Eagles Back in Playoff Hunt After Beating Seahawks
Yesterday in Seattle the Eagles may have represented Philadelphia better than they ever have. They looked a bit disinterested in the first quarter, but soon realized they weren’t the Philadelphia team that had just won a world championship and got back to business in time to beat the hapless Seahawks, 26-7.
Fans can be forgiven if, like me, this game wasn’t doing much for them as they came down from celebrating the Phillies. Since they actually won, I guess the Eagles can be forgiven too. But if Jeffrey Lurie ever wants to do anything besides loan out space for a parade, the Eagles need to finally figure out how to manage a clock.
The Eagles ran a quarterback sneak right after the 2-minute warning in the first half. They did not run another play until there was 1:17 left – after a timeout by Seattle. The Eagles were only at Seattle’s 34, so this wasn’t a case of milking the clock. It only got worse as they took another timeout due to apparent confusion after a 26-yard pass to Kevin Curtis put them on the 1-yard line with the clock already stopped as Curtis had been pushed out of bounds.
Yes, they eventually scored a touchdown. But whether it’s the fault of Donovan McNabb or Andy Reid, this team is still incapable of running a 2-minute drill.
The best bright spot of the day, and my Player of the Week, was Brent Celek. The second-year player showed signs that the Eagles may finally have a tight end. He caught 6 passes for 131 yards – the most yards ever by an Eagles tight end in a regular season game.
After a slow start McNabb certainly deserved consideration with 349 yards passing and 2 TD passes. Brian Westbrook had a solid day with 61 rushing yards and 35 receiving. Curtis made his presence known after missing most of the year with a groin injury, catching 6 passes for 83 yards. Even David Akers showed he might not be ready for the scrap heap, going 4 of 4 on field goals.
But before we start planning another parade, this was a bad Seahawks team without its starting quarterback. While the Eagles’ defense dominated, they dominated Seneca Wallace, and Lito I-want-to-be-traded Sheppard got toasted for a 90-yard TD on the first offensive play for the Seahawks. Plus, Akers’ longest field goal was for 42-yards, not exactly anything to be in awe of.
The Eagles are back in the hunt for the playoffs at 5-3. Next week’s game against the Giants will tell us a lot more about this team.
Fans can be forgiven if, like me, this game wasn’t doing much for them as they came down from celebrating the Phillies. Since they actually won, I guess the Eagles can be forgiven too. But if Jeffrey Lurie ever wants to do anything besides loan out space for a parade, the Eagles need to finally figure out how to manage a clock.
The Eagles ran a quarterback sneak right after the 2-minute warning in the first half. They did not run another play until there was 1:17 left – after a timeout by Seattle. The Eagles were only at Seattle’s 34, so this wasn’t a case of milking the clock. It only got worse as they took another timeout due to apparent confusion after a 26-yard pass to Kevin Curtis put them on the 1-yard line with the clock already stopped as Curtis had been pushed out of bounds.
Yes, they eventually scored a touchdown. But whether it’s the fault of Donovan McNabb or Andy Reid, this team is still incapable of running a 2-minute drill.
The best bright spot of the day, and my Player of the Week, was Brent Celek. The second-year player showed signs that the Eagles may finally have a tight end. He caught 6 passes for 131 yards – the most yards ever by an Eagles tight end in a regular season game.
After a slow start McNabb certainly deserved consideration with 349 yards passing and 2 TD passes. Brian Westbrook had a solid day with 61 rushing yards and 35 receiving. Curtis made his presence known after missing most of the year with a groin injury, catching 6 passes for 83 yards. Even David Akers showed he might not be ready for the scrap heap, going 4 of 4 on field goals.
But before we start planning another parade, this was a bad Seahawks team without its starting quarterback. While the Eagles’ defense dominated, they dominated Seneca Wallace, and Lito I-want-to-be-traded Sheppard got toasted for a 90-yard TD on the first offensive play for the Seahawks. Plus, Akers’ longest field goal was for 42-yards, not exactly anything to be in awe of.
The Eagles are back in the hunt for the playoffs at 5-3. Next week’s game against the Giants will tell us a lot more about this team.
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