Season 0pener and something new to root for

9/12 4:15 PM ET	Opening	betED	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING	Logans
Green Bay @ Philadelphia	45 -1	47.5 3	47 3	48 3	47.5 3

Matchup • Expanded Odds • Line History

Bonus Question: Will Green Bay blow the game because they didn't think a legitimate punt returner was important?

Predictions

As they have done for the last 50 years, the Eagles once again lost the final game of their season last year. But instead of usual one crushing defeat, the Eagles suffered 2 in a row to the hated Cowboys, and this apparently spurred a drastic overhaul of the roster. Big names that are no longer here include McNabb, Westbrook, and Sheldon Brown, but players like Gocong, Demps, and Stacy Andrews - all once highly touted by the team - are also gone. In the front office Howie Roseman took Tom Heckert's position and apparently had a successful draft with Brandon Graham and Nate Allen projected to start, and 10 of the 13 picks making the team in some form.

So this season begins with a lot of young, inexperienced players expected to step in and fill some big shoes, and a lot of transition and uncertainty at key positions, most notably the offensive line. And in addition to the roster moves, the schedule looks like it's pretty damn hard. I also think all across the NFL teams have gotten better - the dregs won't be as awful as they have been recently and some middling teams have risen to the next level. Overall though I am optimistic and plan to enjoy this season with no expectations except growth and improvement as the season progresses. I don't think this team is ready to do anything big this year, but next year I will expect the usual Super Bowl or bust.

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? Convenient link to last year's predictions here.

EAGLES 2010 SEASON SCHEDULE
Sun, Sep 12 vs Green Bay 4:15 PM FOX
Sun, Sep 19 @ Detroit 1:00 PM FOX
Sun, Sep 26 @ Jacksonville 4:05 PM FOX
Sun, Oct 3 vs Washington 4:15 PM FOX
Sun, Oct 10 @ San Francisco 8:20 PM NBC
Sun, Oct 17 vs Atlanta 1:00 PM FOX
Sun, Oct 24 @ Tennessee 1:00 PM FOX
BYE WEEK Oct 31
Sun, Nov 7 vs Indianapolis 4:15 PM CBS
Mon, Nov 15 @ Washington 8:30 PM
Sun, Nov 21 vs New York 8:20 PM NBC
Sun, Nov 28 @ Chicago 1:00 PM FOX
Thu, Dec 2 vs Houston 8:20 PM NFL
Sun, Dec 12 @ Dallass 8:20 PM NBC
Sun, Dec 19 @ New York 1:00 PM FOX
Sun, Dec 26 vs Minnesota 1:00 PM FOX
Sun, Jan 2 vs Dallass 1:00 PM FOX

Eagles lose a really, really boring talent evaluation

Safety, seventh round draft pick and Eagles last pick, Kurt Coleman, had the game of his life and scored both of the Eagles touchdowns with fumble recoveries and returns. The ball bounced right to him both times and he took advantage. Sadly however, he is now the Eagles leading touchdown scorer in the preseason.

The Eagles offense was again morose. It had a little bit of life with Vick at QB, but drives were killed by his inaccuracy. The Kafka led version was dead however. I don't think they got a first down for 2 quarters and then when it finally got their first in the 4th, they turned it over on the next play.

The Eagles defense was winning this game all by itself until Ryan reinserted Mark Brunell and Santonio Holmes for a series vs. the Eagles future cuts, and they connected on a bomb to put the Jets ahead. Kind of cheap. The Eagles had plenty of time to respond though, but didn't.

The Eagles special teams coverage and returns were much better. The guy they got in a trade this week with the Cardinals had a couple good returns. He'll probably be doing the punt returns on opening day. The Puntapus was great tonight dropping a punt that died right inside the 5 and downed at the 2, and another he coffin-cornered at the one. Akers missed a makeable field goal though.

It will be interesting to see who they cut and who they pick up from waivers heading into the opener.

Eagles play poorly, but win

In a game that was dubbed "important" by the media, the Eagles didn't really play like it was. All the problems from the previous fake games were still present - terrible pass protection, bad redzone production, dumb penalties, terrible kick coverage, and lapses in focus. But thanks to Kansas City being a crappy team that made more mistakes than the Eagles, and an impressive 80 yard, 8 play drive in the last minutes of the game by Kafka, the Eagles pulled out a 20 to 17 victory.

Other notes:

• Andy Reid got DeSean Jackson hurt with his stupid play call. Keep him away from the monsters at the line of scrimmage, dumbass.
• Kolb did not have a good game at all. He ran out of the pocket too early too much. But then again, can you blame him since his protection was terrible?
• Mike Bell got a lot of carries this game and showed me very little except that he isn't that good. But maybe he needs more time.
• Offensive line pass protection was awful, but the running backs barely helped picking up the blitzes.
• Jason Peters sucks. It must have been the crowd noise in the half empty stadium that caused him to false start twice on third down and destroy drives.
• Refs were in mid-season form, missing calls then calling make-up calls.
• ETN's coverage was worse than usual. Don Tollefson is completely unqualified to do play-by-play, but he is great at being an Eagles shill on the order of Spadaro. And everybody said at least one stupid or wrong thing except Jamie Apody. Also took till the second quarter to show a replay of the play that got DeSean Jackson hurt.
• Chad Hall made it easy for the Eagles to cut him after tonight.
• Nate Allen is a smart dude that makes smart plays. I'm impressed.
• Brandon Graham was good again and was another positive.
• Special teams coverage still awful, returns mediocre, kicks good.
• Maclin was not very good tonight. If Jackson goes out he has to step up and he didn't. He also still doesn't protect the ball. You think he'd learn after last week.
• Hope the KC player is alright and not paralyzed. Amazing that the very next play the players were going full speed again, throwing caution to the wind.
• Riley Cooper should definitely see some playing time this year. He looks like he belongs.

Get ready for the JETS!

Very late post on Eagles vs. Bengals

Oops. I thought I set this up to automatically post an "open thread" post for last Friday's game since I wasn't going to be near a computer at the time. Oh well, I dun goofed.

Positives:

• Kolb's throw to Jackson on a scramble where they freelanced and Kolb dropped it in perfectly over the corner and in front of the safety while on the run. Kolb is good.
• Defense is looking pretty good and is hitting with violence again. The Malachi crunch on Oucho-cinco was very enjoyable.
• Brandon Graham made some plays in this game, especially when he got in the backfield and exploded into the running back and crushed him.
• Akers I think has been perfect.
• The fact that Vick was brutal will maybe shut up the "Vick should start" morons.

Negatives:

• The offensive line was awful. Not just in the blocking department, but the playing smart department - they couldn't even line up right.
• If Kolb gets hurt because he's taking a beating, there is nothing behind him.
• Redzone offense, as usual, is anemic.
• Special teams coverage is awful.
• Run game has shown very little.
• Still very little pressure without bringing a blitz.
• Seems there isn't much depth after the starters.

Two more weeks till real football. But here's what Aaron Rogers has been doing - 20 of 24 for 275 yards, 3 TDs, 0 interceptions and a 154 QB rating.

Eagles vs. Panthers

Unfortunately I won't be able to catch most of the fake game tonight and my VCR (yeah VCR) doesn't record or play anymore. But first series Kolb looks pretty good. So discuss the game in the comments if you wish or read this article on how McNabb is sucking.

Philly Boy Roy

Longtime Astros ace Roy Oswalt accepted a trade to the Phillies today, and I can't see anything to criticize here. It's all good.

Sure, had they re-upped Cliff Lee for the season maybe this move would not have been necessary, but putting that aside this deal looks pretty sweet.

The Phils get a bonafide all-star caliber pitcher, creating a great 1-2-3 rotation with Halladay and Hamels going down the stretch of the season and hopefully into the playoffs. And the Astros, for some reason, agreed to pay almost half of Oswalt's salary for this season and next — thanks Ed Wade!

We gave up J.A. Happ and some low level minor leaguers, but I'd call that a good deal. Whatever back issues Oswalt has, I feel a lot better going into a playoff game with Oswalt on the hill. If the Phils had to give up a stud first base prospect then no biggie — we have that Ryan Howard guy for a while.

Former Great Sports Debate stalwart Jayson Stark has the details here.

One downside for Oswalt is that he won't be able to wear those awesome retro Astos jerseys anymore.



UPDATE: The minor leaguers going from Philly to Houston were outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar. So the Phillies did not give up highly rated first base prospect Jonathan Singleton.

Opening a stadium of whoopass

Now, that's more like it.

A packed house (in some sweltering heat) greeted the Philly Union in their opening game at PPL Park in Chester Sunday, and the team responded with the best result of their inaugural season, besting Seattle 3-1.

At halftime, a win didn't feel so imminent as the familiar pattern of Philly outplaying an opponent — only to be trailing on the scoreboard — reemerged. This is all the more annoying when you fail to convert on a number of chances, only for your opponent to make good on their first — in the 44th minute — as was the case for the Sounders today.

But in keeping with their M.O., the Union kept fighting in the second half, and you had to think a goal would be the result at some point. And the goals did indeed materialize.

Philly tied the game when Sebastien Le Toux roofed a penalty kick after Alejandro Moreno was taken down in the box. They soon returned the favor to Seattle, giving up a penalty kick. But goalkeeper Chris Seitz saved a not-so-great shot from Sounders goal scorer Pat Noonan, and the Union had the momentum for the rest of the game.

A Philly corner kick went through about three players in the box before landing at the foot of Fred, who buried it for the go-ahead goal. And Danny Mwanga — despite it not yet being extra time — took a nice pass from Le Toux, then following up an initial shot to easily tap the ball in for a game-finisher.

If this is the kind of play we can expect from the Union at PPL Park — which is reasonable as they've pretty much played this way everywhere, offering consistent offensive pressure along with the occasional defensive lapse — they could actually make some hay in the Eastern Conference as they play at home in 13 of their next 20 matches.

Now with a home to call their own, the Union fans will be behind them.

NOTES:

— The new stadium looked pretty rad on TV, especially with the Delaware River and Commodore Barry Bridge in the background. Were you at the game? What were your impressions?

— Seattle and veteran U.S. international goalkeeper Kasey Keller might have been the game's best player despite surrendering three goals, because it could have been much worse. He made a few super saves. Old dude's still got it.

— I've always liked Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg since his EPL days, but that uneven, thinning-in-areas mohawk is a misstep, homey. What happened to the shaved head? It was good enough in your GQ days, wasn't it?

— Didn't bother with a write-up on the Union's loss away to the Kansas City Wizards in their last outing because, well, it was a mostly terrible game that the Union were completely terrible in. Despite the premier of the Union's all gold uniforms (Wooo!), they gave a lackluster performance (to put it kindly) and were never in it. I should note there's no way a professional league should allow games to be played at that high school facility Kansas City calls a home field. It was ridiculously small. I know they're building a stadium, but if you can't provide a major league facility then you should have to play all road games.

World Cup

I watched the game Ghana and Serbia this morning and was completely entertained. I also folded all my laundry and sorted and wrapped $200.00 in loose change. I can see why soccer is so popular: like baseball, a spectator can easily half follow the action while spending the rest of the time drinking, singing, and socializing with other fans. Well that and the whole low barrier to participation, the whole Pele started playing with grapefruits in the streets of Brazil meme. Anyway in the game I watched, Ghana won because a Serbian defender inexplicably committed a hand ball in the penalty area, and Ghana’s converted the ensuing penalty kick.

While I won’t pretend to know much more about soccer than what my prepubescent self learned while playing the “beautiful game” on South Jersey “pitches” during the early 1980s, I do know how to make knee jerk judgments based mostly on appearance and ethnocentricity. Hence here is a guide to some of the star players who will be appearing the 2010 World Cup- based on Sportales list of ten best soccer players in the world.

Lionel Messi
I know this dude plays for Barcalona and basically jukes defenders out of their jocks. He also has the stereotypical swarmy, long hair, European crybaby footballer look, even though he is from Argentina. While he does indeed have the look, I am sure the guy must be tough because if I was the coach of some low level opponent I’d encourage hard tackles plus the occasional forearm to Messi’s head all match long. I also like to think that this dude has not produced in international competition like he does in club football, but that is probably wishful thinking. Here is Messi rocking out to Pearl Jam and scoring lots of goals

Cristiano Ronaldo
This guy plays for Portugal. Along with being a great soccer player he is famous for being handsome, diving, owning a fashion boutique and 2006 incident involving a Wayne Rooney red card in a Portugal-England game. Negative press form the incident might have been a reason for Ronaldo moving on from Manchester United to Real Madrid. That and 132 million dollars.


Zlatan Ibrahimovic
This guy plays for Sweden and not some Balkan nation. Not sure how he did not end up playing hockey, but a 15 year old Ibrahimovic did chose soccer over working on the docks, which was a great career move. Dude is tall and has some sweet skills and can speak 5 languages. He also trademarked the name Zlatan so don’t go and try and call yourself that when opening a set down at the bar.


Steven Gerrard
This dude is the captain of England (after former Captain John Terry was removed for boning a teammate's wife) and scored in the game versus the United States. He is apparently a diving hypocrite.


Samuel Eto'o
This guy is the captain of Camerroon and scores a million goals. He also doesn’t like it when small boys steal his shoes.


Kaka
This Brazillian midfielder and Armani model loves soccer, but he loves Jesus even more. He is the soccer equivilant of Tim Tebow.


Xavi & Andres Iniesta
These dudes play for Spain. One is the “playmaker” and one is going bald.


Frank Lampard
An English midfielder who is supposed to be very smart, but not smart enough not to have been caught on video engaged in what is termed “roasting”, which is some sort of team building exercise where soccer players have communal sex with women.


Fernando Torres
Spanish Striker, Bjorn Borg look a like and star of a video for the Spanish Three Doors Down. I seem to remember this guy rolling around on the ground a lot during that tournament in South Africa last year.


Wayne Rooney
The English striker did not make list but many people say he is great. Rooney looks more like a typical hooligan than player, which is probably one of the keys to his popularity. Rooney plays club football for Manchester United, who suck for all the same reasons the NY Yankees suck. Here is a great video mashing up British icons Rooney and the Beatles.

Oh well

What the hell was Leighton doing?

Overall though, the first line - Richards, Gagne, and Carter - are the real goats.

Leino, Hartnell, Briere, and Giroux (sorta) seemed to be the only ones to show up.

The Flyers played a brutal first period yet luckily came out tied. They played a less terrible second, even briefly held a lead, but went into the third down one. Then Chicago dumbly went into the shell, the Flyers fought back, got a bounce and a tip by Hartnell, and sent it into overtime.

In overtime not much was really going on. Then there was a Flyers giveaway, then a bad clear, the puck is dumped down to Kane in the circle and he takes a bad angle shot that wins the Cup because Leighton is positioned for the shot like the puck was behind the net.

Sigh. Time to shave the beard.

Burned

The Chicago Fire are not a good team.

The fact that the Union lost to them does not bode well for Philly turning around their luck and marching up the standings after getting into a portion of their schedule heavily weighted with home games.

And yet, there may be hope.

Once again, the Union pretty clearly outplayed an opponent on the road, and yet lost the game, this time 2-1 to Chicago. If they can maintain that level of play at home in the new PPL Park, then maybe their fortunes will turn.

Two bad defensive plays basically cost the Union against the Fire. Defender Cristian Arrieta got too close to the Fire's speedster Patrick Nyarko out wide, and Nyarko went right around him to feed Baggio Husidic for an easy goal in the box early on. In the second half, midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi kicked the ball up the middle of the field instead of just clearing it out of bounds from inside the penalty area, and Chicago's Marco Pappa picked it off in tight quarters and scored.

The good news was Danny Mwanga — for the third straight game — scored in stoppage time, and goal keeper Chris Seitz played a very strong game with some great saves. Seitz looks like he's shoring his game up after a very rocky start to the season.

Terrible game

Chicago built on the momentum of how they finished game 4, dominated the first period, got 3 goals (2 of them the usual Chicago lucky ones) and the Flyers never recovered.

The Flyers finally showed up in the second, twice got to within 2 goals, but Chicago answered each time, once with an assist from the refs on a horrible "hooking" call on Pronger - putting your stick on the hip is not a hook by itself, you actually have to, you know, HOOK. I'll also mention the two high stick calls they missed that if called would have given the Flyers a 5 on 3 in the third when they were back to within 2.

Also killer in this game was Richards doing what he could, but missing an open net (I even think the shot would have gone wide if Niemi didn't save it) and then Leino doing the same all on the same powerplay in the second. If they put those in the Flyers would have pulled to within 1.

If the Flyers have any hope of winning the Cup, the first line has to play a lot better, especially Richards. And The Captain has to buy some non-rubber sticks without holes in the blades. He was brutal in the offensive zone this game. Pronger also struggled, Briere didn't play that great, Coburn was awful in first and mediocre the rest. Leighton was bad, but not entirely at fault and Boucher did not make any "10 bell" saves that made a difference in the game. Only Leino seemed to be playing at a high level.

Need to play a lot better to get it to 7.

Dynamic win

Were you watching the Flyers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and Roy Halladay pitching a perfect game last Saturday? So was I, which is why I had to catch the rerun of the Union taking on the Dynamo in Houston.

And I'm glad it was rebroadcast because it was a damn good game.

Philly opened the scoring with one of the sweetest goals you'll see. Midfielder Shea Salinas outfought a Houston defender for the ball near the right corner, ran parallel to the end line toward the goal and then flicked the ball over the keeper with the outside of his boot — seemingly without looking.

Houston came back to score off two headers from free kicks, and led 2-1 with a half-hour remaining.

But Philly, as has been characteristic of the team all season, kept pushing for goals, and got one to tie the game from striker Sebastien Le Toux, who keeps on scoring for the Union.

Setting up Le Toux's blast from just inside the box was rookie midfielder and this year's first overall draft pick Danny Mwanga, a second half sub for Fred. And Mwanga wasn't done yet, either.

With the final whistle approaching, more than two minutes into extra time, forward Alejandro Moreno made a beautiful pass that sent Le Toux racing toward the penalty area. Nearing the end line to the right of goal, Le Toux cut back a pass toward the center of a congested box where Mwanga was waiting — and made no mistake in slamming the ball into the net. And that was the game.

Mwanga looked like the rookie he is in the team's opener at Seattle, but he now has a goal in his last two games and seems much more comfortable. Physically, the dude is a beast, so I think a lot more play like we saw against the Dynamo can be expected.

Very entertaining game overall and a great win for the Union as they continue their long road tour of the MLS. Some day they will have another home game. Actually, it will be June 27 when the Union hosts Seattle in the first game at brand new PPL Park. Until then it's two more roadies against teams directly ahead of Philly in the standings — at Chicago tonight then at Kansas City.

Flyers play great, fall apart, but hold on and win

I guess I'm supposed to be happy that the Flyers tied the series 2-2, but with the third period collapse they lost any chance of making Chicago doubt themselves, and that pisses me off. If they simply won 3-1 and shut down Chicago in the third, and continued to frustrate them they would have carried momentum into game 5. Instead Chicago gets some confidence from the comeback and now has home ice. Oh well.

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Leighton was really good tonight and inspired confidence. He came through in the first when Chicago was outshooting the Flyers 9-4 and controlled rebounds really well for most of the game. He made some big saves late as well. Chicago's first goal was another lucky deflection off a Flyer, second goal was a 5 on 3, and the third goal was another lucky bounce off 2 Flyers. (How many goals have the Flyers deflected in for Chicago this series?)

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Richard's goal wouldn't have happened if the defenseman was a righty. Giroux's goal happened because Chicago decided to change lines as the Flyers were going into the offensive zone. Good move.

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Coach System did NOT call a masterful timeout this game. Could have used it in the third period.

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Pronger and Carle were really, really good. Carle's goal was reminiscent of the one he scored against the Rangers in the last game of the season. Way to go to the net. Krajicek and Bartulis are always shaky, but Krajicek saved a goal in the third.

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I loved the lucky goal by Leino. About time the Flyers got a bounce off a Blackhawk that goes in. Congratulations on breaking the Flyers rookie playoff scoring record. But I don't get how he is a rookie, he played 13 games in 2008-09 for Detroit.

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I wonder what Hartnell said. Idiot.

Flyers deserve to win and actually do

Since I embody Negadelphia, I felt it was all setting up again for another 1 goal loss and another scrub on Chicago getting the big goal. Just like last game the Flyers completely dominated the third period outshooting Chicago 15 to 4, but only capitalizing once on all their chances so it remained tied, 3-3 going into overtime.

In OT Gagne thought he had it won, but the puck hit the post and traveled right down the center of the goal line. The Flyers had already used up their lucky bounce off the same exact post in the second period on Hartnell's deflection of Pronger's shot. Then about a minute later Flyers came in on a rush started by Briere who passed to Carle who did one of those shot/passes to Giroux who nicely and somewhat luckily deflected the shot past Niemi for the Flyers first win in a Cup finals since 1987.

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The Flyers have been coming at the Blackhawks especially late in these games. The Blackhawks just run out of gas. But Chicago just waits and generates probably 90% of their offense off of Flyers stupid giveaways and mistakes which are usually unforced. And it's how the Flyers managed to blow 2, 1 goal leads this game. Blackhawks first goal was Carter giveaway, second goal was from a bad faceoff and poor save, and third goal was a screw up by the defense giving Kane a breakaway. They didn't score because of extended pressure or dominating play.

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You know who was brutally bad this game? Jeff Carter. He turned it over repeatedly and stupidly in the neutral zone or going into the offensive zone sending Chicago right back the other way on a rush. Carcillo also had a poor game. Coburn was -3, like in game 1.

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Stars of the game for the Flyers include Giroux of course, Leino, Briere, Hartnell, Pronger and Carle. The penalty killing units of the Flyers were also excellent along with the power play. Just clean up the bad giveaways and they can win this thing.