10 Things Ross Thinks

My prescient friend Ross who predicted a possible Eagles victory last week, offers his post-game Eagles-Pats thoughts:

 

 

Well, it was a great game.  In the spirit of Peter King, here are 10 things I think I think w/o saying "I think" every time:

 

(1)  22.5 was (ultimately 25) was high.  It would be interesting to see what the line would be were they to play again next week.  Would it be much lower, or would it still be double digits?  And what if Donovan played, would it be higher or lower than if Feeley played?

 

(2)  Why is it that the Eagles receivers are the problem when Donovan plays, but they seem to be able to get the separation they supposedly do not get when Garcia or Feeley play?  Is Donovan really the best QB for this team?

 

(3)  Eagles essentially adopted the same game plan the Browns used defensively against the Pats.  Double Moss and force someone else to beat you.  Moss's numbers were quite similar (3 for 46 and no TDs against Cleveland), but in each case, the dedication of a safety -- who played a staggering 25 yards off the ball (never mentioned by Al or John) and immediately broke toward Moss, left the middle open for someone else to gash them.  Against Cleveland it was Ben Watson who had 107 yards and 2 TDs, last night it was Welker, running many of the same patterns, but with speed and quickness.  In a sense, this is the scariest thing about the Pats, the two teams played them well (Browns were only down 10 and driving in the final minutes until a fumble was returned for a TD), but still left themselves vulnerable and paid the price.  And, the Pats seemingly learned from the Cleveland game that the way to defeat that strategy is to use Welker.  It is as if rather than providing other teams a blueprint, what the Browns, Eagles and Colts will do is show the Pats where they can improve.

 

(4) How good is an offense when being held to 24 points garners much praise for a defense?

 

(5)  When a team has corners as good as the Eagles, you sure can do a lot of good things.

 

(6) To the extent there is a blueprint to beating the Pats, the Browns, Colts and Eagles all seemed to have success with QBs who could stand in there and throw 15 yard patters.  Particularly in the middle of the field.

 

(7)  Man, Feeley was impressive.  Unfortunate mistake at the end, but he was excellent otherwise.

 

(8) Eagles offensive line was awesome.  Excellent job with blitz pick-ups.

 

(9) Madden drives me nuts with all the times he says, "this is what Andy Reid meant when he said . . . "  Ah, John, only you and Al were there to hear what Andy said.

 

(10)  The Eagles are going to the playoffs.