Shame on me for missing this a few weeks back, but Tanner Cooley (brother and blogging partner of Redskins’ tight end Chris Cooley) took the time to gloat on the family blog (www.ChrisCooley47.com) regarding Donovan McNabb’s blog posting following the Redskins game; you know, it was the one where he claimed that the Eagles were better than the Redskins. Oops. Tanner Cooley didn’t seem to agree:

When I played football the team that won the game was usually the better team. When Donovon McNabb plays, it doesn’t matter who scores more, has better stats, and leaves the field victorious. All that matters is how you feel inside.

I [Donovan McNabb] believe that we lost to teams we should have beaten. Not because I think they are not good - they are. But I still believe we are better; we just didn’t show it.

He must not have watched game film because going 30 minutes without a first down didn’t show the Eagles being better. 4 straight 3 and outs didn’t do it. And I’m pretty sure getting out-rushed 203 to 58 and being booed off their own field definitely didn’t prove the E-A-G-L-E-S to be the superior team. But either way, a fact is fact and the Eagles were the only NFC East team to not make the playoffs last year and they are right on track to repeat this year. So if they know in their heart’s that they are a better team after losing games, I guess they don’t know what “better” is.

RRRRRRRRRR!

So a couple things here.

(1) Generally speaking, the Chris Cooley blog is totally sweet. Whether it’s posting half-nekkid pictures of his wife, completely nekkid pictures of himself, or videos of the Redskins’ internal fantasy draft, this is all goodness. Good for Chris Cooley for having a sense of humor in re: his good fortune and not taking himself too seriously.

(2) Whilst Tanner Cooley is certainly correct in his taunts from the fan perspective — and really, he’s just a fan, and he’s allowed to talk as much smack at NFL players as the next fan — it does complicate things to post this on an official player site. Not that it isn’t funny, but you can imagine how certain folks on the other side of the equation might not appreciate it.

(2a) Let us all note the obvious parallels with the McNabb family blogging efforts.

(3) I, for one, think it’s puh-retty cool that “saying b*tchy things about other players on one’s blog” has a chance to become the next step in the bulletin-board-material evolution of “running your mouth in front of a camera.” Certainly the players can’t complain that they’ve been misquoted if it’s their own web site. If anything, this could pave the way for dueling videos on YouTube, snarky Twitter entries (note: even I have avoided Twitter to date and I typically go in for the latest techie fad), awkward Facebook Wall posts. The future is now!

Actually, we’re driving, so the gameday postings will be a bit light, BUT, let me quickly say the following:

1.  This will be a nervous afternoon by any definition.  The Redskins don’t seem capable of playing games that aren’t decided in the fourth quarter, and I imagine that’s how this one will go.  That plus the Phils game should have the folks in the stadium on maximum anxiety levels for most of the aftenoon.

2.  I’ve got a good Reggie Brown vibe for today.  Can’t tell you why (other than the part where he’s made big plays against the Skins in the past).  It’d also be nice to see the secondary end that whole “Jason Campbell hasn’t thrown a pick” thing.   And I wouldn’t be shocked to see David Akers need to make a big field goal today (like in the fourth quarter when it matters).

3.  Letdown versus High Pressure in re: the respective psychoanalytics today.  We’ve got the Skins pegged for a letdown after a big win against Dallas, right?  And we have the Eagles feeling a ton of pressure in the face of 2-3 and another division loss.  Usually the more desperate teams get the win in these scenarios (”Parcells’ Axiom of Sportscliche #43″).

4.  In case I didn’t mention this four time already, I couldn’t be more psyched to actually be attending the game today.

5. I like the Eagles to win, call it Eagles 23, Redskins 16.

Thanks to a lopsided result in the Green Bay - Minnesota game/ the glorious and generous mercies of the respective gods of football and television, the Fox affiliate here in Seattle switched to the Birds game with about 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

I wasn’t actually here to watch it (airplanes today; San Antonio to Seattle, layover in Houston where I was able to catch the first three quarters), but my extremely clever roommate DVRs all the games, so the exciting conclusion was waiting for me when I got home later tonight. I mean, I knew the result thanks to the refresh button on ESPN’s mobile site and a minor delay on the tarmac in Houston, but it was pretty sweet to get to see the screen pass to Westbrook, AKA THE BEST PLAY THE EAGLES HAVE MADE ALL SEASON on my very own TV.

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So we’ve all heard this story before.

Many moons ago, back in the days before TO and the trip to the Thuper Bowl, the Eagles used to grind out wins with their QB, a feisty defense, some talent at TE and RB — despite a completely overmatched WR corps. If last night’s game is any indication of a larger trend, it sure looks like this team needs to start thinking about winning in the 2003 style and not the 2004 style, because their WRs are getting pushed around like Trash and Stinkston.

(Read the rest of this story.)

In a relatively charming turn of events, a loose confederation of Eagles bloggers sent me a mail this morning inviting me to write a preseason preview of the Washington Redskins. The general idea is that each blogger covers a major NFC rival of the Birds and we all post links to the other blogs/ previews.

Sounds like a plan.

Turns out that they managed to gather previews for a bunch of other teams (the Giants, Cowboys, Bears, Niners, and Saints) but no one had gotten around to dealing with the Redskins (or the Nerdbirds, but that’s understandable — no one cares about C@L — go east-coast media bias!). I can see why no one wanted to do the Skins; of the three other NFC East teams, I definitely hate the Redskins the least. (In case you were wondering, I hate the Giants the most, but that’s only because I’ve recently gotten over a residual Cowboys hatred that was directly tied to Emmitt Smith taking off his helmet to celebrate garbage TDs in the fourth quarter against overmatched opponents behind the best offensive line of the 90s.)

Check out the other previews:

Dallas Cowboys at Iggles Blog
New York Giants at Eagle Scout Blog
Chicago Bears at Fortress of Pillows
New Orleans Saints at Bleeding Green Nation
San Francisco 49ers at Depressed Fan

Despite my relatively modulated hatred of the Redskins, I still dislike them enough to assemble a snarky preview on short notice. Note — this column contains no predictions. I’m no good at predicting the future. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions about the Skins; here we go:

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