Eagles and Penn State... A Common Theme

This weekend marked the death of Penn State's national title run, as well as any semblance of faith I had in Andy Reid. Where do we begin?

We'll start with Penn State. As I called several weeks ago, Penn State's play calling really bit them in the rear. Obviously, there were other factors, such as why did we play "bend but don't break" defense on the last drive. However, in my opinion, the real culprit was the play calling. Case in point? Penn State's final possession. Sure the wildcat formation is cute, and it's really cute when D-Will can complete a pass, however, why get away from what you do well? The last three plays we ran before Clark's INT were all cute plays, starting with D-Will's pass. Sure it worked great but you should have followed it up with a Royster run. Instead, we line up in the wildcat again and try to run it with D-Will for no gain. Obviously, he's not passing twice in a row and the defense knew it.... Ok, that's not a big deal, 2nd and 10 right? Well, on 2nd and 10 or 11 or whatever it may have been, we try a reverse to, you guessed it, D-Will. While I don't disagree with trying to get the ball into the hands of your #1 playmaker, I take issue with how they did it. As I mentioned early in the season, Penn St. has a tendancy to try really hard to get the ball in the hands of the obvious targets. That is exactly what this was. Why not run a passing route where he is the #1 option?? Instead we run a play where if the defense sniffs it out, that's the play, it's over, no second or third option. On third down, had the pass been on target we may have gotten the first, but we never should have been in this obvious passing situation. How can you not run what's gotten you to 9-0? I'm sorry but I have no recollection of the wildcat being a major part of our offense before this weekend, so why do it now? Also, many have argued that Clark was not 100% recovered from his concussion. If that's the case, and he is underperforming, why not give Devlin a shot? He has proven himself capable on the largest of stages. Lastly, after the INT, why not call a timeout or two on Iowa's final drive? Once it became apparent that they were in field goal range, why not call a timeout to conserve a little time for your offense? Terrible clock management. All in all, Penn State's weaknesses became glaring in Iowa City. I'd be willing to bet that Jay Paterno had something to do with the play calling on the final drive, and I'd also be willing to bet that had we just run the ball with Clark and Royster, we would have won the game. I'm still sick about this.

Just so everyone is aware, however, I knew this game smelled funny. I chose not to watch the first half and some of the third quarter because I knew this was our trap. So if my analysis doesn't apply to the time before the final drive, I apologize, it's just that I saw this coming from a mile away.

On to the Birds.... Honestly, I can say that I am proud of how we performed up to a point. We fought hard against the team that most are picking to win the NFC, and had a chance to win at the end. I can't ask for much more. Having said that, I believe we blew this game... Royally. Why? Answer me this... why would the Eagles, whom have acted so averse to running over the past few years, even consider running twice in a row on thrid and fourth and short? Andy Reid must think he's such a genius that it will work, that's the only logical explanation. The fact of the matter is that the Eagles were passing the ball well in the second half, and hadn't run the ball well all game. So, naturally, when it comes time to exploit whatever strength your team has, we ran the ball, twice in a row. This didn't even make sense from a clock perspective as we only had one timeout and had waited for the 2 minute warning so that Donovan could catch his breath. At least, had we passed, Donovan could have seen the play break down and scramble. I'm just frustrated beyond belief that we are in a tie with the Cowboys for last place, and likely for the Wild Card. And where was Westbrook all game? That was the weakest effort I've seen from the Birds to get the ball in his hands in a few years and that's sayin something.

All is not lost, however, the Eagles really need to step it up. Luckily for us, I believe the Cowboys are going to beat the Redskins this weekend, and I believe we will beat the Bengals, thus creating a 3-way tie for second in the division. The Birds should win the rest of their out of division games, that is if they have any kind of balls whatsoever. That leaves us with, at worst, a 9-7 record. I think we can steal at least one division game from here on out, making us at least 10-6, meaning we'll probably be in the playoffs. Here's to hoping that works out.

Finally tonight, I want to talk basketball. I admit, I was really excited to prognasticate the NBA season, however, the Sixers' extremely slow start has killed me. Hence, I will likely give my opinions on NCAA ball before the NBA solely because I need the Sixers to make a run. I'm sure you all understand. Thanks.