Eagles downfall

I can't quite put my finger on why the Eagles lost on Sunday. It was simply an incredible game. At halftime, I had already put this one in the loss column. They were down 18 points and looked simply pitiful both on offense and defense. McNabb missed wide open receivers and the Cardinals were shredding the Eagle defenst the entire half. But something must have happened at halftime because the Eagles were a completely different team in the second half. The defense stopped the Cardinals with several three-and-outs, while McNabb started hitting receivers in stride for big gains. What was so frustrating was that as soon as the Eagles completed the comeback and took the lead, they let the Cardinals go right back down the field to score with under three minutes left. The Eagles got the ball back with just under three minutes remaining, and although I like McMabb, this has always been his weakness. He just can't guide his team down the fiield for a last minute touchdown. How many times do you see teams just glide down the field in the last two minutes because the other team is playing the vaunted prevent defense. You can explain that to me 100 times and I'll never understand why teams use it. But in the Eagles case, it doesn't matter. McNabb is not a last minute heroic quarterback like John Elway or Roger Staubach was. I'll take McNabb because I think he's amont the top six or seven quarterbacks in the league. But he will not pull off a last minute victory for his team. He never has and I'm guessing he never will.

How bout them Eagles! What a win. Not only did they get to the NFC championship game this Sunday, but they eliminated the Super Bowl champion Giants at the same time. A double bonanza!! I'm beginning to smell it - another Philly championship. Could it be? Could the Eagles win the Super Bowl just a few months after the Phillies ended the Philly championship drought? I'm probably jumping the gun a little, but I can't help it.
The Eagles defense has been incredible, and it's defense that wins. Of course, the Steelers and Ravens also have great defenses. So it may be way too soon to chalk up a Super Bowl victory for the Eagles. Even this Sunday's game against the Cardinals will be no cake walk. The Eagles crushed the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night, but remember, that was at Lincoln Financial Field and the Cards had to come to the East Coast, which had not been too good for them until Carolina on Saturday. At home, the Cardinals are a good team. But I'm still picking the Eagles. A better defense wins out in the playoffs and the Eagles have a much better defense than the Cardinals.
As far as the AFC game is concerned, I think the Ravens are a better defensive team (but not by much) right now. But the Steelers are a better all around team with a lot more playoff experience. I'm going to go with the Steelers. An all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl would certainly be something to look forward to.

Beat the Giants

Okay, I'll admit it, I never believed the Eagles would get into the playoffs, let alone get past the first round. After the Bengals game, I was trying to figure out if the Eagles could win any of their remaining games. I figured they could beat Cleveland, but that was about it. But the turnaround for this team was just amazing. The win against the Giants came out of nowhere. They not only won that game, they dominated the Giants. That certainly bodes will for this weekend's game. But I'm not buying my Super Bowl tickets just yet. The Eagle team that played Cincinnati and Baltimore might still rear its ugly head. If that team shows up on Sunday, it will be the Giants' day. The Eagles didn't even play that well (offensively) against the Vikings. I just think the Eagles were just a little less bad than the Vikings.
By the way, I noticed that Major League Baseball has launched a new cable channel. This past weekend they were showing all of the World Series games once again. I watched quite a bit of it. I could watch the Phillies win the World Series over and over again. Maybe now that the Phillies broke through and won a championship for Philadelphia, the Eagles might be able to make it two titles in one year. After that, could the Flyers make it a hat trick?

Both of my parents were Penn State graduates, so when I was growing up, I got a big dose of Penn State football each week. We'd turn the radio on every week to hear the game, and two or three of their games were on TV. But they were both die hard Penn State football fans, and if I wanted to continue to live there as I was growing up , I'd better be one too. So that's what happened, I became a big Penn State football fan. That's why watching yesterday's Rose Bowl was so discouraging. The final score was 38-24, but that sounds a lot closer than it really was. USC scored at will on the Penn State defense until the score was 38-7 early in the second half. After that, it was just watching the clock wind down to zero.
Well, the good news is that the Eagles are still alive. I still can't quite believe what happned last Sunday. The Bucs and either the Bears or Vikings had to lose for the Eagles to even have a shot at the playoffs. When the Bucks and Bears lost, the Eagles went on to embarass the Dallas Cowboys, which is always a good thing whether the playoffs are on the line or not. Poor Tony Romo just couldn't catch a break. It'll take him the entire offseason to recover from the whoopin' the Eagles gave him and his stinkin' Cowboy teammates. When or lose this week against the Vikings, the season was still a good one after whipping the Cowboys and knocking them out of the playoffs.