Eagles-Packers Diary: What Is, And What Should Never Be

I'm coming to you today from a backup and minuscule "Notebook" computer, because my main ride has been incapacitated (again) by a virus. To save space, the keys are minimized, and my trained fingers keep hitting the S key when I want an A, and vice versa. It's just the way my weekend's going, folks. Anyway, into the diary.

> I'm not a man who cares about jerseys, but the kelly green Eagle outfits are solid. Please retire the midnight green black things immediately.

> The three and out by the defense on the first drive, despite a flag, had more to do with Aaron Rodgers being inaccurate than anything else. But at least they looked quick about it.

> The Packer defensive three and out, complete with the Bait The Young Talent delayed blitz by Clay Matthews that undressed both LeSean McCoy and Kevin Kolb, was a little more telling. Oh, and nice to see Michael Vick in the game to do nothing of any real consequence. That's new.

> In this era of offensive football, assuming the opponent has good skill players, getting a stop on third down seems more like luck than anything else. When the Packers spread out wide and Rodgers just has multiple people to go to, it hardly seems fair.

> On the other hand, watching TE Jermichael Finley get muscled at the line, then DE Trent Cole and DT Juqua Parker look nice and manly on a sack, followed by CB Joselio Hanson finishing off a tip drill pick? That seemed nice and fair. I'm liking the tight coverage on a TE for once.

> Eagle Fan's leash with Vick? Not real long. And four penalties in the first 10 minutes is also not real helpful; the pass interference on TE Brent Celek was absurd. Finally, if you want to trade for Kolb in your fantasy league, I think his owners are ready to move him. C.J. Spiller is available from my club!

> Your best Eagle play in fantasy this year? David Akers, in a walk. His 45-yard field goal, set up by a nice run from Vick / poor job of recognition by the Packers defense, gives the home team an early and unsettled lead.

> Both coaches really seem to want to harm their QBs: Reid from cuckolding Kolb with Vick, and Packer coach Mike McCarthy from forgetting about his running game and/or limiting the amount of screens and quick slants that get the ball out fast. I'm not complaining about the latter; QB sacks are fun, and the longer it takes for the league to notice that you win by running at this defense, rather than away from it? That's a win. Mason Crosby from distance to tie it early in the second.

> What just happened to Leonard Weaver was nauseating. Especially in HD. If he plays again this season, or maybe ever, I'll be impressed. Gahhhh. Kolb then completes the disaster series with a sack from pocket collapse up the middle, followed by a bad pick into double coverage to DeSean Jackson. This is how 6-10 looks, folks. The first good replay challenge of Reid's career reversed the call, and the change field position is a net gain of 20 yards. Incredibly slow and choppy game so far.

> Another three and out by the Eagle defense, and the Pack just doesn't look right. Rodgers seems to be fixated on Finley, and the pass rush also has him jittery. I'm glad that Joe Buck appreciates DeSean Jackson and all, but praising him for the way he brings in a fair catch on a punt seems a little overdone.

> Jamal Jackson then follows Weaver to the bench with an arm problem, and that's not exactly encouraging, either. Kolb takes an ugly sack to end another drive, and before the speculation for Full Time Vick can begin, Kolb walks off without looking completely concussed. We all missed football, right?

> The Packers finally get the bright idea of running it, and just as RB Ryan Grant, cursed by being on both of my fantasy teams, looks to be in rhythm... he limps off. So nice to have all rooting interest in the season taken care of in Week One. Think of the time I'll save. Then Stewart Bradley falls in a heap, and that's a concussion, too. Last NFL player I like to leave the field in a heap, please turn out the lights. This game is a reason for football to be outlawed. Bradley somehow jogs off. Yeesh.

> On third and eight, WR Greg Jennings makes a fantastic one-handed leaping catch to keep the drive moving, and wow. The Pack's first entry into the red zone ends with backup RB Brandon Jackson losing yards, Bradley getting back into the game -- wow -- and Jackson doing the one thing he can do to NFL standards, which is catch a ball in open space. Goal to go for Green Bay at the two minute warning. Donald Driver ends the drive with a slant touchdown off a stick throw by Rodgers, and review won't save the Eagles this time. 10-3 Packers.

> If Kolb wants to avoid being booed off the field in his first half as the Eagles starter, he'll need to do something with the next drive. Zero net passing yards in a half doesn't exactly make us all forget What's His McName. He then tries to force it to DJ, and that's another ball that should have been picked. Oy. A safe throw to McCoy helps a little, and third down is a tipped ball that center Mike McGlyn brings in, but that's a three and out. I'm not saying the Kolb Era is over, but my Doug Pederson and Bobby Hoying jerseys might be getting some company.

> The Pack smells blood, and goes after it hard. More penalty yards for Green than offense. Tasty! Just to add to the gloom, it begins raining. The Eagle defense keeps its pride to some extent, but the law of long field goals against wins out, and Crosby hits from 55 to push the lead to 10. Right now, I wouldn't give the Eagle offense much of a chance to score 10 points in a game, let alone a half.

> Vick starts the second with a 23-yard scramble that's all him, and Kolb (and Bradley) are both concussed and done for the day. How Bradley came back on the field and made a tackle after being concussed is a matter for the player's union, I guess. An unlikely drive ends when backup RB Eldra Buckley fumbles on a strip by Woodson, and that's just deadly. Yeesh.

> Grant still on the sidelines, because I can't even get fantasy points on a day when my real and fake teams are equally dead. Asante Samuel drops a sure pick and probable TAInt, and the subsequent long third down is a deep seam to Finley to move the sticks. That's why LB Omar Gaither is not Bradley, and probably why they let Bradley back onto the field with a concussion. FB Jon Kuhn runs over 12 yards of Eagle tacklers, and the first down count is now 17 to 4. No, really. Jackson makes it 18 to 4 as the defense looks like it's in Countdown To Quit mode. Kuhn walks in for the score, and that should be that for everyone but the fantasy owners in this one, assuming anyone was starting people like Kuhn and Vick. 20-3 Packers.

> On the next drive, Vick converts a third down to DJ while taking a big hit from Matthews. Another conversion to DJ shows accuracy, and more importantly, a generous spot. Vick escapes from pressure and shows the wheels for a 30-yard run, and the crowd is a mite alive now. 7 carries for 77 yards now for the QB, and what looks like a Shady McCoy touchdown comes back on a hold. Gahhhh. Jason Peters is down now, just to make sure that no moment of hope is sustained. Woodson mauls Avant, but gets no flag. McCoy takes a quick snap to the house, and that's your first Eagle touchdown of 2010. Nice work by the line, since there was no holding call, and maybe we'll have a game after all. Packers 20, Eagles 10.

> Packer kick returner Jordy Nelson gets off a long one, and that nicely destroys the momentum. Needing a three and out to avoid points going on the board, the defense gets roasted badly on a draw, and that's the 2009 Eagle Defense Without Stewart Bradley that I remembered. Omar Gaither is just horrible, and Rodgers delivers the kill shot Jennings, over Ellis Hobbs. Easy like Sunday morning. 27-10 Packers, and I think we can safely call this defense done for the day. The drive took 2:28, and I'm guessing, emptied the stadium, given the rain.

> A three and out is capped by Vick missing Avant rather than running for the sticks, and Buckley compounds his nightmare day by hitting the Packer punt returner despite a fair catch call. Whoops. This is what 4-12 looks like, folks.

> The Pack goes three and out on a Rodgers error. Maclin and McCoy pad their numbers a bit, but it's hard to see how this is more than garbage time numbers. Woodson is finally called for a mauling hold to keep the drive going. Brent Celek gets his fantasy owners off the ledge with a 28-yard seam route that showed Vick's talents. Another nice ball to Avant sets up a goal to go possession. Celek mauled by MLB Nick Barnett, but a reasonable no-call. Vick never sees a blitz that Peters doesn't acknowledge, but third and goal from the 17 is a zipped ball to Maclin for the touchdown. Interesting. 27-17 Packers, and Vick's starting to ignite a QB controversy.

> Another big return for Nelson, and new Eagles special team coach Bobby April is getting camera time. An incompletion and stuffed Jackson run sets up a highly interesting third down call; rookie DE Brandon Graham with the play. 9:30 left. Rodgers throws his second pick of the game, just a floating mistake right to rookie S Nate Allen, who brings it back to midfield. We Have A Game, somehow. Nice Favrian moment from Rodgers there.

> How much does Vick want this job? First down is a dropped cross to DJ; not a great throw, either. The gun to DJ on an out moves the sticks, and that's major talent happening. The next play goes into the books as a one yard run, which shows you just how not seeing the film lies; major escape work to the sideline there. Misfire communication with DJ, and another big hit on the QB. Big third down here, on the edge of field goal range... and Shady McCoy takes a superbly executed screen for big yards. Dub-esque, that was. 27 yards, and first and goal.

> McCoy again with some fire to the five. Yardage for the quarter: 119 to -2 for Green. Wow. Shovel to McCoy is bad play calling done badly; third and goal. Reid irate on the sideline. Six minutes left. Vick goes into scramble mode and throws rather than runs; incomplete and there were many places to go on the play (Riley Cooper in the end zone with a size mismatch, Maclin open at the pylon, or just plain run it). There's a reason why Decision Making has never been a Vick strength. Akers from 23 makes it Packers 27, Eagles 20, with 5:40 left.

> Nelson again with a solid return, and the kickoff coverage might have had a worse day than Kolb. Jackson for four yards as the Pack tries to eat clock; Reid calls time. Jackson for five as OLB Akeem Jordan whiffed. Third and inches, and Reid calls his second time out, which is an absolute waste on many levels. Jackson for short, and Reid can't call enough timeouts, really. We've all been here before, folks. Jackson stuffed, and third and seven could be for the ball game... and Rodgers is short to Jennings while hurried. Game on; the Pack will punt.

> DJ's punt return goes for 10, and with 4:13 left, Vick can ignite the four alarm QB controversy by completing the comeback. From the gun on first, he gains the corner and gets 9; a play no other QB makes. He's just much faster than last year. Straight QB draw for 16, and he's just in video game mode right now. Ball at midfield; Pack defense looking gassed. He's at 103 on the ground.

> Vick absorbs a hit and wiggles forward to the line. Ye gads. Finally, Matthews puts him down, and Vick's bedraggled as the offensive line is just putting everything on him right now. 3rd and 13, do or die time. From the gun, Vick gets it to Avant for 12, and it's fourth and 1 with two minutes to play. We go to commerce and blood pressure raises.

> I'm just hoping I don't have a You Crap Nominee here, really. Fourth and one with the game on the line, your OL in tatters, your best power back (Weaver) on the sidelines... no real good option than put the ball in Vick's hands, really. From the gun, it's a straight run into the line, and that fails in a hurry, and I've got my You Crap moment. GAHHHH.

The Pack kneels on it, Eagle Fan boos and leaves, and that's Week One. See you next week in Detroit.