After watching the first three rounds of the playoffs, it is pretty clear that the Eagles’ defense ranked near the bottom among the 12 playoff teams. In fact, out of those teams, the Birds were 11th in points allowed.

Of the teams that made it to the NFL’s version of the Final Four, the Eagles’ defense would have been shredded by all four of them, as Philadelphia struggled to stop the run, and showed throughout the season that they were susceptible to essentially all passing plays.

I understand that Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott was thrown into a very tough position this year, replacing the late Jim Johnson, but he was certainly not up to the task of leading the defense for a Super Bowl contender.

Too many times this year, McDermott went into a game with a bad plan, which was especially clear against New Orleans, San Diego, Dallas and even Oakland.

Going by Jim Johnson’s belief that 17 points is the magic number for a defense, McDermott failed 11 out of 17 times this year. Johnson always said that if the defense surrenders 17 points or more, the blame should fall on the ‘D’ in a loss. Based on that premise, the Eagles’ offense bailed out the defense six times this year, while failing to back up a strong defensive effort just once (Oakland).

Based on those numbers, the Birds will need to improve both the roster and the game plans drastically, because in 2008, the defense failed only eight of 19 times, and in the process, the Eagles made it within a few minutes of the Super Bowl.

Here are my predictions and thoughts on the Eagles’ roster by position:

Defensive Line: This is one part of the defense that I thought pulled its weight, as linemen accounted for 38 of the 44 sacks this season. Trent Cole and Juqua Parker combined for 20.5 sacks this season off the edge, and Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley were forces up the middle. I really don’t have any complaints about this group, and I would love to see the same nine or 10 guys come back next year, which could happen. I imagine the Eagles will use a few late-round picks to push for the final spot in the rotation, but I wouldn’t expect big changes here.

Linebackers: Remember that statistic I just gave you about the Eagles’ linemen registering all but six sacks this year? That’s a good thing for the guys in the trenches, but it’s a terrible sign for the linebackers, who came up with just 4.5 sacks this season, and 1.5 of those sacks came in the first game of the season.

That means Chris Gocong, Akeem Jordan, Omar Gaither, Moise Fokou, Tracy White, Will Witherspoon, Jeremiah Trotter and Joe Mays combined for just three sacks in the final 15 games of the season! By the way, 22 linebackers had at least 4.5 sacks this season on their own in the NFL.

The lousy numbers don’t stop there. The linebackers combined for just three forced fumbles and four interceptions this year, giving the ever-changing middle group a total of 11.5 big plays this season. That’s less than three plays per month!

I know that people will point to Stewart Bradley’s injury as an excuse for this unit, but while he was a tackling machine in 2008, he only accounted for one interception, one sack and one forced fumble last year, so his presence would not have greatly altered those statistics.

It is pretty obvious the Eagles need to improve at the linebacker position. Hopefully, the front office will resist the urge to go with a combination of Bradley, Jordan, Witherspoon and Gocong, but I have a terrible feeling that is what will be on the field in September.

If I had my way, the Eagles would send Gocong and Gaither packing, replacing them with actual edge-rushers. It’s astounding that the Eagles can’t find someone to simply run around the edge on Cole’s side, forcing a left tackle to choose between allowing a defensive end or a linebacker to crush his quarterback.

The Eagles should spend their first round pick on a superstar outside linebacker like Navorro Bowman from Penn State or possibly wait until the second round and grab someone like Sean Weatherspoon or Eric Norwood if they decide that free safety is the top priority.

Honestly, I don’t really care who the Eagles draft at linebacker, just don’t give me a mid-round project pick from a small school like Gocong, Brian Smith or Matt McCoy.

Secondary: The Eagles obviously need a free safety to replace Brian Dawkins, as Macho Harris, Quintin Demps and Sean Jones did not adequately fill in for Weapon X in 2009. They need to draft a do-it-all safety, instead of playing mix-and-match with three guys.

Jones did a great job against the run, but was too slow in pass coverage. Demps can cover a slot receiver, but is too small to handle the run. Harris can’t do either, but does a superb job of picking up unnecessary roughness penalties.

The goal here should be to draft Taylor Mays out of USC in the first round. At 6-3, 236 pounds, Mays is described to have “top-end speed” by Scouts, Inc., and would certainly make a difference on run defense when the Eagles drop into their nickel package, unlike Harris or Demps. Mays played all four years at USC, registering 268 tackles, including 88 as a senior, and would immediately make this unit better.

At cornerback, we will have to accept that Asante Samuel will never tackle a player, but his NFL-leading nine interceptions do make up for his lack of physicality. Joselio Hanson is an excellent nickel corner, but Sheldon Brown needs to be replaced. He has never had good speed, but always had good instincts. For whatever reason, this year, Brown seemed susceptible to the double-move, so without “make up” speed, he was burned repeatedly, especially down the stretch.

My guess is that the Eagles will keep Brown because of his low salary, but bring in an Ellis Hobbs-type corner to play dime and occasionally on the outside.

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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show.

It has been more than a week since the Eagles’ season ended with back-to-back losses at the hands of the hated Dallas Cowboys, and while it was tough to even watch football last weekend, it did make me feel good to see the Cowboys get crushed.

After Dallas lost to Minnesota, I realized that the Eagles are not as far away from being an elite team as I had thought after losing by a combined 58-14 to the Cowboys. I think Dallas, and its 3-4 defense, along with its rare combination of having Pro Bowlers at tight end and wide receiver, gave the Eagles fits, but there is no way the Birds are 50 points worse than the Vikings.

But, just because the Eagles aren’t as bad as I thought, it doesn’t mean they don’t need to make some roster adjustments in the next three months.

This week, I will look at the moves needed to make the Eagles’ offense, which put up a franchise-record 429 points in 2009, a unit that cannot be stopped by simply blitzing and then bracketing the wide receivers after playing press coverage.

Here are my predictions and thoughts on the Eagles’ offense by position:

Quarterback: This is obviously the most contentious part of the roster, but it is pretty simple actually. Both Donovan McNabb, who will be in the Pro Bowl because either Brett Favre or Drew Brees will be playing in Super Bowl, and Kevin Kolb each have one year remaining on their contracts. Because of the franchise tag, the Eagles should not be in a rush to extend either player, and simply let McNabb prove he deserves an extension, or hand the keys over to Kolb if McNabb gets injured or shows that the offense isn’t working with him at the helm.

Regardless of what people say about McNabb, the Eagles did score the most points in franchise history, so he couldn’t have been that bad!

Regarding Michael Vick, the roster bonus he is set to receive in March should not force the Birds to trade him before they get what they are hoping for, and I would expect to see either the Raiders or Rams give the Eagles a second round pick for taking the one-year public relations hit attached to signing Vick during the preseason.

Running Back: Despite a case of fumblitis in the first round of the playoffs, Leonard Weaver was the best offseason pickup for the Birds, and deservedly made the Pro Bowl this year. More importantly, his 85 touches showed the Eagles that a big back can really move the chains. With Brian Westbrook looking into retirement (and probably wouldn’t be back anyway at a cost of more than $7 million), the Eagles will have an opening in the backfield.

While very explosive, LeSean McCoy is not a running back who can handle 20 carries per game, but then again, only three running backs in the NFL topped 20 carries per game (320 carries) this season, and only 12 running backs even topped 240 carries (15 per game).

That means the Eagles, who finally saw the benefits of having a powerful running back, will use Westbrook’s roster spot to sign or draft their first 230-pounder since Duce Staley for the tailback position.

We all saw how effective Weaver was this season, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, which was better than McCoy or Westbrook, but all of those yards occurred without a fullback in front of him because he was the fullback. Now imagine what would happen if the Eagles drafted a certain Heisman candidate from Stanford, and then put him behind Weaver. The Eagles would finally have a true running game.

I don’t actually know where the Eagles are going to get this power back because of the uncertainty regarding an uncapped season in 2010, which would cause numerous players to become restricted free agents, instead of unrestricted, but I would bet they get one to run behind Weaver.

Wide Receiver: I like the Eagles’ group of receivers, and so does the front office. The only change that I could see being made is replacing the oft-injured Kevin Curtis with a bigger target.

I can’t remember the last time the Eagles had four pass catchers – DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant – who could top 100 yards in any game. That group combined for 10 100-yard games in 2009 and will only get better, as Avant is the old man of the group at just 26 years old.

Offensive Line: The offensive line was simply offensive this season. Last year, McNabb was sacked 23 times in 16 games, while this year, the “revamped” line allowed 38 sacks and was clearly a feast-or-famine unit.

It seemed like the line either played like garbage (see: Oakland, Dallas) or gave McNabb all the time in the world to throw a touchdown pass (see: New York, Atlanta, Tampa Bay).

In the offseason, the Eagles threw big-money deals at Stacy Andrews and Jason Peters, but neither player worked out. Both Andrews brothers saw about as much time as I did on the offensive line this year, and while Peters helped the ground game, he whiffed on defensive ends far too often to justify his mind-boggling Pro Bowl selection this season.

I don’t think the Eagles are going to cut either Andrews brother or Peters, but it was simply irresponsible to think that Stacy could be effective just nine months after tearing two ligaments in his knee. However, with another year of rehab and practice, Stacy could once again become the physical run blocker the Eagles hoped they were getting last February.

Now to the other Andrews. I can’t imagine the Eagles would cut Shawn after holding onto him all season, but they won’t count on him being one of the 10 linemen they plan to keep heading into the 2010 season. If he is healthy and wants to play, he could be an All-Pro tackle or guard on the right side, but anything they get out of him should be considered a bonus at this point.

It is obvious that improvements need to be made to the Eagles offensive line, but I would not expect the front office to make any moves except to bring in a few big bodies for depth purposes. My guess is that the front office hopes the rash of injuries that plagued the line will not occur in 2010, allowing the talented unit to develop some real chemistry.

Predictions for Sunday’s conference championship games: New Orleans erases years of “Aints” memories with a 37-24 win over the Vikings, while Peyton Manning continues to make his case for being called the greatest quarterback in NFL history as the Colts end the Jets’ Cinderella run with a 24-13 victory.

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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show. This week we will break down the NFL’s conference title games, and further our discussion on what the Eagles need to do this spring to improve their roster.

Thud!

That was the sound of the Eagles’ season crashing to halt at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

It was also the sound of Brian Westbrook’s time in Philadelphia coming to an abrupt end.

However, it apparently is not the sound of Donovan McNabb’s time in Philadelphia coming to an end.

While Andy Reid said that McNabb would be back as the starting quarterback of the Eagles, Westbrook received just one touch against the Cowboys on Saturday night, despite Leonard Weaver putting the ball on the ground twice in the second quarter. That should be a clear sign that Westbrook is not going to be back next year.

While Westbrook wasn’t able to make a difference in his final game for the Birds, Sean McDermott made the case that this should be his first and last playoff game as a defensive coordinator.

For the second week in a row, McDermott’s defense disappeared when they were needed most.

Last week, the Eagles rushed four linemen, yet played a completely passive pass defense. This week was a little different, as they blitzed far more often, yet at no point did McDermott realize that the Cowboys might make a few adjustments to slow down the amped-up pass rush.

How many times did the Cowboys run a simple screen pass or a draw play to pick up big yardage as the Eagles blitzed six or seven rushers? More importantly, why didn’t the Eagles think to do that as the Cowboys’ defenders surrounded McNabb on nearly every key play of the game?

I can’t believe I am writing this, but Wade Phillips out-coached Andy Reid, Sean McDermott and Marty Mornhinweg two weeks in a row. The Eagles did not have an answer for the Cowboys’ pass rush, ground game, or aerial attack, so the more complete team will be playing in the second round of the playoffs this weekend.

In the next few weeks, I will outline what steps I believe the Eagles need to take this offseason to improve this young roster, and make it the type of team that could beat any team in the NFL, not just the ones that were .500 or worse this year.

By the way, I am not sure if anyone noticed, but in a crazy coincidence, hockey season began in Philadelphia on the very same day that the Eagles’ season ended. The Flyers even won their “season opener,” 4-1, with the shockingly solid Michael Leighton between the pipes.

Quick thoughts and observations:

* Why can’t the Eagles run the ball? I doubt that the Birds will ever be a team that focuses on the run, but they have to at least make it easier for the passing game. After watching the first round of the playoffs, it is pretty clear that a team needs to be able to run the football to succeed, as the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens and Cowboys all had rushers top 130 yards. Arizona was the only team to win last weekend without a running back reaching triple digits on the ground, but Beanie Wells came close, rushing for 93 yards on 14 carries.

However, in the last two weeks against the Cowboys, the Eagles’ running backs have combined for less than 70 yards total! That is simply unacceptable regardless of how talented DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are at wide receiver.

* What happened to Sheldon Brown this season? We all know that he picked off five passes, which is a new career high, but he played like a Pop Warner kid the last few weeks of the season. Not only did he get repeatedly burned for touchdown passes since the game against Denver three weeks ago, the Cowboys must have seen something in their film sessions that showed them a weakness in his ability, because Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton had absolutely no problem making him look old and slow in the last two games.

In addition to being one of the main reasons the Eagles’ season ended, Brown practically handed Andy Reid and Joe Banner videotape evidence that he doesn’t deserve a new big-money deal this offseason, which he has craved for nearly a year. In the same three-week span, he also showed the NFL that switching to safety – the same career path that Troy Vincent took – was not an option, as Miles Austin blew right by Brown when he lined up at safety to help Asante Samuel contain Tony Romo’s new favorite wide receiver.

* How awesome was Arizona’s 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay? That game could go down as the most exciting playoff game in history. Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner combined for 801 passing yards and 10 total touchdowns, but it took a defensive touchdown to decide the game, and catapult it passed the Eagles’ 58-37 victory over the Lions in 1995 for the most combined points in playoff history.

Predictions: Saints, Vikings, Ravens and Chargers advance.
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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show. This week we will discuss why the Eagles couldn’t solve the Cowboys this season, and take an early look at where the Eagles need to improve this spring.

So much for being the hottest team in the NFL.

With an uninspired 24-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles squandered their chances at getting a week off and a guaranteed home playoff game. Instead, the Birds will head back to Dallas to face the NFL’s current hottest team in the first round of the playoffs.

So why did the Eagles go from a team riding a six-game winning streak to a team that couldn’t score a single point in a game that had serious playoff implications?

I am probably going to have a lot of people disagreeing with me, but the problem is Brian Westbrook.

I completely respect the fact that coming into this season, Westbrook was basically the only weapon the Eagles had on offense since Terrell Owens talked his way out of town, however, he is now preventing the Eagles from playing like the team that set the franchise record for points in a season.

In the seven games that Westbrook missed with a concussion, Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy combined to average just more than 20 carries per game, however against the Cowboys, each player received one carry.

Not using Weaver and McCoy would be fine if Westbrook had been playing well, but he ran the ball just five times for 17 yards, which means that the Eagles got almost no production from their backfield.

It would be easy to look at those numbers and say that Andy Reid reverted back to his stubborn, pass-happy ways, but I believe the problem is more complex than that.

Any year before 2009 (now 2010), Westbrook was a dangerous weapon, but despite being declared healthy, he is not as elusive out of the backfield as he was in previous seasons. Combine that with the idea that maybe Reid doesn’t trust Westbrook to run the ball without getting re-injured, and suddenly, a once explosive running back is actually the third best player at his position on the Birds’ roster.

The reason that the Eagles’ offense thrived when Westbrook was on the sidelines was that teams had to worry about the run and the pass, regardless of which running back was behind Donovan McNabb. This means the defense could never line up to defend just the pass or just the run, allowing the wide receivers more room to get open, while giving both Weaver and McCoy more lanes to run through.

With Westbrook in the game, the Eagles pass far more often to minimize his exposure to punishing hits, allowing defenses to drop extra men into coverage, which then limits DeSean Jackson’s ability to roam free.

If Westbrook isn’t as elusive as McCoy, and certainly can’t break tackles like Weaver, then why leave him in the game and make the offense one-dimensional?

I know that it is almost blasphemous to say that Westbrook makes the Eagles’ offense worse, but when was the last time you got excited to see the ball in 36’s hands?

Quick thoughts and observations:

* I don’t understand why Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott decided to rush just four defensive linemen for most of the first half, but if that was the game plan, why did the Eagles’ cornerbacks play so far off of the Cowboys’ receivers?

If McDermott didn’t want to send extra players after Tony Romo, then he could have at least played bump-and-run on the outside to give the linemen a few more seconds to get to the quarterback. I think that is a lousy game plan to begin with, but it was made worse by playing a completely passive pass defense.

It is quite obvious that Romo, or any quarterback in the NFL, can pick apart a defense if he is given plenty of time, but don’t give the wide receivers seven yards before encountering a defensive player.

* Why was Jeremy Maclin returning kickoffs for the Eagles? He has had an excellent rookie season, hauling in 55 passes for 762 yards, but at less than 18 yards per return, the Eagles simply must use someone else back there.

Only twice during the shutout loss did the Eagles start with better field position than their own 20 yard line, which wasn’t entirely Maclin’s fault, but I think he has been far too timid on pass routes and on his returns to be even considered as a viable option.

If Quintin Demps is hurt, and Macho Harris is too careless with the ball, then give Eldra Buckley a shot back there, because field position is a vital piece of the puzzle during the playoffs.

* Anyone else think that Michael Vick is going to get 15 to 20 snaps this weekend? Reid spent the entire offseason working on “Wildcat” plays, yet we have only seen about three or four different plays with Vick on the field. I could be way off, but if there were any time to unleash (sorry for the terrible pun) Vick’s speed and natural ability, it would be against a team that just shut down every normal play in the playbook six days earlier.

Predictions: Eagles fix what went wrong in week 17 while Wade Phillips stands dumbfounded wondering why last week’s game plan doesn’t work for the second time in less than a week. Eagles win 23-17.

Green Bay, Cincinnati and Baltimore also advance to the second round of the playoffs.

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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show. This week we will focus on what the Eagles need to do to win their playoff battle with the Dallas Cowboys.

Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.”

The problem with the Phillies’ moves this offseason is that I really don’t know if their roster is changing in the right direction.

I like the idea of replacing Pedro Feliz with Placido Polanco at third base, but replacing Cliff Lee with Roy Halladay doesn’t do much for me. In fact, I believe that it makes the Phillies worse for both 2010 and the future.

For the last few days, you couldn’t watch TV, listen to the radio, go online or even walk down the street without hearing someone talking about the Phillies trading for the Toronto Blue Jays' ace.

It finally happened, except it happened five months too late.

Back in July, I wrote a column begging Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., to trade for Roy Halladay. I wrote that it didn’t matter who we sent to Toronto, as long as Halladay was wearing red pinstripes. But when the Phillies downright stole Cliff Lee from the Cleveland Indians, I was pretty satisfied.

However, I didn’t realize that we could have had BOTH pitchers in red pinstripes for the 2009 playoff run.

As the trade deadline approached, everyone in the Phillies organization swore that Double-A pitching prospect Kyle Drabek was untouchable, which is why the trade talks with the Blue Jays broke down, causing Amaro to turn his attention to Lee.

Apparently Drabek lost that “untouchable” tag in the last few months, because he was included in the deal, making him no longer slated for a mid-2010 debut in the Phillies’ starting rotation.

Now I don’t know if the Blue Jays would have taken a package of Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud for Halladay back in July, but I don’t think even the staunchest New York Yankees fan could believe that the Phillies wouldn’t have won back-to-back World Series titles if Halladay and Lee were starting five of the seven games in the Fall Classic.

So why am I so pessimistic about the Phillies losing Cliff Lee – one of the top pitchers in baseball – but gaining Roy Halladay, who is the undisputed best pitcher in baseball? By the way, that claim does include the likes of Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia.

It’s pretty simple. The reason the Phillies fell short in the World Series was that Lee couldn’t pitch every game. Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez and Joe Blanton weren’t able to manage just one victory in four starts, which would have put the ball back in Lee’s left hand for game 7.

So in 2010, if the Phillies get back to the World Series, Halladay will not be able to pitch every game, which means Hamels, Blanton, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer, Pedro, or any other starting pitcher the Phillies can find, would still need to win one or two games in the Fall Classic.

I fully understand that the Phillies would have had absolutely nothing remaining in the minors for the next two or three years if they kept Lee for the 2010 season, but how could they not have paired Halladay and Lee for the 2009 stretch run? They still could have spent the offseason working to trade whoever wasn’t willing to sign a contract extension, but maybe they would have had enough money in the payroll to extend both pitchers if they had won a second World Series. Or they could have traded away Hamels to help alleviate the jump in payroll.

Right now, the Phillies still lose to the Yankees or the Red Sox in six games.

But that just makes their 2010 team the same as the 2009 team that fell just short, so why are they worse?

The fact remains, the Phillies don’t have a pitcher to win game 2 of the World Series, but that pitcher could have been Drabek. If the Phillies convinced Lee to stick around beyond 2010, which apparently he was quite willing to do, the Phillies would still have Drabek to replace Hamels as the ace of the future. Because they traded for Halladay, they don’t have Drabek waiting in the wings to step up.

At this point, the Phillies are hoping that Hamels can recover from whatever ailed him all of 2009, which somehow cost him four or five miles per hour off his fastball, making him go from devastatingly deceptive in the 2008 playoffs to completely hittable in the 2009 playoffs.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that the Phillies should be competitive for the next few seasons with Halladay locked up through 2013, but walk outside and ask a person wearing an Eagles jersey if they are content with all of the playoff appearances the Birds have made this decade.

I know that the Phillies won it all in 2008, and it is great that they have gotten to a point where the regular season is merely a formality, but falling just short will get old pretty quickly, especially knowing that Lee or Drabek would have been the difference between a parade in Philadelphia and a parade somewhere else.

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Like the "On the Edge" column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show. We will be taking off for the holidays, but will be back in full swing in 2010, hopefully talking about the Eagles rolling through the playoffs.

While the Phillies fine-tune their roster, and the Eagles roll along despite a heaping pile of injuries, Philadelphia’s other two teams spent the last week trying to make themselves relevant in what has become a two-sport town.

The Flyers and Sixers both reached deep down into their “in case of emergency” bags, and pulled out plans that they hope will make people care about hockey and non-college basketball.

Enter a coaching change for the Flyers, and the return of Allen Iverson to the Wachovia Center for the 76ers.

Because the Sixers are destined to be mediocre in a league dominated by two-superstar teams, I’m going to begin by breaking down the Flyers’ troubles.

Right now, the Flyers sit at .500, despite this being one of the most talented teams in franchise history. The Flyers are tied for third/last place in the division, but right now they are on the outside looking in when examining the playoff picture two months into the season.

So, instead of telling their players to hustle and stop taking stupid penalties, the Flyers changed coaches, bringing in Peter Laviolette, who coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.

Obviously, it was John Stevens’ fault that the Flyers average the most penalty minutes per game in the NHL this season. It couldn’t possibly have been the result of lazy play by supposed superstars Danny Briere and Mike Richards. Or the fact that nobody seems to work in the offensive zone, which resulted in a team that has more offensive weapons than any other team in the league scoring just seven goals in their last six games (before last night's six-goal outburst).

However, as much as I liked Stevens as the Flyers coach (Fun fact: Stevens’ tenure was the fourth-longest in franchise history, one game fewer than General Manager Paul Holmgren’s tenure as coach from 1988 to 1991, yet one game longer than Pat Quinn’s tenure from 1979 to 1982), I respect the idea that Laviolette is going to make the Flyers forecheck better and fight less.

Currently, only the Calgary Flames fight more often than the Flyers, but they have all-world goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to bail them out of trouble. The Flyers do not have someone nearly as talented as Kiprusoff to keep them afloat when Dan Carcillo decides to start punching a player before his gloves are dropped, resulting in nine minutes of power play time and three goals for the other team.

Honestly, I think Stevens was a great coach, but a new voice was needed to make up for several mistakes made by the front office in the last few years. It is a shame that a good person like Stevens has to take the fall for a front office that offered $52 million to Briere, which, because of the salary cap, forces them to put re-treads between the pipes.

By the way, Antero Niittymaki has a 2.24 GAA, with a .927 save percentage. Wouldn’t he look great in the crease right now?

This Flyers team is too talented to wallow at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the rest of the season, so hopefully a coaching change will light a fire under Richards, Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger and the rest of this lazy team.

Switching gears to the NBA, the Sixers don’t have the talent to come back from a slow start, so their only goal is to entice more than 11,000 people to come to South Philly for a basketball game 32 more times this season.

In a conference where six teams – Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami and Chicago – have two players that are better than anyone stepping on the court for the 76ers, Allen Iverson is merely a marketing ploy to make people waste their money at an NBA game, instead of investing it in a Phillies season-ticket package.

If there is another reason for this signing, I can’t see it.

I get that since the Sixers are not a contender for the NBA title, the bottom line is the most important thing, especially in a league that is losing money so quickly that reports had the NBA lining up $200 million in loans last year to help teams make it through the 2008-09 season.

So now, the Sixers, who fill the Wachovia Center approximately to 58 percent of its capacity, decided that money was more important than trying to develop their young talent.

The Sixers have a very young team, and one of their few veterans, Elton Brand, is complaining about coming off the bench, but the Sixers decided that they would bring in Iverson, who has never gotten along with any star player, and refused to come off the bench for Detroit and Memphis.

Iverson couldn’t get along with Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, Carmelo Anthony or anyone on the Pistons, and then retired because he wasn’t good enough to start for the Grizzlies, who at 8-12, have a better record than the 5-16 Sixers.

If you can tell me how signing A.I., and promising him a starting position will help the development of Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights, Lou Williams or Jrue Holiday, then you are smarter than I am. How will Iverson throwing up a 6-for-21 night help them develop? He shot less than 40 percent from the floor in 26 out of 57 games last year, so unless the goal is to turn their youngsters into fantastic rebounders, this is a bad move.

All I see is the Sixers bringing in an aging, whiny player, who shoots 42 percent for his career, and managed to alienate every talented player and coach who ever stepped foot in the same arena as him.

This has disaster written all over it.

At least the Flyers can still turn their season around. The Sixers are simply sacrificing their chances next year for the opportunity to make a few extra dollars this year.

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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philly sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show.

The Eagles escaped from the Linc on Sunday afternoon with a victory despite curious coaching decisions and three more stars needing the help of their overworked trainers.

Beginning with Andy Reid’s decision to try an onside kick to start the game, finishing with DeSean Jackson and Brodrick Bunkley on the sidelines, and Brent Celek dropping three passes along the way, this game had loss written all over it. Then suddenly, Donovan McNabb, Jason Avant and LeSean McCoy decided that a loss to the lowly Redskins was not in the cards.

For the second week in a row, McNabb flawlessly executed a fourth quarter comeback victory to keep the Eagles in a wild-card spot, and just one game behind the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East.

I know that this was an ugly win, but regardless, it is still a win, and last year, this would have been a loss. In fact, last year, this game actually was a loss, as the Eagles squandered a golden opportunity, losing 10-3 to the Redskins in week 16.

However, lately, the Birds seem to have some fourth quarter magic, as they have scored 32 points in the final period in the last three weeks.

Against the Redskins, McNabb was 5-for-7 for 115 yards on the final two drives of the game, but the key to both drives, besides Avant’s fearless ability to go over the middle, was the running game. McCoy and Leonard Weaver combined for 41 yards on eight carries on those drives, which opened things up for a greatly depleted group of wide receivers.

Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have battled inconsistency and injuries, but at the end of the season, these comeback wins over the Redskins and Bears could be the difference between us fans watching football in January or ignoring football in January.

Quick thoughts and observations:

* After Asante Samuel’s interception late in the first half, the Eagles’ offense took over with 19 seconds left in the half, and was able to take the lead on a field goal. The amazing part of this situation is that Philadelphia had all three timeouts with 19 seconds left in the first half! I can’t remember the last time the Eagles went more than 29 minutes without using a timeout.

* Speaking of Samuel, I keep asking this, but I haven’t found an answer, so I’ll ask again: Why does Samuel play football if he doesn’t want to hit anyone? When Samuel goes for a tackle, he slaps at the player or simply falls down. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the two interceptions he had against the ‘Skins, but his “tackling” technique has already cost Philadelphia a victory against the Raiders, and I would bet that it is going to cost the Eagles in a big way at some point in December or January.

* The Redskins converted on eight of their first 12 third-down opportunities mostly because guys like Sheldon Brown and Macho Harris were nowhere near the wide receivers before the play. On 3rd-and-4, Brown should be at the line of scrimmage to play press coverage on Santana Moss, but for some reason, he was beyond the first-down marker, and Moss caught a slant for eight yards. If Philly is going to blitz against the Redskins’ sixth different offensive line combination of the season, everyone should know that the quarterback will take a three-step drop and quickly get rid of the ball before getting clobbered. If the defensive backs play press coverage, then the Eagles can get more sacks on third down, and actually get off the field. The exact same thing happened early in the second quarter on Moss’ four-yard touchdown reception. Harris and Jeremiah Trotter were both standing in the end zone, instead of playing closer to the line of scrimmage, so Moss split the two defenders on a quick slant route. Harris never made it out of the end zone to even attempt to cover Moss, who had his easiest six points of the season.

* While I seem to be ripping on the defensive backs a lot, I will commend them for being on the field more than usual, and not complaining about playing different positions. With Joselio Hanson (suspended) and Ellis Hobbs (injured reserve) not on the field, Quintin Mikell, Quintin Demps and Harris have been playing several different positions, including cornerback. The results have been mixed, but the more game-day repetitions they get at cornerback, the more Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott can mix up his blitzes later in the season.

On Sunday, the Eagles will take on the Atlanta Falcons, who are trying to avoid falling out of contention for a playoff spot, but have announced they will be without their quarterback, Matt Ryan, who left last Sunday’s game with a toe injury.

Prediction: Eagles win the battle of the birds, 31-16.

Like the "On the Edge" column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show.