Archive for October, 2010

At halftime, the Eagles lead the 49ers 17-10 behind the strong play of Kevin Kolb, filling in for an injured Michael Vick.  Kolb is 12-of-14 for 123 yards and an 8-yard touchdown to Brent Celek, but did lose a fumble.  LeSean McCoy also has a 29-yard touchdown run.

The first quarter was not a good one for either defense, with both teams engineering touchdown drives to leave the game tied at 7. San Francisco’s Michael Crabtree caught a 7-yard pass from Alex Smith to open the scoring, while Philadelphia answered with a strike from Kevin Kolb to Brent Celek.

5. Reid’s Decisions – Andy Reid needs to avoid overthinking anything in this game and he can’t afford any costly mistakes like the delay of game on 4th and goal from the 1-yardline in a game that comes close to a must-win in Week 5. 4. Win Turnover Battle – Alex Smith has thrown just 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.  Against an 0-4 San Francisco team, Philadelphia needs to take care of the ball on the road and capitalize when Smith and the 49ers make mistakes. 3. Stop Gore, Make Smith Beat You – Frank Gore is a top-notch running [...]

It’s been an up and down year for Kevin Kolb, who just a month ago was still viewed as the future of the Eagles franchise.  After losing his job to Michael Vick while out with a concussion, Kolb gets a second chance with Vick sidelined with a rib injury. The 26-year-old admits things haven’t gone the way he hoped, but Kolb doesn’t want to let it affect his approach to tonight’s game.  “I mean, it has been a different year than I played out in my head, but here we are in week five and I’m starting, so we need [...]

UPDATE: The Eagles signed Hall to the 53-man roster and released Antwan Barnes on Saturday. 5’8, 187 pound undrafted free agents typically have a short shelf-life in the NFL.  They don’t tend to make it beyond training camp, if they even survive the first round of cuts.  Don’t tell that to Chad Hall. The Eagles signed the 2008 Air Force graduate to their practice squad, and now due to a series of transactions and injuries, Hall may be in line for some playing time.  The Birds released Hank Baskett on September 21st, leaving them with just four wide receivers on [...]

It’s hard not to notice the magic just down the street from the Nova Care Center, especially in the wake of Roy Halladay’s historic no hitter. So as the city of Philadelphia continues its love affair with a Phillies squad that’s on the verge of hearing the “D” word (dynasty) thrown around, many Eagles are taking notice.

LeSean McCoy returned to the practice field today with his fractured rib and head coach Andy Reid said he will be ready to handle his normal duties on Sunday.  “I think he’s OK to go,” Reid said. “He feels good and you know, we’ll see by game time, but I think he’s going to be OK to go and do the normal load that he’s been doing.” McCoy will wear a flak jacket to protect his rib and says he’s tested out the equipment and feels comfortable in it.  “Actually, it helps me out a lot. It kind of fits [...]

This week on ITI Weekly, Ryan Messick and Eytan Shander discuss the first quarter of the Eagles season,  Andy Reid’s game management last week, injuries and the San Francisco 49ers.  Note: This show was recorded before LeSean McCoy returned to practice, but it has now been announced that McCoy will play. Weekly Show – October 8, 2010

This might not be quite what NBC had in mind when they scheduled Philadelphia and San Francisco for a Sunday Night showdown in Brian Westbrook’s first game against his former team.  Westbrook has just 3 touches for a grand total of 6 yards through four games and his 49ers are 0-4, desperate for a win. “When [Brian Westbrook] comes on the field we have to be aware of it from a defensive standpoint,” said defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. “That said, he’s only been on the field a handful of times this year for them.” On the other hand, the 2-2 [...]

Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott has been preaching physicality all year.  For whatever reason, his players have only shown the desired tenacity in spurts.  It’s been particularly noticeable against the run, where the Eagles rank 27th in the NFL. Sean McDermott hopes that inserting Moise Fokou into the lineup for Akeem Jordan at strong side linebacker leads to improvements. “Right now I feel that what our defense needs is for a physical presence to be inserted into the defense and that’s Moise, ” said McDermott. The defensive coordinator has mentioned a few times this year that Jordan needed to play [...]

In my weekly article on NFL.com, I addressed how thin the Eagles are at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. It’s definitely a big change from the preseason. Read the full article on NFL Blog Blitz.

Philadelphia Eagles are dealing with a major blow to one of the most important positions on the team, one that puts Mike Vick’s inured ribs on the back burner. It’s about LeSean McCoy’s broken rib and how he is the only running back on the team the Eagles have counted on all year. Granted it’s week 5 now, and the Birds are 2-2 mostly behind Vick’s abilities to shadow the rest of the issues with this team. But as something that was a growing concern for me and a lot of other people heading into the season, the Eagles are [...]