Inside the Iggles - A Philadelphia Eagles Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

According to several reports, the Oakland Raiders will hire former Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen after only one season as Denver’s defensive coordinator to become the team’s next head coach.

What’s this have to do with the Eagles, you ask?

The Eagles could have had Dennis Allen. Now he's in Oakland--as a head coach.

Well, quite a bit, actually.

Check this out–Allen was one of the candidates passed over last offseason in favor of Eagles current defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Allen wasn’t extended a contract offer by the Eagles, so he ended up in Denver where he engineered one of the league’s best defensive units.

Yeah, I know, it was “Tebow Time” in Denver this season, but it was often Denver’s defense that carried the team as its offense sputtered early in games.

Allen deserves as much credit as anyone for Denver’s turnaround and getting the team to the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

Feeling bitter yet? Check this out.

Apparently, Allen had an extremely impressive interview with new Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie, because he landed the job over, yep, you guessed it, current Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

So let’s get this straight.

The Eagles chose Castillo, a guy with no defensive background at the professional or collegiate level, over a guy who quickly went on to land a head coaching gig–beating out another Eagles coach to do it.

That’s terrific.

Meanwhile, there’s been no official word if Castillo will even be back as the team’s defensive coordinator next season.

But be comforted, folks–I’m sure Juan is working really hard somewhere right now.

Brent Celek is one lucky guy.

Philadelphia police say the Eagles tight end was a passenger early this morning in a DUI car accident.

Reportedly, Celek was with four others when the driver crashed his Audi off an exit ramp near Packer Avenue in South Philadelphia.

The driver failed sobriety tests, but nobody was hurt in the wreck.

The Eagles and Celek have yet to comment on the incident.

This is an Eagles site and all. I get that. But anytime a prominent NFL player calls ESPN’s Skip Bayless a douchebag, well, I just can’t pass that shit up.

Enjoy, as the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs calls out Mr. Bayless on ESPN’s offering of human feces for television breakfast, also known as First Take.

Not only does this site deliver the goods–news, analysis and humor, but now we’re covering gossip, too.

Yeah, that’s right–we’re getting our TMZ on.

Michael Vick won’t be getting a Super Bowl ring in 2012, but he’s reportedly ready to secure a wedding ring.

That's cute as a puppy--one that's alive.

Vick is set to marry his longtime girlfriend, Kijafa Frink, in June of this year.

Frink is a true ride or die chick, sticking with Vick despite his public battering over the past few years. Clearly, she sees the goodness in the Eagles quarterback (or the sweet, sweet contract he signed after the 2010 season).

It’s like they say–true love is blind. And it’s definitely blind to killing dogs and redzone turnovers. ‘Naw mean?

Whatever, good for Vick. And good for Frink, too.

Lock it up, Mike. And then lock up that Super Bowl ring next January, too.

Please. I beg of you.

It was a typical Monday morning.

I woke up in a bit of a fog, perplexed at how my alarm clock could ring so soon. I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, turned on the light and took a piss. Midstream, as my flow veered to the right and hit the toilet seat, I realized what had happened last night was in fact true:

The New York Giants are going to the f****** Super Bowl.

So I took some toilet paper and cleaned up my piss, all while realizing my worst fear had come true. And then I checked out the New York Daily News and saw this front page over to the right here.

What’s the point of this tale, you ask? I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that cleaning my early morning misdirected piss flow off the toilet seat was the best thing that happened to me this morning.

It’s going to be a long two weeks.

I’m sick about the New York Giants advancing to the Super Bowl. You know, the same team that Vince Young and the Eagles beat only two months ago. But hey, it happens. But then I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started to think about all of the people who I’m better than on this Monday morning. And I came up with three people: Kyle Williams, Billy Cundiff, and David Akers. Now, Williams and Cundiff are obvious selections. But then there is Akers, the former Eagles kicker who suffered yet another miserable postseason defeat last night. He’s now suffered an astounding ten postseason defeats. How’s this for excruciating:

2000: NFC Divisional Playoff: Loss to Giants
2001: NFCCG: Loss to Rams
2002: NFCCG: Loss to Bucs
2003: NFCCG: Loss to Panthers
2004: Super Bowl: Loss to Patriots
2006: NFC Divisional Playoff: Loss to Saints
2008: NFCCG: Loss to Cardinals
2009: NFC Wild Card: Loss to Cowboys
2010: NFC Wild Card: Loss to Packers (his signature choke game)
2011: NFCCG: Loss to Giants

That’s five losses in the NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl loss, with a sprinkle of early round exits mixed in. Poor bastard.

Well, here we are. Championship Sunday. Two highly anticipated games that could result in the Brothers Harbaugh squaring off for a Super Bowl title in two weeks, or a highly anticipated Super Bowl XLII rematch between the Giants and Patriots…or something completely different.

The money will be flowing this afternoon as bettors watch intently to see which two teams will advance to Indianapolis, so let’s take a look at some betting angles for today’s games.

Baltimore at New England (-7, O/U 50) 3:00 p.m. EST (CBS)

Joe Flacco finally gets a chance to prove he’s a big time quarterback and earn the respect that has eluded him despite a terrific record in his limited time as Baltimore’s starting quarterback. But can he do it?

Obviously, the vaunted Ravens defense will have to play well if Baltimore is to advance, but Flacco will have to be far better than he was at home against the Texans last week.

Tom Brady appears locked in and I’m not sure that any team, even the Ravens, can slow down the Patriots’ two tight end attack.

Some things to consider, courtesy of Walterfootball.com:

Favorites of 7+ in conference championships are 3-7 ATS since 1997.
Patriots are 23-13 ATS in December & January home games since 2000.
Tom Brady is 134-43 as a starter (104-69 ATS).
Tom Brady is 15-5 in the playoffs (9-11 ATS).

I think the Patriots will win the game, but won’t cover.

Patriots 27, Ravens 23

New York Giants at San Francisco (-2, O/U 50) 6:30 p.m. EST (FOX)

The Vegas money is heavy on New York, but the line has only moved a half-point. I think there’s a reason for that. I’m not going to pick this game against the spread because I can’t do it without bias. I will say, however, that I believe that at first glance this is a game the Giants should win, but…I just have this funny feeling they won’t. We’ll see.

49ers 20, Giants 17

Sad news to report on this snowy Saturday evening. It appears Joe Paterno’s recent battle with lung cancer has taken a turn for the worst, with the 85-year-old’s wife, Sue, reportedly asking close friends and family to say their final goodbyes.

There are multiple unconfirmed reports that Paterno has been taken off a respirator and has been read his last rites.

Paterno was diagnosed with the disease only days after his controversial dismissal as Penn State’s head football coach on Nov. 9.

Best wishes to Paterno and his family during these difficult times.

With reports that former Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo has accepted an offer to revamp an inconsistent Saints’ defense, further uncertainty now surrounds the Eagles’ plans on the defensive side of the ball.

Juan more year.

While many (myself included) wanted to see Spagnuolo land in Philly, he is also not the Eagles’ only option. They could bring in a guy like former Jags head coach Jack Del Rio, or interview other teams’ defensive assistants. Remember, Steve Spagnuolo wasn’t always the well-known defensive mastermind who drew up a perfect gameplan to shut down Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl . Guys like Spagnuolo have to get a shot–and maybe that next guy is out there.

Or…

They could stick with current defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. And I’m getting the hunch that’s precisely what the Eagles intend to do. As Andy Reid continues his offseason silence, it’s beginning to look more and more likely that the team simply believes the continuity of Castillo’s system gives the Eagles the best chance to win.

While I absolutely don’t agree with that assessment, one can’t fault the Eagles for wanting to limit offseason turnover–in their post-season evaluations, such drastic turnover is one of key areas they believe led to their downfall last season.

I’m not particularly excited about the prospect of status quo in Philadelphia, but the Eagles aren’t going to make a change just for hell of it or just because fans want it, so I’m willing to wager status quo is exactly what we’re going to get.