News Archive for Philadephia Eagles

Rating The Cowboys Chances To Win The Super Bowl

Friday, January 15th, 2010

The Dallas Cowboys are on a roll and seem to be gaining confidence each and every week. The Boys are winners of four in a row including last weeks domination of their fierce division rival the Eagles. This streak started with a signature victory over previously unbeaten New Orleans. This is the kind of victory that makes teams look back and say that this  was the win the catapulted them to a Super Bowl win.

Tony Romo has the Cowboys on a roll.

Tony Romo has the Cowboys on a roll.

The Cowboys are lead by their quarterback Tony Romo. Romo has been playing great during this streak with a 100% passer rating. Romo got the monkey off his back last week and has tasted what a playoff wins feels like. Romo and Dallas fans expect to go all the way and anything other than that would be a disappointment.Romo has a bunch of viable options at his disposal. It is these weapons in combination that make his job easier and defensive jobs a lot harder.

Dallas has three running backs that are capable of beating you on any play. Marion Barber has been hampered in recent weeks. Dallas just plugged in Felix Jones and Tashard Choice and did not miss a beat. They also have three receivers in the stable. Their main threat is Miles Austin, but when he is double covered Patrick Crayton or Tight End Jason Witten can come up big with a reception. During this four game win steak, Dallas has scored 12 touchdowns, five by receivers and three by runningbacks. This is the type of offensive sharing that is the definition of team work. Oh ya, don’t just rest your hat on the offense, the defense has been coming up big as well. Dallas has outscored their opponents 99-31 during this streak. Dallas is a complete football team right know.

Dallas will face Brett Favre and the Vikings on Sunday. This could be Favre’s las shot at a Super Bowl ,and he will play motivated football. But I think the hungrier quarterback, Romo, will play with more incentive and drive to get the victory in this NFC Divisional Playoff and move on. From there, Dallas would meet the winner of the Cardinals and Saints. The Boys match up well with both of these teams and have already knocked off the Saints. I think Dallas is just a more complete team of the four left in the NFC. If Dallas is fortunate to get the Bowl, they will be a tough team to beat. It has been a while since they won one, and if they get there watch out.

As a Eagle fan this hurts me to say, but I have to be objective. Dallas rates a pretty good shot to win the Super Bowl.

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Posted in Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Philadephia Eagles, nfl | No Comments »

Eagles Have Much To Prove In Playoffs

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Can McNabb Bring Playoff Glory?

Can McNabb Bring Playoff Glory?

The Philadelphia Eagles were rolling to close the season again.   Six straight victories and a first round bye was staring them in the face.   Andy Reid was awarded a contract extension.  Six players named to the Pro Bowl.  Good times.

Then a dose of reality set in down in Dallas with a 24-0 trouncing at the hands of the Cowboys.  The scoreboard was much kinder than what occurred on the field.  The Cowboys rolled up 474 yards against a porous defense. The stats could have been much worse if Dallas had not eased off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter.  The Eagles had no answers, either offensively or defensively against a team considered average by most and primed to the #6 seed.

How could the season unravel so quickly?  One loss drops you from the #2 seed to the #6 seed?  What happened?

The reality is, the Eagles are not a very good team.  Heading into the playoffs, the Eagles are the only team among the 12 playoff teams that don’t have a victory against another playoff team.   The Eagles were 0-4 against playoff teams and hold only one victory against a team with a winning record, the Atlanta Falcons.  And that victory against Atlanta comes with a big asterisk given that Matt Ryan and Michael Turner did not play that day.

So, what it gets down to is that the Eagles have beaten the teams they were supposed to beat and lost to the teams where there was a question mark.  This team lacks mettle.  Their 11-5 record is the product of a soft schedule that afforded them matchups against the bottom feeders of the NFL.  And even with the soft schedule, their defense still rated at the middle of the pack.

The Eagles have two major weaknesses entering the playoff, a lack of a running game and the inability to stop over the middle pass routes.

Opposing defenses have no fear of the running game.  Brian Westbrook is no longer an elite player, LeSean McCoy has shown to be a bust and Leonard Weaver is a fullback that just happens to be their best running back at the moment.  This has allowed defenses to sit back in pass coverage, blitz with recklessness and challenge Donovan McNabb to beat them.

As for the defense, the Eagles have been unable to plug the leak that opened went Stewart Bradley went down with a knee injury in preseason.  The Eagles rotated Joe Mays and Omar Gaither with poor results.  They then pulled Jeremiah Trotter off the scrap heap to no avail.  Then they traded for Will Witherspoon before the trade deadline.  Nothing has fixed the problem.  Opposing tight ends put up Pro Bowl worthy stats against this gaping hole and running backs are feasting on pass routes.

This is not the first time the Eagles have slipped into the NFL Playoffs with a less than deserving squad.  Andy Reid and company always seem to find a way to pull out a win.  But with no quality wins recorded during the regular, it appears the mountain will be much tougher to climb this time around.

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Posted in Dallas Cowboys, Philadephia Eagles, nfl | No Comments »