Today in Tampa: Eagles/Bucs (from Matt)
(Sherri here for a brief setup: I’m ceding the keyboard over to my Matt, soon to be Metroblogging Matt.)
“THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!!!”
30 seconds later: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????”
I need to start with the bad news first. The Eagles have now given away three games. All were winnable and all were lost by dumb mistakes. I saw someone compare them to the 2005 Chargers on a message board and I have to say agree; the 2005 Chargers were 9-7 and lost 5 of them by 4 points or less. They just kept finding ways to lose.
Good news… what’s the point. It’s time to face reality, and reality’s name is 4-3.
Going into this game, the biggest things I was worried about were the 90-degree weather in Tampa and Jon Gruden, who’s an excellent game planner and who knows the Eagles’ offense better than half of the players. I hoped that Donte Stallworth would come back from his injuries and that Jim Johnson would confuse the Bucs’ rookie quarterback so much he’d be throwing the ball the wrong way. I hoped against hope that the Eagles would run the ball, with the Bucs’ run defense ranked 26th in the league.
Players wilted under the heat; at times the Eagles looked slap-happy. I don’t know what the reporters are going to say, but I think Gruden told the Bucs’ defenders what to look for with Donovan McNabb, and that’s what caused three interceptions. No Donte, but Brian Westbrook played like two players (let’s hear it for the Bucs’ run defense! and 90-degree heat!) and Reggie Brown played like a kid on his way to being an All Pro. Johnson had Gradowski so confused he might as well have been wearing his helmet on backwards.
*Sigh*. When I read off the pluses and minuses, I start to think that it took a miraculous 62-yard field goal to beat us, and it wasn’t so bad. Then I remember that the Bucs were 1-5 coming into this game, that the Eagles had only two sacks (but none really worth mentioning), and what the bloody hell were they thinking throwing to the 3-yard line at the end of the first half with 3 seconds left????
Current prediction, 9-7 or 8-8. The team plays hard and shows veteran resilience, but they’re shooting themselves in the foot too much to win consistently.
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I got back in from the store and flicked on the TV to find out that somehow the Eagles were attempting to ruin my fine day by winning. And then I hear the announcer stating that the Bucs were going to attempt a 62 yard field goal and I laughed, thinking there is no way. And then he kicked it straight, on target and I laughed, and laughed some more. Even the Eagles couldn’t ruin this day by winning, Bob Clarke was gone and God was on my side today granting my sports wishes. Although the Dolphins still lost.
Anyway since I have gotten that out of the way, time to move on.
Matt, I think that you are giving this team too much credit to think they are as good as those Chargers were. Yes there are comparisons but that Chargers team was younger than this Eagles team and had a whole lot less experience. So far when the Eagles play a good team they struggle. The Giants, coughed it up with a complete and utter collapse. Dallas, tried real hard to cough it up despite Dallas choking on their own, As much as Eagles fans like to relish in the fact that the blew out the Cowboys, remember that it was one play away from being a tie game. New Orleans, coughed it up. Tampa, coughed it up as well and Tampa despite their record aren’t as bad a team as Eagles fans want to believe, they beat the Bengals last week.
Looking at their schedule I think they have three wins left in them. Next week against Jacksonville is a loss. Coming off their bye against Washington is a win. Tennessee is a win. Indy is a loss. Carolina is a loss. At Washington is a win. At the Giants is a loss. At the Cowboys is a loss. Finishing out the season agaisnt Atlanta is a loss. 7-9.
But don’t worry, you can always mock me because the Dolphins might not win again this season.
I’m willing to hope for a split with the Cowboys and Giants. Agree that we don’t have the young-team upside that the Chargers did. With young guys you can hope their problems go away, but we’ve had time management problems and dropped balls for years now.