Archive for October, 2010

Eytan Shander, Matt Martucci and Ryan Messick weigh in with postgame thoughts after the Eagles 17-12 loss to the Redskins. Postgame Podcast – Week 4

Mike Shanahan did something Eagles fans have urged Andy Reid to do for the better part of a decade.  He took the pressure off of Donovan McNabb by running the ball early and often, and it led to a 17-12 victory.  Throughout the game, Shanahan and his staff outcoached Reid and company thoroughly. With all of the focus on McNabb coming into today’s contest, Shanahan and company ran the ball on 9 of the first 11 plays from scrimmage. “You get into a throwing game, especially here, in this environment with the crowd, usually you’re in for a long day,” [...]

Donovan McNabb’s return to the City of Brotherly Love followed a recipe Philadelphians are all too familiar with. Take one part injuries, one part penalties and throw in two parts poor clock management and you get an Eagles loss.

The Eagles couldn’t have had a worse start in Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia, falling 1-12 in a game marred by injuries, penalties and coaching errors. McNabb threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley to put the Redskins on top 14-0 and on the last play of the first quarter, Michael Vick was injured diving towards the goal line on a play that would be brought back for holding.  Vick has not returned, with Kevin Kolb running the Eagles offense. Things were off to a poor start right away, with the Eagles going three and out before a 58-yard [...]

After three quarters, the Eagles trail the Redskins 17-6 in a game marred by injuries, poor clock management and penalties.  Donovan McNabb is 6-of-13 for 115 yards, a touchdown and a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley in his return to Philadelphia.  Michael Vick left the game with a chest and rib injury at the end of the first quarter in his first home start with the Eagles and will not return. The Redskins have used the ground game to punish the Eagles, running 24 times for 109 yards and a 12-yard touchdown by Ryan Torain.  Philadelphia has taken 7 [...]

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will not return to today’s game against the Redskins, according to the team.  Vick sustained a rib and chest injury while diving towards the end zone at the end of the first quarter.  The Eagles did not announce the results of Vick’s x-rays. Vick had won the starting job away from Kevin Kolb in the season opener when Kolb sustained a concussion and Vick’s play earned him the spot. Over the last three weeks, Vick found himself second in the NFL in passer rating.  Vick was 5-of-7 for 49 yards before the injury, with 3 runs [...]

The Eagles couldn’t have had a worse start in Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia.  The former Eagle threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley to put the Redskins on top 14-0 and on the last play of the first quarter, Michael Vick was injured diving towards the goal line on a play that would be brought back for holding.  Vick has not returned, with Kevin Kolb running the Eagles offense. Things were off to a poor start right away, with the Eagles going three and out before a 58-yard punt return by Brandon Banks to the Eagles’ 37-yardline.  After [...]

UDPATE: Michael Vick has been taken to the locker room with a rib injury and his return is questionable. The Eagles couldn’t have had a worse start in Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia.  The former Eagle threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley to put the Redskins on top 14-0 and on the last play of the first quarter, Michael Vick was injured diving towards the goal line on a play that would be brought back for holding.  Vick has not returned. Things were off to a poor start right away, with the Eagles going three and out before [...]

5. Defensive Intensity – The Eagles were last in the league in points against after two games, but held the Jaguars to 3 last week.  Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott had more or less called the defense out during the week leading up to the game, asking for more physicality and intensity.  Today, the Eagles defense needs to play the same way without the extra motivation during the week.  Given the scale of the game, it shouldn’t be too hard. 4. Shut Down Santana – The Redskins don’t have many weapons in the passing game beyond Santana Moss.  Washington’s top target [...]

As Donovan McNabb makes his return to Philadelphia, the drama is palpable.  Whether it’s the energy on sports talk radio leading up to the game, the chaos amongst tailgaters outside Lincoln Financial Field, or the numerous storylines at play, there’s no denying this is a game of massive importance. First and foremost, McNabb is making his first return to the city he led to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl loss, appearing in front of a fan base that was polarized around him for many of his 11 years in Philadelphia. Less discussed, but of much interest as [...]

While most of the hype surrounding today’s enormous showdown between the Eagles and Redskins centers around Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia, this game means much more than that to these two teams.  An Eagles win will likely make this the biggest game Washington plays all year, leaving Philadelphia in control of the division. With the Redskins coming in at 1-2 and as five point underdogs, their season may be on the line.  Since the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970, 375 teams have started a season 1-3.  Just 29 of them have gone on to make the playoffs, leaving the odds below [...]

When the Eagles traded for Reggie Wells, the plan seemed pretty simple – to have him compete for a starting spot at right guard.  Philadelphia had just given up on the Stacy Andrews experiment, leaving Nick Cole as the only right guard.  After Cole left the game with a knee injury last week, Wells filled in for three quarters. This week though, it’s been Max Jean-Gilles taking the reps in the place of the injured Cole.   “I’ll just make that a game-day decision between [Nick Cole] and Max [Jean-Gilles],” head coach Andy Reid said. “Max obviously has gotten the reps, [...]