Sunday, November 29, 2009

Immediate Reaction - WAS

***

We trailed by 8 points in the 4th Qtr. We were at our own 10-yard line. We went 90 yards for the TD and got the 2-point conversion to tie the game. Then we got the ball back. We marched down for a FG to take the lead. Then the defense held the Skins to 4 & out.

Clutch.

This team has shown in the last 2 weeks that it is different than previous Eagles teams. Last year we failed in comeback attempts vs both WAS and CHI. We came from behind to beat them in consecutive weeks this season. I can't stress enough how important that is.

The key to winning a SB in the current NFL environment is the ability to win a close game. We've lacked that in recent years. We were the kings of "almost". I'm clearly not projecting that these wins mean we'll go win the SB, but they are a very positive sign about the progress of the team.

Any team can win when they are clicking on all cylinders. We're as good as anyone in the league when we've got our A-game. Now we're showing that we can win ugly. That's a huge development.

There are plenty of mistakes and problems to solve from this game, but we still found a way to win. The coaches and players did a terrific job in the last 8 minutes.

A word about the Skins. They are now 3-8. They are 0-4 in the division. That team is better than their record shows. Against the rest of the NFL they are almost .500. Winning games in the NFC East is hard. Very hard. I'm not sure that fans of teams in other divisions appreciate just how tough the NFC East is. Give the assistant coaches in WAS a lot of credit. They do a good job with those players. And I cannot wait for London Fletcher to retire. That dude kicks our butts every time we face him. I keep trying to tell London he's too small, too slow, and too old to be any good, but he just won't listen.

The big concern now is the status of Bunk and DJax. Gotta hope those guys are okay. We've got another big game next Sunday. The Falcons won late today and remain in the thick of the playoff race.
_

18 comments:

Cliff said...

We might be waiting for Fletcher to call it quits, but they're rookie LB/DE Orakpo is pretty good. He didn't even have a third of the tackles Fletcher had, but he was around the ball a lot.

If Dan Snyder goes out this off-season and hires a coach focused on the long-term (Shanahan?), we're in trouble. The Redskins have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Even Campbell isn't as awful as Skins fans and the media make him out to be. He was clutch in the 3rd quarter when we most definitely were not.

Cliff said...

Aikmen and Joe Buck (durring the Vikings game) are really ripping in to Reid for the onside kick.

I hope we do another one next week, but recover it.

Myron said...

If that if the Eagles were as good as New Orleans or Minnesota, they would have won these last two games by 14+ points.

Nice to win, but this team still hasn't shown any signs of being a legitamate playoff team.

Tommy Lawlor said...

Myron...C'mon.

MIN should have lost to SF and BAL this year, but got hugely lucky.

NO had to make huge comebacks in a couple of recent games.

Don't hold the Eagles to some bogus standard. No one blows out every team they play. We absolutely look like a playoff team. Are we playing as well as the Saints and Vikes? No. They are the top dogs right now.

Cliff said...

I hate comparisons like that. This is the NFL, not college. There are no bonus points for margin of victory, even for Playoff teams. A bad bounce here or tipped pass there can mean the difference between a big win and a bad loss.

Think about where we'd be if we could have gotten a slightly better ball spot against Dallas or if McNabb had played against the Saints.

If you like Minny and New Orleans so much, be a fan of them, but spare the "we're not a legit playoff team" crap.

Cliff said...

Tommy, I have two non-Eagles things I'd like your opinion on after you get to the DGR.

First, what do you think of Vince Young? Has a player ever gone from "written-off" to a team's savior like this before? Has he turned the page as a QB in the NFL?

Second, what do you think about Percy Harvin? Hindsight being 20/20, we could've stayed put in the Draft and picked Harvin instead of Maclin (without giving up the other pick). Could you compare the two players as they are currently and what you project for their futures?

Unknown said...

Cliff,

I think Harvin is having a great season, but it is way to early to know who will be the better WR and whether or not either one will develop into a premier WR in the NFL.

Looking at the stats alone:
Maclin - 42 rec, 540 yards, 4 tds
Harvin - 42 rec, 602 yards, 5 tds

Harvin also almost has 100 yards rushing but for the most part we have DeSean in the role.

From those stats alone, Harvin may be slightly the better WR but it's not like we are looking at one bust and one boom. Both are solid players but what will really set them apart from each other will be how the continue to develop over the next 3 or 4 years. Overall, we should just be happy we have a rookie who is playing very well and who hopefully can become a great player in the coming years.

Pitmanite said...

I have a slight issue with your rebuttal to Myron. First, I'm feeling much more positive about the Eagles these last 2 games, as their offense has accomplished some things we haven't seen them do in a while. Though I would tap the breaks a little bit about being a playoff team. I guess according to their record they are a playoff team, but I don't really know if we're "playing like a playoff team" since we've played well the last 2 weeks against 2 very bad teams.

In fact, we haven't proven too much against the good teams we've played this year. We've played 4 winning teams this year and we are 1-3. Our 7 victories have come against teams who are 24-53 for a .311 winning percentage. It's a long season, and a team can be much different from week 2 or 3 then in week 10 or 11, so I'm not saying there's no hope, but let's see them beat a good team first before we get too excited.

I think it's clear that our offense, when we have balanced play calling, can be as good as any in the league. We're young and our young guys are only going to get better. We've had much more balance in the running game the last 2 games, and all of the sudden we're able to sustain drives and have better success in the red zone. Funny how that works. I'm waiting for a stomach punch from Andy next week where we can't put up points against a team we should beat because we throw the ball 45 times. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Andy really has seen the light and has turned a corner on his thinking.

Even though I've focused on the offense more, I'm more concerned about the defense. If we can get healthy at the LB positions and the secondary, I think we can be very good. We'll need Jordan, Spoon, and Gocong out there along with a healthy Sheldon, Asante, and Hanson in order for our D to be able to stop good teams and win in the playoffs. Still too many times where we're not getting off the field on 3rd down. Also, I'd love to see someone step up opposite Cole on the d-line.

Cliff said...

Jason, I know. I'm just curious because Harvin has become a much more essential part to the Vikings offense than Maclin has for us (sort of like DeSean was last season).

I wonder how Harvin would do with us and vice versa, that's all.

Myron said...

The problem with getting excited about this year's team is this:

The way they've played is very subpar compared to the level expected of a team that has hopes of *winning a Super Bowl*.

Isn't that the goal with this team? To finally win a freaking Super Bowl? I'm tired of these moral victories and their seasonal equivalents.

When I see the entire team committing ridiculous penalties en masse, and relatively mediocre offensive output against average defenses, and increasingly bad coverage by the secondary that gives up loads of points to teams that have no business scoring touchdowns... I seriously begin to question the ability of this team to even make it to the playoffs and win a game, much less finally make it to the Super Bowl and win the damn thing.

How many times have we seen this team compete in the playoffs only to fall short of the ultimate goal?
Will we really be satisfied if this team, once again, backs into the playoffs miraculously, then wins a game or two only to leave us ultimately disappointed? Been there, done that, got the t-shirt... 6 times already.

Unknown said...

Well we're overcoming some obstacles to get to where we are as well, we've had a revolving door situation at linebacker, our OL has been an ever shifting mess for most of the season, and our #1 playmaker Westbrook has been out for more than half the season it seems.

It's not like everything has come together just the way we pictured it, we've had numerous injury issues and its not like some other so called elite teams are doing so much better, take a look at the steelers and the patriots for example, their records are very similiar to our own. Hell if not for a last second collapse and a dropped 4th down reception we might actually have a better record than the pats right now.

Unknown said...

@Cliff

I'd say Maclin is a better fit for this team because of the presence of Desean on the other side. He and Harvin are much more similar than Maclin and Desean.

Maclin has great speed but he's also got the body size and control to go up and get some balls, like Avant has been doing recently. He's a much more proto-typical receiver who should only get better and better in the red zone. With Harvin and Desean we'd be extremely limited when throwing to WR's in the endzone.

Maclin was great in the open field in College as well from what i've seen so we should eventually start to see some of that.

Prem Prakash said...

Monday morning certainly seems brighter when the Eagles pull out a win like they did yesterday. There's a lot to like on the O, and I remain hopeful that the D can step up its game once the linebackers are healthy. My main problem is that the Eagles still can't sustain a high level of play for 60 minutes on either side of the ball. I keep expecting each week to be the game when they put it together. It's late enough in the season that some of the coninuing problems should have been worked out.

Next week is the battle of the raptors in Atlanta. Plus, it's Giants vs. Dallas (let's hope both teams lose). Lots of good football.

izzylangfan said...

I understand the concern with the D yesterday. But we gave Washington 10 points with the on sides kick and the McNabb interception. So the D really allowed two touchdowns. Not that bad in the grand scheme of things - even against Washington.

Boyboy said...

Early prediction for next week:

Jason Elam, who hasn't kicked well all year and who's head is on the chopping block, kicks a late FG to win the game. And it won't be a chip shot. I'm guessing somewhere in the 48-52 yard range.

And before you all think I'm being overdramatic and a "negative nancy", keep two things in mind:


1. A Washington team that couldn't do d*ck sh*t on offense all year put the ball in the endzone 3 times against us, two of which were off of 70+ yard drives.
2. Matt Bryant of the 62 yard FG fame just two years ago was kicking in the UFL this year. That's right, the guy who kicked a 62 yard FG to beat us is so bad that he's not even in the league.

This is just the type of crap that happens to us.

Cliff said...

@Boyboy

Michael Turner and Matt Ryan might not play next week.

Adam S. said...

Anybody that kicks a 62 yard FG with the game on the line deserves all the credit in the world, there is no argument to that. Why would you even mention that? It has nothing to do with us except we were there to watch.

I'm not worried and in fact I'm glad they are winning ugly games as opposed to blowing people out.

Say we were to have blown out Chi & Was and then cruised the rest of the regular season. We make it to that playoffs on a huge high, then our first game we are down by 14 at half. Where does this team draw from? They haven't battled adversity, all they know is having a comfortable lead.

It's wins like these, that you maybe shpuldn't have won, that build character for this team. We are notorious for playing great December football. If that holds true I'm very confident in this teams ability to win in January and February.

I haven't been this excited about a win in awhile. Obviously there was a lot wrong with the game but they battled for it. We came from behind and held them off without A LOT of our regular guys. Think about how many regular contributors weren't playing by the end of the game(including injured inactives).

Boyboy said...

My point is that the improbable seems to happen to the Eagles. If we lose to the Falcons when they're missing Ryan and Turner, it would only strengthen may point. The Eagles are generally good at stopping the other team's best players. That's when the Mike Tolberts and Fred Davis' of the world come out of the woodwork to have career games against us.


Also, somehow we're the cure for what ails ya. Tomlinson found his legs against us. The Skins found their offense against us. I'm just thinking (based on historical evidence) that this could be the week that Jason Elam gets his shit together.

Anyway, don't get your panties ruffled. I was making a joke.