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Eagles Come Back to Earth Against Chicago

Notes section updated Monday morning. The Chicago Bears were better than the Eagles on Sunday. No question. But somehow Andy Reid found a way to make his unflappably bad decision making a part of the story. With 5 minutes left in the game and the Eagles down two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, they . . . kicked a field goal. Admit it. Even though you saw the game, you almost went with “punted” to finish the above sentence. But no, this wasn’t the playoffs in New Orleans several years ago. It was, however, a decision that was just as stupid. With the score 31-16, a field goal was virtually meaningless for the Eagles. They still needed two touchdowns to win the game with the score 31-19. (In case it’s not obvious to everyone except the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, eliminating the need for a 2-point conversion isn’t worth it at that point.) Considering that they were on the Bears 19-yard line, it could almost be argued that they were better off even if they didn’t m

Week-in-Review 11/26/10

I already reviewed last week’s picks, and I’m off to a decent 2-1 start this week. It could have been a huge Turkey Day if New Orleans hadn’t fallen asleep against Dallas, but I can’t complain when Auburn stormed back today from 24 down the beat Alabama. When I say outright, Mike Missanelli fans, I mean outright! (Just having some fun . . . I enjoy Mikey Miss, too.) Nothing left to do but recap the sports stories and minutiae that caught my attention in the last seven days. Week-in-Review: • Quote of the Year? Ed Snider at the ceremony for the demolition of the Spectrum (well, the really slow beginning of the demolition), referring to bringing the success had at the Spectrum to the “. . . Wells Fargo or whatever-its-called Center.” I apologize for ever ripping Mr. Snider. (Not really.) • It’s never wrong to bust Donovan McNabb’s stones. Check out the latest cartoon from Bang! • The blog Crossing Broad posted video evidence of Andre Iguodala acting like a petulant child when

Thanksgiving Day Games

With no picks tonight, I finished last week with my best record and one of my best weekly point totals ever on the blog. I went 9-2-1 for 77.05 points, including 6-2 in the NFL for 58.86 points and 3-0-1 in college. If you followed my picks on Twitter , you know that I counted the Packers pick for 10 points to win 8.69pts, at -3 for -115 “juice.” I actually tweeted the pick as Green Bay -7, which was supposed to be Tennessee. But since the points were actually more than what Green Bay was giving, I’m counting the win at the correct price. Let’s just say I only wish I’d made the mistake elsewhere! I also had Dallas at -6.5 as a winner on a 10 point pick, winning 9.09. I split my two big NFL picks, dropping the Patriots at -4.5, but hitting with the Falcons after they went to -3.5 for a more typical price. They were originally -3 for a very high price. Each pick was for 15 points to win 13.64. The big winner came on a parlay pick made early in the day on the Packers, Falcons, and

Ugly Eagles Win Could Look Good Later

The Eagles beat the Giants for first place in the NFC East last night, and there’s no need to take away from that in any way. It’s Thanksgiving week in a season that was supposed to be about finding out whether or not Kevin Kolb was able to play quarterback in the NFL. The run that many Eagles fans are now anticipating into the playoffs is an unexpected early holiday gift. I said on Friday that this could be a very telling game for the Eagles, and, in fact, that’s what it became. I’m just not sure if it was a positive sign that they won in the fashion that they did, or a game filled with warning signs for those who went to bed last Monday night with visions of a Super Bowl dancing in their heads. Last night was a game that fans are used to seeing become an ugly loss, and instead it was an ugly win. And maybe, just maybe, that’s more important than the blowout win against the Redskins. Everybody, of course, is talking about the fact that every game can’t be a romp like Monday night.

Preview of Week 11 Picks; Expanded Week-in-Review

My 4-7 win/loss record from last week is a bit misleading, and, no, I’m not doing my best Brandon Lang impression. (I may need a new reference for sleazy handicappers selling their picks with Lang having essentially disappeared.) Three of the losses came on a 5-point parlay I just sort of threw out as a crapshoot last Thursday night. I liked all of the games, and figured risking 5 points to win 30 was worth it. In fact, last week shows why guys giving out picks without some sort of rating system are a waste of time. After Baltimore choked up my 30-point pick on the same night, I played patty-cake most of the weekend, going 3-4 for the rest of the weekend on picks under 10 points. I did go 0-3 on Sunday for -22.50 points. Then came Monday, and I just couldn’t figure out why the Eagles were favored by just 3.5. I knew Washington was coming off of their bye, and had beaten the Eagles earlier in the season. But they are horrible, and the Eagles were red hot. So, I went for it despite h

Twitter Fun, Plus Chris Bosh Video via Deadspin

I went a little Twitter crazy yesterday, adding about 50 people to those who I follow, up from 8 or 9. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, my number of followers jumped from 3 or 4 – a number that was strangely fluid – to 9 in 24 hours. I’m hoping that changing robqblogs to focus on my Rob Q Ink posts and game day picks on the NFL, NBA, and more, had something to do with the increase, but I’m guessing it was more about a “follow me, follow you” mentality. The thought was only strengthened by the fact that my new twitter feed for my PhillyACCESS blog gained a follower before I finished setting it up. Thanks to Twitter, I will now be following the tweeted brilliance of everyone from Michael Barkann to Terrell Owens. I’m actually thinking Owens will be good for a few laughs. I have to give credit to 97.5’s Harry Mayes in my efforts to find people in the sports world to follow. He was the first person I followed, and I basically checked out who he was following to pick out peop

Eagles Rip 'Skins; Vick, McNabb (and Kolb) Debate Over

Everybody makes mistakes in they lifetime, and the Redskins made one last night! Then they got to watch it. After the borderline insane move of re-signing Donovan McNabb prior to the game last night when the last on-field move that involved the quarterback was his benching, the Redskins got to watch McNabb throw 3 interceptions en route to getting an ol’ fashioned whuppin’ last night. The first play of last night’s game may have said it all. If McNabb is the Eagles quarterback, the deep pass to take advantage of something the coaches had identified as a weakness in the Redskins’ defense results in him clapping his hands together in mock disappointment with that dumb smile on his face because he “just missed” DeSean Jackson. Last night it was an 88-yard touchdown pass from Michael Vick and the Eagles never looked back. See the Inquirer for the onslaught of statistics, including NFL and franchise firsts that Vick and the offense set last night. Mike Missanelli of 97.5 The Fanati

Concussion Hypocrisy

DeSean Jackson returned to the field last week wearing a new helmet made by Schutt. Jackson was returning to action after suffering a concussion 3 weeks prior. The obvious question to me is, why the hell isn’t the entire league wearing this helmet? Roger Goodell has been prattling on about how the league is concerned about player safety since he took over the job of commissioner. The NFL Players Association will be making noise about preventing concussions in the upcoming negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement. Yet, it’s clearly nothing more than a lot of posturing in an effort to make progress in decreasing or increasing (respectively) the salaries of players. This week I read a column by Bob Ford that mentioned the number of e-mails he receives whenever he writes about the concussion issue from fans saying that they don’t care about the subject. Yet, I think it’s soon going to be the only issue in the NFL. I’ll admit that I have a personal angle on this i

A Better Response

Every time I see it, and as a sports fan it’s impossible to miss, I want to rip LeBron James. As if “The Decision” – and I don’t mean his choice of where to sign in free agency – wasn’t bad enough, he has made a commercial that now incessantly reminds the public of what an arrogant jerk he was in the way he left his supposedly beloved home town of Cleveland. While he was at it, James made it very clear that he doesn’t even comprehend the fact that outside of Cleveland no one really cares where he signed. He also doesn’t get that we don’t care what he does in response to the backlash for the “The Decision,” which he childishly asks about over and over again in the commercial in an incredibly weak effort to make the public response the problem as opposed to his stupidity. I might have told him that he should shut up about it and let the reaction run its course. The American public has an amazing ability to forget. I might have said that we’d be happy if he just disappeared, and that he

Birds, Sixers Get Ws

The Eagles and Sixers got a win on the same day. Sorry, Flyers fans, the organization couldn’t make it a Philadelphia sweep on Sunday. Now that I’ve exhausted my hockey knowledge, here’s just a few thoughts from the weekend: • Give Andy Reid credit – 12-0 after the bye is incredible. That said, in a way, isn’t Andy Reid’s record after a bye a potential condemnation of him? Give him the extra time and he never loses. Otherwise, he’s constantly flustered. (Bill Belichick had a bye week before the Super Bowl, too, and we saw what happened there. Remember, I said “extra” time.) • At one point, having picked against the Eagles, watching Michael Vick run almost seemed unfair to the opposition. Then he gets in the “red zone,” and David Akers looks great. • The Birds defense doesn’t need to get too hyped up over defeating Peyton Manning. He came into the game with two key weapons out, Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark, and lost Austin Collie in the game. It’s a good, not great, win. • The

Week 9 NFL Picks, College Pick, Week-in-Review

I had a so-so week with my picks in the last Thursday through Wednesday cycle, ending up at -12.53 points with a lousy 2-6 in terms of wins and losses. If only I’d listened to myself, and stayed away from the World Series games where I went 0-3 for -15 points, I would have been ok. I know . . . woulda, coulda, shoulda. The only good news came in football, where I hit my two biggest picks. But even there I gave some back, finishing 2-3 for a measly +2.47 in points. It’s probably the worst time in the world for my biggest picks of the season because anyone following along would say I’m chasing points. But I really don’t feel that way, and I honestly feel strongly enough to bump up my points on the games this week. Normally, I’m very conservative after losing, and it’s not like I got crushed last week. The two big picks are in the NFL, where I’m +83.83 in points in the last 3 weeks. (You gotta love Excel after putting in the time to put in all of the old data, don’t ya?) At the ri

Strange Happenings

The Eagles were on their bye week, so it was a perfect time for fans to focus on our “favorite” former quarterback. Shockingly, Donovan McNabb seems to be right where we left him – in the midst of controversy. Or, should I say, in the midst of stinking it up? Shortly after McNabb threw a late, fourth quarter interception to cost his team a victory on Sunday – sound familiar? – vaunted Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan benched the so-called future Hall of Fame quarterback. After the game, Shanahan basically said that journeyman quarterback Rex Grossman gave the Redskins a better chance to win in the final two minutes of the game against the Detroit Lions. Let that soak in. McNabb was benched because Shanahan thought Rex Grossman gave his team a better chance to win a game. In fact, he said McNabb didn’t have enough of a grasp of the offense to run the two-minute drill. By the way, Grossman signed with the Redskins on March 17. McNabb was traded on April 4. So Grossman h