Random Thoughts from the Patriots Game

The Eagles second drive of the game was their best of the season up to that point. That they were able to regroup after the first INT was a impressive.

In defeat, the Eagles looked more like the super bowl contender they were supposed to be than any of their victories this year (save the Lions game).

How funny was it to Eagles fans to hear Michaels/Madden say that Belichick has always been impressed by Greg Lewis and didn’t understand why he wasn’t doing more for the Eagles this year. Even funnier was Lewis catching two TD passes and equaling his season long 4 catches with 4 vs. the Patriots. That’s 3 TDs in two games against the Patriots for G. Lew. No wonder Belichick thinks he’s the second coming of Torry Holt.

Seeing Curt Schilling at the game in a Tedy Bruschi jersey hurt. Big time.

There were a lot of similarities/parallels to super bowl xxxix. There were also flashbacks to the 2001 NFC championship versus the Rams. Like now, the Eagles were supposed to be blown out by a high-flying offense. Like then, the Eagles held their own on the road, had a lead in the second half but came up just short at the end.

I posted before the game that I hoped Andy Reid learned his lesson from last year’s drubbing by the Colts about not panicking in the face of a prolific offense in a desperate gamble for points. So what does he do? Goes for it on 4^th and 1 from the Patriots 15. Runs a lateral-screen/bomb to Jason Avant. A flea flicker. And a surprise onside kick early in the second quarter. Unlike the Colts game, those gambles didn’t blow up in Reid’s face. They got the first, Avant didn’t throw an INT and instead ran it for a yard when the defensive backs didn’t bite, Feeley completed a 16 yard pass to Hank Baskett on the flea flicker, and of course recovered the onside kick – no small feat against a well-coached and disciplined team like the Patriots.

How the hell does Nick Cole, a back up center for gosh sakes, lined up over the center on the punt return team – go offsides with :38 seconds to go in the 3^rd quarter after the Eagles managed to hold the Patriots on 3^rd down?!?!!?

There was real surprise in Al Michaels voice when he said “it’s a ball game” with the score at 17-14.

Doesn’t Gocong have to go for the backside strip on his sack of Brady?

Speaking of sacks, Juqua Thomas hammered Brady on his sack. In his post-game press conference Brady evaded answering the question about how woozy he was after that hit.

By the way, the officiating was atrocious. Pats fans think the league has it in for them. That’s just an extension of the Belichick paranoia. Having watched last night’s game, there are those of us who think the Pats are getting plenty of calls – well beyond the usual homefield advantage officiating – to help keep them undefeated.

Have you ever seen so many false starts/offsides calls results in a multi-official huddle before assessing the penalty? Brady didn’t just use a “hard count” to draw the Eagles offsides. Look at the replay. He’s backpedaling when he does it? There was no call when Reggie Brown was facemasked while being tackled with 12 minutes to go in the first quarter. And it is inexplicable that there was no booth review of the Jabar Gaffney TD catch just before halftime. It was close enough to warrant a second look. Just as inexplicable was Andy Reid’s failure to call a timeout before the extra point was kicked to give the booth plenty of time to consider reviewing it. Why hold onto the first half timeouts anyway? And while nearly everyone, including that nincompoop Al Michaels, was fixated on whether Gaffney’s second foot touched before his knee hit the end line – the real story is that Gaffney juggled the ball when he landed on the ground immediately after that. Again, unlike highly paid NFL officials, those of us with basic Tivo were able to see that Gaffney bobbled the ball when he hit the ground. Somehow the entire play wasn’t review worthy. If that isn’t, what is?

Belichick didn’t give Reid the perfunctory handshake that he gives to so many other coaches. Though it was hard to tell how much Big Red’s grip on Belichick’s arm had to do with Belichick listening to whatever Reid said to him. But the biggest sign of respect was Belichick seeking out defensive coordinator Jim Johnson for a post-game handshake.

Cris Collinsworth hit it dead on after the game regarding Feeley’s second INT. It was a terrible throw, but worse it was a terrible play call. You’re within field goal range. Continue running your offense and gaining yards and running clock. If the Eagles had scored there – on that play – the Patriots would have had 4 minutes of their own for a game winning scoring drive. At that point, run the clock down and at worst you get the FG to send the game into OT. Best case, you take another 3 minutes to gain the last 29 yards for a TD and leave the Patriots about a minute and needing a TD to win. Look at a replay, LJ Smith is wide open across the middle at the 25 yard line for a first down and maybe more. Ugh.