Sunday, October 7, 2012

Eagles - Steelers Takeaways

Holding the ball is so old-fashioned
> For the second straight week, for the first time in the Reid Era, the Eagles started the game with a running play, which means the Mayans might be on to something

> Eagles RB Stanley Havili is starting to find a place in my heart

> Mat McBriar's first quarter 25 yard punt will go in the books as "Inside the 20", which doesn't make that stat very helpful

> Ben Roethlisberger is a pretty big danged QB to be too short to take a shotgun snap

> Chanting "Heath" on a 2-yard out on 3rd and 16 doesn't seem like that much fun

> Vick's first quarter fumble might have been the worst turnover in the history of football, and the reversal on replay does not excuse that

> Steelers CB Ike Taylor's DPI was a get-even call, and credited to WR Jeremy Maclin's ability to pule

> If a QB can run but can not actually hold on to the goddamned ball, it really isn't very freaking useful

> The unnecessary roughness flag on LB Darryl Tapp was a clinic in stupid

> In the first half, Yinzer Fan didn't know whether they hated their offense for penalties, or the refs for calling them

> Vick's second fumble was unexpected to, possibly, Vick and no one else on the planet

> All of a sudden, I'm getting really nostalgic for the field goal-riffic Donovan McNabb era, in that McNabb didn't treat the football like it was radioactive in the red zone

> The Steelers "drive" after the second Vick fumble was all kinds of absurd, and the highlight of the day for the Eagle defense

> I'm not sure that Taylor can defend a play without pass interference, really

> Joe Buck gave us the Vick Has Been Hit numbers as if both Eagle and Steeler Fans weren't interested in more of that, rather than less

> I'm not sure why you can hit someone in the face just because it's a running play

> Steeler LB Lawrence Timmons is an absolute menace, and was the best player on the field today

> I'm not sure who S Nate Allen paid to get away with clear DPI, but it was money well spent

> Ben's fake pitch to a good scramble would have been a real one, and fumble, if Vick had done it

> Once the Steelers actually started catching footballs, it made it a lot easier for them to, you know, sustain drives

> Mendenhall's touchdown catch is the highlight film from the first really day of LB Mychal Kendricks' career

> Memo to the Eagles' skill players: Holding on to the ball is a skill, and kind of an important one

> If the Steeler defense had remained healthy, maybe they could get double-digit turnovers in this game

> It's hard to be very angry at a defense when they spend every game having to overcome poor coverage team, multiple ridiculous turnovers and very few actual freaking points

> I can't tell you how relieved I am to have gotten rid of K Alex Henery from my fantasy team

> Why CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is playing soft on 3rd and long, I'll never know

> Honestly, I'm not sure why anyone has confidence in Asomugha in one on one coverage

> WR Jerricho Cotchery tripped on a yard line, rather than score an easy touchdown

> It's clearly still preseason for the real refs

> The start of the second half might have been the first really good coverage moment of the year; not surprisingly, it was provided by Colt Anderson

> The best defensive plays for the Eagles had a lot more to do with the Steelers making mistakes, rather than the Eagles forcing things

> For a must-win game coming off a bye, the Steelers were really sloppy today, especially with the penalty yardage

> OL Danny Watkins saved Vick's bacon on yet another fumble

> The McCoy screen for the touchdown was a thing of beauty, mostly because Shady is a thing of beauty

> Getting the Steelers' running game going more or less takes the errors out of the Steeler offense

> Losing Kendricks for any amount of time, even when he's having a terrible day, really devastates this defense, since linebacker is their weakest spot

> When Juan Castillo feels like he's got to bring the safeties up for run support, it's usually a really good sign that The End Is Nigh

> The kickoff blocking hasn't been real good this year, either

> Shockingly, Reid's pet play of the terrible instant replay challenge for the spot of the ball did not work

> McCoy made an absurdly good play to convert on fourth and one on an awful decision and play call

> The long 3rd down had-to-have conversion to WR DeSean Jackson is, in microcosm, why this offense is so frustrating -- they can be that good at any moment

> The hot read to TE Brent Celek was a perfectly thrown ball by a team that had done nothing like that against pressure all day

> Unfortunately for Green, the long gutty drive to take the tiny lead formula in the fourth didn't work this time

> Ben's 3rd and 12 play to WR Antonio Brown with five minutes left was a monstrous play for the home team

> If you need a defense to blitz into a screen, Castillo is so the coordinator for you

> The key to this game was that the Eagles pass rush, late in the game and rested, just didn't get there when they had to have it

> If Steeler K Shane Suisam had missed the game-winner at the buzzer, the Steeler year was more or less over

> The Eagles win this game if Nick Foles, Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Rodney Peete, Trent Edwards and any number of Detmers had played the first half instead of Fumble Fingers Vick

> While the Steelers are still alive, I'm still not loving their chances in a good division with this much age and injuries

> Before Eagle Fan puts their head into the oven over this one, they are still 3-2, still tied for first in the division, and more or less where any sane person would have predicted before the year started

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