Saturday, August 21, 2004
Aside from the season (or career) ending injury to a key player, last night worked out pretty good, didn't it?
Bruce Perry, N.D. Kalu ... now this ... When I saw Correll Buckhalter flop to the grass in the first quarter against the Ravens I pretty much knew instantly that his season was over. I’ve watched enough football to know that was a pretty bad injury (nobody touches you and you fall?: bad) and so the word that Buckhalter’s season was done was unsurprising. What’s the fallout?:
-I bet Joe Banner and Andy Reid are kicking themselves for not bothering to make an offer to Eddie George know. Not only is he in Big D, but the Eagles could use his carries.
-This means Brian Westbrook is now The Man. I love Westbrook’s speed and big play ability, but his durability is a major question mark. He's not an A-back, he's an A1-back you bring in on third down and to change the pace of the game. Westbrook is also a slashing-type runner, and lacks power between the tackles. Bottom line: the Eagles have to add another tailback to help Westbrook out. He can’t carry the ball 250-300 times this season. He’ll wear out and he’ll get injured. The Birds do not want to go into the playoffs with Reno Mahe as their tailback.
-I wonder if Buckhalter’s career is done. He missed all of 2002 and now his 2004 is finished. How is his knee going to look?
-I suspected that the Eagles pass-run ratio was going to be something like 60-40 pass without Duce, but now I figure it will be 65-35 or worse. I hope the line can protect McNabb. ’04 is going to look a little like ’00 in that the Eagles won’t have the kind of durable running game they need in the backfield. The Eagles hopes and dreams rest squarely on McNabb’s shoulders.
Aside from that, the Birds looked pretty good. McNabb was a little off-target in his throws to T.O., and T.O. made some bad reads (that pick by Ed Reed was probably T.O.'s fault), but they'll get into a groove. I think that Freddie, Pinkston and L.J. got some great open looks.
Defensively, while the Ravens are hardly the Rams, the Birds looked much improved. I didn't like seeing how Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard got out-muscled on the corners but they played decently well (despite getting out-jumped by Travis Taylor, Sheldon Brown did defend that throw from Kyle Boller fairly well). I loved seeing how much better the D-line looked. Kearse, in particular, played like a demon. Sweet!
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-I bet Joe Banner and Andy Reid are kicking themselves for not bothering to make an offer to Eddie George know. Not only is he in Big D, but the Eagles could use his carries.
-This means Brian Westbrook is now The Man. I love Westbrook’s speed and big play ability, but his durability is a major question mark. He's not an A-back, he's an A1-back you bring in on third down and to change the pace of the game. Westbrook is also a slashing-type runner, and lacks power between the tackles. Bottom line: the Eagles have to add another tailback to help Westbrook out. He can’t carry the ball 250-300 times this season. He’ll wear out and he’ll get injured. The Birds do not want to go into the playoffs with Reno Mahe as their tailback.
-I wonder if Buckhalter’s career is done. He missed all of 2002 and now his 2004 is finished. How is his knee going to look?
-I suspected that the Eagles pass-run ratio was going to be something like 60-40 pass without Duce, but now I figure it will be 65-35 or worse. I hope the line can protect McNabb. ’04 is going to look a little like ’00 in that the Eagles won’t have the kind of durable running game they need in the backfield. The Eagles hopes and dreams rest squarely on McNabb’s shoulders.
Aside from that, the Birds looked pretty good. McNabb was a little off-target in his throws to T.O., and T.O. made some bad reads (that pick by Ed Reed was probably T.O.'s fault), but they'll get into a groove. I think that Freddie, Pinkston and L.J. got some great open looks.
Defensively, while the Ravens are hardly the Rams, the Birds looked much improved. I didn't like seeing how Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard got out-muscled on the corners but they played decently well (despite getting out-jumped by Travis Taylor, Sheldon Brown did defend that throw from Kyle Boller fairly well). I loved seeing how much better the D-line looked. Kearse, in particular, played like a demon. Sweet!
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