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On The Inside
 
November 2, 2009 | Last Updated: 11/2/09 10:29 PM ET | Comments (260)
On Day After, Win Every Bit As Sweet

A day after the 40-17 win over New York, the Eagles turned their attention to Dallas and Sunday night's NFC East first-place showdown. It will be a great game, a terrific atmosphere and something to get hyped up about. It is the right thing to do for the players and coaches, to look to Dallas, and to work on the things that didn't go so well against the Giants. Here, the interest is to pick out some of the things to remember from a game that showed the Eagles just how good they can be ...

  • Leonard Weaver needs the football a few times a game. Whether he is a change-of-pace runner, or a short-yardage guy, or somebody to simply offer a new look to the defense, Weaver has earned some touches. He runs hard and he runs low and he keeps his legs moving. That he outran the entire Giants defense on a 41-yard touchdown run was pretty remarkable, and an indication of just how athletic Weaver is. I think offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg has another option, and I think Mornhinweg will use Weaver in the weeks to come. Maybe not to the tune of 8 carries, but enough to add to the offensive repertoire.
  • Best statistic from Sunday's game: The Eagles converted 6 of 11 third downs offensively. I'm sure Sean McDermott isn't pleased that New York converted 8 of its 16 third downs, and that is something to work on with his defense. Very interesting conversions for the Eagles offense, actually. A third-and-17 snap resulted in a Donovan McNabb touchdown pass to Brent Celek. then McNabb passed to Jason Avant for 28 yards on a third-and-6 play. On third and 11 later in that series toward the end of the first half McNabb scrambled for 14 yards. Michael Vick ran for 4 yards on the same series to convert a third-and-1 snap. On third and 1 in the fourth quarter, LeSean McCoy burst 66 yards for a touchdown. On the next series, McNabb's 13-yard pass to Celek converted a third-and-12 situation.
  • McNabb, who has certainly had some inconsistencies this year, has 9 touchdown passes and only 1 interception, with a passer rating of 103.2. His yards-per-attempt average of 7.6 yards is excellent.
  • Updating DeSean Jackson's ratio of touchdowns per touch, he now has 45 touches and 6 touchdowns. That is one touchdown per 7.5 touches, which is remarkable. I would love to know what an all-time record is with that stat.
  • Sean Jones has, now we know, moved up the depth chart in a big way. He deserves it. The Eagles are smartly playing to Jones' strengths, which begin with using his physical nature near the line of scrimmage. He is a good blitzer who tackles well and gets his hands on the football. He and Macho Harris will rotate at free safety, with the free safety and strong safety positions basically looking interchanegable. Quintin Mikell's versatility helps the Eagles stay flexible there.
  • Great, great job by Winston Justice against Justin Tuck, who had one tackle and one pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Justice had some help, yes, but he looked so tough against Tuck. I congratulated Justice after the game and he said, "It's all God." I respect that. Certainly, something significant has happened in Justice's life to help his progress in the NFL. He is playing with a lot of confidence and is providing the answer at right tackle.
  • Good blocking on the left side of the offensive line on the big runs from Weaver and McCoy. Todd Herremans has made a huge difference since he returned the lineup. Jason Peters got beat a couple of times in pass protection, and needs to get out against the speed rushers and protect the edge, but he is a beast in the run game. Looks to me like Stacy Andrews is working his way into the starting position at right guard, too. Keep your fingers crossed: It looks like the line is coming together. And if it is, with all of these weapons, the offense is going to soar.
  • See how important a good return game is? Ellis Hobbs averaged 29.3 yards on 3 returns, setting the offense up twice in fine field positions. Both drives ended in touchdowns. And Jackson's 30-yard punt return at the end of the first half was a whisker away from going the distance.
  • Big-time challenge for the coverage groups this week with Patrick Crayton coming to town. He has punt returns for touchdowns the last two games.
  • Love the effort Jason Babin gives at defensive end. He always seems to be scrapping with somebody after the play, too.
  • Will Witherspoon is making a bit of a difference, isn't he? The man gets to the football, no matter where it is on the field.
  • I'm loving the depth up front on defense. At the end of the game, Antonio Dixon registered a sack, and to go along with Babin's, the Eagles had two sacks from players who weren't with the team way back in June when the blueprint was designed after the draft, etc. Goes to show that you can always add a quality player if you pick the right guy, no matter when you add him. Babin, Dixon, Witherspoon ... who would have ever thought those three players would help this team?
  • McNabb threw the ball great on Sunday against New York. He worked the pocket well, threw with confidence and clearly understands that he has a stable of receivers who are going to catch everything thrown their way.
  • Still, the Eagles need to do a better job against tight ends, especially with Jason Witten coming to town.
  • I thought Akeem Jordan, after missing an early tackle on Brandon Jacobs, had an excellent game against the Giants.
  • The Eagles have outscored opponents 61-24 in the first quarter of games. That is so important.
  • Dallas is going to be the toughest challenge of this season. If you think the Cowboys aren't smarting from the final game of last year's regular season, you are way, way wrong. The Cowboys are playing great football right now with wins against Atlanta and Seattle after their bye week.
  • Sav Rocca averaged 47.3 yards on 3 punts, with a net average of 44.0 yards. Awesome. The Eagles whipped the Giants in hidden yardage. It was maybe the most dominant performance by special teams all season. I'm sure, by the way, that Ted Daisher was very specific in his instruction to Babin on what to do when a kickoff comes his way: Get out of the way.
  • Finally: Isn't a joy to watch Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and Celek and McCoy and all of these kids week after week? I can't remember a team that had so many young skill-position standouts who are excellent now, and who are going to get better and better.
On Day After, Win Every Bit As Sweet
   
cetst11@...
11/03/09
2:34 pm ET
New article, humans
stine@...
11/03/09
2:32 pm ET
Well, I take that Back, Sonofabutts might have bad mouthed someone, but he is not an Eagles fan. He likes the Giants....
stine@...
11/03/09
2:16 pm ET
Get A Life Spirit or go back to the other board you post at. I email over a dozen of regular posters on here and all agree you in a class by yourself...Classless... No one on here has asked for AR's head. Please point out when this happened and by whom... You are a farse and highly delusional with your false accusations to the everyday posters on here. Why don't you scan through the past weeks of posters and show me one example of anyone who has balked about AR or Sd or Djax? The only shot on AR is his unwillingness to run the ball more, which is a fair statement.
spirit3530
11/03/09
1:48 pm ET
No stine you are all alone. I have been on the message board since '05. I haven't been posting because I post elsewhere. I have been reading your crap way too long. You a a joker, Rush Limbaugh.
manth15@...
11/03/09
12:09 pm ET
gogetta - chambers would come to philly as 4th WR. they need to play ST. do you see 30+ chambers playin ST for anyone, let alone a team where he'd be learning a new offense?? he'll likely go to a team that runs a similar style offense or one he'd be familiar with so that he could be their #3.
bleedineaglesgr
11/03/09
12:06 pm ET
I feel bad for the Yankees, after taking the series 3 games to 1 just to watch the Phils come in and take the series 4 games to 3. This is what I've been waiting for, just to watch them Phitens win the World Series in NY and shut dem yank fans up. To see all the disappointed faces on friday night ( cause thursday will be rained out) when Lee shuts their bats down.....PRICELESS!
manth15@...
11/03/09
12:04 pm ET
chambers got released so they could basically play a ST only player in his spot. he hasn't done much for SD in a WR friendly offense out there. no need for someone to be brought in, have to learn completely different offense and be a bench warmer that doesn't play ST.
Yankeesfan676895@...
11/03/09
11:48 am ET
Agreed. After the confidence builder against New York, this team is ready to take control of the division. And these games come at a perfect time: if you cant beat a good division rival at home then you dont deserve the division title anyway. This game should end 28-17 EAGLES. Witten will tear us apart, but well stuff the running game and frustrate the recievers. I'm most impressed tho, by Winston Justice. Its so wonderful to see him step up, and while he will need help against Demarcus Ware, I think that a double team will take the pass rusher totally out of the game.
brizer9@...
11/03/09
11:19 am ET
A rookie mistake,..gopher,..so,..not only are you a sloth and disrespectful,..but also a dope. One does not acquire players on a whim,..you haven't even earned armchair status,..rather,.yur picking off the fleas that yur dog acquired from you last nite in bed,..educate yurself and report back....this is highly irregular.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
11:17 am ET
That's cool about Spike Lee, but too bad for him he's a Giant fan. They suk.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
11:14 am ET
Stine, that's pretty funny about the bag. Kind of like being a Syracuse football fan. Painful.
icruz
11/03/09
11:10 am ET
No need for another WR. We have a solid and your corp now. Cant wait to smash on the Cowgirls. I was at the this weekend and what a time i had. When i was leaving the Stadium. Guess who i was walking right next to. SPIKE LEE!!!. I was said what up Spike and he said what up but he looked kind of pissed cause his Vagiants got stomped on
stine@...
11/03/09
10:59 am ET
Gogetta, you cannot compare Edwards to Chambers. First Edwards is 26. Second, he has no one who can throw him the ball. Third, he plays in Cleveland! Who, in their right mind wants to play there?
bleedineaglesgr
11/03/09
10:58 am ET
Well let's see. The Eagles do not need another reciever, what they have now gives opposing defenses enough of a headache to game plan for. Let alone goin after a washed up hasbeen. I mean seriously, what would he possibly do besides sit on the sidelines. He would have more of an impact he he got picked up by the phillies. Go Phils!!!!! It would be incredibly dumb to go after Chambers. This team doesn't need him, bottom line.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
10:57 am ET
Our receiving core is pretty solid, (it feels wierd saying that.) I don't think Chambers brings anything. Who do you lose to bring him in? Reggie? Is he really any better then RB? At least RB knows our offense already.
gogetta777@...
11/03/09
10:57 am ET
lol @ brizer... na u do the research i know about the man and what he has done againts good teams like the pats and steelers... now tell me what do u know bout him... get it thru ur thick skull hes a good wideout better then reggie brown and if ud ont think so ur plain F i n r e t a r d e d
stine@...
11/03/09
10:56 am ET
Chuck, I have a good friend who lives in Cleveland. Every day he goes to work with a bag over his head.....LOL The baseball team trades away 2 cy young award winners. The BB team has one player and no coach and the Browns are doomed as long as the owner continues to hire people who know nothing about football. They really need someone like Shanahan or Holmgren.... Man I am glad I do not live there. To make things worse their unemployment is one of the worst in the nation....Yikes!!
brizer9@...
11/03/09
10:53 am ET
gogetsumbrains,..chambers was good,..not anymore,..do sum research, gopher,..and report back to the board why Chambers would be a BAD acquisition,..for many reasons,..perk up!....carry on.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
10:52 am ET
Do you think Peter King suckles on Favre? Sure seems like he must.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
10:50 am ET
The Saints are definitely a good team, but after watching alst night, they are definitely beatable. I would rather play them in at the Linc though.
Chuck_Love@...
11/03/09
10:48 am ET
Cleveland fired their GM, but kept their coach. Whatever made them hire Mangini to begin with is beyond me? The guy proved he suked with the Jets. Eagle fans should be very happy the this team doesn't manage things the way others do. Wow, bizzare stuff.
gogetta777@...
11/03/09
10:39 am ET
weaver and mccoy showed why we need to run more ... we are a threat every ware but if you can have maximum arsenal... why not acquire for a deeper depth... honestly release regie brown who has only 1 catch for four yards and pick up chambers who has 9 for 122 yards. he may not be as fast as everyone else but he definitely poses a threat.. in our division they wouldnt know what to expect ...but i do understand where u both are coming from but this team in my eyes will make the sb with out a doubt.. acquiring chambers would motivate to come out to be one of the best receivers and give us a good push to that goal... we more then likely can go with out him but if we can use him effectively... have him contribute to our ultimate goal
gogetta777@...
11/03/09
10:38 am ET
i understand what u both are saying... but stine if we bring that up.... its like saying that braylon edwards was a bad acquisition for cleveland... last year had the most dropped balls in the league and now taht he is in ny he is putting in alot of work and many teams circulate their defense around him... im not saying chambers is gonna be our number 1 receiver because he isnt... but i feel he lost the will to play in the afc if the chargers constantly lose to the steelers or the pats in the play offs. Afra i def agree with u we need to run the ball more... my fav player on the team is westbrook...
stine@...
11/03/09
10:28 am ET
Well, you have to consider that SD let him go. Why? If he is all that great why release him? Moss may be 32 but he is still one of the fastest WR's in the league. Chambers is not and was not. He has good hands but has only had 1 1000+ yard season in his career. Either he has lost a step or has a nagging injury. The other issue is he would take 3-4 weeks just to learn our system. I do not believe SD runs the WCO but I might be wrong. Chambers is 5'10". We do not need another short WR....Especially if he has lost a step.
afra3250@...
11/03/09
10:27 am ET
Getta... I do like the idea of spreading the field and having Chambers as a 4th receiver. I just don't see the Eagles making that kind of move. Especially considering he must pass waivers first. We just don't spread the field often enough to justify bringing in a player like Chambers to be our 4th wr. Think about how many times you have seen 86 on the field this year... realistically that is how often you would see Chambers. the last thing we need is a new reason for AR and Marty to ignore the run...



 

 
 
 
 
 
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