Somehow Andy always finds a way to make these games go down to the wire. The Eagles were up 35-17 and just needed to hold defensively and run the clock out on offense. Gaither, who sucked all day, gave up a huge gainer on a pass to Petigrew, which setup a Best run for a TD. 35-24 at this point. In my 12 years of watching Andy run the offense I have seen maybe 1 game where he chose to run the clock out. It wasn't this game! Andy decided to call 1 running play and 2 passing plays. On the last passing attempt Vick realized too late that he should stay in bounds and got wrecked. After getting up he spiked the ball moving them back another 15 yards. What is that Andy always says... "Putting players in a position to be successful" Yea... calling a pass play on 3rd down when they need to keep the clock running. I guess Andy was hoping for either a completion or a Lion's sack, since they had 6 of them this game. Well the Lion's got the sack and the clock to stop!
It shouldn't have come down to a chance for a game winning drive by the Lions. Riley Cooper has got to catch that onsides kick. The Eagles dodged a bullet when Hanson made a nice defensive play. I was glad to see the Eagles not playing that prevention D on the last drive. Congratulations to Ernie Sims who won his 1st game in the last 30!
Juicy Tidbits to take away from this game:
- Gaither sucked, whether it was run defense or pass defense
- Graham had his first sack, but left the game with a shoulder injury
- Jackson had over 100 yards receiving
- McCoy was over 100 yards rushing and had 3 TDs on 16 carries
- Vick's hard count in first half, drew 2 offsides calls
- Lions 2nd Drive was all running plays for a TD, no surprise here as Gaither couldn't get off blocks
- Jackson's overturned catch, overturned momentum
- Special Teams continues to make special penalties
- Andy made 2 nice 3rd and 1 play calls
- Andy burns another time out
- Jason Peters is down again
- Nate Allen had another pick
- Parker looks like a fresh monster coming off the end
- Eagles are 2nd in the NFL in rushing yards on only 48 attempts
- Eagles are 15th in passing on 68 attempts... 20 more passes for those of you keeping track
- Eagles offensive line is last in the league giving up 12 sacks in 2 games, on pace for 96 sacks
- Defense is giving up 29.5 pts a game good for 2nd to last
Have you noticed Jason Peters gets injured more than any other Eagle? The man was in and out of the game with different injuries throughout the first half. The only positive you can take away is that he will be back to do this again next week and it limits the amount of false start penalties he can have.
Bobby April's special teams units have absolutely sucked in the first 2 weeks. They continue to take stupid penalties. Coleman was called for a 15 yd taunting penalty in the first half on punt coverage. In the 2nd half they were called for catch interference. Last year this was a common thing for guys like Macho Harris or Demps. Neither of them are on the team now. It's a shame, because Rocca is punting the hell out of the ball only to have them kill the field position advantage.
Andy continues to baffle me. He calls 2 amazing plays for 3rd and 1 this week, but for a 4th and 1 call last week he chose a QB draw out of a shot gun. This week he rolled Vick out to the right and had him throw back left to Celek for a first down. In the 2nd half they faked the FB dive and pitched it out wide to McCoy for the first down. Then Andy goes and takes a time out when they commit a full start penalty. The ref went over to Andy and explained to him that it was a full start and that they can't award him the time out instead of the penalty, but stubborn Andy said he didn't care. He still took the timeout. Needless to say we punt the ball and the Lions score on a poorly pursuited screen play. Next Andy blunder goes to the hurry up offense. They have 2 time outs and have quite a ways to travel for a field goal. Andy decides to run the ball up the middle on the first play. At this point they burn another time out. If it wasn't for the amazing pass from Vick to Jackson the Eagles would have missed out on points that drive.
My last point for this week is the QB controversy. Vick was sacked 6 times this game. Maybe 2 of those sacks were his fault for holding on to the ball, but the other 4 he had no where to go with the ball and little time to do that. Vick also evaded at least 3-4 other sacks and extended plays for big yardage. Do you think Kolb would have lasted this entire game had he started? When Kolb starts next week against Jacksonville, Jack Del Rio will be sending everyone. I see Kolb taking sacks, hurrying throws and running for his life unless they can sure up the offensive line and Reid balances the play book. The Eagles had better balance this week against the Lions and you can only hope Reid doesn't abandon the run game early. The Eagles don't seem to play well at Jacksonville, and I'm sure they will be looking ahead to the game against McNabb. Get excited for the QB carousel experience next week!
- Victim93
Also, be sure to check out the Manning bowl mix that DJ Steve Porter put together. Very catchy and creative, whether you hate the Mannings or not. DJ PORTER
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