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# 29
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EAGLES - Week Six Analysis
« on: Oct 10th, 2003, 11:53pm » |
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The Eagles and Cowboys renew a chapter last addressed in the early 1990s. Both teams are fighting for the top spot in the NFC East. The Cowboys have climbed to the top with a surprising offense and an expectedly aggressive defense. The Eagles have battled back from an 0-2 start despite the poor play of their franchise QB and an injury-riddled defense. QB: Donovan McNabb has yet to put together an impressive game, though he has improved from a pitiful start. Look for McNabb to struggle some more, but make just enough big plays to keep the Eagles in the game. McNabb: 29-42 258 yards, 2 pass TD, 1 INT, 47 rush yards RB: The Eagles are embracing the RBBC routine and using it to some success over the past two weeks. They have used all three RBs (and the fullback) at some point during the season. Westbrook: 10 carries-48 yards, 2 TDs, 4 catches-34 yards Staley: 4 carries-14 yards, 3 catches-21 yards, 1 TD Buckhalter: 5 carries-12 yards, 2 catches-12 yards WR: Since McNabb has struggled, the WRs have yet to do much of anything to excite their fantasy owners. Pinkston: 5 catches-62 yards Thrash: 4 catches-41 yards Mitchell: 4 catches-48 yards TE: LJ Smith has emerged as a new weapon for the Eagles offense. Look for him to continue to improve as the season progresses. Smith: 6 catches-33 yards Lewis: 1 catch-7 yards K: Akers is the best kicker in the league. If he gets opportunities, he'll convert them. Akers: 4-4 XP, 1-1 FG Defense: The defense should get Troy Vincent back this week, but will still be young in the secondary with Taylor and Dawkins still out. The D-line (also quite injured) played very well last week and pressured Ramsey all game long. Defense: 23 points allowed, 80 rush yards allowed, 270 pass yards allowed, 2 INTs, 3 sacks FINAL SCORE: Cowboys 23 Eagles 31
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UFF Primetime Prophet
    
# 29
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Re: EAGLES - Week Six Analysis
« Reply #2 on: Oct 13th, 2003, 10:02am » |
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on Oct 10th, 2003, 11:53pm, Philly wrote:QB: Donovan McNabb has yet to put together an impressive game, though he has improved from a pitiful start. Look for McNabb to struggle some more, but make just enough big plays to keep the Eagles in the game. McNabb: 29-42 258 yards, 2 pass TD, 1 INT, 47 rush yards Actual: 11-26 126 yards, 1 pass TD, 0 INT, 5 rush yards It might be time to sit McNabb and his $112 million contract. His performance is hurting the team. RB: The Eagles are embracing the RBBC routine and using it to some success over the past two weeks. They have used all three RBs (and the fullback) at some point during the season. Westbrook: 10 carries-48 yards, 2 TDs, 4 catches-34 yards Staley: 4 carries-14 yards, 3 catches-21 yards, 1 TD Buckhalter: 5 carries-12 yards, 2 catches-12 yards Actual: Westbrook: 8 carries-37 yards, 1 TD Staley: 7 carries-28 yards, 3 catches-66 yards, 1 TD Buckhalter: 11 carries-52 yards, 1 TD, 1 catch-2 yards Westbrook is looking very good, but left the game with a bruised hip. Staley and Buckhalter each produced yesterday. I have no complaints about the rushing attack now. They just need to keep it up. WR: Since McNabb has struggled, the WRs have yet to do much of anything to excite their fantasy owners. Pinkston: 5 catches-62 yards Thrash: 4 catches-41 yards Mitchell: 4 catches-48 yards Actual: Pinkston: 0-0 Thrash: 3 catches-15 yards Mitchell: 1 catch-27 yards This isn't a very good group of receivers, but they've got NO chance if McNabb can't get the ball to them. TE: LJ Smith has emerged as a new weapon for the Eagles offense. Look for him to continue to improve as the season progresses. Smith: 6 catches-33 yards Lewis: 1 catch-7 yards Actual: Smith: 1 catch-5 yards Lewis: 1 catch-9 yards Both were used as blockers more than anything else yesterday, and proved to be fairly ineffective as blockers. K: Akers is the best kicker in the league. If he gets opportunities, he'll convert them. Akers: 4-4 XP, 1-1 FG Actual: 3-3 XP The best kicker in the league might have actually lost the game for the Eagles with his terrible onside kick to open the game. He actually kicked the ball behind his coverage. Thought he might get a chance to atone for this mistake with a 60+ yard attempt at the end of the game, but he never got the chance. Defense: The defense should get Troy Vincent back this week, but will still be young in the secondary with Taylor and Dawkins still out. The D-line (also quite injured) played very well last week and pressured Ramsey all game long. Defense: 23 points allowed, 80 rush yards allowed, 270 pass yards allowed, 2 INTs, 3 sacks Actual: 23 points allowed, 119 rush yards allowed, 183 pass yards allowed, 1 INT, 1 sack The defense played very well until the very end of the game. Despite giving up 119 rush yards, they allowed just over 3 yards a carry. The pass defense also played their best game of the season. FINAL SCORE: Cowboys 23 Eagles 31 The Eagles were unable to keep their offense moving. They ran the ball well, but their inability to pass the ball at all kept the Eagles from dominating with the run. McNabb played terribly, although the coach seems to be blaming it on a mysterious thumb injury. The defense kept the team in the game until a FG drive at the end of the game right after the Eagles had taken a 21-20 lead. It will be interesting to see what kind of spin Coach Reid puts on things this week. |
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UFF Primetime Prophet
    
# 29
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Re: EAGLES - Week Six Analysis
« Reply #3 on: Oct 13th, 2003, 3:37pm » |
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I think, ultimately, the whole offensive issue comes down to McNabb. Last season the offense was a scoring machine. McNabb was running the same plays, had the same O-line, same receivers, and fewer RB/TE/FB options. I really thought the offense would be amazing this year. Now they have a legitimate blocking back in Ritchie, one who can catch a pass when needed. They also added a TE who can stretch the field and beat LBs. Andy Reid was still the same stubborn coach last year, so the only thing that we can really point to is McNabb. Apparently he hurt his thumb in the Buffalo game, but nothing was ever said about it until this weekend when he had it taped up. McNabb was never an accurate passer, and still isn't. So it all looks to be a mental thing with him dating back to the injury last year. He was not good when he came back in the playoffs last year and has not had a good game since then.
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