49 posts tagged “eagles”

A team that wins a lot of games, that is relevant year-in-and-year-out, that consistently makes the playoffs and contends for, but never wins a championship – rightfully said to underachieve on the biggest stages.

or

A team that has been generally irrelevant except for one season in which enough things came together for them to squeak into the playoffs and pull off (an over-achieving) Championship, only to return to irrelevance?

There’s a point in a football game when you sense that it’s over.  And after staking the home-team Chargers to a 14-point lead, the Eagles were looking to get back in the game after a very good drive that had them 1st and goal from the 1 yard line.  Yep – 3 feet away.  Naturally, Andy Reid outsmarted himself and the Chargers D by calling play action passes and fade routes – eschewing the run as always --- and after three plays, the Eagles found themselves --- you guessed it, 3 feet from the endzone.  David Akers kicks a field goal and a good 80 yard drive feels like a failure.

If this tune sounds familiar, it is.  Much like in their loss to Dallas at home the week before, the Eagles squandered opportunity after opportunity by being unable to convert short yardage situations.   Overall, the game was one that had to please fans of wide open offenses – each team scored five times, and after the first quarter both defenses seemed to be hanging on by a thread.   With their Red Zone woes, the Eagles scored 2 TDs and 3 FGs (all the field goals being the dreaded you-can’t-score-a-TD 25 yd or less variety).  The Chargers (who were outgained 462-331) were more efficient with their chances getting 4 TDs and 1 FG.

So, once again, another chance slips by and the Eagles sit a game behind the Cowboys (who were humbled in Green Bay and missed THEIR chance to take a hold on the NFC East) and tied with the reeling Giants had a bye.  Clearly, this is a division that might be won by default.

On the upside, the loss was made a little more bearable by making some pretzels that The Beloved and I shared in the second half.  Not surprisingly, after a few of these guys, there was little need for dinner.

Coming out of the fog of the flu this week (the reason for a lapse in posting – so much for NaNoBloMo), I was excited about the Big Halloween Sports weekend that was happening in Philadelphia with both the Phillies and the Eagles against rivals from New York.

The Phillies had left Yankee Stadium with a 1-1 split, which was really good.  They had a masterful performance from Cliff Lee in Game 1 (a fairly easy 6-1 victory) and ended up on the wrong side of a pitchers’ duel between AJ Burnett and Pedro Martinez, losing 3-1.   Games 3 and 4 would be this weekend.

The Eagles were facing their first tough game since a Week 2 McNabb-less slaughter at the feet of the Saints in facing the division leading NY Giants.  Philadephians can sometimes be a little insecure when it comes to being compared to New Yorkers and their city -- and here were 3 huge make-or-break games in barely 24 hours.

The narrative for the World Series had been two heavy hitting line-ups against good starters and questionable bullpens.  The first two games certainly didn’t fit that bill with dominating pitching, but Game 3 saw last year’s WS MVP Cole Hamels become unglued (as he did against the Dodgers) by questionable calls and bad breaks.  He was cruising when Alex Rodriguez’ long fly down the right field plunked off a FOX TV camera that was inconceivably placed IN THE FIELD OF PLAY.  After a short review, umpires decided hey-it-probably-would’ve-been-a-homer-so-lets-give-it-to-him.  Uhhh—sure, okay.  Regardless, Hamels never recovered, coughing up five excruciating runs over two innings, including an unacceptable inning extending hit to an AL pitcher.  The Phils bats kept adding runs (including a mammoth shot by Jason Werth), but each relief pitcher Cholly trotted out kept the Yankees comfortably ahead.

And if you’d have told me that Joe Blanton and CC Sebathia would pitch about 6 innings and the score would be 4-2, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat.  The Phils were en route to a storybook finish – scoring a run in the 7th and 8th each to tie the game at 4.  In the 9th, closer Brad Lidge got two quick outs and the Phils were primed to go into the bottom of the inning with all the momentum – and last year, that’s would have happened.  But like Hamels, this isn’t your 2008 vintage Lidge.  He gave up a hard-fought single to Johnny Damon – who promptly stole 2nd and 3rd – and then hit Mark Teixeira and then gave up a career-highlight double to Alex Rodriguez to seal the game and take what could have been an anyone’s series 2-2 tie to a every-game is elimination 3-1 deficit.

World Series games like this are won on intagibles – the 10 pitch AB for hit, the diving catch made or not made, the perfect pitch made in a jam, the clutch two-out RBI double.  Give the Yankees credit – they’re doing them all right now.

Perhaps as a little silver lining, the Eagles and Giants played the early card to Game 4 yesterday – and the Eagles came out slapped two 2 TDs on the board and never really looked back.  McNabb was sharp and the offense moved, even with the absence of all-everything Brian Westbrook.

Andy Reid used something I haven’t seen many years of Eagles-watching – and that was a full-back.  Eli Manning continued his recent descent onto the schnide – tossing two picks and looking out of sorts all game.  The Birdz cruised to a 40-17 splattering of the G-men to --- and I’m not making this up – take their share of 1st place in the NFC East.  Man, is that loss to Oakland gonna haunt them.

Personally, I’m glad to be feeling better and really glad that I can recoup from a tough 24 hours before World Series game tomorrow night.

Usually, NFC East rivalries are for hopefully good-natured trash-talking and for taking pleasure in another team’s defeats.  For example, one of my favorite teams each week is the one that happens to be playing the Cowboys.

But schadenfreude has its limits, and that limit was reached last night as I got to watch the once very proud Redskins turn in about as bad a performance as you can get in a MNF loss to the Eagles.

The ‘Skins, of whom I count a number of friends as fans, looked terrible – have gone from struggling team to joke.  This past week, they stripped head coach Jim Zorn of play-calling duties, bringing in several years-retired Sherm Lewis to call the plays.  From what I could tell, Sherm did okay, but he’s got a collection of a) untalented, or b) unmotivated, or c) both players on his hand to work with.  QB Jason Campbell looked lost all night—though not as lost as Zorn looked on the sidelines everytime they switched to a shot of him.  Their sloppy play culminated on a 4th-and-goal botched snap that the Eagles gobbled up and removed any hope of last quarter heroics.

Which, of course, brings us to the Birdz.  Even though they won pretty handily – racing out to a 27-7 lead, and cruising to the final of 27-17, you never got the feeling they were “in control”.  They had big plays from DeSean Jackson for TDs and a deflected Campbell pass returned for a TD.  They also converted two other turnovers into FGs, though they didn’t manage to get a first down in either of those “drives”.

After laying a huge egg against the clearly looked-past Raiders, the Eagles had something to prove and I’m not sure that they did.  Brian Westbrook was out of the game early on with a concussion and McNabb exhibited that “hey, I’m excited, watch me throw the ball into the dirt” tendency that he’s never quite shaken over the years (Kudos though to #5 for passing both 30000 yards passing and 200 TDs in his career).

So, at 4-2 (knowing they should be 5-1) they enter a stretch against the Giants, Cowboys, Chargers and Bears that will likely define their season.  Win three of those games, and I think they’re a legitimate playoff team, two and you could probably still scuttle into the post-season, less than that and they could just end up being a spoiler.

So, growing up in the Ancestral Betz home autumn Sundays meant going to church and watching the Eagles.  Except there was an important stop in between -- and that was to get soft-pretzels.

We would go to a place called "Cass's Mart Pretzels" -- a fresh pretzel bakery that operated in an absolute dump called the Pennsauken Mart.  The mart was thankfully demolished several years ago, and the pretzel folks moved to a strip mall up the road.  We always try to swing by when we're back in The Garden State.

Anyway, that doesn't help me much in California -- as there really aren't good places to get pretzels and no, Auntie Anne's doesn't count.  And I'd tried the frozen SuperPretzel thing -- blah.  So, this weekend, I decided to take matters (and matter) into my own hands and track down a recipe for soft pretzels that I thought I'd give a try.

The recipe was pretty straightforward.   You first make a yeast-dough of flour (4c) salt (2 tsp), and activated yeast (1 packet in 1 1/4 c warm water).  That dough came together pretty well.

I covered it and allowed the dough to rise (it didn't rise as much as I'd liked it to have -- I think I didn't leave the yeast in the warm-ish water long enough, or maybe the water wasn't warm enough -- or both, I don't know...).  After that, small balls of dough are pulled out and made into 15-20" ropes.

Those are made into pretzel shapes -- or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Those are then dropped individually into boiling water that has baking powder in it.  They were removed when the buoyed to the top and allowed to dry off on a rack.  They were then salted with coarse salt and popped into a 475 degree oven.

By the time that the first batch had come out of the oven (and cooled on a rack for a bit) NBC had chosen to switch from the Eagles game to one that was more "competitive".  And while it was a bummer not to see the Birdz beat up on the Chiefs -- which they were supposed to -- so good going in getting the job done -- I was very excited to sit down with a pretzel, mustard and a beer.

How were they?  I didn't think they browned up as much as I would have thought -- so either the oven was too low, or there's something else to do to evoke that good brown color.  Otherwise, they had a good crispy outside, light and tasty inside.

Can't wait to tweak the recipe for future weekends!

I keep trying to come up with a positive spin on the Eagles thrashing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints (48-22) this afternoon -- their home opener no less.  The game marked the first* start by one-time heir-apparent Kevin Kolb, who started for a banged up Donovan McNabb.

Let's see:
Kolb throws for almost 400 yards!
Kolb tosses 2 TD passes in first start!
Jackson and Celek each have 100+ receiving games!

Well -- truth be told, those leave you pretty empty when you head into halftime trailing 17-13, but thinking -- we've done some good things, we can hang with these guys.

And then you open up the 3rd quarter with two turnovers in three plays that led to 14 Saint points.  At that point, it was 31-13 and pretty much done.  Sure, both team moved the ball up and down the field like it was a scrimmage in the 2nd half, but NO was essentially playing keep-away, never letting the Birdz close the gap to less than two TDs.

And so, what of Kevin Kolb?  He most certainly had his best game as a pro (mostly because his others have been unmitigated disasters).  He made some good throws, hung in under duress, and made some bad mistakes.  He was what he is -- and untested young QB that might be pretty good someday -- maybe even good enough to lead a team to the playoffs.  I doubt he'll get the chance in an Eagles uniform.

Well -- the Eagles get a bit of a break -- the KC Chiefs come to town for what better be a wipeout and then they get a bye which gives the Andy Reid brain trust plenty of time to figure out the McNabb-Vick-Kolb-Garcia QB situation.  Good times.

*only?

The last time we'd seen Jake Delhomme, he was almost single-handedly handing the Arizona Cardinals a berth in the NFC Championship Game.  During that Divisional Round game, he threw five interceptions and fumbled once in a 33-13 loss.

Well, things were nearly as bad for him in his next game -- this year's season opener against the Eagles, in which he tossed 4 INTs and lost a fumble (the Panthers had 7 TOs overall) in a 38-10 rout that could not have sent the Carolina faithful home very happy.

Of course, it can't be all smiles and sunshine for Team Drama either.  On a day when their defense dominated, their special teams scored and their offense looked sharp, in what seems to be an all-too-regular Rite of Fall, Donovan McNabb went down with a cracked rib.

Apparently, this is not the season-ending variety, but probably the 2-4 week type.  You can imagine if #5 doesn't come back sharp (the Birdz have a bye in week 4) the calls for Michael Vick may get pretty loud.  Fortunately for Donovan, neither Vick nor Kevin Kolb have looked all that sharp -- which bodes well for his retaining the #1 spot, though not-so-good for the Eagles next match up against the high-scoring Saints.

Well -- here it is, the beginning of another NFL season.  Last night's Steelers-Titans game was pretty entertaining to watch, though certain of the Steelers faithful must have had their hearts in their throats at certain points, I imagine.

Going into the last several seasons, I used to think I knew where the Eagles would be.  Whether they'd rightfully be the best team in their division and legitimate Super Bowl contender, or whether they'd be scrapping for a playoff spot.

This year -- I have no clue.  Everyone of course is talking about the surprise addition of Michael Vick -- and I'm sure there will be a lot of words spent on Vick's impact (or lack of one) -- but let's face it, in absence of an injury to starting QB Donovan McNabb, this offense will rely on McNabb, Westbrook, Jackson, and perhaps newcomer WR Jeremy Maclin.  More than what Vick will do, I really want to know that they'll be able convert 3rd-and-1 with some consistency.

Some in the media are saying this team will be an offensive juggernaut, and I fully expect they'll tag a few teams with 30+... but I've watched enough Reid-McNabb teams to know there will be baffling inconsistency and play calling and an inability to move the ball.

And I fear that they're going to need to move it, because while there have been improvements on offense, the defense has taken some hits.  Most notably, the death of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson (who's replaced by disciple Sean McDermott) and the departure of longtime stalwart Brian Dawkins -- a free agent the Reid brain trust no longer thought was worth the money.  There have been LB injuries in camp that makes me fear they won't be able to stop the run much better than last year.

The schedule is a mixed bag --- the NFC East will continue to feast on its own and there are tough games against Panthers, Saints, Chargers, and revitalized Bears.  A blessing is the rest of the AFC West -- giving games against  Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders in addition to a depleted Bucs.

I think they will likely go anywhere from 9-7 to 11-5 -- though if there's a defensive implosion it's not impossible to see 0.500 or worse.  We'll just have to see as we get there!

One of the other things I missed getting to post about while I was on vacation occurred on the day we flew to the east coast.  In a move shocking to many, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick as their back-up QB.  Certainly, I was surprised and the headlines were in a pretty large font as we disembarked at Philadelphia International Airport.  And the following day, this shirt was already making its debut on the local scene.

Vick is due to play in his first pre-season game tonight in what I can only assume will be a media free-for-all.  Several folks have asked me over the last couple of weeks how I feel about Vick playing on “my” team.    From a team perspective, this is a lot more about Donovan McNabb (who wants a back-up that doesn’t want his job just yet) more than Vick.  And I’m sure Andy Reid has all kinds of crazy formations in mind with them both on the field.

Anyway – that doesn’t really answer the question of should they have hired him…. well --- as sort of a law and order type of guy, I believe that Vick in pleading guilty and serving his time has every right to seek employment in the NFL now that his sentence is complete.  In some ways, you can argue that his slate’s clean and there’s no reason not to root for him.  And in others, you can say the guys a dirtball felon that willfully killed dogs and should never ever be able to bring in the big bucks from the NFL—and that hiring him somehow condones his crime.

In the end, I feel like he paid a fair price and should be allowed to play.  He’s said and done all the right things with animal protection services since his release and so on the surface, I say give him a chance.  Think of it like parole -- as long as he’s on the straight and narrow, he’s on the right track.  I just don’t think I’ll be buying and wearing his jersey anytime soon.

Oh, and Penny says she respectfully disagrees and may have to root for the Redskins this year.

Sports in the summer is usually defined by the ebbs and flows of the long baseball season --- who gets hot (or cold) for a couple of weeks, who looks like they'll make a run in September, which managers are on the hot-seat.  Of course, this time of year also brings the first tantalizing tastes of NFL camps starting their annual rituals.  So today was an unusually notable day for Philly sports fans...

The Phillies today made a trade of four minor league prospects to the beleaguered Cleveland Indians for last year's Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee and RH OF Ben Francisco.  The Phils had been talking for weeks with the Toronto Blue Jays for Roy Halladay -- but Toronto was asking for 2 current roster players plus two prime prospects.  So, in a bit of surprise the Phils went for Lee.  With Cole Hamels looking back in last years' form, Happ and Blanton pitching well and a wild-card in Pedro Martinez as a possible, the Phils could be as tough on the mound as they are at the plate as they look to defend their World Series title.

Sadly, this very good news was tempered by the death of Eagles' Defensive Coordinator (and Assistant Head Coach) Jim Johnson to cancer.  Johnson was called out of retirement by then-rookie head coach Andy Reid when he became head coach in 1999.  It might have been Reid's first and best move.  Johnson was responsible for the Eagles' relentless blitzing defense that has been so formidable over the last decade -- a defense that kept Reid's erratic offense in an awful lot of games.  It's rare that an assistant coach should seem like the heart and soul of a team -- but Reid's stoic demeanor has left him the outsider and Johnson was the feisty center.  RIP, Jim.