Bilas: Nova a Final 4 Team

Jay Bilas on Villanova, who moved up to #3 this week.

Bilas' view of Villanova and its backcourt depth:

I'm not surprised. Before the season I picked them to be a Final Four team, so I think they're very good. Their guards are the strength of their team and the identity of their team. But without solid play from their big guys, they aren't going to go as far. They have to continue to improve and to be key contributors. Last year's success, they led in scoring by one of their big guys [Dante Cunningham].

On whether Maurice Sutton and Isaiah Armwood have been better than expected:

They're maturing and improving. Isaiah was a heavily recruited player - a lot of people wanted him. He's a good athlete with a good skill level and he's playing off the guards very well. He's going in there and doing dirty work. They don't need somebody who's going to get his own shot, they need someone who's going to go in and guard and get loose balls and play off penetration. He's done a very good job when he's been in there.

AIG

As close friends of mine know, one of my great political/financial obsessions these days is that someone (you go get'em Rep. Issa!) gets an answer as to why the Fed's bailout of AIG paid out the insurer's counterparties at 100 cents on the dollar, a situation that many now believe was a back door bailout of the Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and foreign banks. The case gets curiouser and curiouser the more digging into the transaction that goes on.

Why did the Fed, with Treasury's support, not negotiate a better deal for taxpayers. Why has the NY Fed gone to such lengths to conceal details of the deal? Going so far as to advise AIG not to provide the SEC with info it was asking for about the counterparties and finances. Why has the Obama administration gone to such lengths to stonewall a deal that was crafted by Bush administration officials? What does Tim Geithner know and when did he know it?

My opinion is that Scott Brown's victory last week can be tied to this administration's handling, or mishandling, of the entire AIG episode (which is a larger proxy for Obama's protection of Wall Street at the expense of the middle class): from the bonuses to still not providing a cogent and comprehensive explanation as to why the Fed insisted AIG's counterparties get fully paid on "contracts" that were going to be worthless without Fed aid.

Tomorrow the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing on the issue that hopefully will shed some light on the deal. 

In the meantime, we get the NY Fed's general counsel's prepared testimony. As the NY Times' reports, Mr. Baxter explained that the New York Fed felt compelled to pay out A.I.G.'s counterparties in full to unwind derivative contracts because "there was little time, and substantial execution risk and attendant harm of not getting the deal done by the deadline of Nov. 10," when A.I.G. was scheduled to report its earning and could face downgrades from credit ratings agencies. That would have led to more collateral calls and even greater liquidity problems for A.I.G., Mr. Baxter said."

In other words, the Fed had to pay par value on the derivative contracts to AIG counterparties because if they didn't, AIG would have been downgraded, it's finances further destabilized and....AIG's counterparties would have received less than full value. D'oh! 

Favre-McNabb....Elway?

Rich Hoffman puts a damper on the Favre-McNabb comparisons (i.e., just cause Favre has personally killed his team's playoff chances in each of his past three post-seasons doesn't mean McNabb is better because Favre actually won a super bowl and some MVPs) and then adds this throwaway line at the end that speaks directly to me.

But for the people who suggest that McNabb is John Elway, and that Elway got his this-one's-for-John moment late in his career, and that they just need to ride it out with McNabb, there is another side of that argument. He was wearing No. 4 on Sunday, rolling to his right . . .

 

The Complete Favre

Yesterday's NFC Championship was the epitome of Brett Favre's career.

A gunslinging QB whose team would simply not have been playing in the game were it not for Favre. He made some incredible throws and kept his team in the game on the road versus the conference's number one team. And then there is his physical toughness. Favre was getting hammered yesterday and kept getting up. Even after he got driven into the turf (that prompted a roughing the passer penalty) or spraining his ankle shortly after. No wonder he's got that consecutive game streak. The guy is a warrior.

But you take the good with the bad with Favre. He threw two INTs, the last of which was the last offensive play the Vikings ran and ended any chance they had of trying to win the game with a long FG. It was a bad INT, throwing across his body to a receiver who was blanketed and was compounded by the open field he had in front of him to run for 5 precious yards to make the FG as short as possible.

Incredibly, Favre's last three playoff appearances have ended with him throwing INTs that resulted in the opposing team taking the turnover, scoring, and winning the game (Eagles divisional round, Giants NFC championship, yesterday). All three INTs were terrible throws the floating duck to Brian Dawkins was the worst of the three, the one to the Giants two years ago was only slightly better, and yesterday's was the least egregious),

13-11 in the playoffs and 2-2 in conference championships. Amazing what a super bowl win will do for your reputation and career.

2 More Eagles Pro Bowl Bound

McNabb and Mikell added to the pro bowl roster.

Great vs. Outstanding

Brett Favre says "All I can say is it's been a great year," immediately after at a gut punch loss in the NFC championship to the Saints. A game in which the Vikings should have won were it not for five turnovers - two of which were Favre INTs - including one on their fateful last drive when they might have attempted a long FG for the win.

I wonder (but highly doubt) whether Favre will be crucified by the local media for putting a positive spin on their season after a wrenching loss like Donovan McNabb was for suggesting the Eagles had an "outstanding" season following their own playoff loss. Methinks not.

The NFL's Choice

An epic NFC championship game by the Vikings and Saints that went into OT, at which point the league and the refs decided that they wanted New Orleans in the super bowl after all. How else to explain several of the suddenly superstrict officiating - the pass interference call in which the ball was clearly uncatchable, the defensive holding call that was ticky tack (and so bad that the refs then made a make up no call on the subsequent TE screen in which the Vikings defender essentially tackled the receiver, and the absurd no booth review of the Saints' fourth down conversion until the Vikings called timeout and which probably should have spotted the ball back a half yard. Note, i'm not saying it still wouldn't have been a first down, but it was a bad spot that the review inexplicably didn't overturn.

Turner's Time Management

Both the Sports Guy and TMQ are taking Norv Turner to task for his decision to try an onside kick with 2:12 left in last week's game and down 3 points.

TMQ's argument is:

With 4:42 left in the fourth quarter, and San Diego trailing 17-7, he ordered a field goal attempt on fourth-and-2 from the Jets' 22-yard line. Nate Kaeding is a good kicker -- it was a surprise when his attempt sailed wide. But you have one of the league's top offenses and you only need 2 yards. Don't play for 10 points to force overtime (which Turner was doing) -- play to win! That's what Ryan was doing.

Turner's onside kick decision at the end was puzzling as well. Pulling within 17-14 with 2:14 remaining, San Diego had one timeout left. Unexpected onside kicks are 60 percent successful, expected onside kicks are 10 percent successful. Had the Bolts kicked deep and then held the Jets, considering the clock stops at the two-minute warning, San Diego would have gotten the ball back with about a minute to play, trailing by three. You've got a better chance of getting into field goal range with one minute on the clock than of recovering an expected onside kick. True, if you recover the onside kick, you are in a position to win the game. But it's very unlikely you will recover an onside kick under these circumstances.

A couple of thoughts. First, it's important to note that had Kaeding made the FG with 4:42 left, Turner's decision to kick would have been correct. The Chargers did wind up scoring a TD and the missed 3 would have been the points to have tied the game. So you can't fault him for kicking from the Jets 22, especially since Kaeding is such a reliable kicker (though not in that game and not in the playoffs generally).

Second, my brother and I discussed this at length when it happened, and we  both agreed the onside kick was the right call. You're down three and you need the ball back. Why not call the play that gives you the greatest (only?) chance of retaining possession? If the Chargers kick deep, figure the Jets will start around the 25 yard line. Assuming they pick up the same 8-9 yards that they did on the last possession, they'll be punting from the 33/34 yard line. A 40 yard net punt gives the Chargers the ball at their own 25 with less than a minute to play.

An onside kick if successful, obviously gives you the ball at your own 40. If it isn't, the Jets have the ball at the Chargers forty. Figure they won't risk a FG at that stage of the game in case it's missed and the Chargers get the ball at the spot of the kick. So they punt. If it's a good punt, the Jets might down it at the 10. If it's a bad punt it goes into the endzone and is a touchback. At worst, the Chargers only lose a net of 15 yards for trying the onside kick. Clearly the reward of getting the ball back outweighs the field position risk.

The one wrinkle in all of this was that the Chargers gave up too much yardage on the first three plays of the Jets' final drive and made going for it on 4th and 2 too enticing. A first down wins the game, which it did.

Had the Chargers kicked away and left the Jets facing the same 4th down situation from their own 33, rather than the Chargers' 29, the Jets likely don't pull a Belicheat and go for it on fourth down lest they leave the Chargers in immediate FG range if they don't convert.

In any case, it is hard to fault Turner for the decision he made even in retrospect. And the "controversy," such as it is shouldn't overshadow what was very astute time management on his team's part during the last 4 minutes of that game.

Time

Why are the two conference championship games being played at such odd times? 3 pm and 6 pm are the first and only start times for any NFL game a season, and it always happens on the penultimate weekend. Why is that?

I suspect the 3 pm start has something to do with the West Coast times. A 1pm EST game starts at 10 am on the West Coast. At least a 3 pm game starts at a more manageable Noon in California. From there, the 6pm game follows as the natural seque.

But again, why 3? Why not 4pm, a traditional NFL start time? The divisional round games start at 4pm and 8pm on Saturdays (and the tradition 1/4 times on Sunday). Why not make the 3pm start time 4?

I suspect it has something to do with a 4 pm start pushing the second game to at least 7pm. 7 pm doesn't really work for the networks - why the Sunday Night and Monday night games start at 8:30 in prime time. To push the second game to 8 (0r 8:30) means that there is too much of a gap of downtime between contests. It doesn't flow seamlessly. I would also guess that the NFL is loathe to identify which of the two conference championships it favors by having to select one of them for the coveted prime time slot. 

Lito, Oh, Oh, Oh

An interesting point for Eagles' fans to consider as they watch today's Jets-Colts game and lament the quality of our defensive secondary.

From TMQ:

Six-man rushes combined with press corners is a tactic no NFL team but the Jets employs, and the tactic works because Darrelle Revis (another TMQ MVP candidate) and Lito Sheppard are so good.

Arbitrary

Trying to figure out what is most surprising about all of the recent developments surrounding the Phillies' arbitration eligible players - Blanton, Victorino, and Ruiz - and the deals that are being cut.

Is it that journeyman Joe Blanton will now being earning more than World Series MVP Cole Hamels? Or is it that the player who should have won the 2008 World Series MVP, Carlos Ruiz, only made $400,000 this past season?

A Secondary Thought

For as maligned as the Eagles' secondary was this season - just not up to par to recent vintages - it's somewhat surprising and amazing that three of the four d-backs could be making the pro bowl. Samuel is a starter, Sheldon Brown now the first alternate and Quintin Mikell as the 3rd alternate. Not bad for a group whose overall performance most people weren't happy with.

Bad Omen?

Man, the Colts have some bad juju facing them this weekend as they play the team they allowed into the playoffs to begin with by rolling over, resting their starters and not going for an undefeated season. What a greek tragedy it would be if Manning, et. al actually lost to Rex's boys in the penultimate game to go to the super bowl.

Criminy

Why is it the New York Times and not the Washington Post that first runs a profile of the "other" player (Javaris Crittenton) in the whole Gilbert Arenas/Washington Wizards shootaround.

The Lesson

Jacob Hacker and Daniel Hopkins perfectly nail the lesson to be learned from Martha Coakley's loss in Massachusetts. Of course, Democrats being Democrats, they'll think the opposite.

The bills in Congress hardly enjoy runaway popularity. But the problem isn't that health-care reform itself is unpopular. It is that people are turned off by the current debate about it....

...In any event, congressional Democrats have already voted on health-care bills -- they cannot escape that. Instead, they should ask themselves: Would they rather defend a successful law or an unsuccessful year-long legislative imbroglio? As was true after the Clinton health plan went down in flames in 1994, failing to pass health-care reform would cripple public perceptions of the Democrats' ability to govern. And as was true in 1994, the Democrats most endangered would be moderates, not liberals. The Blue Dogs may be hearing the loudest calls to turn tail. But they stand to lose the most if the governing reputation of their party goes down with reform.

If there is a lesson in the Massachusetts vote, it is this: pass a bill. The nation needs reform. Democrats need an accomplishment. And Democratic activists and voters need a new cause: fixing reform, not abandoning it.

B. Westbrook Not Going So Quietly?

The Eagletarian has lots of skepticism and scrutiny of the Westbrook retirement rumors and pretty much blasts Howard Eskin, the original source of the rumor, throughout the piece (though unnamed). Seeing Eskin's hairy Ewok-like mug standing behind Andy Reid during the Cowboys' blowouts was bad enough, but now this.

Obama = Carter?

Paul Krugman again right on the mark. Amazing to me how badly handled the response to the financial crisis was by the Obama people: from hiring Geitner as the Treasury boss, to the inability to claw back the executive bonuses of bailed out banks and AIG, to the tepid reform proposals.

Forget the economy or the stimulus or health care. It was the actions (or inactions) in the financial arena were the proxy by which people judged (and became enraged) by Obamanomics. Where the people demanded a populist, they got a go along, to get along with Wall Street President. And a Wall Street President who Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley presidents felt free to snub during a White House meeting.

Sadly and in typical Democratic fashion, Obama and his party get it too late. Thus, now we get angry talk about Wall Street "fat cats" and a tax on TARP banks which are meaningless and after the fact. Oh that the White House had sought to institute real reform and extract their pound of Wall Street flesh back in March when the federal government had Wall Street under its thumb. By now, it's back to business as usual.

Forget about the TARP tax, how about forcing GS and MS out of bank holding company status and stopping the federal back stopping of their loans and assets.

Dems de Losers

Andrew Sullivan neatly captures some of my feelings about the looming Democratic debacle in Massachusetts.

A Secondary Consideration

Rich Hoffman blames the secondary as the primary fix needed for the Eagles' defensive problems. And he references several sack and blitz stats like the ones posted here last week to make his case that the defensive line is holding its own. The nut graph.

If that is the case, then, what accounts for the overall drop in defensive numbers and the increase in the number of big plays? It was the coverage. It is no longer good enough to support such a gambling, aggressive defensive system.

It's obvious that Samuel plays soft and pads his INT numbers with route jumping picks. And that Sheldon Brown quietly put up another solid year while battling injuries. And, of course, the absolute mess at safety. But if you learned anything from this weekend's playoff games - particularly the Cowboys-Vikings game - is how important and incredibly game changing a strong front four pass rush can be. And it's not just harrying Romo. Put any pro bowl QB under constant pressure, and yes I include Brady, Roethlisberger, et. al in that category, and they just simply aren't as effective as when they have an extra second or two.

In recent years, higher level QBs have consistently beat the Eagles in large part because of the defense's inability to generate a good pass rush solely with the defensive line. So in addition to help in the secondary, a havoc wreaking D-lineman - who could take double teams away from Trent Cole and increase his effectiveness - would seem to be a top priority.

Top 10 Divisional Playoff Games

The Eagles played in two of these "top 10" divisional games. The Raiders 4.

The Pride of Glendale

The first opening round playoff loss for a certain former Glendale Community College football player.

A Philadelphia Sound Silenced

Teddy Pendergrass, 1950-2010

The Defense Rests

PK bolsters his case against the defense:

Here's the key difference between last year and this year's defenses: In '08 we had the 3rd best defense against the pass, giving up just 2,900 yards over the 16-game season.

Check out this year's defense: No 17 against the pass, giving up almost 3,500 yards for the season. 

That's saying something about the defense. Saying a lot.

 

A quick check shows that this year's defense against the pass was the worst ever against the pass of Eagles teams that made the playoffs in the Reid/Johnson era.

Season totals for yards passing allowed by the Eagles defense:

'00: 2,990

'01: 2,864

'02: 3,094

'03: 3,236

'04: 3,212

'06: 3,067

'08: 2,913

'09: 3,462

More defense

So what to take from those numbers? I think the blitzing was most effective 2002, accounting for 28 sacks from someone other than d-linemen. That may have been Dawkins at his absolute prime as a safety blitzer. Was Damon Moore still starting then?

Interestingly, for all of Jim Johnson's other years it looks like D-line gets about 25 sacks and LBs/ DBs 20.

2009 looks consistent with that,  27/17. Maybe a little down in the LB/DB department, but understandable with the LBs and DBs we had this year.

Cole at 3rd in NFC with 12.5 sacks is a quiet season for such an impressive stat. Parker getting 8 sacks and Howard with 6.5 is more than I would have thought.

Defense

My friend PK compares McDermott's 2009 with recent (Jim Johnson) vintages.

Who was on that '00-'03 defensive line? Other than Ambassador Hugh Douglas, I can't remember. I feel like they used to create a lot more pressure than this current crop. Aside from Cole, no one on this current D-line gets more than 4 sacks a season.

OK, i just looked it up. 

There's the '02 season, when Douglas, ND Kalu and Darwin Walker combined for 28 sacks.

This year, Cole, Parker and Howard were roughly the same, combining for 27 sacks.

Although, I just looked, overall, in 2002 we had 56 sacks and in '09 we had 44 sacks. But a quick review of other years shows that the Eagles regularly got anywhere from 40-47 sacks.

Final thoughts

Ok, my last thoughts from the weekend. 

First, on the Cards-Packers. Wow. The big controversy isn't the facemask on Rodgers on the last play of the game. The controversy should be that Rodgers suffered two blows to the head in separate plays on that last series that weren't called.

After more thought, i'm ok with a review of McDermott's job. Here's the thing - something Sheridan briefly touched on today. For most of Reid's tenure, the defense has been better than the offense. An irony given the head coach's supposed offensive prowess (a qb coach, i know) and the fact of having a true franchise (hall of fame qb).

The situation is now flipped and not just because Jim Johnson died. Now the offense is clearly better than the defense. One of my big questions for the offseason is how much was Johnson able to game plan to mask some of his unit's decline (a la B. Dawkins)? It's sort of not McDermott's fault he's not (yet at least) of the capability of a true hall of fame assistant to do what Johnson did. But JJ clearly didn't place much value at LB. With the injuries this year it is kind of hard to get an accurate gauge of McDermott's defensive schemes, but i wonder if they are going to have to emphasize/upgrade defensive positions they traditionally haven't because of the difference in capabilities and priorities of Johnson vs. McDermott.

That being said. What happened to the d-line this year. supposedly one of our strengths this year. But aside from Cole and occasionally Patterson and Parker, where were Bunkley, Clemons, Abiamiri, Howard, et. al? Not exactly a ferocious pass rush. And the safety problem is well documented (will be interesting to see the moves there with at least one guaranteed opening since jones' contract is expiring) but the corner coverage has declined too.  

Offense appears to be set. Well, aside from whether the starting QB will be back. Its on defense where they should and need to be improvements.

Ravens-Pats

Has a qb ever had a passer rating 5x better than opponent and still lost playoff game??  Brady 49, flacco 10.

Post game fallout

already, the media knives are out for McNabb, with Ashley Fox and Rich Hoffman leading the charge. 

Hoffman says McNabb needed to be the best player on the field and wasn't and,ergo, the Eagles got blown out. Gonzo also calls for McNabb to move on.

It goes back to what my friend PK said the other day. McNabb wasn't super human last night, therefore the Eagles lost and he's at fault.

McNabb didn't have a good game. But neither did Jackson or McCoy or Vick for that matter - his fumble and lack of grit to get it completely cancels out his TD pass to Maclin. 

Two more thoughts/questions.

1) who was the best player on the field for the Eagles last night?

2) Can the Eagles acquire a playmaker on defense for next season? I don't count Samuel and his occasional route jumping INTs. But a true disruptive force on defense a la DeMarcus Ware or Merriman, etc.

More reflections

I think Jamaal Jackson's injury hurt the line alot more than we could have imagined. 

And for all the talk about our LBs and DBs, let's face it - our d-line isn't bringing any pressure without the blitz.

Adding insult to injury, Anthony Spencer is contributing for the Cowboys. Kevin Kolb, not so much.

Playoff Post-mortem

Collinsworth hit it on the head in the first half about the Eagles offense. The Cowboys don't even really have to respect the run, the Eagles run so infrequently. That and the Cowboys really have assembled quite a team. A huge O-line. A beast of a RB in Barber and 2 Westbrook-lite versatile RBs in Jones and Choice.  A pro bowl TE and an emerging star in Austin. Oh yeah, and a mobile, accurate QB.

On D they've got a strong pass rush and a secondary that is blanketing our receivers.

Vick really didn't hustle for that fumble, did he?

It's been a long time since our secondary was so consistently abused. 

3 questions:

* what was Samuel's unsportsmanlike conduct conduct? Michaels and Collinsworth never said anything about it even though it was a huge call preceding a 3rd down.
* How in the world is there not a penalty for them throwing McNabb around well after the whistle on the false start?
* Why wasn't a penalty called on Cowboys DB Jenkins when he took his helmet off in the field of play? Yes, he went to the sideline immediately and was likely hurt but there was no injury timeout.

True Sport

Cam Cameron for sportsman of the year.

Amazing

Reading this will give you chills. I mean, who would believe Ray Rice would run 83 yards on the very first play vs. the Patriots. Something to it? You tell me.

Intriguing Team

More Sports Guy on the Eagles

You need to be able to throw the ball, Rex. You need to make big plays. You need to be able to play from behind. The rules reward a team that does those three things. That's what makes Philly so intriguing. Like Steve Nash's Suns, they don't have a big guy, they can't protect the rim and they need to make 3-pointers (or, in this case, connect on some long plays) to have a chance. Nash's Suns know if their 3s aren't falling, they will lose. McNabb's Eagles know if their long passes aren't connecting, they will lose. But if either team gets hot, look out.

Home field "advantage"

In my last post, I picked 3 of 4 road teams a reinforcement of the Sports Guy's contention that home field advantage is dead.

Revelation No. 1: "Home-field advantage" just isn't as much of an advantage anymore.

I tackled this subject 14 months ago, mentioning smaller advantages for road teams (QB/coach headsets, charter planes, better grass and turf, giant heaters for cold games, giant spray machines for humid games) and settling on one sizable disadvantage for home teams: an influx of state-of-the-art, suite-heavy stadiums that cater to wealthier fans but disenfranchise die-hards and, on top of that, usually don't sound as loud. And fans just aren't as blindly committed as we once were. Teams rip us off with parking, restrict tailgating hours, overcharge for concessions and make us endure an endless array of TV timeouts; if the weather or the home team sucks, we're even less excited to be there....

Anyway, "home-field" advantage is morphing into "home field." Check out the home regular-season records:

1990-99: 1,387-939-2 (.596)
2000-09: 1,442-1,084-2 (.571)

Check out the home playoff records from 1990-2002, then 2003-08:

1990-2002: 96-34 (.739)
2003-08: 34-26 (.567)

In the old days, you rode the home playoff teams -- especially with smaller lines -- unless you were steadfastly convinced the road team could win. Now? Only a few home venues can definitely swing a playoff game: any older dome, Qwest Field in Seattle, Lambeau in Green Bay, Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, Omar Little Stadium in Baltimore, and that's about it. You think the Ravens are scared to play in Gillette this Sunday? You think Philly is afraid of Dallas' goofy stadium this weekend? You think I've watched too many Dan Dierdorf-called games and it's making me start sentences with the non-argumentative argument "You think"? Please. As Dan might say, I'm not so sure that the death of home-field advantage wasn't the biggest NFL story of the past decade. Or at least in the top 200.

My Picks

My playoff picks. In the aesthetically worst viewing game of the weekend - a CBS broadcast at Cincinnati (25 degrees) on artificial turf with two teams without much personality. Bengals cause they're at home, slept walk through what was essentially a bye game for them (though Lewis didn't rest his starters), and they're going against a rookie QB.

I think the Pack beat the Cardinals tomorrow. It's not Arizona's year like last season. And it also sets up a Favre-Packers rematch. Guess what the story line and featured game of next weekend will be?

Its very difficult to go against Belicheat in the first round of the playoffs, but his inexplicable decision to play his starters in a meaningless game will catch up with him. Brady is hurt, Welker is lost and so is this game in a tough, tough, physical game. (Caveat - I would not be surprised to see the master pull this one out in a squeaker.)

It pains me to say this, but the Cowboys and the Packers are the two hottest teams in the NFC playoffs. Still, I can't bring myself to pick the Cowboys over my beloved Eagles. Somehow, Reid and McNabb figure out a way to get it done this week. For all of the matchup problems the Cowboys present, a couple of missed plays by the Eagles last week could have made the game much, much closer than it was. Bottomline, the Eagles can't play worse than last week and the Cowboys can't play any better. In other words, we've seen the Eagles' floor and Cowboys ceiling. The good news of an Eagles win is that the rest of the playoffs are downhill from here after beating the Cowboys. Sure the Saints also matchup well with the Eagles, but they're struggling nearly as much as Minnesota is. Both the NFC bye teams didn't coast into the playoffs so much as stagger. And i think the bye helped the Vikings more than the Saints.

More Arenas

The fallout from the Wizards' locker room gunplay continues, with the team fining four players $10,000 for the mock shooting during introductions before this week's Sixers game.

Arenas has been indefinitely suspended by the league and now four of his teammates-- Blatche, McGee, Foye, and Young - have been docked $10k.

Amazingly, the player who actually brandished a loaded firearm in the locker room - Javaris Crittenden - still has NOT been disciplined for ANYTHING related to this entire debacle.

McNabb Follow Up

My brother adds:

I love when people say he's no Brady or Manning.   Well, okay. He's not them. Agreed.  Exactly. They are 2 of the best ever.  What a joke.  By the way, Manning has routinely choked in playoffs - yes 1 super bowl for ALL that success.  Same with Favre (I think).  Would they not be "great" qb's if theyhad not won that 1 game.  Manning is 7-8 in playoffs. With 4 coming in super bowl year. In the past 4 years he is 1 super bowl and 0-3 in the other years.  Unbelievable.  In 3 years out of 4 he didn't win one single playoff game

For active qb's mcnabb has 3rdnd most postseason wins-9 (behind brady-14, favre-12).  Winning percentage he's behind brady, big ben, warner (notcountingdelhomme since he isn't starting).

The McNabb Effect

Rich Hoffman mentioned Donovan McNabb's polarizing effect on the fan base (for the record, I am a 100% McNabb booster). I touched on this in an earlier post comparing McNabb to Elway.

Here's the opinion of a journalist friend of mine about the fan perception and media coverage of McNabb:

No player in the history of Philly sports has had it as bad as McNabb. He makes Richie Allen, Mike Schmidt and Jaws look like they had it easy.

The sub-standard level of people that this organization has put around him would have driven any other QB into free agency 5-6 years ago. He has tolerated this shit for years.

And yet he's treated like it's all his fault.

In large part, this is because the entire team's fate, for most of his career, has been placed entirely on his shoulders. So, when they do lose, it IS in fact his fault, because he couldn't perform at super-human levels.

You, your brother, and I are probably the biggest Donovan fans as they are. I think this is largely because we're down here, away from the daily noise. We are able to look at the situation from a distance. We're able to watch the disastrous situation that exists here in DC and gain some level of perspective about how special Donovan is.

Of the '97-09 era of QBs, only Brady, Manning and Favre can claim to be above Donovan. And those are 3 of the 10 greatest QBs of all time.

McNabb's Last Game(s)?

Rich Hoffman raises a question that I'm surprised hasn't been raised earlier. To wit, are these playoff game(s) the last McNabb will play as an Eagle? The two year extension he got before the 2009 season suggested to many that he would be here for two more years and then be done here. Of course, NFL contracts don't really work like that - players rarely completely fulfill them.

For the record, I tend to agree with Hoffman. Short of a Super Bowl, I think McNabb won't be with the team next season. Interestingly, as of now both McNabb and Kolb's contracts expire at the end of the 2010 season. The Eagles would be wise to use the leverage of still having McNabb under contract to extend Kolb now before they cut ties with the best QB in franchise history.

Post-game

A depressing analysis of last week's Cowboys game and the daunting matchup challenges the Eagles have this week.

The Wizards' Bullets

We are getting closer and closer to a real life replay of the Last Boyscout. And when it does, is there any doubt it will involve a NBA player.

Here's the latest on the Gilbert Arenas incident from the Washington Post, an account that raises more questions than it answers. For instance, the ONLY player that actually loaded a gun - chambered a round and cocked it - was Crittenden, not Arenas. Why hasn't the NBA issued any discipline for Crittenden? It also appears from the account below, that Arenas wasn't so much threatening Crittenden but taunting him to carry out the threat Crittenden previously made to shoot Arenas in his bad knee. Crazy.

It also might help explain why Arenas has tried to joke about it - the finger-gun shooting during the Philly introductions only added to Stern's urgency to act. Arenas didn't take things seriously cause he was the one that didn't make the serious threat, i.e, shooting him in the knee, nor the one that actually brandished a loaded gun in the locker room (though he did bring in four unloaded ones)

The dispute between Arenas and Crittenton began on the team plane during a popular card game between players called "Boo-ray." Crittenton lost roughly $1,100 to JaVale McGee, a Wizards center, in the game, according to a player who watched the game and who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Crittenton, already angry over a dispute over the game's rules, became irate when Arenas began needling him.

Their barbs escalated to a point where Arenas, smiling, said he would blow up Crittenton's car, according to two players on the flight, who requested anonymity. Crittenton replied that he would shoot Arenas in his surgically repaired knee.

Walking into the locker room two days after the dispute on the team plane, according to two witnesses, Arenas laid out the guns in Crittenton's locker. Two other teammates eventually sauntered in and, while Arenas was writing the note in front of Crittenton's cubicle, in walked Crittenton, according to their account.

Asking Arenas what he was doing, Arenas replied, "If you want to shoot me, I'd just thought I'd make it easy for you." As other teammates laughed, Crittenton crumpled up the paper, tossed one of Arenas's guns across the room, where it bounced in front of a team trainer, and said he didn't need any of Arenas's firearms because he had his own, according to the witness accounts.

Crittenton then drew his weapon, loaded it and chambered a round, the witnesses said.

Neither witness said the gun was ever pointed at Arenas, but both said Crittenton began singing as he held the gun.

Arenas began laughing, the witnesses said, telling Crittenton, "Look at that little shiny gun," as two other players slowly retreated to the training room.

Arenas eventually followed. By the time the players came back out, Crittenton was gone.

5=7

Sam Donnellon makes the McNabb=Elway comparison that my brother and friends have been making for years.

Key excerpt:

Balls were dropped on him, too. The defense was so porous that in the end, 24-zip seemed to be a charitable score. McNabb answered a question about the team's young players by saying they will learn and play better, phrasing it in a way that fueled more doubt and debate about his strengths and flaws.

"It all starts with me," McNabb said yesterday.

"I have to raise my level of play," he said yesterday, but then he kept going with this:

"And everyone else has to, as well."

Ugh.

Truth is, McNabb is good enough to quarterback a Super Bowl team. If he spent some or all of his 11 seasons operating in a different offense, he might even have a Super Bowl ring by now. Put him with Ray Lewis' Ravens defense, or with Jerome Bettis in Ben Roethlisberger's rookie season. Put him with an offense that runs the ball habitually and limits the number of times it asks its quarterback to execute a big play.

The Eagles are 6-0 this season when McNabb has attempted fewer than 30 passes. All teams pass more when losing, but Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg habitually go to it earlier and against less adversity than their peers.

 
I totally agree with the Elway comparison. Everyone seems to forget that Elway was labeled a choking loser until he won the SB late in his career when he didn't have to carry the whole team (and handoff to Terrell Davis). Same thing with Peyton Manning.

But here's the thing in this excerpt that stuck out at me. The way the Philly media scrutinizes and parses every snippet of McNabb-speak looking for some greater insight. To wit, his quote about upping his level of play and then suggesting that teammates could play better too. Which Donnellon interprets as undermining the young players.

Isn't what McNabb said the truth? He admits he has to play better and suggests the team also has to play better. Doesn't anyone who watched sunday's debacle agree that all phases of the game and players have to do better? Why is it when McNabb says it - while at the same time shouldering much of the burden - its somehow this big negative?
The guy really can do nothing right with many people - media included - in Philadelphia.

A 911 for 55

The key point of Les Bowen's good article about the lingering effects of losing Stewart Bradley for the season - a loss that was glaringly highlighted last Sunday:

if Bradley still patrolled the middle as a 6-4, 255-pound, three-down linebacker, on the field in every package, the loss of Dawkins on the back end might be less noticeable.

Bradley's loss amplified the absence of Brian Dawkins. Were Bradley starting, the middle secondary wouldn't be so exposed. The Eagles D could survive Dawkins' departure, but not the loss of Dawkins and Bradley.

A Wallpaper of the Times

A sign of the shifting nature of the Eagles roster and status on the depth chart and in the game plan. Brian Westbrook isn't featured at all in any of the player playoff wallpaper on the Eagles' website.  

A Profitable Loss for Jeff Lurie

Since the Eagles were the 2nd  (3rd?) NFC team to clinch a playoff spot 3 weeks ago, the Eagles put out a call for deposits to season ticket holders on a 1st round playoff game and the NFC championship game. Those deposits (+$300) are non-refundable. The balance is just applied to next year's tickets. 

Now here we are at the official end of the season, and the Eagles are GUARANTEED to not have a single home playoff game. Hope the Eagles enjoy all the interest on that money.

Eagles-Cowboys

Terrific ESPN Sunday Countdown piece on the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry - and why Eagles fans hate the Cowboys. It's all here: the bounty bowl, the snowballs, Michael Irvin. Maybe the best part is the stunned look of Chris Berman (the 6:35 mark) where Cris Carter matter of factly (and not in a jocular way) admits to the bounty bowl and how he wanted to get to Zendejas, since he wouldn't have a chance at Aikman.