Super Blog

My heart hurts. The Eagles had their chances, but three interceptions and a fumble will not get it done against the Patriots. New England is not a dominant team, no matter what anyone says. Three Super Bowl wins is four years is excellent, but each one was by a field goal. Dominant teams dominate. Here's some of my blow-by-blow.

(All times are Mountain Standard Time.)

4.33: Five captains for each team? Really?
4.35: I don't think the coin actually flipped. It looked like that little kid simply threw it up. Weak flip.
First Quarter:
4.38: Terrell Owens makes a 7-yard catch and looks good. He finishes with 9 catches for 122 and disses Brett Favre in the post-game news conference. Now I love him.
4.41: McNabb fumbles! It's overturned. Not a good omen for D. McNabb.
4.48: David Patten has alligator arms on a deep throw and takes a shot from Brian Dawkins. If Todd Pinkston does that, the Fox broadcasters rip him.
5.02: Screen pass to Brian Westbrook -- first down! Shocking that that works. They will not do it enough.
5.07: Great run by Owens after the catch. We won't see enough of that.
5.08: On first and goal, McNabb takes a 16-yard sack. You can't do that!!!!
5.09: Interception in the end zone nullified by a defensive penalty. Have the Eagles learned anything ...?
5.13: NO! McNabb throws it into double coverage (why, Donovan?) and it's picked at the goal line. The Eagles blow a chance for at least 3 points, if not 7. You cannot do that against the Patriots!
5.17: Beautiful tackle by Corey Simon on Corey Dillon. Dillon never really got going, a supposed key for the Patriots, but he did enough.
5.20: Fumble by L.J. Smith! You cannot turn the ball over against the Patriots!!!
5.23: End of the first quarter. 0-0.

Donovan McNabb looks nervous. Why, I don't know. He should have no pressure on him, because no one thinks the Eagles are going to win. But he's tight. The Eagles aren't running the ball either, which doesn't mean much since they don't run well, but running the ball sets up the play action, and without that, the Patriots can just tee off on McNabb, which they are doing. The defense is playing really well.

Second Quarter:
5.25: Big sack on Tom Brady. They do not get enough pressure on Brady throughout the game. This is a problem.
5.28: My wife and I like to joke whenever Todd Pinkston catches a ball that "Pinkston's key!" He catches a ball!
5.29: Pinkston really is key! Huge 40-yard pass downfield. I'm still not sure why teams don't go downfield on the Patriots more. If it's picked, so what? You have to put pressure on them! Fortune favors the bold! You can't beat the Patriots if you're wimpy! This will be a problem for the Eagles after this play.
5.32: 7-yard touchdown pass to L.J. Smith! Excellent pass by McNabb -- one of the few he will make (he completes 30 passes, but only a few are truly excellent). The first time the Patriots trail in the postseason. That's not good, especially since the Eagle defense tends to relax after the offense scores.
5.39-5.41: Let's see ... 13-yard screen to Corey Dillon. That can't work again, can it? Okay, 15-yard screen to Corey Dillon. Sheesh. 8-yard run by Kevin Faulk, 5-yard run by Kevin Faulk, 13-yard pass to David Givens -- JESUS! Wait, it's a fumble! No, it's not, because it's the Patriots, so it's overturned. Shit. But the Eagles defense gets a nice breather, so they can stop the Patriots, right? Well ...
5.46: 25-yard run by Corey Dillon! JESUS F. CHRIST!
5.48: Fumble! Eagles recover at the 12. Holy shit, a New England turnover. Now, even though it's at the 12, a truly great team would make them pay and take it right down the field and score!
5.50: After losing 1 yard on 3 plays, the Eagles punt. And it's lousy. Good job, Philadelphia.
6.00: Touchdown pass to David Givens, who's wide freakin' open. I mean, I could have caught that pass. I just can't believe it. Shouldn't someone cover a receiver in the end zone? Am I not understanding how to play the game?
6.02: Nice kickoff return -- wiped out by a holding call on Jeff Thomason, who two weeks ago was working construction. Nice job, Jeff.
6.10: End of the half, tied 7-7.

I feel badly about the second half, because the Eagles have had chances to put the Patriots down, and they didn't take it. I worry about that. The Eagles had a first-and-goal and threw an interception, and they got the ball with 64 seconds left in the half with 3 timeouts and basically ran out the clock. Why not try to throw the ball downfield to at least try a field goal? What the crap is Andy Reid doing? Fortune favors the fucking bold, Andy!

The Eagles need to disguise their blitzes better. They're still not getting pressure on Brady. Westbrook needs to get the ball! What the crap?!?

Third Quarter:
6.41: Kickoff returned to the 31-yard line. The Eagles need a stop, or they're in trouble.
6.43: Blitz on third down and 6! 27-yard pass to Deion Branch. JESUS!
6.46: Third and 10. Perfect place for a stop. Whoops! 16-yard pass to Deion Branch. JESUS F. CHRIST!!!!
6.47: 20-yard pass to Deion Branch down to the 2. I don't want to be a whiny Eagles homer, but I hope everyone saw the illegal hands to the face on the center right out in the open. Throw the flag, officials! (Not that it would have made much difference, but still.)
6.47: Touchdown pass to Mike Vrabel. Excellent catch, especially for a fuckin' linebacker. Let him get a free release, Jevon Kearse, and then hold him. Yeah, that's smart.
6.55: Sack of McNabb. What the hell's wrong with him? He has yet to run at all during this game. In fact, he won't run at all. More on that later.
7.01: Ball tipped up in the air at the Patriots 10-yard line! Because it's the Patriots, two Eagles let in fall to the ground between them.
7.05: Pass to Westbrook for a first down. Shocking! It works!
7.06: Outside run by Westbrook. Shocking! That works too!
7.08: Something's wrong with Todd Pinkston. We find out later that it's cramps. In the first half: 4 catches, 82 yards. In the second half, nothing!
7.10: Beautiful catch by Westbrook on 3rd-and-3 on a pass behind him. McNabb still looks off.
7.11: 10-yard touchdown pass to Westbrook. Beautiful pass by McNabb as he's falling backward.
7.16: 14-yard screen pass to Kevin Faulk. Boy, neither team can stop that play.
7.19: Holding on Patrick Pass on a third-down run by Corey Dillon. Because it's the Patriots, they get away with it.
7.20: End of the third quarter. 14-14.

The Philadelphia offense is starting to play okay, but now the Eagles defense is looking bad, except for one series. I think the defense is getting tired because the Patriots keep bashing them. I worry about the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter:
7.23: Big run by Kevin Faulk. Sheesh.
7.24: 14-yard screen to Faulk. WTF????
7.24: 2-yard touchdown run by Corey Dillon. Shit.
7.29: McNabb has all day to pass, and he throws a low, shit pass to L.J. Smith. He's way off tonight. And he's still not running occasionally! Why?
7.29: 6-yard loss by Westbrook.
7.30: Long incompletion. That whole series was shit. And the punt is shit too.
7.33: 3-yard loss by Corey Dillon. The Eagles need a turnover.
7.34: So of course, it's a 19-yard pass to Deion Branch on a great catch. And tack on 15 yards for a roughing the passer call on Corey Simon.
7.40: Taquitos for dinner!
7.41: Field goal. Shit again.
7.45: Big pass to Owens for something like 35 yards. They just haven't done enough of that. The Eagles need a score here.
7.45: So of course, Tedy Bruschi intercepts the next pass. Cris Collinsworth, the worst announcer in football, says he just knows where the football is. Well, if McNabb doesn't overthrow a wide-open Dorsey Levens, Bruschi is sucking air trying to tackle him as he runs for a big gain. Sometimes, it's not about a great play by the defense. It's a shit play by the offense. Bruschi was in the right place, but McNabb's crap throw was the reason for the interception. Of course, when the Patriots need a turnover, they get it. I wrote "Game Over" in my notebook. The Eagles made it close, but that was really their last chance.
7.49: There's 5.40 to go in the game and the Eagles are throwing 3-yard passes to L.J. Smith from their own 21. The Eagles will prove that they have no sense of urgency and can't run a 2-minute drill to save their lives.
8.00: It's the 2-minute warning, and they still have the ball and are still moving slowly down the field. They're losing by 10 points! I told my wife if they wanted to have a chance, they would need to score by the 4-minute mark. It's the 2-minute warning and they're still at the New England 30! JESUS!
8.03: 30-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis. See what good things happen when you throw the ball downfield?
8.06: Shit onside kick. Patriots ball.
8.10: On third and five, Collinsworth assumes the Eagles will get the ball back and says, "If you're Donovan McNabb, you can't ask for a better situation than this." Um, how about the Eagles winning by a couple of touchdowns? Stupid Collinsworth.
8.13: Why do you let the punt hit the ground? If it goes in the end zone, it's only at the 20, and you might get a big return. Instead, it's at the five. Sheesh.
8.14: McNabb throws a 1-yard pass to Westbrook in the middle of the field with no timeouts. Granted, the Eagles are at the five with less than a minute left, but WTF?
8.15: Rodney Harrison's second interception. My wife looks at him celebrating and says, "They're dicks." How can you not love her?

So my beloved Eagles go down to defeat. I think they're well-placed for another run next year, but who knows -- injuries do happen. I just can't believe some things:

1. Why didn't they run a 2-minute offense at the end of either half? Andy Reid needs to work on that next year. I think it's because they never had to, so they didn't know how. At the end of the half, you get a field goal, you're tied. At the end of the game, if you score more quickly, you have more time at the end if you stop the Patriots. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

2. I understand that McNabb wants to be known as a throwing quarterback. But if you don't use all the weapons in your arsenal, namely running occasionally, how are you helping your team to win? Isn't it just selfish to say, "Well, we lost, but at least I proved I can throw the ball"? I don't want him running all the time, but a couple times tonight, he could have run, especially because a lot of his throws were crap.

3. As Gregg Easterbrook says (he's a columnist at NFL.com, and one of the best football writers around), "You don't dance with the champ, you have to knock him out." The Eagles had their chances to knock the Patriots out, but they chose to dance.

4. I'm learning to hate the Patriots. I'm learning to hate Boston in general. They have to start sucking soon. Besides, Bill Simmons is much funnier when his teams suck. Now he's just a guy who crows about how great his teams are.

When's training camp?