Archive for November, 2010

The Eagles signed cornerback Brandon Hughes off of the New York Giants practice squad today and officially placed injured corner Ellis Hobbs on injured reserve. Hobbs suffered a disc injury in his neck after being hit on the opening kick return of the second half.

Hughes is a second year player out of Oregon State. The 5’11, 188 pound corner was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft, but never made an active roster. He becomes the sixth corner on the Eagles active roster.

Here are my power rankings through Week 12.  The top doesn’t change too much, but the Cowboys and Titans are big movers this week. 1. New England Patriots (8-2) – Wins over the Colts and Steelers over the last two weeks are highly impressive.  New England visits Detroit next, with a big one looming on Monday, December 6, against the New York Jets. 2. Philadelphia Eagles (7-3) – The win over the Giants, if anything, improves Philadelphia’s stock.  They showed they can win when Vick and company aren’t firing on all eight cylinders, as the defense stepped up big.  Another [...]

Michael Vick is spending his day off speaking with students in New Haven, Conn., today about the consequences of dogfighting.  The quarterback, now just over 18 months removed from serving time in federal prison for his role in a dogfighting ring, has partnered with The Humane Society of the United States to share his story. Vick is appearing at Hillhouse High School and Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, the hometown of Wayne Pacelle, the president and CEO of The Humane Society.  Pacelle will also be in attendance.

Ryan Messick talks about the importance of Eagles quarterback Michael Vick avoiding big hits downfield and while passing, as he’s the most important player for Philadelphia to keep healthy for a Super Bowl run.

Up until Sunday Night, Michael Vick wasn’t just unstoppable, he was “unslowable.” Yes, the dynamic quarterback was good enough to warrant the invention of a brand new word.  Vick hadn’t been held to a quarterback rating below 90, had accounted for at least two touchdowns in every game he started and finished and was averaging 336.75 yards of total offense and 3.5 combined touchdowns in those four games. On Sunday Night, despite leading the Eagles to a win, Vick appeared to be a mere mortal, accounting for 292 yards of offense and just one touchdown, a 4-yard run. Vick also [...]

Eytan discusses the Eagles’ 27-17 win over the Giants from Lincoln Financial Field.

During the week, Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel mentioned that he was getting bored during games since no quarterbacks were throwing his way. The three-time Pro Bowler was anything but bored on Sunday Night, grabbing two interceptions and recovering a fumble in the Eagles 27-17 win over the Giants.

Asante Samuel has 42 career interceptions, including 36 over the last five years, the most by any player in any five year stretch in NFL history. Samuel estimated that he has 90 percent of the balls he’s picked off in his possession. Count the two he grabbed tonight among them, as Samuel showed his swagger by carrying both footballs to the podium for a post-game press conference.

It’s been a wacky year for the Eagles, with quarterback changes, increased expectations and constant twists and turns. Philadelphia’s had blowout wins, blown leads, nearly blown leads and a comeback fall just short. Tonight, though, the Eagles did something they hadn’t done in 2010. The Birds came from behind to score a late, game-winning touchdown. “It was good to see our team react, a young team against an NFC East opponent, a tough NFC East opponent, to get down and then come back and show that fight,” said Eagles head coach Andy Reid. “That will help us out down the [...]

tatistically, last night was the worst game of Michael Vick’s season. Intangibly, it was one of his finest. While Vick didn’t light up the scoreboard to the tune of 400 yards of offense or six touchdowns, like he did last week, he guided the Philadelphia Eagles back from a late 17-16 deficit to secure a critical win over the New York Giants.

“I told him I was proud of him,” said offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. “He had great poise. Michael showed great poise, great leadership in that situation and then we came back and won the game by 10, so I told him I was proud of that.”

For 55 minutes and 26 seconds, the Giants blitzing slowed down the Eagles offense. New York came at Philadelphia with an inordinate amount of zero blitzes, leaving no safety deep and bringing more pass rushers than the Eagles could block. It knocked the Eagles timing off just a bit, leading to slight overthrows and underthrows by Michael Vick and a few dropped passes by receivers.

“Well we got some to get down there against the blitz and then, ah, we were just off, and that bothers me now, and I know it bothers our players,” said offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. “So that was the first thing I heard from our players, ‘we’re going to get that thing taken care of.’”

After so much blitzing, with the game on the line, down 17-16 with 4:34 left and a 4th and 1 at the 50-yardline, the Eagles knew exactly what to expect. They also picked the perfect moment to get things taken care of, leading to a huge play.

The image that will forever be burned into the minds of those who watched tonight’s clash for first place in the NFC East between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants is that of LeSean McCoy turning the corner on 4th and 1 from midfield and dashing 50 yards to the end zone, giving the Eagles a 24-17 lead with less than five minutes remaining.  Philadelphia went on to win 27-17, but this was a win predicated on defense, not offense. The Giants brought their top-ranked defense and the best time of possession offense in the league to Lincoln Financial [...]

In a wild NFC East showdown marked by turnovers, penalties and mistakes on both sides, the Eagles survived with a 27-17 win over the Giants.  With the win, the Eagles improved to 7-3 and took sole possession of first place in the NFC East. The Giants fell to 6-4, currently out of the playoffs, one game back of the last wild card spot. Despite all of the talk about Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson and the Eagles high-flying passing attack, it was LeSean McCoy who made the play of the game, dashing 50 yards to the end zone on 4th and [...]