After an inexplicable loss to Chicago, and after giving away a game to Washington, the Eagles needed a week like this one to stay competitive in the division. Things remain interesting top to bottom in the NFC East
While the Giants seem to have shaken the “can’t play after a bye” issue, Monday nighters are apparently still a problem.
Wow was that a bad day. The first pick was a bad effort at forcing the ball to Plax, the second was a bad miscommunication between Eli and Plax, and then the third was one of those terrible off-balance weak-ass throws that brought me back to the 2005 Wildcard game against the Panthers. Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Eli.
Oh well. Hopefully the Giants will be able to use this loss for motivation. It’s about time they stopped believing their press clippings anyway.
Postmortem on the Giants’ MNF loss by Bill Barnwell (of Football Outsiders, of course). I think he makes some good points:
I think we can consider this the official “NFC East Trap Week”. The three better teams all lost games they were favored in and each found a way to lose ugly.
So… who’s the best team in the league now? I know Tennessee are still 5-0, but c’mon, Kerry Collins? I can’t pick them for the same reasons I poo-poohed the Vikings as a preseason Super Bowl pick (and boy, do I look like a savant now).
I can’t pick the Bills because I’m still not sold on Trent Edwards.
I can’t pick any of the NFC East teams because they’re all going to end up 10-6/9-7 when they’re done beating up on each other.
Could it be… the Colts?
I had that exact train of thought, RNATB. Seriously, it was almost verbatim.
This is why I love the NFL. In basketball and baseball, everybody knows who’s going to be good and who’s going to suck, and the teams generally wind up playing exactly as you expect.
In football, everybody knows who’s going to be good and who’s going to suck, but the teams don’t know.
Plus, everything changes week to week. Just look at the season so far:
Week 1: The Redskins are terrible!
Week 5: The Redskins are phenomenal!
Week 6: The Redskins are terrible!
Preseason: The Saints will win the NFC South easily!
Week 6: The Saints are in last place!
Preseason: Adrian Peterson healthy! Jared Allen! Bernard Berrian! The Vikings’ offseason acquisitions will put them in the Super Bowl!
Week 6: The Vikings are exactly the same as they were last year!
Week 1: The Cardinals are really good!
Week 4: The Cardinals suck!
Week 6: The Cardinals are really good!
Preseason: The Pats will dominate again!
Week 1, 2nd quarter: The Pats will suck!
Preseason: The Dolphins are the worst team in football!
Week 5: The Dolphins just beat both of last years’ AFC Championship teams!
Preseason: The Falcons’ rebuilding project will take a few years!
Week 6The Falcons’ rebuilding project took a few weeks!
I guess Roy Williams is now a Cowboy (from Detroit). I think that’s good news for Dallas.
1 - Eagles (3)
2 - Giants (1)
5 - Redskins (5)
15 - Cowboys (7)
Yes, that’s the 3-3 Eagles as the #1 team in football according to DVOA, and the vaunted Cowboys in the middle of the pack. It’s understandable that one might look at those rankings with a skeptical eye, but you can probably make some money by betting on Philly the next few weeks.
I predict sales of Cowboys Roy Williams jerseys will nearly double! 
We have a monopoly now. Build a Hotel!
[late posting]
So we get a few days off from all the proclamations that the NFC East is the greatest achievement of humanity.
I was just reading that the Browns were only the 4th team since 1963 (not sure why that start date) to go a game without a sack, turnover, or punt.
During the offseason I was looking forward to that matchup - the best D-line in the league against what could be the best O-line, then Strahan retired, Osi got hurt, and the Browns sucked and it wasn’t nearly as exciting a prospect. But it ended up being pretty impressive - I don’t think they laid a hand on Anderson the whole game, and while the team didn’t have a huge rushing day (although 144 yards is pretty good), they were able to run when they needed it. It was pretty much total domination by the Cleveland O-line, and it’s clear that that if the Giants’ pressure is neutralized their back 7 is pretty vulnerable.
LOUNE, you were right about Shaun Rogers. He’s a beast. I especially liked the play where they stood him up as a linebacker - imagine 350 pounds of that monster getting a running start on you. They should do that a few times a game to demoralize opponents.
I have my doubts that Romeo Crennel coached that game. Everything about it was anti-Crennel. I really, really hope this means they decreased his role and gave it to the rest of the coaching staff. The main reason the team was successful last year was that Romeo was neutered and the offense was given to the coordinator with very little input from Romeo.
The team decided that because the part of the team Romeo didn’t control anymore was flourishing (and got us 10 wins), and the part he still controlled (and is supposedly an expert in) was floundering - hey, that must mean Romeo is good! The team is improving! Then they give him more power again, so the team sucks more… and I can only hope they realized it and re-neutered him, otherwise next week we’ll go right back to sucking.
But it was weird to see such an aggressive defense. Our corners actually covered their receivers! They lined up right next to them! Amazing. The playcalling actually seemed like a 3-4 defense that capitalizes on flexibility rather than a generic cover 2 4-3 where the RDE weighed 260 pounds and stood up. Although the Cleveland defense is still comically bad at timing their blitzes - whenever a safety is coming, he runs up to the LOS about 8 seconds before the snap giving everyone plenty of time to adjust.
Anderson looks to be recovering from his concussion. He sucked in part because he was hurt - Crennel didn’t dare put Quinn in despite Anderson’s obviously impaired playing ability because he’s not man enough to handle the potential QB controversy, so we’ve had to suffer through an extra-dopey Anderson.
Oh, and I’ve been pimping Jerome Harrison for years now. Yet another example of Romeo’s ineptitude. Every single time the kid gets the ball he makes something happen, even if it’s just turning a 2 yard hole into a 5 yard gain. In almost every game this year, Harrison will come in and make a 20+ yard play happen, and I’ll say “well, that’s the last we’ll see of him” and sadly be right. It’s comical.
It was worse last year - when Harrison would get 1 touch, make a 30 yard run from it, and then be inactive for the next 4 weeks. Well he got 4 whole touches this game (for 67 yards), almost a career high. I guess we’ve used more than our Harrison quota for this week and we won’t see him again until week 14.
Well, now that’s just silly. But since it seems like old FO is missing a pretty large chunk of the explanation for why the Eagles’ performance might confound their statistics, allow me to offer it: the Eagles don’t actually play football. They play something very much like football, but not quite.
For instance, in football, there is a position called “fullback” and a position called “tight end.” The Eagles just have tailbacks and LJ Smiths. What an LJ Smith is is a guy who is terrible at football, but who you franchise anyway, and then leave on the field all game long even though he’s terrible at football and you’re a football team. But since he’s terrible at football, you have to find some way to compensate, so what you do is scheme around the fact that he’s on the field. You send him out on patterns and have the quarterback’s progression ignore him (because he won’t catch it if you throw it to him – he’s not some stupid jock football player, after all), or you keep him in to “block” (but not really block because he won’t do that, so what you do is you set up a blocking scheme where he’s helping somebody who you hope doesn’t need help). Then, on every fifteenth snap when you run the ball, you run to the strong side, which is defined as the side your LJ Smith isn’t on. This confuses the defense because they’re expecting the opposite definition!
Anyway, in the sport the Eagles play, having a solid offensive line and Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook means you can gain a lot of yards. But in the sport they play, you don’t try very hard to get into the end zone, because that’s gay (in that sport; weird, I know. They’re very juvenile). So you put a guy in there and pretend he’s a fullback - maybe a defensive tackle who can’t block, or maybe another tailback who really can’t block (who you then subsequently cut because he can’t block, even though he’s a fucking tailback), and then you get tackled.
Oh, and also, there is a position called kicker, but if he can make one beyond 40 yards he’s a dick. So in football you get rewarded for having one of those stupid dick long kick makers, but that shit won’t fly in scrappleball, no sir.
All of which is to say, the Eagles aren’t that good, because they lost those games despite high DVOA for very real reasons that have to do with coaching and stubbornness and arrogance and stupid cryptic opaque press conferences and moustaches.
Actually, the Eagles have tailbacks and Guys Who Are Playing In Place Of LJ Smith Because Of Knee Injury(ies).
A week late, but…
I love that the **Giants **are 5-1 and that Dallas is 4-3 but the **Giants **are now entering the real part of the schedule and coming off two straight games where they did not impress at all.
Anyone else concerned with the way the team has looked the last two weeks?
I would be. The Buccaneers started running clock-killing plays midway through the second quarter yesterday- I’d say the Giants’ thrashing of the Seahawks told you more about the Hawks than about the Giants, and what you got yesterday is what the team is really like.
It’s going to be a tricky one next week – the Steelers’ defense is the best in the league right now, and if the Giants play like they did this week (or, God forbid, last week), then they’re going to get smoked.
That said, we all know how the Giants play up to the level of good teams and down to the level of bad ones. It’ll be a fight, but the Giants can win this one.
Go Giants!
Eli “Mr. Goddamned Superclutch” Manning pulls out another clutch game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. Gotta love a QB that consistently plays significantly better late in close games.
Steelers defense was amazing. I never thought I’d see a defense stuff the Giants run so completely, especially that close to the goal line.