Eagles - Cowboys Takeaways
 |
| Meet the New Turnover Machine |
> Eagle Fan was nice not to boo the offense before the first snap from scrimmage
> You can tell Vick is a veteran now, because he tries to draw offsides so often
> Judging from the media's coverage of Eagles games, no other QB in the league gets hit very often, which must come as news to them
> Early in the game, the Dallas defense premature encrochmentulation was a real problem for them
> In games where Coach For Life Andy Reid isn't sure of his pass protection, he actually calls plays like a sane human being
> I'm stunned that DeSean Jackson didn't fumble on his big spread screen gain
> It's nice to see that after last week, and with the 30th ranked red zone in the NFL, Reid is still going with an empty backfield when pressure from the defense is an absolute given
> Riley Cooper might have made the play of his life on his first touchdown of the year
> That was the first opening drive touchdown of the year for the 2012 Eagles, which explains an awful lot about the 2012 Eagles
> Only this Eagles defense can still make Dallas RB and Fantasy Disaster Felix Jones look intriguing
> I'm sure that I've seen a worse defense in my 35+ years of watching this team, but one of the pleasures of age is that I can't remember them
> It's nice that Nnamdi Asomugha has added Absolutely Can Not Tackle to his repertoire of Absolutely Can Not Cover
> Shockingly, Jeremy Maclin got hurt while dropping a ball
> The fact that Eagle Fan still gets loud on third down for this defense is proof that there is no such thing as free will
> If you had 13:55 in the second quarter in this week's pool for first wasted time out on offense, on a freaking first down no less, your incredible optimism was rewarded
> The missed pass to McCoy on third and two was poor coverage by the line, but dear God in heaven, make a decent pass
> Shockingly, Vick got hurt on that play, which might be the last one of his in this uniform
> It's probably not a good sign for my fandom that I really had to fight off the temptation to switch to Jets-Seahawks -- no, seriously, Jets-Seahawks, no fantasy players, no gambling interest -- just because I kind of like Russell Wilson
> Mychal Kendricks and Brandon Graham combined for a sack to give us all hope that those draft picks were not complete busts
> Fletcher Cox and Cullen Jenkins combined for a sack to give us all hope that this might be a defense after all
> If you missed the rapturous ovation for Foles' entrance, that was a little bit of a tell for how Eagle Fan feels about the Vick Era
> Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's blown coverage on a double move was, um, shocking
> With Vick out with a concussion and emergency QB Jason Avant also out with a hamstring, we're nearly to that magic point in the season where we can talk about Trent Edwards
> Foles proved that he's been studying Vick's ability to telegraph throws
> The fact that Vick was concussed on an utterly ordinary play kind of tells you that maybe he just should not play football any more
> The Eagle defense definitely seemed to pick up its intensity after Vick got hurt, which is also not a real good sign for his career
> If you have any idea what the hell Reid was thinking in their last possession of the first half, when they ran 4 plays from shotgun with a back-up center, did not threaten the defense in any way, and had to punt... seek psychiatric assistance immediately
> Joe Buck has a curious idea of fun, in that he thought this game was fun
> The only thing stopping the pass rush was, clearly, the continued presence of Vick in the lineup
> Maclin's ability to go across the middle for contact is, um, special. Yes, that's the word for it, special
> Two straight big runs by McCoy resulted in a holding call, so Reid of course got away from plays for McCoy
> Foles' touchdown to Maclin was a great job of protection by RB Bryce Brown, and the first moment of actual excitement for me as an Eagles fan in, um, months
> This whole idea of preventing the offense from making any first downs at all is an exciting and novel way to play defense
> There will be any number of people thinking that preferring Foles over Vick will have a racial context, rather than simply hating this entire era of Eagle football
> Foles telegraphs passes so much, he's actually good at drawing penalties
> Jackson's draw of a DPI call on CB Maurice Claiborne was masterful, as those things go
> Shockingly, a second-rate offensive line looks better in run blocking and with a QB that gets rid of the ball quickly
> Wasting a timeout when you can't get the field goal team on is just more of that Reid Era Magic that we've come to expect
> There's a reason why King Dunlap hasn't been a consistent presence in the starting lineup
> It's really nice to see Kendricks be a force for good, and not evil, since he's one of the few guys on the roster who might have his current job in 2014
> Romo's dependence on TE Jason Witten is almost unseemly
> The Shooter Wife decided to come down into the Cave just in time for Romo's escape artist act that ended with the 25 yard completion, so on some level, yes, I blame her for the Cowboys' comeback
> She then complained about my mother-in-law on the WR Dez Bryant Not Really A Touchdown, then huffed off as I wrote this, so that was all kinds of magical
> Foles was bailed out of one of the worst INTs you'll ever see thanks to a gift defensive holding call
> On the killshot punt return touchdown, Dallas got away with a clip on gunner Colt Anderson, but P Mat McBriar's effort on the sideline was all kinds of special, too
> It's nice to see the team lose a game on special teams, since it hasn't happened in a while
> The tipped ball TAInt was all kinds of wonderful by Jackson, and the effort to stop the returner near the end zone was nice, in that the Eagles made sure no one got hurt
> I'm not sure why any Eagle Fans stayed in the stadium after the TAInt, but then again, I don't know why they went in the first place
> I realize that these takeaways have shown less attention and energy as time goes by, but there's only so much you can say about a team that is the football equivalent of getting your nose rubbed in feces
> Just in case you are thinking that this win will get the Cowboys going on a late-season run to relevance, um, well, no, they are also pretty bad
> Watching this game, it's hard not to see how Foles would not lead the league in INTs if he received regular playing time
> Foles seems more comfortable in the no huddle than Vick, which isn't to say that this offense was actually all that quick, or preserved the clock
> Jamaris Jackson failed to score or get out of bounds, which meant that 30 seconds of play clock was killed to help prevent the miracle comeback
> Alex Henery finished off the terrible day by the special teams with a missed PAT and an incompetent onside kick
> Foles cemented the idea that you must start whichever defense is facing him with the fumble score for the final points
> On the plus side, there are only 420 minutes of game time left in the Andy Reid Era (we fervently pray)
> People who bring up Garrett Reid right about now kind of nauseate me even more than this team does
No comments:
Post a Comment