will we ever win?

Eagles suck less than the Panthers

I'm not sure which is worse, the Eagles defense or Jake Delhomme. The ESPN announcers were saying the game was a boxing match going back and forth blah, blah, blah counter punch this and that, etc. It was more like the Eagles D tried to blow this game but Delhomme stepped up to blow it right back.

To inadvertently demonstrate how bad the Eagles defense is, ESPN put up Carolina's red zone stats which showed them to be the worst. The very next play - Carolina's first touchdown. And how did they score? Another anemic blitz that everyone knew was coming and Rod Hood covering 1 on 1 let Steve Smith get inside position for an easy TD.

Meanwhile in Carolina's subsequent series, Delhomme was throwing 5 yard passes when Carolina needed 8, getting intentional grounding penalties, crying a bunch, and just playing weak.

The defense counterpunched however by letting the opponent score yet again in the last 2 minutes of the first half. Yet again giving up another long drive with numerous 3rd and longs converted and capped it off with yet another stupid, anemic blitz that everyone knew was coming which left Keyshawn Johnson in 1 on 1 coverage with Quentin Mikel. Quentin Mikel??? Who is calling this defense? Even the dopes on ESPN knew who the ball was going to.

Eagles defense then held Carolina and played well, that is until the Eagles offense drove for a tying TD. Then the defense, as it almost always does, allowed the opponent to drive and to go back up by 7. This Carolina TD was the result of another stupid blitz that everyone knew was coming and Carolina called a screen to counter it that went 35 yards for a TD. Poor tackling also helped.

The offense, led by Garcia, responded with a nice drive of its own and got a field goal. Of course the defense then let the Panthers go right down the field and get their own field goal with an assist from the special teams, which allowed the kickoff return go to the 40.

Then Garcia responded again. First, with a nice 3rd down pass dropped in perfectly to Westbrook down the sidelines and lastly, a really nice 40 yard TD pass to Brown that hit him perfectly in stride. It was now time for Delhomme to step to the fore.

Delhomme tossed up a Farve like duck which Dawkins easily intercepted and returned 38 yards to the Carolina 37. This led to a go ahead Akers FG. 3:13 left in the game.

Who else knew that Carolina would then easily drive right down the field into scoring position, all the way to the Eagles 7? Everyone, that's who. But holy crap, Lito intercepts it with a great catch in the endzone with 25 seconds left to win the game. Eat it Keyshawn. Nice pass Delhomme, way to lose it.

Other notes: The refs eyes must have been watering up from the cold all night because they weren't seeing TONS of things. Missed facemasks, lots of holds, all sorts of pass interference - which I approve of, and Keyshawn's end of game helmet toss down the field. Garcia played another good game and got it done when he needed to. He showed alot of toughness and resiliency in leading the offense to 13 4th quarter points and threw lots of long passes on the money. And ESPN, the fans were booing the replay of the non-call on the late hit, not Garcia you idiots. How about that Stallworth catch? Thomas Tapeh sighting with 4 minutes left.

What if Dawkins and Lito had made those easy picks vs. the Titans? Good thing they made them today. Does anyone get the feeling this team is rallying and has hope? Nah...