This is the final MVN post for Eagles Eye, as six years of dedication and devotion by our web publisher, MVN.com., headed by Evan Brunell, comes to an end. We couldn’t have done anything without the help of Evan and his expert staff. Thank you, guys, for everything…and for finding us a new home at eagleseyeblog.com, under the Bloguin banner………………..Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles are on the brink of either temporary disaster or redemption, depending on how you look at Saturday night’s upcoming one-and-done showdown at the Dallas Death Star. After suffering a 24-0 beatdown last Sunday, the Eagles have only three days of practice to figure out a new plan. Suddenly, the realization has come to Eagles nation that this season may be the one where the Cowboys peak late and the Eagles collapse early in the playoffs, finally falling under the weight of attrition due to injuries, with a record 16 players on the IR. Knowledgeable fans know the Eagles have over-achieved all season long, patching a linebacker here and a guard or tackle there, and that, all things considered, Donovan McNabb and his offense have had a pretty good year. But the groundlings out there are once again calling for Donovan’s head, screaming the dreaded “C” word (choke) and moaning about failing to win “the big one”… To them, I would advise: it’s pretty hard to win on offense when Dallas sacks you 4 times and hurries your play 8 times and your receivers drop the ball 6 times…Obviously, the problem is the Eagles’ offensive line has been overmatched by the big, quick front line of the Cowboys, featuring DT Jay Ratliff, and further assaulted by the outside pass rush of the hybrid LB’s, notably DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James and Anthony Spencer…The stunts, the loops, the blitzes will be raining down on McNabb, especially with the loss of C Jamaal Jackson, which has forced the right side of the Eagles’ offensive line to change, with Nick Cole moving to center and Max Jean-Gilles filling in at RG. The timing and the spacing of the right side were completely out of sync last Sunday. The result was McNabb on his back…a lot. And when he was upright, Dallas cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman had his primary receivers DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant covered and shut down. The Eagles couldn’t even counter with a running attack, so dominant was the Dallas front line and linebacker scheme. It was simply the worst loss by an Eagles’ contender I’ve ever seen in a meaningful game in January. Making it worse was the futility of the Eagles’ defense, which usually bends but doesn’t break…Well, it broke badly last week at BrokeBack Stadium. I counted at least 9 plays where Tony Romo and crew gained 20 yards or more. The Eagles’ front line failed to get any real pressure on Romo, whose offensive line was dominant. The Cowboys’ running backs Marion Barber and Felix Jones gained nearly 200 yards between them. Tackling in the Eagles’ secondary was shoddy, and CB’s Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel made crucial route-jumping gambles on 3rd down plays, gambles that failed miserably. Better they should stay at home on the route and break up the play or make a stop…….The only consolation is the Eagles get a second chance, coming right back to Dallas and 100,000 fans screaming for their ‘Boys on a prime-time Saturday night (NBC)…McNabb’s been in these pressure-cookers before, and now his younger players and the veterans who’ve been picked up from other teams have tasted the angst of the Dallas-Philly rivalry…By now, they know it’s a faster, quicker, tougher game when you’re in the NFC playoffs. Everything speeds up, everyone tries harder…No matter how handicapped the Eagles are now in overall health and strength relative to the Cowboys, and how disadvantaged they are playing away at Dallas, there is a chance they’ll patch a game plan together and find a way…After all, America is the land of second chances, and they’re playing “America’s Team”….

Friday, January 8, will be our final day here on MVN.com. As we’ve announced earlier, Total Titans has joined Bloguin and we anticipate being up and running with them shortly.

In the meantime, our temporary home will be at totaltitans.wordpress.com.

We’ve had a good run on MVN, which is unfortunately closing down its operations. MVN has given us the opportunity to do what we love and we’ve met some great people along the way, including MVN president/founder Evan Brunell, other MVN writers, and most importantly, you, our readers.

We hope you’ll follow us on Bloguin, where we’ve met some more good people, which is one of the primary reasons we elected to go there. Before agreeing to join them, we asked some writer friends and acquaintances who are with Bloguin and received some strong, positive feedback.

We’re now in the process of moving all of our work to our temporary home although importing recent comments (after mid-October) may be a problem. If anyone knows how to manually import comments on WordPress, please let us know.

Daniel Snyder fooled me again.

After undermining Jim Zorn in October, with a lot of season left, I wrote that Snyder blew his chances with Mike Shanahan. Why would one of the premier head coach prospects want to work for an owner who torpedoes his own guy when the going gets tough?

Yet, Snyder will introduce Shanahan as the new chief of the Washington Redskins at a press conference at 2:00 P.M., Wednesday, January 7.

Let the Dannyhan era begin.

So, my apologies Danny Snyder. You did it. But you don’t get the “Mr. Snyder” back until the team wins titles. No more accolades for offseason maneuvers, Danny.

What did it take to land Shanahan?

Big money? Most certainly. I’m hearing $7 million a year for five years; more than was paid to Joe Gibbs or Steve Spurrier.

Football control? Shanahan is supposed to be named executive vice president of football operations, Vinny Cerrato’s old title, and head coach.

We can expect to hear something about Shanahan having full and final authority on all football matters. We’ve heard all that before.

I’d like to know about Shanahan’s contract. Is it closer to Marty Schottenheimer’s full control contract, or Jim Zorn’s deal with terms allowing the team to usurp his authority?

Does Shanahan set the roster and the starting line-up?

Can players go over his head to the owner?

Can Shanahan and Bruce Allen make the football calls while letting Snyder think he’s having an influence as Jimmy Johnson suggested last fall? 

Will the Redskins open the 2010 season prepared to play real games? They certainly were not prepared for the opening of this season.

I’ll give Snyder another point for consistency. Having moved to the West Coast Offense in 2008, the Redskins signed a WCO coach in Shanahan.

Shanahan’s flavor of the offense featured a strong running game. For all the focus on Washington’s passing game, it was the collapse of the rushing game that tanked the season.

Clinton Portis rushed for 494 yards on 124 carries in eight games. Jason Campbell was the No. 2 rusher with 236 yards. Stop and let the enormity of that fact sink in. Shanahan may have an answer for that.

Now, if Shanahan can get Champ Bailey back and add Brandon Marshall to the receiving corps, that would be something to cheer about.

The Washington Redskins have a new Head Coach.  As expected, the Redskins have agreed to terms on a 5 year contract with former Denver HC Mike Shanahan.  The agreement is in principal and is said to be around $7 million per season.  The agreement calls for Shanahn to run the franchise along with GM Bruce Allen, but ultimately, Shanahan will have control over football decisions and the title of Head Coach and Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

As MLB London Fletcher said tonight at the Capitals game, Shanahan instantly become the face of the Redskins franchise.  Redskins fans will look to Shanahan to rebuild a storied franchise that has slumped during the ten years of ownership byDan Snyder.

Bill Romanowski, who played linebacker for Shanahan during the Denver Super Bowl era thinks the Redskins have made a good hire: ”Get ready Washington because a Super Bowl is coming your way”

Shanahan did indeed win two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos more than a decade ago, but he was fired following the 2008 season after the Broncos missed the playoffs for the third straight season. He compiled a record of 138-86 [.623] in 14 seasons with the Broncos and an 8-12 record years earlier during an ill-starred turn as head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

The Ravens and Patriots met earlier in the season, and it turned out to be a close contest. The Ravens would have had a 1st and goal at the 4 yard line with 26 seconds and a time out at their disposal. That is if Mark Clayton didn’t decide to jump upward and take his eye off the ball, eying a defender instead. But that’s the past and the Ravens aren’t going to look backward. They’re going to come into Foxborough looking for a little revenge and to continue their quest to the Holy Grail.

There have been reports that Tommi Brady has broken ribs and a broken finger on his throwing hand, but I find it suspicious that this information comes out only now, weeks after these injuries occurred. Could this be a ploy by New England coach, and convicted cheater Bill Belichick to lull the Ravens into a false sense of hope? Perhaps, but if not then Belichick must have had some other reason for letting this be reported at this time. Maybe he’s just trying to secure his reputation in case of a loss. While I’ll admit that Belichick is a good coach I don’t seem to like his persona.

Better the Ravens have learned of Tommi Brady’s broken ribs, it should give Antwan Barnes and Trevor Pryce a target to shoot for. The Ravens had three sacks of Tommi in their previous meeting and if they can pick up a few tendencies from watching film they may be able to add to that total this Sunday. The Patriots know that they aren’t going to run the ball on the Ravens so they’ll plan on attacking the Ravens secondary, which has had more then its share of problems this season. Look for Brady to target Frank Walker early and often. Walker actually played some pretty sound football during the playoffs last season if you remember. Hopefully he’ll remember that himself and keep his hands off of receivers, unless of course the reception would lead to a sure touchdown. That’s playing smart and living for another down.

Joe Flacco also needs to get his game into gear. He’s played poorly the past two weeks and at this point of the season there is no more room for mistakes. He needs to stop holding the ball too long, get a feeling of when pressure is coming, and get too the line quicker. The Patriots are going to throw things at him he hasn’t seen before so getting up to the line with more then 15 seconds is paramount.

<p. Cam Cameron would be wise to once again split the running duties nearly 50-50 between Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. The Pat's will game plan for Rice, as well as Derrick Mason, so McGahee can come up big in this game. Cameron also needs to design plays to get behind the 8 men in the box that New England will offer. He needs to use some three wide sets with the addition of Todd Heap to burn the Pat's when they try to stuff the line of scrimmage. We haven't seen that much this season because the team has been reluctant to use Demetrius Williams in any real capacity. That needs to change for this game, and any others should the Ravens be fortunate enough to move forward.

<p. The Patriots went undefeated at home this season, a statistic that many will look to as a huge advantage. I see it more as a case of the law of averages kicking in. The streak can't go on forever, and the longer it has went the greater the chance of it being broken, just like Tommi's ribs.

Peter King writes today in Sports Illustrated about what Mike Shanahan will do to rebuild the Redskins once he takes over as head coach. Specifically, King lists these priorities in the following order:

1. Draft a quarterback this year, though not necessarily in the 1st round;
2. Try to squeeze one more year out of Clinton Portis;
3. Look for a defensive coordinator who can run a 3-4 defense like the one used in Pittsburgh — maybe not the rumored Mike Zimmer;
4. Surprise us with some moves that seem to make no sense.

I’m not sure what to make of item 4 so I’ll just skip it and move on to the others. I’m against drafting a quarterback in the first round this year. I’m not sure any of these quarterbacks are worth a high first round pick [4th overall is what the Redskins have got] and, as I’ve noted repeatedly, picking a QB high in the draft is a 3-year crapshoot with a 50% failure rate. I don’t like it and I wouldn’t do it. I would particularly avoid a QB early in the draft because playing him behind an awful offensive line, unproven wideouts and injury-prone running backs is a recipe for disaster.

I’m also against trying to squeeze one more year out of Clinton Portis. I’d cut him ASAP and go with anyone else. Portis is an example of much that went wrong with this team. When guys like London Fletcher, Andre Carter and Rock Cartwright talk about players skipping practice, ignoring curfew, goofing around and undermining the coaches by going straight to the owner, Clinton Portis is Exhibit A on the evidence table. I think Portis’ skills and productivity are in decline and he’s more likely to suffer more concussions in the future. He’s not a great back anymore, but he expects to be paid and treated like one of the best football players in NFL history. In an uncapped year, I don’t care what Portis is owed, I’d cut him on day one. If Shanny does have Portis back, I would point him to what Redskins beat writer John Keim just wrote:

Think some teammates will be happy if CP shows up in better shape this season.

As for a defensive coordinator who can run the 3-4, Mike Zimmer has done that, though it isn’t what he’s known for. I’m fine with a 3-4 defense or a 4-3 defense, whatever works. [I'm a soulless pragmatist, not an ideologue.] If the team is going to run a 3-4, though, I think it’ll need more linebackers. I can definitely see Brian Orakpo in the “elephant” position in a 3-4 [think Charles Haley or Kevin Greene], but the team needs more than that at linebacker to pull it off. Basically, though, I’m against deciding those things before having a look at the roster. Schemes should be fit around the talent rather than the other way around. That’s how we wound up with Jim Zorn’s awful West Coast offense despite the fact that the roster was built with a power Joe Gibbs offense in mind.

King concludes by warning Redskins fans that it’ll be an exciting time once Shanahan signs the contract and gets going on rebuilding the wrecked hull of this once-proud franchise. King should know, though, that EVERY offseason is exciting for Redskins fans. It’s the regular season that turns out dull and depressing.

Sandy Montag, the agent for Mike Shanahan, is in Washington, D.C. to meet with the Redskins and firm up the contract details that should make Shanahan the next head coach of the Washington Redskins.

Originally, we thought the Redskins would have a press conference today to introduce Shanny, but  now it appears that might be delayed until Wednesday so the Redskins can devote Tuesday to honoring long-time and legendary offensive line coach Joe Bugel, who is retiring from the coaching ranks.

Houston Texans LB Brian Cushing has been named Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cushing, a star defender at USC, was the 15th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft and he led the Texans with 134 sacks this season. He also notched 5 sacks, 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and a safety in one of the most dominating seasons any rookie defender has had in recent years.

The Texans are getting good at drafting linebackers; LB DeMeco Ryans won the DROY award back in 2006.

Some Redskins fans may be disappointed that SLB/DE Brian Orakpo didn’t win the award, but Cushing is a very deserving winner. His season was more complete than Orakpo’s, perhaps because he was playing a position that came naturally to him.

The 2010 NFL schedules have come out and you should enjoy them while you can because there is a pretty good chance we won’t see 2011 games played on time due to the impending lockout. Here is what the Redskins are looking at in 2010 at FedEx Field and on the road. No dates yet for any of the games, but hopefully the NFL will stop putting this team on national television. Those games are brutal to watch and we never win them.

Home: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts

Away: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans

Yesterday, Andrew got the offseason ball rolling by penning a review of the rollercoaster ride also known as the 2009 Tennessee Titans’ 8-8 season.

Continuing down the seemingly endless path of the offseason, today I’ll take a look at the performances of the Titans’ most recent draftees during their rookie years.

A first-year review of the ‘09 Titan draft class…after the jump.

Job well done

Kenny Britt lived up to the hype that surrounds a first-round draft selection by stepping up as an immediate contributor to the Titan passing game in ‘09.

As I mentioned in an article earlier during the season, the sky’s the limit for the talented Britt. He’s a physical guy who can also beat opposing defenses by making plays down the field.

Don’t like him as a kick returner, but as a receiver, Britt more than held his own as a rookie. Grade: A

Gerald McRath turned heads in the preseason with his impressive play on special teams. Due to injuries at linebacker, McRath was presented with the opportunity for some playing time at his natural position during the regular season.

McRath is a tough player who was solid in limited action as a rookie. Moving forward, I expect Gerald to continue to impose his wrath upon the opposition as a valuable cog on the Titan defense for years to come. Grade: B

Slowly, but surely

Sen’Derrick Marks’ rookie season got off to a slow start, but by the end of the year, he showed us glimpses of the player that he could eventually become.

He’s still a bit of a project, but with his physical ability and size, don’t be shocked if Coach Jim Washburn whips Marks into a pretty solid player down the road. Grade: C

Growing pains

Thanks to a slew of injuries at the CB position, rookies Ryan Mouton and Jason McCourty were both forced into action out of necessity during the early portion of the ‘09 season.

In addition to his CB duties, Mouton also served as the team’s punt returner in an ill-fated experiment that was plagued by costly fumbles.

Considering his struggles and the team’s decision to select him over local favorite D.J. Moore, let’s just say that Mouton got off to a rough start as a Tennessee Titan. Grade: D-

As for McCourty, he also had his share of struggles defending NFL wide receivers, but played solidly on special teams. Despite being drafted a few rounds lower than Mouton, I actually like McCourty’s upside a little better due to his size and speed combination. Grade: D+

Great hopes, poor results

One of the highlights of OTA’s and mini-camps was the constant display of athleticism from rookie TE Jared Cook. Judging by the rave reviews, Cook seemed poised to emerge as a contributor during his rookie season.

Unfortunately, Cook wasn’t able to live up to the offseason hype as he only accounted for 9 catches for 74 yards in his rookie campaign.

Hopefully, bigger and better things will be in store for Cook in 2010, especially considering the fact that he cost the Titans a 2nd round pick in April’s draft. Grade: D

Dominique Edison’s solid preseason performance caused some to think that if given the opportunity, he could produce a little. Unfortunately, the opportunity never arose for Edison, who did his best Paul Williams impression by not catching a single pass as a rookie. Grade: D-

Javon Ringer was another guy who played extremely well in the preseason but was unable to produce when the games mattered.

Of course, considering Chris Johnson’s record-breaking season, carries were hard to come by in the Titans’ backfield…just ask LenDale White.

As a result of the dearth of opportunities for Ringer to shine, I’ll give him a Matthew Mulligan for now. Grade: Incomplete

The rest of the bunch

Considering the talent ahead of him, it’s no surprise that we didn’t see much of OL Troy Kropog in ‘09. He’s still a big and talented kid, so hopefully he’ll emerge as a solid backup to Michael Roos and Big Country at the tackle position moving forward. Grade: Incomplete

Not sure if they have futures in Nashville, but at least for the time being, S Nick Schommer and OL Ryan Durand hung around via the practice squad.

Based on the uphill climb facing them as they try to stick around on the Titans’ roster, I’ll grade them harshly for now (Someone’s gotta fail, right?) Grades: F, F

Have any thoughts about my grades for the rookies? Feel free to post them in the comments section below.