Monday, October 23, 2006
Bucs 23, Eagles 21
All I could think, as I digested the Eagles stunning 23-21 loss yesterday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was: Wow, that really sucked.
Let’s face it: the Bucs were lucky and the Eagles deserved to lose more than the Bucs deserved to win. The Eagles allowed a pair of defensive touchdowns and surrendered a 62-yard field goal at the very end. You won’t see very many games like that, even in the ever unpredictable NFL, but the Bucs luck was a product of a very sloppy game from Donovan McNabb. Here are my thoughts on the matter:
1. Going into yesterday’s game Donovan McNabb had thrown 13 TDs and 2 Ints. Yesterday he threw 3 TDs and 3 picks. Yesterday McNabb posted his season-low QB rating, just 83.3, the second consecutive week he’s posted his season low QB rating. At the moment McNabb is still leading the NFL in passing yards and TD passes, but he’s fallen to second in QB rating behind Peyton Manning. As Donovan goes, so goes the Eagles …
2. There actually was a lot to like about yesterday’s game (aside from the score): the Bucs netted just 196 yards against the Eagles D, and just 85 through the air, which had been a bit of a weakness. They contained the Bucs offense very well and gave them a hard time. The problem with the Eagles D’s performance was that they didn’t do two things: sack the QB (just two for nine yards); and they didn’t force a turnover.
3. The Eagles moved the ball against a good defense when they weren’t turning it over. The Eagles rushed for an impressive 208 yards on the ground, which is a major, major improvement over the last few weeks. Westbrook got 100 yards rushing and receiving, which is good news: the Eagles need him to stretch the field like Marshall Faulk used to do for the St. Louis Rams.
4. The Eagles wideouts looked pretty bottled up. We need Donte Stallworth back to making impact plays soon. The Eagles wideouts had 12 catches for 166 yards. And 41 of those came on one of Reggie Brown’s catches. C’mon guys: you are giving TO ammo!
5. The really bad news is that the loss technically drops the Eagles into third place at the moment, although that will change with tonight’s Cowboys-Giants game (the Eagles will lap the loser for second). A quick gaze at the playoff picture reveals a few issues for the Eagles: the Bears are 6-0 and show no signs of slowing down. The Saints are 5-1 and now own a tiebreaker on the Eagles. Home field advantage and a first-round playoff bye might be off the table for the Eagles for the 2006 playoffs. Perhaps both teams will struggle down the stretch (we are talking about the Saints, after all, but I doubt it. I think that getting that first round bye that has been so vital to the Eagles playing in the NFC title game is not going to happen.
The real problem is that the Eagles need to start turning their attention to the mundane tasks of winning the division, getting into the playoffs, and making sure they do better than .500. The NFC looks much stronger than in years past, so winning the NFC East might be the Eagles best bet for making the playoffs, because there are a lot of good teams with four wins sitting in second or third place in their divisions right now (Rams, Vikings, Falcons, Panthers). The Eagles late-season matchups with the Falcons and Panthers might loom larger, as they might determine playoff tie-breakers in the event that the Eagles find themselves looking for a wildcard.
Anybody notice how much tougher that schedule looks? Panthers. Falcons. Jaguars. Colts. Cowboys and Giants on the road. The Redskins twice. It is going to be tough for the Eagles to go 10-6. Sad to say, but this loss might loom very large as the season rolls on.
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Let’s face it: the Bucs were lucky and the Eagles deserved to lose more than the Bucs deserved to win. The Eagles allowed a pair of defensive touchdowns and surrendered a 62-yard field goal at the very end. You won’t see very many games like that, even in the ever unpredictable NFL, but the Bucs luck was a product of a very sloppy game from Donovan McNabb. Here are my thoughts on the matter:
1. Going into yesterday’s game Donovan McNabb had thrown 13 TDs and 2 Ints. Yesterday he threw 3 TDs and 3 picks. Yesterday McNabb posted his season-low QB rating, just 83.3, the second consecutive week he’s posted his season low QB rating. At the moment McNabb is still leading the NFL in passing yards and TD passes, but he’s fallen to second in QB rating behind Peyton Manning. As Donovan goes, so goes the Eagles …
2. There actually was a lot to like about yesterday’s game (aside from the score): the Bucs netted just 196 yards against the Eagles D, and just 85 through the air, which had been a bit of a weakness. They contained the Bucs offense very well and gave them a hard time. The problem with the Eagles D’s performance was that they didn’t do two things: sack the QB (just two for nine yards); and they didn’t force a turnover.
3. The Eagles moved the ball against a good defense when they weren’t turning it over. The Eagles rushed for an impressive 208 yards on the ground, which is a major, major improvement over the last few weeks. Westbrook got 100 yards rushing and receiving, which is good news: the Eagles need him to stretch the field like Marshall Faulk used to do for the St. Louis Rams.
4. The Eagles wideouts looked pretty bottled up. We need Donte Stallworth back to making impact plays soon. The Eagles wideouts had 12 catches for 166 yards. And 41 of those came on one of Reggie Brown’s catches. C’mon guys: you are giving TO ammo!
5. The really bad news is that the loss technically drops the Eagles into third place at the moment, although that will change with tonight’s Cowboys-Giants game (the Eagles will lap the loser for second). A quick gaze at the playoff picture reveals a few issues for the Eagles: the Bears are 6-0 and show no signs of slowing down. The Saints are 5-1 and now own a tiebreaker on the Eagles. Home field advantage and a first-round playoff bye might be off the table for the Eagles for the 2006 playoffs. Perhaps both teams will struggle down the stretch (we are talking about the Saints, after all, but I doubt it. I think that getting that first round bye that has been so vital to the Eagles playing in the NFC title game is not going to happen.
The real problem is that the Eagles need to start turning their attention to the mundane tasks of winning the division, getting into the playoffs, and making sure they do better than .500. The NFC looks much stronger than in years past, so winning the NFC East might be the Eagles best bet for making the playoffs, because there are a lot of good teams with four wins sitting in second or third place in their divisions right now (Rams, Vikings, Falcons, Panthers). The Eagles late-season matchups with the Falcons and Panthers might loom larger, as they might determine playoff tie-breakers in the event that the Eagles find themselves looking for a wildcard.
Anybody notice how much tougher that schedule looks? Panthers. Falcons. Jaguars. Colts. Cowboys and Giants on the road. The Redskins twice. It is going to be tough for the Eagles to go 10-6. Sad to say, but this loss might loom very large as the season rolls on.
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