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        the Gridiron >> the Red Zone >>  EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
        
(Message started by: Philly on Oct 31st, 2003, 3:22pm)
Title: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by Philly on Oct 31st, 2003, 3:22pm
As poorly as the Eagles have played in recent weeks, they are still 4-1 over their last five games. The Eagles should be an easy pick over the dreadful Atlanta Falcons, but Atlanta is coming off a bye and the Eagles continue to suffer injury after injury.

The Eagles feature a dangerous running game which has been spearheaded by Brian Westbrook. Westbrook is not going to play Sunday after suffering a high ankle sprain last weekend.  Correll Buckhalter came in and filled in for Westbrook to the tune of 100 yards and a pair of TDs on 15 carries.  Staley showed some flashes when given the opportunity.  Their passing game, led by Donovan McNabb, was more efficient last week, but still has had trouble utilizing the wide receivers.

The Eagles defense suffered another setback when they lost DT Hollis Thomas for the year.  The aged Jim Flanigan was brought in to add some depth to a heavily depleted line which has managed to shut down the run in all but one game this year.  The linebackers have played very well and are the only unit to remain healthy. MLB Marc Simoneau climbed out of obscurity and was awarded the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October.  The award was a surprise to everyone.  The secondary has allowed some yardage, but is keeping teams off the scoreboard.  Bobby Taylor will probably sit out the game against Atlanta to further heal his injured foot.  Brian Dawkins is still progressing slowly and will not play Sunday.  Clinton Hart has filled in well for Dawkins, though he suffered a hip pointer last week but should still play against the Falcons.

The Atlanta offense has struggled mightily with the absence of Michael Vick.  Despite some decent games as a replacement, Doug Johnson has been sent to the bench in favor of rookie Kurt Kittner.  The duo of TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn has been serviceable, but not outstanding.  The receivers welcomed Brian Finneran back to a unit that has underachieved.  Even Alge Crumpler, who showed flashes of brilliance early in the season, has disappeared.

The Atlanta defense is the worst in the league just one year after surprising many teams with a formidable pass rush and aggressive attitude.  The entire secondary has been benched this week and the Falcons will go with backups in order to shake things up a bit. The Falcons have also been hurt by injuries as MLB Keith Brooking has broken vertebrae in his back.

While both of the teams are near the bottom in total offense, neither team has done much on defense either. Look for some points to be scored in the game with the Eagles better able to maintain continuity on offense.


QB:
Donovan McNabb completed a good number of his passes last week, though all of them were short high-percentage ones.  Look for McNabb to build on last week's effort, and with the running game opening up the secondary a bit, to go deep a few more times.  If he can complete the longer pass, he'll have a big day.
McNabb: 27-41 262 yards, 3 TDs, 4 carries-52 yards


RB:
The Eagles took a hit as their number one RB, Brian Westbrook, left the game last week with a severely sprained ankle which will also keep him out of this week's contest.  Fortunately, one of the benefits of RBBC is that the team has a number of RBs that the coach feels comfortable with and who have seen plenty of game action.  Look for a very solid day from the running game against a weakened Atlanta defense.
Buckhalter: 16 carries-88 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches-14 yards
Staley: 7 carries-35 yards, 3 catches-30 yards, 1 TD
Ritchie: 2 catches-11 yards


WR:
The weakest part of the offense this year has been the wideouts.  They have yet to find the endzone.  Thrash leads all Eagle receivers with only 214 yards.  Pinkston has managed only 5 catches in the past 4 games.  They should get off the snide a bit this week and find the endzone for the first time this season.
Thrash: 5 catches-44 yards
Pinkston: 6 catches-72 yards, 1 TD
Mitchell: 2 catches-33 yards


TE:
Chad Lewis will still catch a few short passes, but will be utilized more as a blocker.  Look for LJ Smith to add a big play this week.
Smith: 4 catches-41 yards, 1 TD
Lewis: 2 catches-17 yards


K:
David Akers should get his opportunities in this one, should it go the way I expect.  If he gets the opportunities, he'll convert them.
Akers: 4-4 XP, 2-2 FG


Defense:
Atlanta should have some success running the ball, especially with Warrick Dunn.  The Eagles, historically, have had some trouble with smaller, quicker backs.  With the interior of the defensive line banged up even further, Atlanta should find some lanes to sneak Dunn through.  If the Falcons can run the ball well, then look for Kittner to find Crumpler and Price a few times for nice gains.  The defense should be able to improve upon their negative turnover ration this week.
Defense: 17 points allowed, 115 rush yards allowed, 215 pass yards allowed, 2 INTs, 1 FR, 4 sacks


FINAL SCORE:
Eagles  34
Falcons 17
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by captainpurple on Nov 2nd, 2003, 12:34pm
Well done!  Appreciate all the work Philly  

[smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by Philly on Nov 3rd, 2003, 2:46pm

on 10/31/03 at 15:22:02, Philly wrote:
QB:
Donovan McNabb completed a good number of his passes last week, though all of them were short high-percentage ones.  Look for McNabb to build on last week's effort, and with the running game opening up the secondary a bit, to go deep a few more times.  If he can complete the longer pass, he'll have a big day.
McNabb: 27-41 262 yards, 3 TDs, 4 carries-52 yards
Actual: 21-33 312 yards, 1 TD, 2 carries-22 yards
McNabb was given the opportunity to throw often and managed to find some open receivers against the weird zone that Atlanta was running (their defensive backs and LBs were pointing and calling out to each other "You got that guy?  I've got this guy?" throughout the game). McNabb finally found a WR who could score as he hooked up with Freddie Mitchell for a 37-yarder early in the game.


RB:
The Eagles took a hit as their number one RB, Brian Westbrook, left the game last week with a severely sprained ankle which will also keep him out of this week's contest.  Fortunately, one of the benefits of RBBC is that the team has a number of RBs that the coach feels comfortable with and who have seen plenty of game action.  Look for a very solid day from the running game against a weakened Atlanta defense.
Buckhalter: 16 carries-88 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches-14 yards
Staley: 7 carries-35 yards, 3 catches-30 yards, 1 TD
Ritchie: 2 catches-11 yards
Actual:
Buckhalter: 23 carries-92 yards, 1 catch-18 yards
Staley: 3 carries-14 yards, 1 TD, 4 catches-38 yards
The Eagles were able to run the ball well throughout.  A balanced attack gave Buck and Duce some holes.  Look for more Buck next week as the Eagles will have to keep Favre and the Pack off the field as much as possible.


WR:
The weakest part of the offense this year has been the wideouts.  They have yet to find the endzone.  Thrash leads all Eagle receivers with only 214 yards.  Pinkston has managed only 5 catches in the past 4 games.  They should get off the snide a bit this week and find the endzone for the first time this season.
Thrash: 5 catches-44 yards
Pinkston: 6 catches-72 yards, 1 TD
Mitchell: 2 catches-33 yards
Actual:
Thrash: 4 catches-69 yards
Pinkston: 2 catches-15 yards
Mitchell: 2 catches-43 yards, 1 TD
G Lewis: 1 catch-18 yards
The receivers were a larger part of the game than they had been in any previous week this season.  Thrash and Mitchell were both able to catch balls across the middle in between layers of the zone.


TE:
Chad Lewis will still catch a few short passes, but will be utilized more as a blocker.  Look for LJ Smith to add a big play this week.
Smith: 4 catches-41 yards, 1 TD
Lewis: 2 catches-17 yards
Actual:
Smith: 6 catches-97 yards
Lewis: 1 catch-14 yards
LJ Smith had his biggest game as a pro.  He was consistently able to beat the slower LBs and out-physical the smaller DBs.  He didn't have any BIG plays, as I predicted, but the whole package was certainly impressive.  He's a keeper.


K:
David Akers should get his opportunities in this one, should it go the way I expect.  If he gets the opportunities, he'll convert them.
Akers: 4-4 XP, 2-2 FG
Actual: 2-2 XP, 3-4 FG
Despite being questionable before the game with an inflamed toe on his kicking foot, Akers played well.  His kickoffs found the goal line or deeper for the first time this season.  His one blocked FG attempt was a result of poor blocking up front.


Defense:
Atlanta should have some success running the ball, especially with Warrick Dunn.  The Eagles, historically, have had some trouble with smaller, quicker backs.  With the interior of the defensive line banged up even further, Atlanta should find some lanes to sneak Dunn through.  If the Falcons can run the ball well, then look for Kittner to find Crumpler and Price a few times for nice gains.  The defense should be able to improve upon their negative turnover ration this week.
Defense: 17 points allowed, 115 rush yards allowed, 215 pass yards allowed, 2 INTs, 1 FR, 4 sacks
Actual: 16 points allowed, 131 rush yards allowed, 164 pass yards allowed, 1 INT, 1 FR, 3 sacks
Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson has been able to create mismatches at the line despite the makeshift lineup he's had to work with.  The Falcons were able to run the ball with some success, though they couldn't maintain it well enough to win.


FINAL SCORE:
Eagles  34
Falcons 17

Actual:
Eagles 23
Falcons 16
I thought there would be a few more points scored than there were.  The Eagles gave away some opportunities because of the bungling of the head coach.  He wasted a timeout early in the game when he challenged an offsides call, a play that everyone knows cannot be challenged.  Then a FG opportunity was lost before halftime because of the lack of a timeout and the bad decision of James Thrash.  There was also some questionable play-calling in the red zone and more time mismanagement in the second half.



Believe it or not, there were no major injuries for the Eagles in this game.  McNabb got a little banged up again, but should be fine for the upcoming MNF game against the Pack.  Jerome McDougle should see his first action of the season in week 10.  Brian Dawkins, Bobby Taylor, and Brian Westbrook are all making positive strides to return to the lineup, but it is too early to tell if they'll play Monday night.

The Eagles offense played its best game of the season, albeit against the worst defense in the NFL.  McNabb looked fairly sharp and the offense was able to move the ball on the ground and in the air.

After 8 games, the Eagles are a surprising 5-3 (5-1 over their last 6) and are a game behind the Cowboys in the NFC East.

LJ Smith had a breakout game this week.  He is probably still available in some of your leagues.  If you need a TE, you could do much worse.  It appears that McNabb has developed some trust in Smith (as has Andy Reid) and the TE has always been an important receiving position in the Eagles offense.
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by Philly on Nov 3rd, 2003, 2:49pm

on 10/31/03 at 16:16:28, 5-on-it wrote:
Philly - Other than his off the field problems, what do you think of Darryl Russell? Should Philly be at least considering him? Wash. is apparently considering it.


Sorry I didn't answer this earlier, but I missed it somehow.

I think by the time you posted this, Russell had already signed a contract with the Skins.  Anyway, I think his football skills would have helped the Eagles as they have been decimated by injury on the D-Line.  But with Andy Reid making the personnel decisions as the team's GM and Head Coach, there is NO chance that Russell would be considered by the Eagles.  If he's not a "character guy", then Andy Reid won't sign him.  (Which also means the Eagles won't be courting Terrell Owens in the offseason.)
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by captainpurple on Nov 3rd, 2003, 3:29pm
Very nicely done Philly.  You had your finger on the pulse of this one.  

Now go out and crush the Pukers for me!   ;D
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by Philly on Nov 5th, 2003, 10:36am
I think we saw, two years ago, that Reid isn't a huge Staley fan when he was giving Buckhalter a lot more time at the end of the season.  You can bet that Buck would have been the man last year had he not been injured.

For whatever reason, I think Reid prefers to use his other RBs first.  The holdout didn't help things, but there was a rift long before then.  As we've seen, Staley is certainly ready.  He's in great shape and produces when given the opportunity.
Title: Re: EAGLES.........................WEEK 9 ANALYSIS
Post by Philly on Nov 5th, 2003, 10:38am
Check out this article from the Inky (the link is a repost of it on yahoo!):

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=knight-govrendellseekingfanstouc&prov=knight&type=lgns

Fun read about PA Guv Rendell and his second job as an Eagles analyst on the post game show.  Figured it was apropos with Election Day just behind us.


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