to Roy Williams with no receiver within 15 yards especially when you're supposed to be running the ball and running the clock out. The Reid-Childress-Morningweg-McNabb braintrust at its finest.

There were a bunch of bad plays too.

• Every punt - Where is Sean Landetta?
• Fake snap
• Reno Mahe drop
• Most kickoff coverage plays
• Missing wide open Westbrook
• Akers last second field goal attempt - I heard he was making them from 65 in warmups

Ordinarily I'd be more upset at this pathetic loss, but the Eagles would still be going nowhere if they had won despite some desperate grasping by lots of commentators. Winning would have been nice in that they beat Dallass but it would just be a star stuck on the side of an ugly turd. Hmm, what does that remind me of? Face it, the Eagles have nothing, their defense is a fraud, the ball will continue to bounce badly for the remainder of the season just like it did again tonight, and McMahon will probably be the one throwing game losing interceptions next week at the Meadowlands.

Eagles favored? Must be that Dallass sucks

11/14 9:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Intertops	BoDog	WSEX
DallASS @ Philadelphia	39 -3	OFF	39.5 -3	39.5 -3	39.5 -3	39.5 -3

Matchup

Owens is gone

The latest depressing chapter in Philadelphia sports history came to its familiar end today as the Eagles said good-bye to Terrell Owens. At the same time the announcement was being made, a small tremor shook the Delaware Valley as hope slammed into the earth at 3 times the speed of sound. Scientists said the impact could have been worse if this was a unique event, but because the Philadelphia region is overly familiar with these types of disasters there was only slight perturbations and most people just shrugged their shoulders and continued on with their day. Some experts said that if this type of situation had happened in the mid 80s shortly after Pete Rose and Moses Malone had taken their respective teams to championships, today's event might have had more of an impact. But many years of failure have passed since that era and the recent Eric Lindros event of 2000 left the region well prepared for the worst. "People have no memory of teams bringing in marquee players that bring home a championship, and we are very fortunate in that regard," another expert said, "This could have been a lot worse."

Sigh

There were a bunch of plays in this game that the outcome turned on and the Eagles only came up on the positive side on one of them, sorta. That play was Trent Cole's lone good play of the season when he forced Brunell to fumble. The Eagles immediately squandered that though with McNabb's super duper double secret trick spike play that was so secret no one else on the team knew about it. (The post below goes into more detail on this brilliant moment.) The plays that the Eagles needed but did not get - Thrash's punt fumble, Greg Lewis's catch that he made but the refs blew, even after proving it via replay, Lamar Gordon's drop as he was running across the middle wide open with lots of space in front of him - Eagles punted 3 plays later, and Cooley's fumble that sat on the ground for an eternity.

To me the TD drive that included Cooley's fumble that the Eagles failed to recover after Akers tied it at 10 is representative of this entire failed season: The offense has a good drive, no TD of course, but they do tie the game and supposedly have the momentum. The following kickoff by "specialist" Cortez has no hang time and only reaches the 15 and the return makes it into Eagles terroritory. The defense follows the spectacular special teams effort with one of their own and lets the Redskins answer fairly easily with a touchdown. How many times has this exact same scenario happened this year? The offense scores and the defense and special teams lay down on the opponent's next possession.

Ok, the end of the game. Well the Eagles finally ran a good 2 minute offense, except for the finishing it off with a tying touchdown part. They seem to forget the finishing up part alot. Why was Westbrook on the sidelines for that play? Andy Reid out thinks himself again. And to think, they took a timeout to draw that one up. Idiots.

For the rest of the season the following games will go down alot easier if everyone just accepts that this season is done. Yeah sure, they can still make the playoffs but who really cares at this point? The goal was to win the Super Bowl, not be sitting there in the last weekend of the season watching the scores of other games and hoping someone loses so the Eagles can back in as a wildcard. And the way both the offense and defense are playing, that might not even happen.

Why, Why, Why?

Why do I watch this team? The SAME problems EVERY week. Ok, the play calling is better this week, but for crying out loud, another mismanaged clock at the end of the first half? Why? Why? Why? So much lost sleep. So much fatigue for the rest of the week. And we can't spike the stoopid ball? DMac, I don't care what you saw on that play, but you CAN'T expect GLew to run a long route when rushing to the line to spike the ball. Man. Why am I an Eagle fan?

How far the mighty have fallen

11/06 8:30 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Intertops	BoDog	WSEX
Philadelphia @ Washington	40 -1	41 -2	41 -2	OFF -2	OFF -2.5	40.5 -3

Matchup

10 questions

Here are my questions as the NBA begins its 2005-2006 season:

1. The Sixers, where will they finish?
2. Will Iverson and Webber be able to coexist?
3. Will Webber spend more time on the court or more time on IR?
4. Will the Spurs repeat?
5. Will the Knicks do anything with Larry Brown as coach?
6. Will Phil Jackson be exposed as a fraud in his return to the Lakers?
7. Who will be the first player to be fined for dress code violations?
8. Will Artest go unsuspended the entire season?
9. Will the Heat dominate the East?
10. Which will be greater, Shaq-fu's foul shot bricks or Sixers victories?

The ESPN "experts" made their picks, what are yours?