3 huge Eagles surprises, a pair of disappointments from 1st half of Philly's season

Another nice surprise: Kevin Byard's addition

At this point, one has to wonder why anyone in the Tennessee Titans' front office still answers the phone when Howie Roseman calls. Philly's vice president/general manager again fleeced the two-tone blue for one of their best players.

This time, Kevin Byard was the prize. He got off to a slow start during his first two games with the Eagles. Still, one has to believe that, with his talent, this trade is going to pay off for the Birds.

One not-so-nice surprise: Where the heck is Rashaad Penny?

The Eagles acquisition of Rashaad Penny and the low price they paid to add him gave many of us 'low-risk, high-reward' vibes. No one would have been shocked had he blown the doors off of his opportunity or if he had bombed and flamed out quickly. Few thought, however, that he'd be barely used and largely ignored.

During the spring and summer, we thought maybe about five to ten carries per contest would be optimal. Instead, Philly elected to deactivate him for all but two games, and he has five carries on his resume this season.

Who knows? Maybe the decision is to save him for the playoffs or maybe the decision has been made that there isn't much left.