will we ever win?

Eagles play much better

I only half watched this game so the review won't be that detailed. Overall the Eagles played well and the Panthers, whose straight outta the early 90s, worst in the league uniforms, played as bad as the Eagles did last week. An extra mention goes to Delhomme who was especially awful.

• McNabb looked really good. He looked calm in the pocket and was surprisingly accurate from the start of the game and didn't go through 2 or 3 series trying to settle down. He still missed a couple of throws but mostly they were the ones he makes only 50% of the time anyway, the main one being rolling to his right trying to hit someone running toward the same sideline.
• Kevin Curtis, the new receiver, showed a little of what he can do this game and made me think maybe the Eagles weren't blowing their usual smoke.
• The play of the game was a 40 yard Lito Sheppard interception return. He looked like Westbrook running in the open field, showed great awareness of where everyone was, avoided them, and then when he saw he was going to get tackled took the blow so that he wouldn't put his knee down and made the extra effort to lunge the remaining yard into the endzone. Pro Bowl.
• It was fitting that the play of the game came from the defense since they were so much better than last week. Lots of pressure, several sacks, 3 turnovers, and they even stopped the run effectively.
• Rookie end, Abiamiri played another strong game. Will he break the Eagles streak of drafting defensive linemen in the upper rounds that don't consistently make positive contributions?
• Speaking of that, Bunkley looks like he will see the field this year as he made several plays this game.
• On offense, Celek had another impressive game, especially for a rookie. Not only can he catch the ball, he stays on his feet and gains yards after the catch too, AND he protects the ball when he runs and is hit, AND it looks like he can block too.
• Hunt ran in 2 TDs this game. Both from the 2, and both via good blocking from the right side of the line. See the previous point.
• Both Avant and Baskett should be bigger parts of the Eagles offense this year. Note: I don't believe a word of the more balanced attack. It's going to be the same old pass heavy crap before Garcia.
• Feeley played better and Kolb looked pretty good again. Kolb led a nice drive that was ended by a poor spot of the ball and a blown review of the spot after Reid challenged the call. Otherwise he would have put points on the board too.
• Akers kicked 2 50+ field goals and they were in the game, not pre-game warm-ups. But other than that the special teams was mediocore. Bloom didn't do much on returns and the dueling punters both punted like you'd expect.
• Bloom had more of an impact receiving. On one play he reached way behind him, showing great body control to make the catch, and while totally vulnerable was drilled. He popped right back up though. I'm surprised the announcers didn't attribute his body control to his expertise in skiing. You can bet though that someone will at some point during the season.
• Predicted cut - #68, Pat McCoy. He was brutal on pass protection last week and was equally atrocious this week. He's not a turnstile though, a turnstile would do better.

So a much better effort this week and much sharper performance. I'm sure it helped to have McNabb back, who showed no effects of his knee surgery, and Lito, who didn't practice at all. It seems as long as the star players and starters are on the field, this team can dominate. Still, it is only preseason.