Ball or Nuthin' » Eagles

Redskins Grab McNabb

T Lamont — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:41:01 +0000

Redskins center Casey Rabach: ”It puts a face and a leader, an identity, to this offense. That’s what this trade does.”

Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall: “He’s a proven winner in this league and I’m excited to have him as a part of our football team. This instantly makes us a contender for a Super Bowl championship.”

Redskins outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander: “You’re talking about a guy who has been to the big game [Super Bowl XXXIX] and played in a lot of NFC championship games. He’s done it for a long period of time, so he can’t do anything but make your team better.”

Redskins wide receiver Devin Thomas: “He’s [potentially] a Hall of Fame quarterback. For one, he’s a leader at the position. He has that charisma and he has that playmaker ability with his feet and with his big arm. He has that toughness from playing in the NFC East his whole career. He’s everything you want. And for a young receiver such as myself, who’s ready to break out, I couldn’t dream of a better quarterback.”

Think the Washington Redskins aren’t excited about acquiring Donovan McNabb?

The McNabb trade unofficially put an end to the "Jason Campbell era" of Washington football.

The Redskins sealed the deal with their divisional rival Philadelphia Eagles by giving up the 37th pick in this year’s draft and a third or fourth round selection in next year’s draft.

The move wraps up a growing sentiment in the D.C. metro area that Jason Campbell was not the answer at quarterback for the team. Earlier in the offseason, Washington also signed veteran Rex Grossman – who figured to provide some stiff competition for Campbell. Now the move seemed to be more calculated to cast him as the backup. There has also been a lot of speculation as to whether the Redskins will go after a quarterback in the draft.

Word has it that McNabb did not want to be traded to Oakland or Buffalo, and that of the teams in the hunt for his services his preferred choice was the Redskins. Eagles head coach Andy Reid was in close contact with McNabb’s agent, and strongly considered the veteran’s feelings (regarding the possible destinations) before pulling the trigger.

Washington was one of the first teams to contact Philadelphia regarding McNabb’s status, and that is no surprise given the Syracuse alum’s success against his new club (12-8 lifetime against Washington).

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Jets, Cowboys Do the Improbable

T Lamont — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:40:05 +0000

Just two weekends ago, both the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys were on the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs.

But after each playing a couple of games of dominating football, they found themselves in the wild card game – each playing against the same team that beat last weekend.

Last week, the Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals to cement their trip to the postseason. Likewise, the Cowboys shutout the Philadelphia Eagles in rout to this week’s repeat showdown with their division rivals.

So what happened yesterday?

Both the Jets and the Cowboys took care of business on Saturday to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs.

In Texas Stadium, the Cowboys defeated the Eagles, 34-14. Dallas exploded for 27 points in the 2nd quarter – an outburst which compromised Philadelphia’s chances for success against a tough Cowboys’ defense. And while the Philadelphia offense wasn’t totally grounded, it couldn’t come through when it needed to. The Eagles converted only 18% (2 of 11) of their third downs (and they were 0 for 2 on fourth downs).

All year, Philly has been noted for its extremely potent and explosive offense, but it was Dallas that scored 3 touchdowns and 2 field goals in 12 minutes. After putting those points on the board, the Cowboys knew they had the upper hand as the Eagles had only scored 7 points on them in the last 5 quarters up to that point.

Felix Jones rushed for 148 yards on only 16 carries.

Earlier in the day, the Jets went into Cincinnati to handle the Bengals, 24-14. What did rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez think of the victory?

”It’s pretty special. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

While it’s refreshing to see your rookie quarterback ry to deflect the success on his whole team, he was indeed an integral part of this key playoff win.

New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan:

”He had the eye of the tiger today and he was ready to get out there and throw it around. I see him getting better and better each day on the practice field. What a job he’s done. I think he’s tired of hearing he’s the weak link on this football team.”

Sanchez was an efficient 12-15 for 182 yards and a touchdown. Fellow rookie Shonn Greene rushed for 135 yards to provide a balanced offensive attack for New York. Three Jets’ touchdowns in the second and third quarters sealed the Bengals’ fate.

Coach Ryan:

”This was a great team effort. We’re a good football team. If people don’t believe that, they soon will.”

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NFC Playoffs Shaping Up To Be Classic

T Lamont — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:55:56 +0000

What a great time of year it is for sports…

NBA and college basketball going full tilt…

College football bowl games heating up…

And, of course, the NFL playoffs are right around the corner. And this year’s set of matchups appears to be one of the most intriguing ever.

Looking at the six participants from the NFC – how could you comfortably say that any one of them stands head and shoulders above the other.

New Orleans Saints: The Saints have been the ESPN highlight filler throughout the NFL regular season. They’ve put up a league high 500 points thus far. However, the most notable news for New Orleans has been their last two games – which have both been losses. These losses may prove to leave the void of any much needed momentum headed into the playoffs.

Minnesota Vikings: This team will live and die with Brett Favre. Sorry, Adrian Peterson – Favre is just too stubborn to follow a scripted game plan which doesn’t involve him making bail out throws off of his back leg. Based on his second half performance against the Bears on MNF, more fuel will be added to his personal definition of his worth to the Vikings. The defense looks shaky, and that’s not a good sign considering that Favre is bound to make some mistakes by forcing things a little too much.

Arizona Cardinals: In a weak NFC West division, the Cardinals have quietly put together a 10-5 season. Ho hum. The only above average opponent that they’ve beaten is the Minnesota Vikings. Conversely, Arizona was swept in their two games against the 49ers. Think their opening round playoff opponent will be breaking out the footage of those games?

Winfield's foot injury is one of the issues plaguing the Vikings' defense.

Philadelphia Eagles: After their last second victory over the Broncos, the Eagles have now won 6 games in a row – making them the hottest team heading into the playoffs. This team has it all clicking right now, and they are playing the exact way that you would hope for if you’re a fan of the team. Philadelphia makes big plays, and they have a guy named DeSean Jackson on their roster. Any opponent has to make sure that they don’t abandon their position because the Eagles make you pay for it.

Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys came through in December for a change, and won two must-have games (New Orleans, Washington) which have thrust them into the postseason. Regardless of their opponent, their defense will have to shine to keep them in the game.

Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers has emerged into a leader for this revamped team. He moves the ball brilliantly with short, medium and deep passes to keep the defense honest. The Packers’ future is bright because they made the tough decision to stick to their guns and led an NFL icon leave the franchise. It couldn’t have worked out any better.

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Vick Not Making an Impact

T Lamont — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:03:03 +0000

After being the center of the media circus for quite some time, things have settled down for Michael Vick.

In mid-August, Vick signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Eagles already had a Pro-Bowl quarterback in Donovan McNabb, we all figured that anything Vick brought to the dinner table would just be gravy.

But Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and the mashed potatoes are looking awfully dry.

To say that Vick has struggled would be a severe understatement. His participation in the Philadelphia offensive scheme has been limited to the Wildcat formation – a scheme that took the NFL by storm after the success that the Miami Dolphins enjoyed with it last season. But there’s one big problem with the Wildcat – - – it’s not for every team.

Vick says he's not a fan of the Wildcat formation.

And it’s not for every player. Vick has made a mild expression that he’s not a fan of the Wildcat:

“I won’t be a Wildcat guy. I can’t. It’s a different style of play. It’s almost like a hit-or-miss type of thing. My position is quarterback. That’s what I was born to do.”

But even with the fact that Michael Vick is playing a scheme that he claims is not for him, he has looked like a very average NFL player since he has come back from his stint in the big house. There’s almost certainly some degree of rust that needs to be knocked off after a couple of years out of the league. Vick has not illustrated any bit of the explosiveness that we were accustomed to seeing during his ‘pre-prison’ football career.

Here are Vick’s stats so far this season (7 games):

Passing: 2-7, 6 yards

Rushing: 12 carries, 27 yards

Philly is going to have to decide if they want to exercise the second-year option for Vick’s services next year. It’s a $3.6 million decision that would seem unlikely. With only 33 yards of total offense, that would be more than $100,000 per yard.

Hey Philadelphia – I’m available at a much cheaper rate…

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Giants Lose Third Straight

T Lamont — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:24:10 +0000

The Philadelphia Eagles continued their run of high scoring games by trouncing the New York Giants, 40-17.

Donovan McNabb had 3 touchdown strikes and passed for 240 yards on the day. The Eagles have scored on a multitude of big plays all season long, and that remained in tact in their showdown against the Giants. Philadelphia had three touchdowns on plays of 40 yards or longer including:

- a 41-yard TD run by FB Leonard Weaver

- a 54-yard TD reception by WR DeSean Jackson

- a 66-yard TD run by RB LeSean McCoy

This game was all Philly from the jump. The Eagles put up 13 points in the opening quarter, followed by 17 points in the second quarter in route to a 30-7 halftime advantage. For the game, the Eagles averaged 8.0 yards per play while the Giants averaged 4.9.

DeSean Jackson had yet another big play this week against New York.

New York’s ineffectiveness could also be illustrated by examining Eli Manning’s performance. Eli barely connected on 50% of his pass attempts (20-39 for 222 yards). Manning tossed two interceptions, one of which was picked off by Asante Samuel and returned 37 yards to set up a score.

After a dominating start to the season that had everyone declaring them the NFC frontrunners, the Giants have fallen prey to three hungry teams in the hefty portion of their schedule. Their first loss came to the New Orleans Saints, which saw both teams enter the game undefeated. The Saints’ offense ran circles around the Giants, whose offense is not designed to keep up that type of scoring pace. The following week saw a regrouped Arizona Cardinals team beat New York at home. Eli Manning had three of his passes picked off in that game.

”You don’t expect it when you win five straight. You’re feeling good, you’re feeling great and then, to lose three in a row especially, you just don’t feel like you’re playing your best.”

A bit of frustration could be detected in Ginats’ head coach Tom Coughlin:

”That’s not the kind of football we teach and that’s not what we’re all about, but there it was again.”

The truth of the matter is that the Giants had a padded schedule in the early going – scheduled with teams like Washington, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland. But they now face the daunting portion of their season with tussles against Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia (again), Dallas and Minnesota still forthcoming.

At the end of their 16-game schedule, their performance over their last half of the season will be what determined their playoff fate.

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