Give me an L, Give me a J!

Fans may not like it, but LJ Smith may very well have been the key to Sunday’s victory and his return to health and the starting lineup could augur well for the offense in the remaining 6 games.

Sure LJ killed a promising 1^st quarter drive that might have allowed the Eagles to really assert firm control of the game, but he did have a TD catch and several other big receptions.

But his biggest impact is less easy to quantify. Simply put, he makes Westbrook even better. Smith is McNabb’s second most dangerous weapon on offense. And as a tight end with size, speed and hands (catching the football, not necessarily holding onto it afterward), he poses matchup problems for a defense. But in combination with Westbrook, he helps create a true dilemma for defenses.

Most teams put a safety on Westbrook. But that means Smith is being covered by a linebacker. If the opposition puts the safety on Smith, then it’s even more of a mismatch with a LB on Westbrook. If a defense opts for two defensive backs to cover Westbrook and Smith, then that is a smaller 11 than a base defensive alignment and should favor a running play – especially with Andrews and Runyan leading the charge.

 

Speaking of Smith, he was involved in one of the two plays that can drive even the most ardent McNabb boosters to frustration. The first was his over the middle BB to Smith for TD in the 4^th quarter. It was a laser thrown perfectly into tight coverage. That was immediately followed by a terrible throw to Baskett on a basic slant for the attempted two point conversion. It was low and behind Baskett. Two back to back passes that highlight the good and the bad of #5. It’s not that McNabb is inaccurate, it’s just that he can be inconsistent. But with  a quarterback of McNabb’s talents, you take the good with the bad since the positive over nine long years has vastly outweighed the negative.