A Bright Sign for Next Season

Just in case you forgot why, pre-injury, Shawn Andrews was able to slot in as a starting right guard as a rookie and have ESPN's Chris Mortensen predict before last season even started that Andrews would already be a Pro Bowler by season's end, here's an encouraging tidbit from the Scouting Combine blog of Pro Football Weekly's Mike Wilkening:

"[Georgia DE David] Pollack on memories of watching film of then-Arkansas OT Shawn Andrews, a 2004 first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles: 'He was just taking people and moving them off the camera screen.'”

Getting a Little Drafty in Here

One good thing about having your team play in the Super Bowl--aside from winning it, obviously--is that it gives you an extra two weeks to delay obsessing about the offseason. But obsess we now must, because Phillies spring training and Sixers basketball ain't gonna keep us happy through to the draft.

Speaking of which, I've been compiling a list of recent mock drafts from all sorts of football sites to see what these "pundits" think about the Eagles 31st pick in the first round. None deals with the very real possibility the braintrust will package this pick with the second round pick from Miami received for A.J. Feely and move up, so such early prognostications must always be taken with a large grain of salt.

With Freddie Mitchell unable to walk his talk, the most common pick is another first-round wideout:

Consensus Draft Services
Troy Williamson, South Carolina

Andy Egyud, Fantasy Football Toolbox
Williamson

Mel Kiper, ESPN.com
Reggie Brown, Georgia

The Prez, ProFootballDraft.com
Brown

The player picked by three draftniks (Heard's Football Report, NFL Post, Scouts Inc), however, is Wisconsin DT Antaaj Hawthorne. Even with Corey Simon being franchised, picking a tackle early is a wise idea to groom in case Simon leaves after next season and to add another fresh body into Jim Johnson's defensive line rotation. (Paul Grasmanis, after all, was largely ineffectual in the little playing time he had last season.)

A couple of sites (Football's Future, Draft Daddy) saw the problems the interior OL had handling the Patriots' up-the-gut blitzes and have forecast the Birds selecting Virginia guard Elton Brown. Another pair (About.com, NFL Draft Showcase) chose Kevin Burnett, an outside linebacker from Tennessee, with the idea that Nate Wayne has played himself out of a job. Of course, Keith Adams may have already played himself into that job with his fine performance in the NFC Championship Game, and since the organization wasted a second-round pick on Quinton Caver in 2001, it may be reluctant to use a first-rounder on a linebacker.

NFL Draft Showcase actually made picks for all of the draft selections known thus far (so not including the third round pick for John Welbourne or any compensatory picks), and they weren't off-base in terms of the general team needs that could be addressed. In addition to Burnett, the site then had the following picks:

Round 2 (via Miami)--Eric Shelton, RB, Louisville
Round 2--Reggie Brown, WR, Georgia
Round 3--Andrew Walker, QB, Arizona
Round 4--Lynn McGruder, DT, Oklahoma
Round 4--Aaron Francisco, FS, BYU
Round 5--Matt Jones, TE/WR, Arkansas
Round 5--Chris Carty, DE, Virginia
Round 7--Maurice Lloyd, OLB, Connecticut

I'm not convinced the Eagles would draft a QB in the third round, or that they need another safety. But getting the bruising Shelton and Brown, who excelled at the Senior Bowl, would be a successful first day, indeed. Jones was a quarterback at Arkansas, but is attempting to switch to being a huge wideout or perhaps a tight end. In any event, these picks make a little more sense than DraftAce.com predicting that the first round selection would be cornerback Bryant McFadden from Florida State. With Rod Hood performing decently as the nickel back last year and with the jury still out on Matt Ware and Dexter Wynn, last year's CB picks, I don't foresee another first rounder being used on a DB.

At the end of the day, all the prognostications won't mean anything, but they're fun to mull over until April, so I'll try to keep abreast of them as the combine comes and goes.

Rankling Ranking

Apparently at the urging of his editors, Sportsline.com's Pete Prisco has already posted his first Power Rankings for the 2005 NFL season. Never too early to drum up some arguments, I suppose, and by putting the Colts at number 2 and the Eagles number 3 (the Pats are obviously at the top of the list), he's going to get one here. So let's see: a team that could muster only three points against the Pats in the playoffs and has just one defensive standout in Dwight Feeney is rated higher than a team that scored 21 points against the same Pats team, had the defending champs on the ropes, and has an actual playoff-caliber defense?

I suppose one part of Prisco's reasoning is the Eagles play in a dreadful conference, but, really now, a competitive, if not thrilling, Super Bowl should have laid that train of thought to rest. I suspect, however, that this is yet-another case of Peyton Manning myopia at work here. Yes, the Colts have a fantastic offense, especially when they play indoors and aren't roughed up in the slightest, but when Prisco suggests that "The main goal of the offseason will be to improve the defense. They have to add more players on that side of the ball somehow" and you know he could have trotted that advice out for each of the last few Colts offseasons, you wonder how he could have put them ahead of the Birds, much less the Steelers. I guess come next January the blinders will get yanked off yet again.

FredEx Deliver Yourself Out of Town

Philadelphia Daily News columnist Sam Donnellon appears to have lost his mind, arguing today that the Eagles should keep Freddie Mitchell around as a "nice backup plan."

He bases his opinion on Mitchell's five-catch performance against the Vikings in the playoffs, along with his pushing the pile during Dorsey Levens' TD run in the NFC Championship Game and the pick he set during the Super Bowl to set T.O. off on a big gain.

Of course, while Mitchell was part of the pile moving Levens, it was Jermaine Mayberry who actually got the back into the end zone, and the Eagles were lucky a penalty wasn't called on Mitchell for setting that pick. And Mitchell followed up his five-catch game with two catches against the Falcons and one in the Super Bowl. Practically on one leg, Owens had more receptions and yards in one playoff game than Mitchell had on three.

Donnellon acts like its week two of the season and Owens just got hurt in the first game. Sure, Mitchell is better than what's on the waiver wire during the season, but now that it's the offseason, you can't tell me he's the best option for next year. Clearly the players don't, which is why the Eagles at the Pro Bowl were hanging around Mushin Mohammad. The Burlington County Times' Reuben Frank thinks Greg Lewis may have already passed Mitchell as the Birds' third receiver. And several draftniks are already predicting that this year's first-round pick will be a wideout (more on this tomorrow).

I was once a Freddie supporter, and even thought he deserved to see the ball more often. But I'm sure I'm not the only one jumping off the bandwagon since his absurd comments before the Super Bowl. (And he shows no signs of stopping, even basically giving Peter King his Monday column this week.) More than that, it's obvious that he doesn't have the confidence of his QB, which means it doesn't matter how much talent he thinks he has, he's going to be remembered in this town for his mouth and the play that this blog is named after. And not for being a nice backup plan to T.O.

Green Giants

Not that any Eagles fan would shed a tear for our rivals several exits up the New Jersey Turnpike, but George Vescey's piece in yesterday New York Times [registration required] focuses on the Giants' envy of its NFC East foes and their lucrative stadium deals. According to John Mara, the Giants' executive vice president:

"We've been pushing for a new stadium for years ... We are in an old building with an unfavorable lease. We are slipping toward the bottom quartile in the league."

"We need to keep up with the Joneses, the Snyders, the Luries," he added, referring to the owners in Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia. "The three teams in our division are all in the top quartile."

The key issue, of course, is more luxury box revenue, which the Giants currently have to split with the Jets and the New Jersey sports authority. What may be most galling to those of us who watch games from the upper level of the Linc, however, is Vescey's point that

Shrimp and white wine in luxury boxes have become my classic examples of all that is wrong with contemporary sports.

Free story idea for the Philadephia Inquirer or Daily News for next season: Send a reporter to watch a game in one of the Linc's luxury boxes. While the rest of us are dealing with the escalators that don't work and ordering beer, a pretzel, and a sausage sandwich at halftime, how is the other half enjoying the game? Amid the inevitable football neophytes in the boxes, are there hardcore fans? If so, how do they justify to themselves watching a game with accommodations the Queen of England might receive for catching an afternoon match at Wimbledon?

Just wondering.

Franchise Opportunities

For only the second time, the Eagles have used the franchise tag on a potential free agent. Corey Simon's reaction is a lot cheerier than when the Birds tried to hang the tag on Jeremiah Trotter a couple of years ago, but what are the long-term ramifications of the move?

According to Len Pasquerelli's article on ESPN.com, teams have increasingly used the franchise designation as a way to trade players rather than let them sign with another team and get nothing back in the process. It doesn't seem likely that the Eagles would trade Simon, especially since this year's draft class is weak in terms of first-round defensive tackle talent. Jim Johnson appears to be happy with his tackle rotation, so this seems like a "it ain't broke, so don't fix it" move, as Pro Football Weekly's Jeff Reynolds breaks down.

While Reynolds seems to think the Eagles will sign Simon to a long-term deal, I'm not convinced that they want to pay him Kris Jenkins or Shaun Rogers money. The difference between the signing bonus the Eagles offered Simon in 2003--$7 million--and Roger's $12.5-million is significant, and there's no sense the Eagles value the position or Simon enough to make that kind of commitment. Simon is a very good player, but he's not a consistently dominant one and isn't a stud against the run. (In fact, there were times this past season when the Hollis Thomas/Sam Rayburn tandem outperformed Simon and Darwin Walker.)

I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles grab a DT somewhere in the draft in the hopes he and Rayburn can develop enough to minimize the loss of letting Simon go after the 2005 season. (Even though the $5 million against next year's salary cap is a significant one for a cap-obsessed front office.)

NFL Draft in Philadelphia?

According to this article in today's New York Times [registration required], the NFL may consider bringing the 2005 draft to Philadelphia, its original home:

[N.F.L. spokesman Greg] Aiello said the league was also looking at Philadelphia, the city which held the first N.F.L. draft in 1936 and whose team, the Eagles, have advanced to four consecutive National Football Conference title games and last Sunday's Super Bowl.

"One of the attractive features about Philadelphia is that this is our 70th draft coming up and that is where the first one was held, so there is an interesting historical angle," Aiello said. "Since it is close to New York, logistically, it wouldn't be too burdensome."

That's the potential good news. The potential bad news is a thousand more replays of what happens when you turn Philly fans loose at a draft--the booing of Donovan McNabb's selection by a group of myopic Ricky Williams fans that has impugned the reputation of the rest of us who weren't so short-sighted and knew we needed a franchise QB. Man, aren't you sick of being associated with that event? I know I am.

The move is related to the Jets' fight with Cablevision over the proposed new Jets stadium on the west side of New York, nearly adjacent to Madison Square Garden, the draft's previous home. As owner of the Garden, Cablevision is attempting to buy the nearby parcel of land on which the Jets hope to build a new field, which is also part of New York City's plan for snagging the 2012 Summer Olympics. I'm sure the Wachovia Center would be a fine replacement ...

Super Bowl Postmortem III

A couple of more things about the Super Bowl, and then let's never speak of it again. (Right)

Great instant replay on the telecast of Tom Brady's face before he threw the first TD pass. You see him making his reads and then his eyes widen considerably when he sees David Givens open on the far side of the end zone. Sometimes, Fox, you don't need to stick a camera in the ground to get revealing shots.

(BTW, no excuse for Lito Shephard leaving his man on that play. Another example of why Sheldon Brown should have made the Pro Bowl over Shephard.)

Think Donovan McNabb missed Chad Lewis on Sunday? Other than being a great story for the media before the game, Jeff Thomason's most notable contribution to the Eagles' effort was getting called for a holding penalty during a return.

Super Bowl Postmortem II

A few more random thoughts and observations from Sunday's game...

One thing I wasn't aware of--and I don't recall the Fox announcers mentioning--was that the Pats mostly played a 4-3 defense, instead of their usual 3-4, though in retrospect, it may explain why I noticed Tra Thomas being unable to block Roosevelt Colvin when the Eagles ran Westbrook on a sweep left. With Thomas unable to seal off the edge, Westbrook couldn't turn the corner. Why they kept trying to run the play to that side instead of the right side behind better run blockers, I don't know. The switch to the 4-3 is one of many examples of Bill Belichick's smart coaching: The Birds know they have trouble with the 3-4, probably practice against it for two weeks, then the Pats come out in a 4-3 and completely ruin everything the Eagles had prepared.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there was a concern that the Pats could go with four wideouts, spreading the Eagles defense out and forcing Trotter out of the middle, which is precisely what happened, according to this piece from ESPN.com's John Clayton (a.k.a. the last person you'd ever expect to be a football reporter based on his looks).

Peter King made the following odd comment in his Monday Morning QB piece on SI.com while naming T.O. his Offensive Player of the Week: "Say whatever you want about the guy's off-the-field actions; on the field he was a champion." Unless King defines off-the-field as the area just beyond the endzone where he's performed some of his notorious touchdown, Owens hasn't had any problematic off-the-field actions. Perhaps he's confusing him with Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, or one of the other players who actually has had off-the-field problems, because that comment is otherwise way off base.

At least King then goes on to back up Owens' assertion that while he worked his butt off to rehab for the Super Bowl, he was labeled selfish for being a distraction when "If it was Brett Favre doing this, they would have called him a warrior." Nevertheless, King's a little behind the times on seeing this type of blatant double standard. (See here and here.)

Super Bowl Postmortem

My biggest fear last night was that the Patriots would get the ball first, drive down the field and score, then McNabb would throw a pick that would be returned for a TD, and we'd be down 14-0. Instead, not only did the Birds score first, but the defense managed to keep the Pats from converting the first two turnovers into points (though the first Harrison INT possibly prevented three or seven points from being put up on our half of the scoreboard). But then we all know what happened after that. Here's what I saw and have been mulling over for the last several hours.

The game will mostly be remembered by Eagles fans for the already famous bizarre time "management" shown in the last few minutes. With 5+ minutes left, I can understand huddling up a couple of times to make sure you convert first downs and start mounting a drive, but I'm sure I wasn't the only fan instinctly windmilling my arm around at the 4-minute mark, exhorting them to hurry up. Likewise, for every good throw McNabb made--like the laser that crossed just between two defenders to reach Westbrook for the second TD--he threw a pick. In fact, those two facets of the game have been a hallmark of the Birds' offense in many big games--questionable gameday coaching and a turnover-shy QB making bad throws.

But equally odd to me was the decision not to have someone back for the punt return with a minute left. I suppose the Eagles logic was that having Westbrook back would just make the Pats kick it out of bounds, so it was better to hope for a touchback. Of course, the worst thing happened, as Josh Miller was able to pin us back inside the five. So instead of forcing Miller to corner kick it, or even kick it to Westbrook (doubtful, but the Giants did it last year...) or Sheppard, we get let him boot it down the middle and get a good bounce.

More puzzling to me was Jim Johnson's decision to blitz as much as he did. With Brady's quick release, a blitz has to be immediately successful or you're leaving guys open in the middle of the field for him to hit, which happened all game long. Once you see that the O-line is handling your blitzes, you need to go to alternatives, like hoping your front four can pick up some coverage sacks or showing blitz and then pulling off it. In fact, as Troy Aikman pointed out on Fox's telecast, Michael Lewis had one effective blitz after Brady thought Trotter was blitzing and changed the protection to pick him up. Instead, Trotter dropped back and Lewis wasn't picked up.

Lewis did a delayed blitz on the play that put the Pats inside the five before their X touchdown. Rarely have I seen a delayed blitz work for the Eagles when the D back has to start several yards away from the line, and against Brady, that's just a waste of a man. Lewis could have just walked off to the sidelines instead. In short, showing the blitz, making Brady change protection and routes, then dropping the faux blitzers back into coverage would (in theory, at least) have seemed more sensible.

More broodings later...

Last-minute Positive Thinking

I'm probably one of five people left in the Delaware Valley who still thinks the Eagles will win. (I'm thinking 27-13. Sorry, I know, I'm a terrible person.) But with a little more than two hours before game time, I'm going to try to stay positive and list a few things that the Eagles need to do to pull the upset.

1) No turnovers. Yes, it's a cliche that if you win the turnover battle, you win the game. It's also a cliche to say cliches are cliches for a reason--they're usually true. Nonetheless, this is a game where if the Birds turn it over more than once, they're in trouble. Early turnovers, in fact, are usually the quickest way to a Super Bowl rout. Though McNabb is excellent at not throwing many picks, we gotta hope he doesn't get confused into a couple INTs or get stripped when he's under pressure in the pocket. It'll be even tougher to get a turnover or two from the Pats, but if the D can do that, things will be looking much more positive.

2) Run the ball. Though the Pats shut down Jerome Bettis last week, he's not the same type of runner as Westbrook and we all know running the ball a lot isn't part of Coach Reid's M.O. Still, mixing runs in, especially when the field is spread, could work against the 3-4 and make play action a lot easier. Of course, the Pats may do the same thing on offense--go four wide and run Dillon in a Trotter-less middle.

3) D plays a perfect game. Brian Dawkins has talked a lot about the Eagles defense being disrepected, etc. and many "experts" do think the Birds can't play the run at all. But the monkey won't come off their back until they stop Dillon for a whole game, don't bite on play fakes, keep the Pats to three points instead of seven in the red zone, and get pressure on Brady without having to sell out completely. In other words if they play like a championship defense, it may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

4) Big special teams play. With the Pats' coverage units among the league's bottom, a huge return--like, say, a Westbrook punt return for a TD--could be crucial in a game where there may not be a lot of points scored. Remember Desmond Howard? Aside from winning the Heisman, you remember him for that great Super Bowl--and not much else.

If the Patriots don't turn the ball over, we have to play a perfect game to beat them. You hope and expect nothing less from your team in the Super Bowl.

E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!

These Are Actual Pro Personnel Men?

Don't get too excited if you go to the Sports Illustrated Web site, and see "Scout's Take: Super Bowl." You might think you will get some real insight from the "veteran pro personnel" men (an NFC one scouting the Birds, and an AFC one to look at the Pats); instead, you'll get treated to gems like:

"It's important for the Eagles to get Brian Westbrook involved. He had a great season and he's a big part of things for them."

"With Richard Seymour back, the Patriots have one more lineman who can stop the run."

"I wouldn't want to be Freddie Mitchell on Sunday ... I've got a feeling he's going to pay the price if he goes over the middle. Rodney Harrison will hit him. "

Maybe it's easier to get a scouting job than I thought.

Don't Totally Discount Owens

Sportsline's Clark Judge really goes out on a limb predicting three players who are key to the Eagles' success tomorrow--Westbrook, McNabb, and Kearse. Wow, that must have taken a good three or four seconds to come up with those choices. He also goes the conventional wisdom route that the Pats won't have to worry too much about T.O., especially since they dealt with Hines Ward and Marvin Harrison before in the playoffs. Of course, neither receiver is anything like T.O.--Ward being a possession receiver and Harrison being smaller and usually pushed around by the Pats secondary.

But what if those two or three catches everyone thinks T.O. gets turn out to be big plays? What if he isn't a mere decoy, sucks up the pain, and can play effectively in his limited role? Yes, it may be a bit of wishful thinking, but I also doubt Owens is seriously planning on just being a decoy. Then again, I'm not sure the Pats should take Terry Bradshaw's advice to "double up" and "go over the top" too seriously (should anyone ever take Bradshaw's advice too seriously?): It's one thing to give Owens his respect, another to start out double teaming him and taking resources away from watching 100-percent healthy players like Westbrook. Hopefully, Owens will be able to cause trouble early, forcing that kind of attention.

King for a Day

Several places, including here, are reporting the firing of sportswriter Ken Powers from the Worchester, Ma. Telegram & Gazette for plagiarizing an online column of Sports Illustrated's Peter King. King apparently attempted to intercede for Powers with Powers' editors, but they had found several others incidents of Powers' plagiarism. Boston Sports Media Watch has analyzed some of them here--while some of their examples appear to be splitting hairs on rather generic writing, there are some doozies, like this one:

""Vrabel forms own curtain with Patriots" By Tom Reed of the Akron Beacon Journal, January 22, 2005.
"Vrabel: Pittsburgh's loss is Patriots' gain" By Ken Powers, January 23rd, 2005.

Reed: The Steelers coach liked Vrabel's intensity, work ethic and savvy, but said he wasn't the right fit at the right time.

Powers: The Steelers coach liked Vrabel's intensity, work ethic and savvy, but said he wasn't the right fit at the right time. "

Oops. Apparently Powers was ordered home from the Super Bowl for the paper's investigation. Which means there are now just 637, 846 more people in Jacksonville than it can hold.

Refuting Don Banks

SI.com's Don Banks provides his 10 reasons why the Pats will rout the Eagles. While some are valid, some others are equally nearsighted. Let's refute some of them, shall we...

10. He says the Pats know how to put teams away evidenced by their average margin of victory in the playoffs is "a whopping 15.5 points per game." Yes, that's right, a whopping .5 point per game more than the Eagles.

8. He says the Pats protect the ball evidenced by their zero turnovers so far in the playoffs. He omits the fact that the Eagles, themselves, have had only one turnover in the playoffs (FredEx's fumble against the Vikings).

6. He says Tom Brady can handle the blitz, falling into the same trap that so many others do in talking about how Jim Johnson loves to blitz. The Eagles blitz far less than most people think they do. Not only that, but when they do blitz, they are not the "bring the house" type blitzes most people envision, rather they typically only bring one or two (at the most). Johnson's genius is in disguising the blitz, bringing from different angles and overloading areas, so that those left in the secondary are not left as vulnerable as most teams who blitz are.

5. He says this is New England's best running team in their Super Bowl run, touting the Corey Dillon upgrade. I have no objection to this...just would like to throw out there the fact that the Eagles stuffed the number one rushing team in the NFL two weaks ago, which everyone seems to be conveniently forgetting.

4. He says the Pats have too many weapons to concentrate on. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, its almost become required for announcers to marvel at the fact that McNabb completes passes to 8-9 different receivers each game.

Paul Domowitch Breaks Down the Super Bowl Matchup

The Philadelphia Daily News' football guru Paul Domowitch does his own lineup breakdown and game prediction here. Unlike Dr. Z, Domowitch doesn't expect much from Greg Lewis, thinking the Pats safeties will play deep. Then again, if the Eagles WRs can keep the safeties playing deep, it gives L.J. Smith and Brian Westbrook more room to manuever in the the middle. The Pats LBs are probably quick enough to frustrate the Eagles' short-range passes in the middle of the field, but Smith and Westbrook may be able to beat them if they run deeper routes that rely on their pure speed advantage rather than quickness.

Dr. Z Breaks Down the Lineups

Good ol' Dr. Z goes through the Pats and Birds lineups and picks position by position. No big surprises, though he gives the nod to more Pats players than Eagles on offense (7-3-2) than defense (6-5-1)--a bit odd, given the Birds' offensive prowess this year. And though he claims he hasn't seen Corey Simon exhibit this year the burst defensive line coach Tommy Brasher claims he has, Dr. Z may not have been watching the last few games, when Simon has playedsignificantly better (perhaps finally healed from nagging injuries dogging him for most of the season).

But he mentions two things that should give Eagles some hope. First, he says to watch Greg Lewis as a deep threat. I agree: If he can catch a couple of deep balls like he did in the Championship Game, that's an encouraging sign. He also cites the difference in punt coverage stats--the Eagles have yielded under 7 yards per punt return, but the Pats gave up nearly 12 yards per punt return in the regular season and almost 14 per in the playoffs. Another reason that Brian Westbrook will probably return punts on Sunday.

Quick Thinking Isn't Always Right

ESPN.com's Page 2 writer Jeff Merron interviews Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, a book devoted to exploring the wisdom of instinctual decision making. When asked what he would advise Andy Reid to do on Sunday, Gladwell suggest running the no-huddle offense:

"Andy Reid has to know that Belichick has an edge when he can calmly and deliberately plot his next move. But does he still have an advantage when he and his players have to make decisions on the spur of the moment? I'd tell Andy Reid to go no-huddle at random, unpredictable points during the game -- to throw Belichick out of his comfort zone."

Unfortunately, as I suggested yesterday, I think it's far more likely that the Pats would go no-huddle to keep Jim Johnson from substituting D-linemen and dictating tempo. In fact, I can't think of a team less likely to go no-huddle than the Eagles, as evidenced by the fact that I don't think I've ever seen the Birds go no-huddle under Reid outside of two-minute situations since he's been here. If they do go no-huddle on Sunday, I'll do something crazy like wear some spandex bicycle shorts.

I'm not convinced that going no-huddle would throw the Pats and Belichick out of the comfort zone, anyway, especially since the Colts basically run a no-huddle with Peyton Manning--and you've seen how well that works out for them against Belichick. His success, after all, is in no small part due to the fact that he throws other teams out of their comfort zones better than anybody.

Worst...game...ever

Before getting to today's serious game analysis, here's a Washington Post article (registration required) on the resurgence in electric football. Despite QBs that get sacked even further back than Michael Vick does and RBs that spin around and around and around in circles, people apparently still like to play this thing.

Like everyone else, I had one when I was nine--the Steelers/Rams version from Super Bowl XIV, and my greatest moment was hitting John Stallworth deep with a bomb, just like in that Super Bowl. In fact, I think that's the only good moment of electric football I can remember.

I'll take Mattel's second version of its handheld football game (the green one) or Super Toe instead, thanks.

PFW on Pats air attack vs. Eagles D

Thank god we're getting closer to game time and some actual analysis of the game. Pro Football Weekly's Jeff Reynolds breaks down how the Pats passing game will deal with the Eagles D. The short answer--pretty well. Why?

1) The Eagles pass rush could be neutralized by Brady's quick release, along with some TE help on Kearse. LB blitzes can leave TEs open as hot receivers.

2) Lito Shephard is more vulnerable than his Pro Bowl nod suggests. As many people have noted, Sheldon Brown really had the better year, despite Shephard's highlight reel interceptions. You barely see Brown during the game? That tells you a lot about how often the ball gets thrown his way.

Now, as Reynolds points out, the Pats did give up 26 sacks this year, so the protection isn't always airtight. In addition, Corey Simon has said elsewhere (I'll try and find the link) that the Eagles D-line is already concentrating on blocking passes, knowing that Brady will take short drops and unload.

There are two more troubling things to me than the Pats' short passing in and of itself. First, if the Birds can't stop Dillon, they become susceptible to some big play-action plays. Second, I've been kept awake at night the last week or so wondering if Charlie Weis will attack another of the Eagles strengths--the rotation of defensive lineman to keep them fresh--by going no huddle.

Again, it's a case of the Eagles being able to handle whatever new wrinkles the Pats present them. You can be exacting and meticulous in your game planning, but those plans fly out the window if the opposition throws you something you don't expect and you're slow to adjust. The inability to make gameday adjustments has been Coach Reid's Achilles heel in the past, so here's hoping the Birds can get out to an early lead and be able to dictate tempo right away.

Related Link

Happy to be here

Amid all the rhetoric flying around this week, with reporters trying "out-angle" each other, its instructive to remember that none of it will mean anything come 6:18 on Sunday. However, there seems to be a common wisdom among many covering this event (particularly those who forecast the Eagles' demise) that the Eagles appear to be a team that is "just happy to be there." Here's why I believe this information is even less pertinent than the other crap we are forced to read. One. why wouldn't they be happy to be there? They are playing a GAME, knowing all the world will be watching; a GAME they are fortunate to play as a means of making a living; a GAME most of them have dreamt of playing since Pop Warner. Second, if the didn't look happy to be there and took a totally business-like approach, those same writers would fill up their columns with descriptions of how tight the Eagles look, as if Andy Reid had morphed (read: gastric bypassed) into Dick Vermeil. Finally, that happy to be there sentiment fails to take into account what people in the Philadelphia area have come to learn about this team over the past season...that this is their personality. Donovan, Hugh Douglas, Hollis Thomas, just to name a few, are jovial personalities. Yes, amazing as it sounds to those who marvel at the drone-like efficiency of the Patriots, Tim Duncan and Tiger Woods, among others, it is possible to combine winning and fun.

Well, duh

In case you didn't know it already, John Clayton gives us an urgent bulletin that the Eagles are really, really good at handling the salary cap. Meanwhile, Len Pasquarelli lets us know that there should be no talk about the Birds being a dynasty. (BTW, nice cheap shot at players' intelligence, Len, when you write, "Some of the Eagles players may not know the definition of oxymoron, but they understand that, in the NFL, there really is no such thing as second best.")

Oh well, now fewer than 100 more hours of reading this stuff until kickoff.

NFL.com article on McNabb and Pats D

Good piece from Vic Carucci on the NFL's official site concerning what I think is one of the keys to Sunday's game--McNabb having to deal with the Pats' defensive trickery. As he points out, the Patriots' success last year against the Birds came in part by the defense being able to force McNabb (and the offense) into a huge number of turnovers.

While the good news seems to be that the Eagles have the extra week of prep time to study more film, you know Belichick is going to create new looks that the Birds haven't seen on tape before. What I think goes more in the Eagles' favor is that Coach Reid is always looking to stay aggressive and throw downfield--unlike the Colts in their playoff game in Foxboro. Carolina was able to keep last year's Super Bowl close by going deep, even with Ty Law in the lineup.

Super Bowl history suggests early turnovers can turn a game ugly really quickly. While McNabb's M.O. has always been to limit picks, he's forced a few when in pressure-packed situations. My thinking is if the Birds don't turn the ball over more than once, they can keep the game close.

1st Down

With the Eagles in the Super Bowl for only the second time ever, now seems to be as good a time as any to start a blog devoted to our favorite team. My brother and I are both lifelong fans and season ticket holders, and since we can't seem to find many clearinghouses for all things Eagles, we figured we'd start one up.

Since we're now a little more than 100 hours away from kickoff, we have a lot of time to overthink this game and so do countless reporters in Jacksonville. So we're just start linking away on any stories that aren't about Jeff Thomason's construction work and other pointless media hype.

(BTW, if we keep this thing up, we'll find a way to change the color scheme on this template.)