Eagles Almost Bring Down the Patriots

The Eagles almost defeated one of the best teams in the history of football last night in New England. The Patriots were favored by 24 or 26 points, but the Eagles covered the spread as they lost by three stinkin' points. The final score was 31 to 28, Pats. The Eagles did not win the game but they got some momentum going into next week's game against the Seattle Seahawks. The Pats were supposed to wipe the floor with the Eagles, especially with the Eagles' franchise quarterback, Donovan McNabb, recovering from two injuries back in Philly. A.J. Feeley stepped up and made a Brady-like performance against one of the best defences in the league. Greg Lewis also was a unlikely hero as he caught two touchdown passes for the Birds. The Eagles' defense was like a brick wall in the red zone against a prolific Patroits' offense. Westbrook played well but not great in this game.
The receivers made plays and the quarterback was accurate. This Eagles team looked like a well-oiled-machine that has been playing together for years. That is funny, considering A.J. Feeley made his first start this season. Feeley threw for three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Their is yet another quarterback controversy brewing in Philly. But this time it does not involve rookie Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb. It involves A.J. Feeley and McNabb. From what I saw last night and what I saw from McNabb earlier this season, I think it is not even a controversy. McNabb should not start next week against the Seahawks. With McNabb at the helm, the Eagles offense looks awkward, unorganized, and too mistake-prone. Feeley thrives in the west-coast offense and showed that last night. McNabb left early in the Dolphins game after the first half in which he threw two interceptions and left the Birds losing to an 0-9 team (the Dolphins record at the time). Andy Reid says McNabb will start if he is ready and he most likely is. Reid is way too loyal to McNabb. If he wants to win and do what's right for the team, Feeley would start the next game. McNabb's career is over as far as I'm concerned, he is a good quarterback but he is just too injury-prone.
It seems as if the whole Eagles' offense was playing with more heart than they did with McNabb.
I guess they are just happy that their quarterback doesn't get injured almost every play and that the balls are coming for their hands, not their feet.

Is the Impossible Possible?

We will certainly see the answer to that question tonight at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. The Eagles will visit the undefeated New England Patriots on national television. If you ask the guys from Los Vegas the Pats are favored by 24 points. But, hey, anything could happen, right? The Eagles starting quarterback for this game will be A.J. Feely. Donavan McNabb is out for this one.
The Eagles are trying to take down an opponent who averages 41 points a game and is set to break more records than previously thought possible. They have all time great quarterback in Tom Brady, who didn't have a single defender's hand touch him in the Patriots game last week against the Bills. The Eagles will have to put pressure on Brady if they hope to even stay competitive in this match up. Brady is spoiled in having receivers like Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker catching his passes. The Patriots also have a premium running game led by Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk.
Let's not forget about the Patriots veteran defense. The linebackers consist of veteran names such as Mike Vrabel, Teddy Bruschi, Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison, and Adalius Thomas. The also have big free agent pick up Asante Samuel.
The Pats have slaughtered every team, except the Colts, in this season. Their is a chance the Eagles could pull out the improbable against the all-powerful, juggernaut Patriots. Now mind you, that is a very small chance, but a chance nonetheless. I would be proud if the Eagles did not get totally embarassed this game. Hey, anything could happen once the players suit up and take the field. Nothing is impossible.

NFL Picks of the Week

Last week: 10-6

Green Bay Detroit: winner-Green Bay
Green Bay has shown it is a solid team going 9-1 in the first 10 games.
New York Jets at Dallas: winner-Dallas
Sure, the Jets surprised Pittsburgh last week but they are not good enough to beat a hot Cowboys team.
Indianapolis at Atlanta: winner-Indianapolis
This should be a confidence-building win for the Colts as they look forward to the postseason.
Tennessee at Cincinnati: winner-Tennessee
The Bengals have absolutely no running game and the Titans have all running game. That should make the difference in this game.
Houston at Cleveland: winner-Houston
The Texans will just edge out the Browns in this one.
Oakland at Kansas City: winner-Kansas City
The Chiefs really need to win this game and they should do that playing at home.
Seattle at St. Louis: winner-Seattle
Matt Hassleback played well last game and he should continue at that pace against the woeful Rams.
Minnesota at New York Giants: winner-Giants
The Giants are simply a better team than the Vikings.
Washington at Tampa Bay: winner-Tampa Bay
The Bucs are a good team slipping under the radar at 6-4. Jeff Garcia is playing well. Washington is in a slump and should continue at that pace.
New Orleans at Carolina: winner-New Orleans
I don't know what's up with the Saints but they have to beat the Panthers. Right?
Buffalo at Jacksonville: winner-Jacksonville
The Jaguars have been winning and Buffalo shouldn't stop them this week.
San Francisco at Arizona: winner-Arizona
The 49ers lost to the Rams last week. The Rams. Alex Smith may not even be 100% anyway.
Denver at Chicago: winner-Denver
Jay Cutler showed that he can come up big in games and he will do it again this week.
Baltimore at San Diego: winner-San Diego
Baltimore has been stinking up the place in recent weeks.
Philadelphia at New England: winner-New England
Sorry, we are in for a slaughtering of record proportions.
Miami at Pittsburgh: winner-Pittsburgh
Sorry Miami, O-11.

MVP! MVP! MVP!!!!!!!!

Those chants have finally come true for Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. He rightfully deserved the honor of best player in the National League. Jimmy Rollins has been the leader of this team since spring training when he boldly stated that the Philadelphia Phillies were the team to beat in the National League East. Now you can imagine what the defending champs of the the division, the New York Mets, thought about that. Rollins did not win the MVP in a landslide, however, Matt Holliday was thought to be neck-and-neck with Rollins going into today's decision at two in the afternoon.
If it hadn't been for Jimmy the Phils surely wouldn't have made it to the playoffs, let alone win the N.L. East. Rollins rightfully got 16 out of the 32 first-place votes. That is the second straight year that a Phillie has won the N.L. MVP award. Do you hear Chase the MVP chants next season!
Rollins lead the N.L. in runs with 139. He lead the league in triples with a whopping 20 3-baggers. He played every game last season for the Phils as he lead the league in total at-bats with 716.
I don't care what anyone says: J-Roll deserves that award! People will say, "Holliday has better stats." Give me a break! Sure he had better stats, but that's only because J-Roll batted in the lead-off position. Holliday was probably batting fourth with runners on every time he takes that stroll up to the plate. J-Roll is one of the best lead-off hitters in a long time. Plus, the most valuable player doesn't just mean he has the best stats, it helps but it is not always the case. So many Phillies went down with injuries this season (Ryan Howard, Chase Utely, just about the whole pitching staff) but Rollins was that guy who you could count on to give his all every game. The Phillies would be a significantly worse team if J-Roll was not sitting in that clubhouse pumping his team up for the upcoming game. The man showed great consistency throughout the season. He single-handily won quite a few games for the Phils. He also played well in clutch situations. He was the knight that slayed down the dragon that is the New York Mets. He is priceless. So, congratulations Jimmy, you deserve it.

A Bad Win

The Eagles beat the Miami Dolphins yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field, final score 17-7. It wasn't a pretty win. Donovan McNabb injured his ankle in the second quarter. A.J. Feely took over and did a pretty nice job. The Eagles are now 5-5 and in major playoff contention. Nobody knows whether McNabb is playing next week or not.
A.J. Feely may have to be the Jeff Garcia of this season if McNabb does not come back. McNabb threw interceptions on his first couple of possesions in the game. Westbrook played good but not great. The Eagles have the Patriots coming up next week, a tough task. The Patriots killed the Bills last night. They are 10-0.

NFL Picks of the Week

Last week: 8-5

Tampa Bay at Atlanta: winner-Tampa Bay
Jeff Garcia should have an excellent game.
Arizona at Cincinnati: winner-Cincinnati
The Bengals should handle the Cardinals at home, even with the Rudi Johnson is having a bad season.
New York Giants at Detroit: winner- New York Giants
The Giants will show that they are a playoff contender today against another team that's in the hunt.
Carolina at Green Bay: winner-Green Bay
The Brett Farve express won't stop against the Panthers.
Kansas City at Indianapolis: winner-Indianapolis
Indy will get back on track against the Chiefs.
Oakland at Minnesota: winner-Minnesota
Even with A-Pete out, the Vikings will still beat a struggling Raiders team. Look for Chester Taylor to have great game with Peterson out.
Miami at Philadelphia: winner- Philadelphia
The Eagles have to beat an 0-9 team. Right?
San Diego at Jacksonville: winner- San Diego
San Diego has the momentum after that win against the Colts.
Cleveland at Baltimore: winner- Cleveland
Baltimore is falling apart and Cleveland should expose that today.
New Orleans at Houston: winner- New Orleans
New Orleans is a mystery. Are they good, or are they bad? Even with Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub coming back this week, the Saints should still win.
Pittsburgh at New York Jets: winner- Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh should handle a bad Jets team.
Washington at Dallas: winner- Dallas
The Cowboys should take care of the Redskins without a sweat.
St. Louis at San Francisco: winner- San Fran
With Frank Gore back to being healthy, the 49ers should just edge out the Rams.
Chicago at Seattle: winner- Seattle
Seattle is 4-1 at home. Note- Rex Grossman is starting for the Bears.
New England at Buffalo: winner- New England
New England will still not have a loss on Monday.
Tennessee at Denver: winner- Tennessee
Vince Young will finally look good tomorrow night.

*Bonds* Indited

So, the Bonds parade is finally unraveling into its true ugly self. Bonds was indited by a federal jury yesterday on counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Now, how did the government finally get enough evidence to indite Bonds? Well, one theory is that his former trainer, who was in jail until yesterday, ratted him out to get out of jail. It might not just be a coincidence that Bonds' former trainer got out of jail just as Bonds got indited. Now, that may be the case, but I think the government has been collecting evidence and working on his case for quite some time.
The indites state that Bonds lied to the jury in the Balco case. He lied about taking steroids to the feds, basically.
If it is proved that Bonds took steroids, then I don't even think you put an asterisk next to his name in the record books. He should not be put in the record books, nor should he be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
This may sound like a tragedy for Major league Baseball now, but I think, if this goes to court and they find Barry guilty, it will turn out to be a good thing. 90% of the people in this country think Barry took steroids any way. They also thought that the truth would never be revealed, and the people deserve to hear the truth. This may also scare off potential steroid users in the world of baseball. The government cracked the most stubborn person and indited him. I also think this is good because Major League Baseball doesn't have to come up with a way to deal with Bonds. They can just forget about him and move on.
This is a very good thing.

Phillies Try to Improve Team

It's that time of year again. The time of year in which the Phillies are suspected to be going after a big free agent signing, but it never pans out (see Alfonzo Soriano). Every year their is so much suspense building up to this moment, but disappointment comes always.
The Phillies have already improved their team, in my opinion. They were involved in a five player trade with the Astros, in which they received reliever Brad Lidge and utility infielder Eric Bruntlett. They gave up Micheal Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo. That could be a small price if the former all-star Brad Lidge returns to his old form. Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said that Lidge would be the closer, that would be moving Brett Myers back to the rotation
I think this is an improvement because the Phillies checked off something on their off season to-do list: get a good reliever. They did that by getting Lidge. The bullpen looks pretty good right now. You have Tom Gorden, J.C. Romero, Lidge, and others. I don't want to jinx them, though. Here is the projected starting rotation if the season started today: Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick, Adam Eaton (oh no!), and Jamie Moyer. The top three are excellent, but I hope Eaton is not on the team at the start of the season.
I think the Phillies should pick up one more average starter (maybe resign Kyle Lose, if they can) and also a third baseman, being as though they lost Abraham Nunez.
The Phillies have started off the off season good.