In the game that was the inverse of last Monday’s shootout against Dallas, the Eagles roughed up the Steelers in a tough-ass defensive struggle, 15-6.
Quick-hit reactions to a very satisfying TV show:
Jim Johnson and the defensive front, take a bow. Six days after giving up 34 points (I won’t blame them for the special teams TD), the Birds’ defense channeled the 1991 Eagles and just humiliated the Steelers. The ball was snapped, and the line immediately moved two yards backward on pretty much every down. It seemed like the Steelers gave up running the ball pretty early, and stubbornly instructed Roethlisberger to try to throw the ball. Nope. It wasn’t just a couple plays worth of pressure, it was pressure on every single down. Darren Howard, Juqua Parker and Trent Cole were monsters. The body language from the Steelers’ receivers was the most telling part — you could tell they were sick of running routes and not even having the ball come out. Jim Johnson and the defense have officially made it up to us for the Dallas game.
Speaking of making it up to us after the Dallas game. I guess the Dawkins retirement can wait another week. His pterodactyl Makhtar (Editor’s note: Makhtar is a slang term used to describe the act of violently smacking an object out of another’s hand; derived from Makhtar N’Diaye and his proclivity for clumsy fouls) on Big Ben was the best Eagles’ play of the season so far.
$57 million seemed like a lot, but, well, we like interceptions. Asante Samuel is definitely earning it after three weeks. I’ll argue that he’s actually been a little lost in the media shuffle so far, and that he’d definitely be a big story in most other towns, but given the unique, ahem, landscape of storylines amongst the local blathertariat, he’s gotten off pretty easy. I can’t say I’m anything but impressed by this guy.
I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited about the punter. Get ready for a week of “This is the week it clicked for Sav Rocca” though he’s been pretty good so far this season. He absolutely made a difference today.
And suddenly it’s the third quarter of a preseason game. When Kolb checked in with Buckhalter and Booker in the backfield and Baskett and Avant split wide, well, it got pretty chill in my apartment. It got a little warmer when McNabb checked back in, but even that was an Eagles team without its starting backfield, Pro Bowl guard and presumptive top wideout. Yikes.
Booker is a liability in pass defense. Booker whiffed horribly on the McNabb pick, kind of fell down in the act of not even getting a finger on the blitzer. Not so impressive. Westbrook and Buckhalter don’t miss like that.
Think happy thoughts. Let’s pretend the 36 Chambers of Brian Westbrook isn’t actually hurt and will be back at practice on Wednesday. Somewhere GCobb is working on a blog post about how Westbrook can’t stay healthy.
Also, The NFC East still hasn’t lost a game to anyone but an NFC East team. Though I hope the Cowboys lose in a barrage of injuries to fix that. Obviously.
Ed Rendell backed the wrong horse in the Democratic primary; let’s hope he has slightly better luck this afternoon. What I’ll be shouting at the television about:
Ralph Wiggum lost his shin guard! Hack the bone! Far be it from me to suggest anything untoward, but it’d be nice if the Eagles could get some pressure on Big Ben early in the game and maybe even hit him a little bit. Let’s see how that shoulder’s doing. The Steelers gave up a ton of sacks last year (only two fewer than the Birds) and it’d be nice if the defensive front could rebound from a pretty dull performance on Monday. A sack from the defensive tackles would have me extra giddy here.
My least favorite NFL Player? There’s just something in the physical manner of that Hines Ward gentleman that really ruffles my feathers. There’s always an extra bit of taunting from Ward, though for some reason the blathermonkeys freakin love the guy (mostly this means John Madden). Expect some exceptionally creative and loud swearing from me if Ward gets in the end zone.
Another test for the linebackers. I’m going to be anxious all afternoon about how the Eagles’ linebackers will handle runs to the outside and the short passing game. I’m feeling bullish on the Birds’ ability to stop the interior running game, but I’m more worried about the fast parts of Fast Willie Parker on the outside.
Absolute terror in re: the offensive line. Not only is Shawn Andrews out this week, but Jamaal Jackson dealt with some horrific family stuff and the entire left side of the line headed to Miami to support Jackson at the end of the week. This either leads to an “inspirational performance” or “high levels of disorganization against a clever defensive scheme.” Hmmm.
More vertical passing. I cannot get enough of the way that the Eagles are throwing the ball right now. No dink-and-dunk crap — they’re running 15-20-yard patterns and the ball is flying down the field. This is definitely the big-boy passing game, available only to those teams with Howitzer-armed quarterbacks. And I think that the return of Reggie Brown only makes that passing game more dangerous. Certainly the success throwing the ball has silenced the Run-The-Ball-Andy meme in Philly.
Quintin Demps watch. Whether it be as a replacement for Sean Considine or in the kickoff return game, few things would get me more fired up than more big plays from the rookies. Same deal for Trevor Laws.
I know this sounds crazy, but. Doesn’t it seem like the 36 Chambers of Brian Westbrook hasn’t really blown up on someone yet? We haven’t seen enough magic tricks from Westbrook quite yet (though he’s obviously been quite excellent).
Checking in on B-Dawk. Remember the awkward play against Santonio Holmes in the preseason game that started the “Dawkins is done” whisper campaign? Right. It’s week 3, and the volume of chitchat is only increasing. It’d be nice to see Dawkins make a play or two this afternoon.
I’m planning to head to the Town Tavern for the game this afternoon — looking forward to a great day of football.
Ashley Fox did her part to contribute to the DeSean-Jackson-Is-Cocky meme in this morning’s papers. It was a worthy addition to the canon (including quotes from a local high school coach who was involved in Jackson’s previous celebration gaffe — yes, I just said “previous celebration gaffe”), and seems to confirm that Ashley Fox is going to be on soft-focus feature detail for the rest of the season.
Still, there was one paragraph I found confusing; Fox wrote that:
Jackson quickly developed a bond with quarterback Donovan McNabb, spending time with McNabb in Arizona before training camp opened in late July.
I mean, maybe that did happen, but I thought he had skipped that little trip (and even posted on it). Also, Eagletarian seemed to confirm as much at the time. So. Maybe new information has come to light. Or maybe it’s much more convenient to assume that the kid’s performance is a result of his special relationship with the quarterback, which must be the product of some extra time in the offseason (even if it didn’t really happen).
I guess I had heard it mentioned that Eagles defensive end Trent Cole was into hunting, but I had no idea how into hunting he was until I checked out the web site of his hunting and hunting video production company, Cole Outdoor Productions (via Philly.com and the 700Level).
Whilst I’m not entirely sure what Cole Outdoor Productions actually does (do they just make the videos, or do they take you out and shoot video of other people’s hunting exploits?), I have to say I learned a lot in my brief time on his web site:
1. So these are the gun owners who actually want to hunt. I’m pretty anti-gun/ pro-gun control, but, um, I guess these are the folks who aren’t kidding when they claim they want firearms for sport hunting purposes. Though it looks like they mostly use bows and arrows. I don’t know if that’s more or less scary.
2. They try to play fair. In case you were getting squeamish, you’ll need to wait until at least the next few paragraphs. Cole Outdoor Productions stresses that they only hunt their “game under wild and fair chase conditions.” Right. No word yet if that includes getting chipped by the tight end, though fair doesn’t seem to include bows and arrows for the deer.
3. In case you wanted to send Trent Cole an e-mail, his address is listed on the front page of the site, under “Cameras for sale.” Selling cameras, Trent? Huh? Can’t be any margins there.
4. Dude, they shot at the pregnant one? Video from the site presented below, with minimal commentary, though I must note that I was actually surprised that they shoot at the pregnant ones. Also, if you’re into seeing Bambi take an arrow in the chest, this isn’t the video for you.
Good news for the Birds: it looks like Reggie Brown has been cleared to play tomorrow against the Steelers.
At least you’d think it was good news — Reggie Brown was a presumptive starter for the erstwhile wideout-challenged Birds, and surely he must be an upgrade over the backups who’ve been out there the past couple weeks? But the buzz in more than a couple places is that Brown’s return really isn’t such a big deal at all. In fact, given that DeSean Jackson has been lining up at Brown’s “X” receiver position (Editor’s Note: I don’t really know what that means), some have wondered if there will really be a role for Reggie Brown.
While I’ve had my issues with Reggie Brown in the past, the guy has actually made some plays in the past. And whilst I obviously eat up any and all rumors regarding his “rocky relationship” with Donovan McNabb, Reggie Brown is definitely a better NFL player than Greg Lewis, Hank Baskett and Jason Avant. The issue is young master Jackson, who’s, um, apparently pretty good, and certainly a lot more exciting than Brown. It’s tough not to be distracted by Jackson; he’s a much brighter/ shinier object than boring old Reggie Brown.
All that said, Brown getting back on the field is good news. The passing game has been delightfully vertical so far, and adding one more solid wideout can only increase the offense’s upside.
In a move that was long overdue, I’ve started a BountyBowl group on the Facebook. If you’re into that sort of thing, stop by and say hi, though I’m not really sure what it’ll do (in that I already have a web site, it’s called BountyBowl, and you’re reading it right now). Maybe it’ll be like the Facebook messaging system, where (as a buddy is fond of saying) I get an e-mail in my actual inbox telling me to check the fake e-mail in my other inbox — pretty sweet, I know. Which, in turn, is almost as sweet as the Wall, where I get an e-mail in my actual inbox telling me to check the e-mail on my Facebook page that everyone else can read as well. Apparently the kids just can’t get enough of inconveniences like that; who knew?
I love the future!
(It says here that the Facebook is on computers these days.)
Link to BountyBowl Facebook group here. Note that I’m handing out inflated titles to anyone who joins (I didn’t realize that I got to make “officers” on there).
For about half the week I had myself completely convinced that the Steelers game had low-effort/ letdown/ Trap Game written all over it. The Birds had just lost a tough one on the road to a division rival, they never play well against decent AFC teams, and the Stillers were no joke.
But I don’t think that’ll be the problem tomorrow. The Birds lost a tough game in Week Two to a division rival last year as well (albeit at home) and then completely humiliated the Lions the following week. So I’m going to point to that scenario and say that they’re not going to write the Stillers off this week.
Of course, that doesn’t mean this looks like a good matchup for the Eagles. No Shawn Andrews = badness. But at least it won’t be a lack of effort that does the team in. Or so I’d like to believe.
And we’re back. After a week and change in Merry Old Ingerland (Did I miss anything? Something about a global economic meltdown?), I’m back in the United States of Freedom and ready to sign.
I’ve got plenty of Eagles-related nonsense ready to spew forth, but I thought I’d start the weekend with an off-topic post in re: my trip last Saturday to see the other football over in London. In another blog life, I’m actually pretty into the whole soccer thing as well, and was pretty psyched to score a ticket to see Fulham host Bolton Wanderers in a Premiership match at Craven Cottage.
My takeaways (with a compare-and-contrast American football slant, of course):
In terms of hooliganism, Fulham - Bolton isn’t exactly Among The Thugs. You can still find football matches in the UK with a bit more of an angry bent to them, but Fulham - Bolton isn’t one of them. Neither team has a particularly psychotic fan base, there’s no rivalry between them, Fulham’s in a relatively nice neighborhood, and it was like family day or something (they were painting kids’ faces outside the ground). So no fears about getting knifed for having the wrong scarf. It was more like a Houston Texans - St. Louis Rams game. Only a lot smaller.
Speaking of smaller grounds. There are some gigantic stadia in England (Old Trafford, the new Emirates stadium, Anfield, City of Manchester Stadium), but for the most part, these are not the cathedrals to which your average NFL fan has become accustomed (see here for a list by capacity). Craven Cottage is listed as pretty small (22,000 and change) and it felt that way. I mean, it was nice and intimate and all that, and in a lovely spot on the Thames, but it’s not the Linc. It does give you some perspective on just how crazy it is to have these ridiculous NFL stadia (most built in the past 15 years) that are really only used 10-15 times a year. Also, in that context, it’s offensive that we don’t yet have another World Cup on the books for the US and A.
Yes, I’d like eight pints of Carlsberg, please. So they stop selling beer ten minutes before kickoff, resume five minutes before halftime, and then cut off again for good at the end of halftime. Beer is extremely reasonably priced (3.50 GBP) and, wait for it, there’s no limit to the number you can get at once. The dude in front of me at halftime ordered eight (8). No joke.
No Americans got in the game. Fulham had five Americans on the roster last season, but a regime change in management trimmed that number to one for this season, Clint Dempsey. Unfortunately, Dempsey didn’t get in the game, which I’ll chalk up to having played at midweek for the United States.
Now let us get back to the proper football, as they say.
Did you hear that the Eagles lost? Must be on account of that no-account choke artist of a quarterback! See, he can’t get it done in the clutch! He can’t! Ever! And don’t go whining about the defense giving up 34 points, the special teams giving up a return touchdown and the defensive line not hurrying Tony Romo even once (much less sacking him)! That’s not the problem here. The problem is McNabb! He threw 12 incompletions, seven of which were his fault! When are they going to learn? This guy is a bum, and he’ll never win anything.
(Again? AGAIN? THIS SOON?)
(I’ll give the locals credit for a slightly nuanced approach to this in the actual articles, but the headers and the photo tell a pretty obvious story, and one that must drive pageviews. Still, I’m just baffled. Let’s just say that my biggest concerns ahead of the Pittsburgh game have extremely little to do with the quarterback position, and a lot to do with the offensive line and the defense as a whole.)
(The fumble was a serious f*ckup though. No denying it. So were a lot of other plays in that game.)
(Also, you gotta love that “debating” Donovan McNabb ahead of Week 3 trumps the Phils’ playoff chase. Yup, Rick Reilly, it’s a baseball town.)
(Also, I would have blamed McNabb for this week’s global financial meltdown, but the KSK guys beat me to that joke. Damnable day job!)
