Andy Reid sucks. And is really, really fat.

By the middle of the second quarter I knew this game was lost. I knew then that the offense would be lucky to score another point and it was just a matter of time for the Redskins to take the lead and keep it permanently. What, you think Andy Reid would out coach a rookie and make better second half adjustments and the Eagles would regain control of the game?

Good one.

The offense had a great first drive and a half then basically nothing for the rest of the entire game. Nothing but a Brown catch and run when the Redskins stupidly failed to touch him down when he was laying on the ground. Then laughably, once again the Eagles couldn't gain a yard once inside the 5.

The wet, green tissue paper defense actually managed to prevent the opposition from scoring points on its first drive of the game but then got pushed around like a bunch of little girls the rest of the game. They made no plays at all, no stops, no nothing. They were completely outplayed and manhandled.

So calls for Andy Reid's firing should resume in earnest. The theory that he got fat (figuratively, not literally in this case) on a weak NFC East for all those years gains credence with each passing season. Of course he never won anything during those years. The Giants have won a Super Bowl since, Dallass is probably next or maybe even the Redskins. The Eagles, a big fat zero like their big fat coach. Against talent and good coaching "suddenly" Reid loses far more than he wins. Also notice, even though down 14-0, Zorn continued to run the ball and stick with the game plan. So by the end of the game the Eagles defensive line wouldn't have even been able to stop an Eagles' offensive goal line running play.

Other notes:

• Although the block was stupid and totally unnecessary, it still was a legitimate block in the back by sTank Daniels and I don't understand why the refs picked up the flag. I guess sometimes they can suck in our favor once.
• Akers can't make crap from over 40, and especially from 50. The Eagles fans know it, fans of other teams know it, everyone knows it. Everyone but the idiot Andy Reid. And of course the Redskins took that miss, the short field and the momentum and went down the field and scored their first points. It was the turning point of the game. That or the Greg Lewis drop the play before that set up Aker's miss.
• Can Rocca learn to kick field goals? Sure he'll be mediocre this year but next year...
• Pathetic effort by the offense before the half after getting the ball on the 40. But how else are you going to allow the defense to allow the opposition to kick a 50 yard FG right before the half for the third time this year?
• Are the Coors Lite commercials among the worst of all-time?
• Nice challenge Reid. Damn, you're stupid. It's like you did it just to piss off the fans even more.
• I got nothing to say about the effort at the 3 yard line.
• I got nothing to say about the defense allowing the Redskins to eat up the last 7:12 of the game.
• Unlike the Eagles previous losses, the Redskins deserved to win and kicked the Eagles collective ass.
• Redskins have all their remaining NFC East games at home.

The season is already over?

No sweep 'til

New park, new result, and a new set of rules according to the umps. Or at least a bizarre, very bad call.

The Phils just had no offense Saturday until it was too late to matter, and that was the story. With the dome closed in Milwaukee, those notorious Citizen Bank Park winds could not mess with the Brewers and they ended up fielding most of what the Phillies sent toward them.

Unable to figure out Brewers starter Dave Bush, the Phils made a little more headway against the shaky Milwaukee bullpen, but not enough. So they'll play Sunday. The Phillies have had good success against Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan, so let's hope they step it up and finish out this series before it gets nervous.

Oh, that bad call. With the bases loaded in the ninth, Feliz hits into a double play, with Howard scoring from third and Dobbs moving up to third base. Victorino, running toward second, decided not to slide at all. And while there's no rule stating you have to slide, and Victorino proceeded directly into second as opposed to well to the side,
the ump called interference. Brewers manager Dale Sveum then pointed something out to the umps — I guess that Howard and Dobbs hadn't crossed the next base yet — and they proceeded to call back Howard and Dobbs to third and second.

Now, this ended up not meaning anything as Ruiz subsequently grounded to the pitcher to end the game, but it was still a terrible call as far as I'm concerned. But whatever.

On to Sunday.

Flyin' Hawaiian leaves Californian mourninin'

In the second inning Victorino hit the first ever Phillies post-season grand slam and thats all the Phillies needed to win. They should have scored alot more than 5 but they stranded about 50 dudes. Myers sucked in the first inning but was bailed out by Brewers goat, Corey Hart, who hit a double play ball back to the mound when the bases were loaded. From there Myers was good and even had a crucial 10 pitch at bat that ultimately resulted in a walk, shook up Sabathia, and ultimately helped lead to Victorino's grand slam.

Should they break out the brooms?

Other notes: Is Larry Anderson the most unprofessional broadcaster in history or is it just me? I listened to this game on the radio, but have also heard cuts, and his, "YEAH!!!! YEEEEAAAHHH!!!" cheering in the booth is total amateur hour. He was rooting Victorino's slam over the wall - "C'MON!!!........ YEAH!!" - like a fan in the stands or watching at home. High school announcers have more composure and professionalism.

Must win

10/05 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Washington @ Philadelphia	43 -5	42.5 -6	42.5 -6	42.5 -7	42.5 -6

Matchup

BONUS ANALYSIS: Maybe calling game 5 a must win is hyperbole, but check out the rest of the NFC East's next 6 games:

Dallass: Bengals, Cardinals, Rams, Buccaneers, Giants, BYE
Giants: Seahawks, Browns, 49ers, Steelers, Dallass, Eagles
Redskins: Eagles, Rams, Browns, Lions, Steelers, BYE

Looks like lots of wins there except for the NFC East opponents. And this makes the loss to the Bears all that more horrible. Also it is the second game they should have won this season but found a way to lose instead. So they must win vs. the Redskins.

Did you know "Gerbil Dad" is an anagram for "Brad Lidge"?

I was hoping ANAGRAM 3000 would return something like "Mitch 2.0," but I guess not.

The original Mitch Williams, not the 2008 wannabe, was on the radio saying while he was watching Lidge almost blow the game on Saturday, he was incredibly anxious and freaking out and now understood why everyone hated him. Lidge pitched 35 pitches in a shaky 9th inning. Hamels only pitched 100 in the previous 8 masterful innings. Should Manuel have left Hamels in to finish the game? Did he bring in Lidge in a relatively safe situation to try and restore his playoff pitching confidence since the reason he is now a Phillie is because of his choking in Houston?

Oh yeah, the game... the Phillies did a nice job being opportunistic in winning game 1, 3-1, their first postseason victory since game 5 of the World Series on October 21, 1993.

So who's gonna win?

I got nothin'.

Pathetic

Despite 4 sacks and 4 turnovers, the Eagles still managed to lose this game. McNabb's winning streak at Chicago is over and the Eagles losing streak in prime time continues. Eagles are now in a must win game next week vs. Washington to keep pace with the NFC East.

Both sides of the ball took turns losing this game. In the first half, the Eagles lost the field position battle and the all-star secondary was burnt repeatedly for TDs. DeSean Jackson's punt return fumble didn't help the cause either. In the second, the field position situation reversed but the offense couldn't take advantage, dropping the ball repeatedly and failing miserably in the red zone. They had the ball twice inside the 5 and only got 3 points. And if you can't score a TD from the 2 (or 1) on 3 tries you deserve to lose. The offense puts up the points in the first half every game and then almost nothing in the second. You can blame Reid who always gets outcoached with the halftime adjustments. And let's not forget Shakers, who can't make anything over 40 yards anymore.

I'm sure the Eagles will try and excuse the loss by saying they would have won with Westbrook. Well, they should have won without him, but they blew it. This game felt a lot like a game from last year.

Other notes:

• It's good to know when LJ goes out the Eagles can just plug in the backups and theres no discernible difference.
• As usual, first drive of the game and the defense gives up points.
• Great pass on the TD to Jackson.
• McNabb really didn't throw a bad pass until he threw that one behind Reggie Brown late in the first.
• Can Darren Howard play tight end? Nice catch on his interception.
• Kudos to Michaels for not saying, "Akers was making them from 60 in warm-ups." But then again he probably wasn't making them from 60 in warm-ups.
• Should have gone for it on 4th and 1 anyway instead of try a 50 yard FG.
• How fat is Madden's thumb?
• Am I the only one that thinks that spot on third down right before the 2 minute warning was terrible and gave Chicago a first down?
• Orton fumbled that before the end of the half. He lost the ball, it popped up in the air, and then he pushed it forward on the follow through.
• Madden and Michaels didn't mention the Cubs until the start of the third quarter. Must be because baseball is on Fox.
• Kudos to Quintin Mikell, who unlike every moron in the NFL, took a knee in the endzone instead of running out and getting tackled at the 4.
• Good thing Reid passed on Felix Jones because he already had Booker in house.
• I can't believe the end around worked 3x in this game.
• McNabb didn't even make a move once to run with the ball.
• Is everyone as shocked as me regarding the fumbles? Eagles keep getting almost everything the other team puts on the ground.
• How about a QB sneak from the 1 yard line?
• How about a real fullback on the team?
• Hey Schoebel, how about blocking someone on 4th and goal, like maybe #96? Great job. Would LJ have made that play?
• All game the defense stuffed Forte except of course on 3rd and 6 and the game on the line.

At least Dallass and the Mets lost too.

Repeat NL East Champs

Phillies are once again NL East Champs, this year after 161 games instead of 162. (They're improving!) But I was pretty sure Lidge was going to blow his first save of the season because that would be the Philadelphia way. And he almost did, doing a Mitch Williams impression as he allowed a run and loaded the bases before Rollins saved the day with a great diving play to start the game winning 6-4-3 double play and a region wide exhalation. Rollins acknowledged the drama in his post game Fox interview by remarking, "It wouldn't be the Philly way if it was easy."

No, it wouldn't.

Favored vs. the Bears

9/28 8:15 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ Chicago	41 3	40.5 3	OFF OFF	40.5 3	OFF OFF

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: How many times during the broadcast will it be mentioned that McNabb is from Chicago?

Green Curtain

When was the last time the Eagles defensively dominated the other team so thoroughly? 1991? And how satisfying was it to watch? Makes me wish I had a Tivo so I could watch it again. For the day the defense had 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles AND they recovered both of them, 1 great interception, a safety, allowed only 2 of 13 third downs conversions, only 180 total yards given up and most importantly only 33 net yards rushing with 6 attempts resulting in losses. By refusing the Steelers any yards running the ball, the Eagles forced them to throw it 32 times and the Steelers obviously suck at that, especially the part that involves pass blocking. And aside from the usual first drive and last drive before the half where they always give up points, the defense was pretty much perfect. But where was this last week?

The offense could have given us more this game. They should have had more points in the first half and those turnovers were what kept the score close, but I'll let them slide considering Westbrook went out and McNabb was hurt as well. But at the same time they did nothing at all in the second half except not blow the game which I guess is an accomplishment. Lucky that Steeler didn't pick that pass to Baskett around the 20 yard line. It could have been an entirely different result to the game if he did and we'd be ripping McNabb again this week.

Other notes:

• I don't like Tony Hunt and think he's mediocre, but I can't blame him for fumbling the ball since he got speared in the side of the head.
• CBS, instead of advertising for some NFL show on Showtime that nobody is going to watch, how about explaining the defensive delay of game call.
• Have I ever mentioned that along with end arounds, reverses, and double reverses, I also hate flea flickers? I'm always shocked when any of these plays are successful against pro defenses.
• Has Buckhalter ever looked this quick? Not just on his TD run, but how about how quick he got upfield on the screen in the first and some of his other runs?
• In case you've forgotten, LJ Smith sucks, but how about a good replay CBS on the attempted TD pass? Was it actually catchable?
• Trent Cole gave Pittsburgh 2 first downs via penalties but made up for it with pressure and sacks.
• Great interception by Samuels.
• For Kolb's first pass of the game, why would you throw it to LJ Smith? Little John is 5 million dollars of QB kryptonite.
• On the saftey, does it count when the refs get a call right by accident? 2 wrongs in this case do make a right.
• The refs other blown call was not calling Roethlisberger for another intentional grounding when he launched the ball into the sidelines after Gaither blew that sack. Was he outside the tackles? No.
• It looked like the first play the offense ran after the Dawkins forced fumble was the play McNabb botched the handoff on last week.
• Nice punts by Rocca when it mattered.
• Continue to praise the defense in the comments.

Weapon X!

Another test

9/21 4:15 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia	45 -3.5	44.5 -3.5	45 -3	44.5 -3	OFF OFF

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: Which was the stupidest move of the Cowboys game, DeSean Jackson's showboating idiocy or McNabb taking that last sack instead of throwing it into the stands?

BONUS LINKS: If you're looking to kill some time.

How the 1958 NFL championship game looks 50 years later, through the eyes of Andy Reid by Mark "Blackhawk Down" Bowden.

Roynell Young, the former defensive back for the Eagles, has dedicated his post-football career to helping at-risk youth.

Cowboys fans are idiots

Typical

But atypically the Eagles defense was frustrating this game, not the offense. In fact, the defense pretty much sucks. But when the pressure was really on, McNabb got tight (as usual) and started panicking (as usual) and then he also had the usual brain freeze to top it all off. THROW IT AWAY YOU IDIOT. TWICE! 10 frickin' years in the league and he still doesn't have a clue. How many times have I written it in this stupid blog? Can't he read? And then the hook and ladder/lateral at the end of the game? Are you kidding me?

The last 3 minutes of the game RUINED the previous 57 because of the complete stupidity of the Eagles and McNabb. Up until then I wasn't even going to be angry if they lost because the offense played so well for the most part and was dominant, but this team and Andy Reid are the most frustrating team in history and they found a way to piss me off anyway. The Eagles snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

So the end of the game sucked and the crucial McNabb mix-up on the Westbrook handoff was horrible, but if you look at the game in total the Eagles really blew this game in the first half. They had 3 field goals where they should have had at least 2 touchdowns. The first case being the DeSean Jackson fumble on the first drive that was recovered in the endzone for a touchdown that Reid didn't challenge. What was he afraid of, wasting a timeout? Then right before the half the Eagles screwed around trying to run out the clock instead of being aggressive and going for a touchdown. And what good was it anyway because the defense gave the field goal right back in 40 seconds? Other big first half loser moments was the 72 yard bomb to TO and the 98 yard kick-off return for a TD. The Eagles should have been up by at least 20 instead of 6 at halftime.

Other notes:

• Dallass sucks.
• How many third and longs did the defense give up? Where was the vaunted blitz and the rush? What's up with only 4 guys rushing?
• The defense gave up the traditional first possession of the game touchdown.
• In case you had forgotten, Considine sucks.
• Why wasn't Lito on TO the entire first half? TO disappeared in the second.
• Kick-off coverage sucks.
• How much do the refs suck?
  • Westbrook tackled out of bounds, no call.
  • Blowing play dead for unabated to the QB when the guy was laying on the ground. Should have been a free play.
  • Obvious to even the blind Westbrook facemask non-call.
  • Asante Samuels facemask after his interception non-call.
  • Greg Lewis drawing an interference call when it should have been on him.
  • DeSean Jackson showboat fumble they blew.
  • Marion Barber fumble? How about a replay ESPN?
  • False start and then unsportsmanlike on Trent Cole for reacting to it? Are you nuts?
• I didn't care about all the Mexicans until I realized they're all Cowboys fans. Deport now and build that damn wall.
• How good was that super slow motion replay of Romo fumbling the ball in the endzone, picking it up, getting hit, fumbling it again and watching Gocong finally recovering it for a TD?
• DeSean Jackson, you're an asshole. So lucky the refs weren't paying attention.
• LJ Smith sucks.
• Speaking of M.I.A., where was Yoko Romo?
• I will say the Eagles did have a pretty good run defense, but i thought the pass defense was supposed to be a strength.
• In case you stopped hating Tony Kornheiser, his asslicking soliloquy on the Cowboys should have reignited it. But he just did it to needle Philadelphia. More importantly though he's a terrible announcer. Dude, just shut up.
• Sadly, Dawkins doesn't really have it any more. He just doesn't look slow, he is slow. Quentin Mikell should get more time
• I've always hated reverses and end arounds.
• Nobody can cover Witten, the only guy on the Cowboys I respect.
• How important was it that Shawn Andrews went out near the end of the game?

So if I was a dispassionate observer, this was a great football game to cap off a great NFL weekend, but I'm not so I really can't take any real enjoyment from it. Sad, I know. The Eagles had this game but blew it. Sigh. I'll never get used to it.

Give Us Some Love!!!

Sure, Philly is on the cusp of a MNF matchup vs. the Cowgals, but we're tied for the Wild Card and only 1.5 games back of the Mets. All this in the midst of some nasty double header scheduling, where the pitching staff, including Old Man Moyer, has stepped it up big time on 3 days rest a few times!!! With The Braves and Marlins left on the road, followed by the Braves and then the Nationals at home, we're poised to win the Division (at least get the Wild Card) or CHOKE. Fear the Manuel managing blunders, as the Phils just aren't good enough to minimize these things, all of which are critical down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Pitching, pitching, pitching!!! The Phils got it. Can they keep the bats hot?

Dallass sucks

9/15 8:30 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ Dallass	47 -7	47 -7	47 -7	47 -7	47 -7

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: How much does Dallass suck?

Let us count the ways: