Quick Eagles-Giants Postgame Rant
“Dialing in” from an Internet cafe in Orlando, so this is going to be extra-quick. While the Eagles are probably still technically alive in the playoff hunt, this 16-13 loss should pretty much put an end to a season that has lingered on life support for a few weeks now. A lot of blame will come down on Donovan McNabb in his return to action, and, as usual, he’ll deserve only some of it. Clearly, he still holds onto the ball too long, which led to a couple of sacks where he just needed to throw the ball away. And he looks for far bigger margins to get the ball to his target than A.J. Feeley did; Feeley trusted his receivers to make the catch when throwing the ball in a tight spot. On the other hand, McNabb didn’t turn the ball over—unlike Feeley—and the costly turnover was by Brian Westbrook, who fumbled for the first time in who knows how long.
But as usual, the Eagles playcalling deserves an equal share of the blame, as Westbrook became an afterthought for more than two quarters after dominating the opening TD drive. Handed a gift in the form of the first of two Brandon Jacobs’ fumbles, which Mike Patterson returned inside the Giants’ 10-yard line, the offense did some of its favorite red-zone tactics: a false-start penalty, a sack, a short completed pass, an incompletion, and a field goal. Westbrook wasn’t involved at all. Looking back at this season as it nears its end, it’s clear that one of the reasons the Birds won’t have a winning record is that Andy Reid refuses to run his offense through/around Westbrook, who is a far superior offensive weapon than whichever quarterback is in the lineup. McNabb’s return just meant the offense returned to its ponderous, wildly inconsistent play it’s shown in every game #5 has started this year except the Lions’ aberration.
On defense, the Eagles have been unable to stop Plaxico Burress for years, leading them to sign William James in the hopes that his height could help against his former Giants teammate. But Burress’ height advantage had nothing to do with his huge game today, which was the result of Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown’s soft coverage instead. Jim Johnson is so scared of Burress beating him on a deep ball that he refuses to put press coverage on him, and the result is that Burress caught short and medium passes and then ran away from the corners for big gains. Next time Johnson may finally want to change his approach; clearly, he has nothing to lose given the current strategy. And Burress’ go-ahead touchdown eclipsed two great defensive plays that proved why you never give up on a play: Brian Dawkins’ touchdown-saving tackle on Reuben Droughens that led to a Giants field goal, and Juqua Thomas’ forced fumble running down Brandon Jacobs after a big run.
I think McNabb starts next week against Dallas just to keep Kevin Kolb from being thrown to the wolves, but I think Kolb could start the final two games of the season. At this point, why not? Let’s see what he, Tony Hunt, and Victor Abiamiri can do now that the season is more or less finished. Do you agree, or do you think McNabb should play out the year regardless of the record?
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9 Responses to “Quick Eagles-Giants Postgame Rant”
December 10th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Tony Hunt is still on this team? lol.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Yes, let Donovan start against the Cowboys, please don’t throw Kolb to the wolves. After all, Eagles fans at least deserve the serious attempt to win, even if it’s clear by now this year’s Birds are just not a winning team. As for Plaxico, I’m sick and tired of watching him beat us; maybe he’s a nice guy in real life, but I can’t understand why we’re not double-covering him, checking him off the line, bumping him all over the field within the legal limits of the game….Make someone else step up to beat us. It’s always Plaxico, Plaxico, Plaxico….
And finally—– nice effort by David at the end, that attempted FG was probably the greatest kick that didn’t make it I have ever witnessed; a little screw to the left and that baby would be good from 65 ! Helluva kick, we coulda been in OT, too bad it had to come down to that ’cause we should have won the game outright in regulation, it was there for the taking—-as usual.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Don’t throw Kolb to the wolves on Sunday. On the other hand, it looks like anything McNabb does the rest of the season will only hurt his confidence and/or his trade value more.
I know there have been worse Eagles teams than this one, but I can’t remember one that was less fun to watch.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
FYI-William James was never teamates with Burress. He was gone before Burress became a Giant.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Tough loss for Eagles fans, but to be honest it shoudln’t have come down to that kick. Jacobs had a untimely fumble and hte defense play a prevent defense up until 6 seconds left on the clock. YOu are right though…HECK of a kick.
I was very concerned with the Eagles lack of effort to get the ball downfield on the two backup safeties, but as I mentioned in my game recaps on Giants 101, McNabb was relegated to dump-offs and screens because of the unrelelnting pass rush from the Giants.
And about Plaxico…he is an Eagle KILLER! He lives and dies by this game, which is great for us Giants fans. Do ya’ll see McNabb coming back next year? I am thinking that this franchise is done with the McNabb era.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Brandon, if I were a betting man, I would bet Donovan McNabb will be back with the Eagles next year. I just wish Plaxico Burress would be there on the same team with him! It would be amazing how much better McNabb would be as a winning QB with a receiver like Plaxico in the mix. Okay, that’s a sugar-plum dream, but the point is, McNabb needs help from his receivers and offensive line, he can’t do it all by himself. I’d like to see him get one more big chance with the Eagles, this time with an upgraded roster at certain key positions. ( And I for one appreciate hearing from our Giants fans on this post—-after all, we’re all representing the NFC East!)
December 13th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Portnoy’s Complaint: “Donovan not this, Donovan not that…” Boo hoo. Waaaaaaaaah.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Portnoy’s Complaint Part 2– “Andy Reid not call this, Andy Reid not call that” — boo hoo waaaaaaaagh
December 14th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Carl, I have no idea what you are getting at with your comments. The Eagles are 5-8—am I supposed to be happy with how the offense is running with McNabb this year? Is the coaching job Reid’s doing so good that the result is a season where we go 8-8 at best? All Eagles fans should be crying because our season’s pretty much done and training camp for 2008 won’t start until next summer.
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