Chiefs crushed, 34-14

I read this game pretty wrong, but I had no idea how bad the Chiefs would play. Every time the Chiefs made a play or had an opportunity to make a play, they blew it with a penalty (usually holding), a drop, or a fumble every time. They couldn't have made the game easier for the Eagles, and then they essentially gave up by the 3rd quarter.

The other thing that struck me watching this somewhat boring game, was that it almost felt like I was watching another city's team. Lots of different and new names making the big plays instead of the usual standbys. This is a different Eagles team and it feels like a soulless one to me. I don't really know why.

Other notes:

• Celek 1st star of the game? 2nd and 3rd - Jackson and McCoy.
• Last week and early in this game it seemed like Kolb was trying to get Celek killed.
• How about Reid doing the right thing and QB sneaking from the 1 yard line?
• Going for it on 4th down on the 45 was stupid, but it didn't really matter.
• Tackling and pressure was much better this week.
• Chiefs only 97 yards passing. Pathetic.
• Jackson has that ability of taking a crappy little play all the way that we've only previously seen with TO. That skill is, as we know, rare with Andy Reid receivers.
• Special teams still committing stupid penalties.
• I liked the mock cheers for Reggie Brown's lone catch.
• The only wildcat plays I liked were the direct snaps to McCoy who then pounded it up the middle ala, Ronnie Brown.
• Way to totally miss an entire play CBS and then not even show a replay.
• One criticism of Kolb, he seems to tighten up in the red zone and "grips the ball the too hard" as the cliche goes.
• Speaking of Kolb, wonder if I'll hear any mea culpas from all the fools that said he couldn't play - Rhea Hughes especially, but she's wrong about everything. I know I'm wrong to call her out specifically, but I really can't stand her and am eternally mystified by her success.
• Note that the Chiefs let the clock run out instead of calling timeouts and prolonging their crushing defeat.
• Is it a law that all lite beer commercials have to be the worst on TV? (That would be Bud and Coors Lite)
• Different game, but the Seattle special uniforms look terrible.

What's everyone going to do during the bye?

Laughing Out Loud At Eskin

With the Phillies bullpen completely falling apart and their starters back down to reality (although still quite good), the offense continues to be mediocre and they don't even have a catcher currently (I remember making a statement on here, that if it comes down to not having a catcher, then they should risk it.... all the while fulling affirming the under-rated status of Ruiz, who really doesn't get enough credit.... well, who woulda thunk this moment would arrive????)....

With the Eagles really not looking too good (special teams, even the D?) and all banged up already...

With the Flyers off to a preseason that's been brutal looking, apart from some nice appearances of their new D and G toy boys....

It's worth joining in this guy's fun!

Wildcat FEVER! Catch it!

9/27 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Bodog	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Kansas City @ Philadelphia	42 -9.5	OFF OFF	OFF OFF	41 -9.5	OFF OFF

Matchup • Expanded Odds • Line History

Bonus Question: Is the Westbrook era over?

Delaware Parlay Play Picks for Week 3

Pick 3 games in the comments to win! Get the odds from USA Today (make up half point spreads if there are none).

Eagles crushed, 48-22

The only thing that stopped the Saints offense was a rare sack or great individual effort that resulted in a turnover. Other than that, Brees took his team up and down the field with ease. And the Eagles, being the courteous host, gave the Saints the ball twice inside the 30 with bad turnovers on the first two possessions of second half. The defense didn't hold them to field goals, and from there it was just a matter of the Saints racking up fantasy points and running out the clock.

Other notes:

• I hate coaches with visors. They're a special kind of douche.
• The trend from last year continues. The defense gives up a TD on the first possession and the last possession of the first half.
• Almost EVERY kick the Eagles got a penalty on except the ones the Saints kicked out of bounds.
• Kolb played really good except for that one terrible pick in the 3rd quarter - his killer mistake. But he made many nice, on the money throws and ran the best 2 minute drill in years to close the 1st half.
• Shockey is still a white trash dirtbag with the worst tats in the game.
• Key to Brees success? Eagles very little pressure for most of the game.
• Cole should have chopped Brees arm on his sack. Don't they teach that in "Sacking the QB 101?"
• Curtis looks done to me.
• Rocca is the epitome of mediocre.
• Eagles too many stupid penalties.
• Please stop with the wildcat crap with Jackson running the ball into the line. Not only does it usually do nothing, but you are risking Jackson getting crushed by big fat lineman.
• Samuels had a bad game.
• Why is the Eagles field falling apart in game one and Temple on the road?
• If Celek converts to Mormonism he could be on the team for a decade.
• On McCoy's fumble that was a fumble that was blown dead contrary to a rule change made in the offseason where they are not supposed to blow them dead, it of course bounced right to Maclin who was home free for a TD. On Brees sack the bounce of course didn't go the Eagles way.
• Great interception by Akeem Jordan.
• Big missed call on the last Saints drive of the half with the holding/hands to the face by Stinkbomb. Good job by Fox showing good replays instead of ignoring it. Great job by Aikman noting the ref was looking right at it.
• Ellis Hobbs you suck. Instead of a fumble, could have used the one good kick return to start the half, not after the game was out of hand.
• If McNabb can't go, start Kolb next week. The defense is to blame for losing this game as much as they got credit for winning it last week.

Saints come marching in (sorry)

9/20 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Bodog	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Saints @ Philadelphia	47 0	OFF OFF	OFF OFF	46.5 0	OFF OFF

Matchup • Expanded Odds • Line History

Bonus Question: Based on around 3 quarters of real football, how much does Kolb suck?

Delaware Parlay Play Picks

Pick 3 games in the comments to win! I get the odds from USA Today.

Carolina crushed, 38-10

Just a brief post to get something up.

Notes:

• After the 1st Carolina drive the Eagles took over the game.
• Credit special teams and defense.
• Offensive line was good despite all the worry.
• Was Winston Justice mentioned at all today?
• Delhomme sucks.
• Josh McCown sucks.
• Matt Moore sucks.
• Too bad about McNabb, he played really well. Unfortunately he got hurt running the ball, so when he returns we won't be seeing any more of that.

Still Doing It!

Despite getting some wins and fairly nice interim closing performances over the past few games by Madson with Myers setting things up (and Lidge hopefully figuring himself out somewhere in the world), this club still can't get guys batted in. Tons of folks left on base while beating the sloppy Mets. Scares me for the playoffs, just bad baseball.

Opening Day

11/16 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Bodog	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ Carolina	45 -2.5	43.5 2	43.5 2.5	43.5 1	43.5 0

Matchup • Expanded Odds • Line History

Bonus Question: How many plays till Carolina gets their first sack of McNabb?

Don't forget to make your season long predictions below.

Hot, Dang!

Lidge still struggles. Only solo shots (but five in this one game) still coming off the bats. But, Ibanez seems to have returned this past week, and Madson comes in to bail-out Lidge from another blown save.... and he does so with bases loaded and only 1 out in the ninth, up two. Two fiery strikeouts from the guy against the best two Nationals hitters on what I think was 6 straight pitches for strikes!!! Pedro wins his 4th in as many decisions in his 6th start.

Good job, Uncle Charlie. You can only stick by Lidge for so long. Bases loaded with only one out in the ninth after just blowing a save in his last appearance (his 10th-ish of the season?)... that's a good time to jump off the bandwagon and forget about last year's contributions by the guy. Makes ya miss Bourn at this point - who was fantastic in the Stro's series.

Magic Doesn't Happen Here

Well, the triple play in and of itself was magical back in late August, as was the world series. But, it was the first caption that came to mind, so deal with it. But, bottom line: my speculation below about a supernatural backing of Lidge was flat-out nonsense. The triple play was simply a randomly placed rare baseball moment and nothing more. Lidge has lost it. His control was AWFUL last night for BOTH his fastball and his slider. The only thing he can do to counter a BIG FAT fastball is develop a BIG FAT changeup, cuz he puts himself in situations where he has to throw a big fat something - and the slider is simply not controllable to be that 3-1 or 3-1 pitch. Lidge is this year's Mitch Williams.

The good news: Brett Myers is back and had a decent setup outing last night. He is in a situation to push Lidge (Madson failed at that, but Myers has the DNA, he's been a reasonably successful closer before for this team) or to become the starter.

Predictions

The Eagles exceeded expectations last season by making it to the NFC Championship Game then immediately and typically failed to meet them by losing it. They then followed up that soul crushing defeat with letting Brian Dawkins walk. The Eagles then countered with some really good (on paper) signings and draft picks which somewhat lifted the gloom. Then training camp started and Jim Johnson died, the parade of injuries to critical players began, and they signed convicted felon, Michael Vick to squash the enthusiasm that was growing. And while I don't like Vick on my team, I'm not going to let one scumbag overshadow all the quality people on the Eagles or take away one of the few things I truly enjoy, which is the NFL season and rooting for the Eagles to win it all, which gets to the point of this post: In the comments make your season long, game by game predictions and whatever reasons you might have to justify it. Also, what teams will be in the AFC and NFC championship games, the Super Bowl, who will win it all, and what teams will be this year's worst?

EAGLES 2009 SEASON SCHEDULE
Sept. 13 at Carolina, 1 pm
Sept. 20 vs. New Orleans, 1 pm
Sept. 27 vs. Kansas City, 1 pm
Oct. 4, Bye
Oct. 11 vs. Tampa Bay, 1 pm
Oct. 18 at Oakland, 4:05 pm
Oct. 26 at Washington, 8:30 pm
Nov. 1 vs. N.Y. Giants, 4:15 pm
Nov. 8 vs. Dallass, 8:20 pm
Nov. 15 at San Diego, 4:15 pm
Nov. 22 at Chicago 8:20 pm
Nov. 29 vs. Washington, 1 pm
Dec. 6 at Atlanta, 1 pm
Dec. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 8:20 pm
Dec. 20 vs. San Francisco, 1 pm
Dec. 27 vs. Denver, 1 pm
Jan. 3 at Dallass, 1pm

Last years predictions are here if you want a laugh.

A somewhat interesting game

A quick summary of the game: Kolb played really well and easily outplayed Vick. The shuffling Vick in routine went better this week, but still seemed dumb. The defense was terrible and were the reason the Eagles lost, although the special teams did their share as well. The scrubs earned their name.

The Vick review: When Vick actually ran the offense as a QB in the second half he struggled. Vick was playing this game like he was thinking about every move he made. You could see the gears grinding in his head as he was trying to fight all his natural instincts to just pull the ball down and run, run, run. I can imagine Reid and Mornhinweg re-enacting the brainwashing scene from A Clockwork Orange with Vick in the film room. "It's a sin! You needn't take it any further, coach! You've proved to me all this taking off and running is wrong, wrong, and terribly wrong!"

Of course this is just history repeating itself. The Eagles brain trust did the same thing to McNabb, neutralizing what made him a special QB and forcing him to do what he isn't that great at - precision passing. And now they're going to try to do the same thing to Vick who is an even "worse" case. Good luck geniuses.

Other notes:

• I predicted the Eagles would go at Lito on their first series (I have a witness) and was right. Yes, their pettiness is predictable.
• The Eagles ran the option from the shotgun with Vick a couple times and Vick ran it well the second try. But the option in pro football?
• Brandon Gibson outplayed Maclin in the preseason.
• Buckley is a good running back.
• Amendola is too small to really play in the NFL, but he's a little white guy with "spunk" so people think he's better than he is. I doubt he's making the team but he is quick and better than Booker.
• The Vick hypemen in the booth were pathetic and shameless. What a throw? He threw it so the receiver couldn't catch it in bounds, Herm. Vick the "Player of the First Half?" Kolb or Tony Curtis was the player of the half. Vick's in the defense's head? Please Douglass, enough. Vick was 7-11 for 26 yards, an interception and ran for 35 yards and a QB draw TD.
• Eagles linebackers suck and will be the biggest weakness all season.
• Eagles special teams suck. Terrible coverage. Rocca's punts were crap. Akers did make a 48 yard FG though.
• Nice mispronunciation of "Ikegwuonu" play by play guy during the halftime highlights. You weren't even close.
• Did Baskett just play his last game as an Eagle? Did Reggie Brown?
• Anyone notice in that old MasterCard ad that Charlie Tuna's voice is first John Lovitz's standard annoying smacked ass voice at the dinner table and then is some version of "suave" foreign aristocrat when he's headed to the kitchen with an armful of dishes? Also he's offering tuna casserole to the other guests.
• Temple's suck factor is the highest in all football.

This weekend I'll put up the predict the season post.

Better than last week

But not by much. This week's fake Eagles game was played slightly better overall (they even won!), but was actually worse to watch than last week thanks to the terrible Eagles announcers and terrible ETN production. Once again a lack of meaningful replays, neglecting to actually call the game, miscalling the game, misidentifying players even on replays and highlights, predicting plays and being wrong every single time (Herm Edwards), adding a special pain to cliches - I'd love to hear Herm Edwards' lockeroom pep talks, I'm sure they were inspiring - and just all around saying stupid ass things. The play by play guy is a special kind of idiot whatever his name is. Yes it was worth wondering why Vick wasn't in the game at the end of the 1st half with 36 seconds to go, no timeouts and the ball on the 3 yard line.

Ok, the actual game. The Vick experiment went pretty much exactly how I thought it would. He comes in and throws off the offense more than the defense. The only surprise was it never cost the Eagles a timeout. I'm sure it'll be a lot different in the regular season because Andy Reid is so smart.

McNabb was his usual self. Making a terrible throw, then making a great throw, then making another terrible throw, etc. The offense was its usual self too. No running game at all and failing miserably in the red zone. Wait, make that failing miserably with a first down from inside the 5 zone, at least in the first half. The first time, with the play from the 2 yard line that turned into a Jaguar TD was a horrible call and was McNabb's fault in the execution. Instead the announcers blamed McCoy and made it like he gave up on the play. The second time at the end of the half was just laughable and predictable. When Kolb came in he played ok and led the team to the comeback win.

The defense played a little better than weeks previous, but still wasn't anything special. The pass rush was better, there was better coverage and there were even some big hits - Asante Samuels even knocked a guy out. They still get eaten alive by screens though.

Special teams were still weak, but Akers made the last second field goal to win the game instead of lose it this time.

Other notes:

• Guys that played well - Avant, Jackson, Samuels, Cole, and McNabb sometimes.
• I just LOVED Dave Shildaro and Swoop shilling for the PA Lottery's Eagles branded lottery tickets with a giant Eagles logo all over them.
• Jason Peters sucks.
• Eagles linebackers suck.
• Kyle Eckel is getting cut.
• Hugh Douglass is right, Maclin is now scared.
• Does anyone on the Eagles know how to line up in a LEGAL formation?
• At least Reid got pissed at the players' stupidity. Has that ever happened before?
• The end of game hook and ladder/lateral play was worth a good laugh. Thanks Jacksonville.
• Yes, I watched till the end.