Bleacher Report - Articles by Bob Cunningham

Keys to the Game: Eagles vs. Washington Redskins, Part 2

Bob Cunningham — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0500

Like last week, this is absolutely a must-win game for the Birds. In fact, every game from now on is a must-win game because teams like the Packers and Falcons are just waiting for the Eagles to lose and gain more of a foothold in the NFC wildcard race.

I say the "wildcard" race, but the Eagles are still looking at the possibility of a Week 17 showdown in Dallas determining who wins the NFC East. Barring a monumental collapse from the Cardinals or Vikings, the NFC East is the only contested division left in the conference.

But with the Giants losing to the Broncos in embarrassing fashion, the Eagles have a real shot to move up in the division and keep pace with the Cowboys. A win against the 'Skins would give Donovan McNabb and company only one loss in the division with two games left to play—one against the Giants, and of course the season finale with the Cowboys.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's look at what the Eagles need to do to avoid a letdown and complete the sweep of the 'Skins.

Don't Be Afraid to Run Up the Middle

Albert Haynesworth will be a game-time decision, but whether he plays or not, Andy Reid cannot be afraid to attack the middle. The 'Skins will be expecting to see a lot of stretch and off-tackle plays with LeSean McCoy because of Haynesworth’s presence, but I believe running right at him is the better way to go.

Even if Haynesworth plays, he'll be dinged up and less than 100 percent. So if Reid just tells Jamaal Jackson and either guard (depending on which way the play is going) to double-team him, the line should be able to open up some holes up the middle.

That would then leave McCoy one-on-one with London Fletcher who should not able to bring down a shifty McCoy in the open field. I'm not saying Fletcher won't get his hands on McCoy from time to time, but at least seven out of 10 times McCoy should be able to shake him and keep moving.

Don't Lose Sight of Antwaan Randle El

It's not because I think he's a great receiver, but because he's the key to any trick play that they may try. He has a background as a quarterback, so using him to throw the ball just makes sense.

With the Eagles' aggressive style of defense, running a few trick plays would make a lot of sense, and would probably work. It's the risk you take when you have a defense that swarms and attacks like the Eagles' defense does, but as long as you keep an eye on Randle El, the defense should be able to sniff it out.

For instance, if he just stands at the line of scrimmage and doesn't seem interested in running a pattern, it's probably because he's got some other assignment. A double-pass, wide receiver pass, or some funky reverse is most likely.

Also, expect the Redskins to try and use the Wildcat this week more than they have in the past.

Get Creative With Mike Vick and the Wildcat

Vick's long run last week, I think, instilled some confidence in the coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg told everyone to expect to see more of Vick this week, but then again, he's been saying that every week.

This week, however, could be different. In the weeks prior, Vick hasn't shown a whole lot to warrant playing time. But against the Bears, he was able to break off a 34-yard run to set up an Eagles field goal.

He seemed to lack the speed he once had, but he appeared as shifty as ever, freezing a defensive back in his tracks as he ran around him.

I'm not part of the crowd that believes the Vick experiment is a failure if he doesn't make an impact this year. In fact, I don't think it's possible to fail with Vick. He was brought in as a backup quarterback who can do some other things, so there was only a factor of reward and very little risk.

That said, I do think that Mornhinweg and Reid are wasting the man's talents. Use him when the offense is struggling, not when they're rolling, and I think you'll see a guy who can make a clutch play to keep a drive alive and the offense moving.

Quintin Demps Joins the Dark Side, Signs Rosenhaus

Bob Cunningham — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:22:00 -0500

Demps has lost his job at two different positions.

"We are pleased to announce that Eagles safety Quintin Demps has recently joined the RSR family," Drew Rosenhaus tweeted today.

Call it a hunch, mainly because it's nothing more than that, but I see the Eagles and Quintin Demps headed for an ugly breakup.

The wheels were set in motion this year during training camp and the preseason when it became evident that Demps should not, and was not going to be, a starter for this team. His lack of a desire to hit and his bonehead mistakes all made it quite clear that he was a role player on this team.

Now with signing Drew Rosenhaus to become his agent, Demps appears ready to give this franchise an ultimatum regarding his future. I'm assuming it will sound something like, "Start me, trade me, or let me go."

Again, I have no evidence that this is going to happen.

I don't know Demps personally and of course cannot speak as to why he signed Rosenhaus. Maybe he just feels like Rosenhaus is a good guy to have in his corner if anything were to go down. I mean, DeSean signed Rosenhaus and nobody made a fuss, so why would I feel this way about Demps?

Just a hunch. I don't have anything further on it than that, really.

Watching Demps at practice and during training camp, he just doesn't seem to have his head in the game. It feels like Demps likes the idea of being an NFL player more than he actually likes being one.

He also appears to believe he's better than what he is, and I also get the feeling that all of these injuries popping up are just a result of frustration with his role more than anything else.

For example, when the Eagles played the Giants a few weeks back, they went into the game knowing that Macho Harris, at the time the starting free safety, was not going to play. Magically, Demps found the strength to play in that game, knowing full well he'd get an opportunity to give Sean Jones a breather and see some time.

But since then, he's just been injured game after game after game. It would truly be just a lucky coincidence that he was okay to play that game, but can't find the strength to play special teams.

Perhaps this is all unfair, but it's just my hunch. I can't possibly be the only one, can I?

NFL Overtime Is a Symptom of a Bigger Problem

Bob Cunningham — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:20:00 -0500

There is a lot being made of the NFL's overtime rule these days, especially this past week, with a couple games going into overtime.

Many people would like to see the overtime rule changed from the traditional sudden-death setting the league has now to a more collegiate style where both teams get the ball at least once. However, changing the overtime real would only be treating a symptom and not the disease.

The biggest problem with the sudden-death setting is that about 65 percent of the time the team that wins the coin toss also wins the game. They're able to march down the field, get into field goal range, and easily win the game.

With the way kickers are these days, it's not out of the question for a 50-yard field goal to routinely end the game.

But people are only seeing the fever and not the infection causing it.

The real problem with overtime, and the NFL in general, are the rules that hinder the defense's ability to actually play defense. With all this nonsense of attempting to attract the "casual" football fan, the NFL has made an attempt to see to it that offenses are more successful, which means scoring more points.

This is why you have offenses like the Saints this year, or the Patriots in 2007. Defenses are basically forced to play with a hand tied behind their back, while the offense is essentially given a third.

Preposterous penalties such as illegal contact, roughing the passer, and pass interference are forcing defenses to play scared. Teams become afraid of drawing the yellow laundry, and therefore don't play as fast or as hard as they could, or should.

I, of course, understand the reasoning for penalties like roughing the pass and pass interference, but the way in which they are enforced are a disgusting perversion of their intended effect and has diluted what was once a great brand of football.

Defense is where games are won and lost, and it's where teams win or lose championships—or, at least, it used to be. Now, however, is essentially just a supplement to the offense. If a defense can keep the opposing team under 20 points, it's a feat that demands an applause.

A defense pitching a shutout is few and far between, and when it does happen, more often than not it's because of incompetent offense and not a stifling defense.

The idea that a defender should not tackle the quarterback too hard, or in certain areas, or that a cornerback should not be able to touch a receiver at all is absolute lunacy. There's no two ways around it and it ruins what should be a terrific game.

So how does this affect overtime directly? Well, it's quite obvious. Were it not for the asinine rules to handicap the defense, the team getting the ball would not win the game 65 percent of the time, but would more than likely drop it to around 50-50.

If the defense was able to perform at its full potential it would be able to stop the opposing offense and get the ball back, giving their team an opportunity to win.

If you have a weed, you don't cut it off at the stem. Pull it out by its roots and solve the problem once and for all. Overtime is the stem here, people.

Let's focus on killing the roots.

This article was originally featured on NFL Spin Zone.

Philadelphia Eagles Waive CB Jack Ikegwuonu; Sign CB Geoffrey Pope

Bob Cunningham — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:51:00 -0500

Jack Ikegwuonu, once thought to be a steal in the fourth round, has officially worn out his chances in Philadelphia as the team waived the underachieving cornerback today.

In his place, the Eagles signed Geoffrey Pope (6'0 186), a cornerback off the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad. Pope will immediately take Ikegwuonu's place on the 53-man active roster.

How much time Pope will see has yet to be determined, but it will most likely happen on special teams, if he's even active on game days. P.J. Hill, another mid-season pickup for the Eagles this year, has spent most of his time as a healthy scratch so expect Pope to do the same.

However, if the Eagles feel like they need someone else to strictly play special teams, he could stay active over a guy like Quintin Demps.

Realistically, Ikegwuonu wasn't going to get much playing time anyway. Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, Macho Harris, Ramzee Robinson, and Dimitri Patterson (not necessarily in that order) were all ahead of Ikegwuonu. However, it spoke volumes that a guy like Robinson, who was only with the team for a week, was seeing time over Icky.

I had said that during training camp he appeared to lack the closing speed that a corner needs, most likely due to his knee injury before the draft two years ago. It's a shame because watching him you could tell he knows how to play the game, but in this league your body has to hold up or you're going to get replaced.

That's why Icky is going through now, and barring a magical comeback as a safety, his days in the NFL are most likely numbered.

Eagles Shawn Andrews Officially on the Trading Block

Bob Cunningham — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:40:00 -0500

Well, maybe the chopping block.

With Winston Justice signing a four-year extension to keep him in Philadelphia through the 2013 season, the other disappointing Andrews brother (Shawn) finds himself at a real crossroads for the 2010 season.

It's now become unlikely that he will ever play as an Eagle again, and he could just be playing a waiting game until he finds out which one of the other 31 NFL teams wants to be severely disappointed by an immense amount of talent just floating around their practice facility.

The problem the Eagles will run into is finding a team who wants to trade for a guy who has played a total of two games over the past two seasons. Averaging one game per season is not going to have potential suitors lining up at your door.

So, what the Eagles may wind up doing is simply keeping him on the roster and holding out hope. There are rumors that he's embellishing the injury to his back, so maybe having Justice entrenched as the starter will force him to wake up and start playing.

And if he doesn't, the guy is only making $1 million next season, which is cap-friendly enough to keep him as a backup plan.

So far, both Andrews brothers have been extremely disappointing, but at least it appears as though Stacy will be ready to go next year after his knee injury has hobbled him a bit longer than anyone expected.

There you go NFL, there is now a guy on the trading block with as many Pro Bowl appearances in his career as games played over the past two seasons.

Anyone willing to part with a draft pick? No? I didn't think so.

Donovan McNabb-Jay Cutler Talk Draws Scrutiny for McNabb

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:28:00 -0500

After last night's game against the Chicago Bears, in which Donovan McNabb willed his team to a victory, McNabb and Jay Cutler met in the middle of the field and spoke for about three minutes.

Well, actually, McNabb talked and Cutler just listened.

The mics were able to pick up a little of what McNabb was saying at the end, but it seemed as though the gist of the conversation was McNabb giving Cutler some invaluable advice on how to deal with a city on your back and the media down your throat.

Let's be honest, if anyone knows how to deal with a situation like that, it's McNabb.

And now we see why McNabb knows how to deal with the situation that Cutler is in. After his talk with Cutler, McNabb is drawing scrutiny from some members of the Philadelphia media. Apparently the talk was "over the top" and should have happened behind closed doors.

To me, this is lunacy. McNabb was simply giving a young quarterback some good advice and showing what a class act he really is, and yet the media still finds a reason to find fault in something he did.

Instead of talking about how he led the Eagles' offense down the field for the game-winning touchdown by making the keys throws they needed to be made and avoiding the pressure when it was there, we're left to read about how he shouldn't have talked to Cutler for so long.

It seems like no matter what he does, the media will never give McNabb the credit he deserves for what he has done for this team and this city. Even if he were to never win a Super Bowl here in Philly, he, along with Reid, have brought respectability back to a franchise that had none for a good portion of the post-Dick Vermeil era.

Yes, Randall Cunningham did a lot in opening the door for McNabb to be successful, but like McNabb, Cunningham will never get the respect he deserves as "The Ultimate Weapon," even though he's held in a much higher regard than McNabb.

And even "The Ultimate Weapon" didn't have the success that McNabb has had.

Keys to the Game: Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

Bob Cunningham — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:02:53 -0500

Playing the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football —playing under the lights, McNabb heading back to his old stomping grounds on a nationally televised game. What in the world could possibly make this game any worse?

Oh, well, how about the fact that the team we haven't been able to beat over the past two years anyway, now has a legitimate threat at quarterback? Yeah, I guess that could make it worse.

Call me a pessimist, but the Eagles, over the past two years, have been absolutely awful against the Bears and on Sunday Night Football.

So, throw those two components together, add on that this is a must-win game and you have the makings of a tough night for the city of Philadelphia.

But since I am optimistically pessimistic, let's take a look at what the Eagles must do to change their fortunes.

Put Pressure on Jay Cutler

Unlike last week against Philip Rivers, defensive coordinator Sean McDermott has to bring the pressure on every play. Whether it's 1st-and-10, or 3rd-and-15—McDermott must have someone in Cutler's face all game.

Cutler is a strong-armed quarterback who can will his team to a win if given the opportunity, or he can throw the game away by forcing throws that aren't there to inadequate receivers. He still feels like he's throwing to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, so he'll take chances they would have rewarded, whereas these receivers just don't have the talent.

The linebacking corps is once again depleted this week with Jordan sitting out again, so it's imperative that McDermott get pressure in Cutler's face to make up for it.

Joe Mays may be getting his first NFL start, which is difficult enough without having to worry about putting the defense on his shoulders.

Run the Football with McCoy and Weaver

It seems like this is a key to the game every week, but it will stay that way until Reid actually does it.

This is a good football team that can run the ball if they are allowed to get into the rhythm of it. Running the ball is all about the mentality of wanting to run it, which these linemen simply don't have because Reid doesn't allow it to happen.

A lot of people are ragging on the Eagles' line for not being tenacious enough, and some of it may be warranted, but most of the blame for the lack of a running game rests on Reid's shoulders. If you don't instill the mentality, it won't just show up out of the blue.

Don't Settle for Field Goals

The only time I want David Akers on the field today is to kick the extra points and for kickoffs. That is absolutely it. If he has one field goal attempt, especially in the redzone, I think my head is going to explode.

At this point, I would much rather see Reid go for it on fourth and goal from 20 and not make it, rather than kick a field goal that proves absolutely useless later in the game.

Is that a bit extreme for effect? Of course, but at this point I'm half-serious.

Every time Akers is on the field for a field goal attempt, the feeling is that the offense has lost. It doesn't matter if it's a 19-yard attempt, or a 59-yard attempt, when the offense fails to punch it in that first time down the field it starts a trend that is tough to stop.

Running the football in the redzone could help to prevent the redzone field goal attempts, but it will still be on Reid to call the play and the offense to execute. This is a group effort of futility and it's getting very difficult to watch.

Cover the Tight End at All Costs

If Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel can't shut down Earl Bennet and Devin Hester by themselves, or with the help of just one safety, then they don't deserve the money they're making and the jersey they're wearing.

These Chicago receivers are decent on their best day, and downright awful on their worst. If two of the better corners in the league cannot shut them down, then the Eagles will lose anyway.

What the defense needs to do is bracket Greg Olsen and make sure he's not allowed to expose the middle of the field. Whether it's Chris Gocong or Will Witherspoon, Quintin Mikell always has to watching and helping out.

Bottom line: If Olsen is allowed to get big numbers and take control of the game, the Eagles will lose.

This article was originally posted on 2 Minutes to Midnight Green!

Brian Westbrook Ruled Out for Sunday's Game at Chicago

Bob Cunningham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:28:00 -0500

After suffering his second concussion in only three weeks, the Eagles are being very, very cautious with their star running back, Brian Westbrook. Reid has continuously said that Westbrook's health is their primary concern, and now he's proven it by ruling Westbrook out for Sunday's game.

Even when healthy, Westbrook has not been very impressive this season and has lost some carries to the rookie LeSean McCoy and newcomer fullback Leonard Weaver.

With only 381 total yards and two total touchdowns, Westbrook's production has been worse than it was even last season. The concussions and other knee/ankle problems, along with his age, have taken their toll and we may never see the old Westbrook again.

The whispers around the city are that Reid could very well shut Westbrook down for the entire season, perhaps opening the door for a veteran running back to enter the mix. However, the odds are better that Reid would use the roster spot on the defensive side of the ball for a unit that has been decimated by injuries this season.

With LeSean McCoy, Eldra Buckley, Leonard Weaver, and newcomer P.J. Hill all on the roster, odds are good that Reid will be content with his backfield. Considering that he hasn't used them a whole lot this season anyway.

Expect a decision to made on Westbrook sometime early next week, most likely Monday or Tuesday, giving the Eagles enough time to bring in another player if need be.

Brian Westbrook's Career Could Be Over

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:27:00 -0500

With the new concerns surrounding concussions, Brian Westbrook's recent problems have gotten a lot of publicity in and outside of Philadelphia.

It's not such much surrounding what the Eagles do with Westbrook this year, as it's almost the consensus opinion that he head to the IR for 2009. But that's where the opinions then fork to either side.

Many people believe that two concussions in three weeks is enough for a 30-year-old running back to get the hint and hang up the cleats in the offseason, while others believe that if he sits out this year, he'll be able come back in 2010 without any nasty side effects.

Eagles fans are on pins and needles waiting to find out, but as always, coach Reid isn't giving anything away just yet.

"I don't know," Reid said after being asked if Westbrook would play again in 2009. "I think it's too early to tell right now. It's the last thing on my mind. First thing is that he's OK and that we take care of him. Football right now for Brian Westbrook is not the important thing. It's making sure that we get him analyzed, tested and taken care of and then we'll go from there.

"Not that we didn't do that before. We took every precautionary measure that we could before and it happened again. Obviously we're going to check with experts and make sure that we listen to them like we did before. The number one thing is Brian's health. You can put football aside and make sure that he's taken care of here."

Reid is spot on in this situation. Football has to take a backseat to the man's health. He may be getting over the hill as far as the NFL is concerned, but in the grand scheme of things he's got a long and full life ahead of him.

After all, he's only 30.

There were some encouraging signs this time around however, as Westbrook didn't lose consciousness after sustaining concussion number two.

"He was foggy," Reid said. "He stood up and walked off the field, but you could sense that there was something wrong there."

If he has to head to the IR, the Eagles could seek the help of a veteran free agent like Warrick Dunn, someone who suits the role Westbrook was filling. Dunn could be a great teacher for LeSean McCoy as a guy who has done it very well for a long time.

Not only that, but Dunn might just be the very best locker room presence in the entire league, so it's not like there's a risk in bringing him in.

More information is sure to come out later this week once Rick Burkholder and the team doctor's get a chance to check Westy out and see how serious this is.

How Sean McDermott's Fear of the Chargers' Passing Game Cost the Eagles a Win

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:57:00 -0500

With a depleted secondary and linebacking corps, defensive coordinator Sean McDermott was obviously afraid of Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, and the pair of 6'5" receivers the Chargers boast in Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd.

He feared their big-play ability to the point that he got out of what this defense does best, which is blitz and get pressure on the quarterback. Instead of sticking to the defense's strengths, McDermott opted to sit the safeties and linebackers in coverage in the 31-23 road loss.

The front four got some decent pressure on Rivers, but he was easily able to step up past the pressure into a clear pocket, allowing him to find Gates in the middle of the field, along with every other receiver on the team.

McDermott's inexperience came to the forefront yesterday by allowing himself to get scared of the opposing offense and take him out of his element.

There's a difference between tweaking your defense to best defend an opposing team, and it's another thing entirely to change your entire philosophy. When you change the philosophy of a defense, only bad things can happen.

These linebackers are not good enough to sit back in coverage and be effective. They have to constantly be attacking the line of scrimmage to fill gaps on running plays, and get at the quarterback on passing downs.

Will Witherspoon was playing the WILL position, a position he has played in the past, but Chris Gocong was forced to play the MIKE—a position he has never played in either college of the NFL, which was quite evident during the course of the game—and Moise Fokou made only his second career start at SAM linebacker.

Were it the original starters in Stewart Bradley, Akeem Jordan, and Chris Gocong, this defense could have probably worked, but it was doomed with the trio the Eagles put on the field yesterday.

For that matter, even having guys like Omar Gaither at WILL or Witherspoon at MIKE might have worked, but this trio was absolutely not ready for what McDermott was asking of them.

If this happens again, Reid is going to have to step in and talk with his young defensive coordinator. This is not something that can be allowed to happen again because it lost the Eagles this game. Even with their red-zone woes on offense, just one defensive stop could have given them the win.

Chargers Score Touchdowns, Eagles Kick Field Goals

Bob Cunningham — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:34:00 -0500

Now is the perfect time to use Michael Vick in the Wildcat.

With the score 14-6 at halftime, the Eagles are in great position to get blown out of the water.

Yes, it's only an eight point game, but the Eagles cannot close the deal in the redzone and have twice had to settle for field goals. The Chargers have the momentum and the confidence that they can stop the Eagles whenever they want.

DeSean Jackson now has two drops and an ankle injury, Jeremy Maclin still doesn't want to get hit returning kicks, and Westbrook couldn't find a cutback lane with a chaperon and a chauffeur.

Add all that onto the fact that Reid's playcalling is atrocious, the line can't run-block, and the linebackers all look confused and you've got the makings of an awful second half.

Sean McDermott is playing scared at this point by just sitting back and playing coverage. He's afraid to get beat at this point, and if JJ was still around he'd be losing his mind. This defense is about pressure and attacking and at this point they're doing neither.

If Reid doesn't start running the ball more often and fails to get more effective play out of his line, we're going to see a complete offensive implosion which will then be followed by a complete defensive implosion.

But everyone knows that Andy Reid won't put more emphasis on the run game, including Howie Long on FOX's halftime show.

"What is it about the Eagles going to the West Coast? They just refuse to run the ball on the West Coast," said Long.

Amen, Howie. Amen.

Prepare yourselves Eagles fans, this could get very, very ugly.

Keys to the Game: Eagles at San Diego Chargers

Bob Cunningham — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:22:00 -0500

Any real fan can tell me what was going on here.

If you ask most fans in Philly what the keys to this game will be, you may be told that it doesn't matter. Apparently the season ended with a Week Nine loss to the Dallas Cowboys at home, dropping the Eagles to 5-3 with a 2-1 divisional record.

Negadelphia strikes again.

So for those of you who still think this season in salvagable, stick around and we'll see what it's going to take for the Birds to move to 6-3.

Be Creative With Secondary Depth

It is going to take some real creativity, innovation, and ingenuity on the part of defensive coordinator Sean McDermott to work with the lack of depth he now has in the secondary.

With Ellis Hobbs out for the season and Joselio Hanson serving a four-game suspension, Dimitri Patterson moves up from the fifth corner to the third and puts this team in a bad spot.

The Eagles did sign Ramzee Robinson and call up Jack Ikegwuonu from the practice squad, but between them there's only 19 games of playing experience—all belonging to Robinson.

That said, we could see a lot of Macho Harris and Quintin Demps lined up at corner over the next few weeks until Robinson and Ikegwuonu earn the trust of the coaching staff.

Chargers week was certainly not the week to lose depth in the secondary, but hopefully McDermott knows what he's doing and will be able to make up for it with some creative blitzing and coverages. If not, it's going to be a long day for the Birds in sunny San Diego.

Run the Football Up the Middle

Overall, the Chargers are not very good against the run, ranking 26th overall with just over 130 yards per game allowed. However, it's up the middle that the Chargers are most susceptible to the run.

With Jamal Williams landing on Injured Reserve earlier in the year, the Chargers have been scrambling to find a replacement who can eat space the way Williams could. However, the problem is that there is no one in the league who can play the position the way Williams can.

The Eagles need to take advantage of that and the duo of unimpressive linebackers manning the inside for the Chargers defense. They need to do that by running Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, and most importantly Leonard Weaver right behind Herremans, Jackson, and Cole/Andrews.

Jaw at Phillip Rivers

As much as physical prowess obviously plays into this game, the psychological side cannot be overlooked. Phillip Rivers is known to lose his cool, it doesn't make any sense not to take advantage of it.

There's not really that type of guy on the Eagles defense, except maybe Asante Samuel, so someone is going to have to step out of their comfort zone and do a little yapping at Rivers.

Samuel is a good candidate, but as a corner he doesn't have a lot of interaction with the quarterback. A guy like Trent Cole could get into Rivers' head with a little talk, but again, he's not really that type of guy.

It might be a dirty move, but you've got to do all you can against a talented team like the Chargers. The Eagles would be fools not to take advantage of Rivers' hot head.

Eagles Could Have Major Shift at Linebacker

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0500

This Sunday, we could see some new faces in different places in the linebacking corps given that Akeem Jordan will most likely not play.

Sean McDermott has openly said that if Jordan can not play that Will Witherspoon will line up as the WILL linebacker, Chris Gocong at MIKE, and Moise Fokou will get his second consecutive start at the SAM linebacker position.

So what does this say about Jeremiah Trotter? Apparently McDermott trusts Gocong more to start at a position he's never played over Trotter who's played the position for his entire career.

It appears as though the Eagles feel they made a mistake by bringing Trott back.

Either way, it will certainly be eventful to watch how this actually works out. Witherspoon has been a successful WILL before, so that's not a big deal. Fokou, while he didn't exactly impress last week, will get better and is a natural SAM. But Gocong has never played the MIKE position and may have some troubles.

He's the smartest guy in the linebacking corps, as well as the biggest (6'3 263), so it makes him the perfect candidate to give it a go. However, it's not quite as easy as all that, and everyone knows it.

Playing the MIKE is a difficult position and takes a superior mind and a superior athlete to play the position, especially in McDermott's defense.

Tossing Gocong into the middle could be for the fear of playing against Antonio Gates, who will probably need to be double-covered. Fokou, Gocong, and Witherspoon are the best coverage linebackers the Eagles have, which isn't exactly saying much, but having the three of them on the field at the same time may not be a bad idea.

Gocong and Witherspoon would be the duo on the field for the nickel package as well, which may not matter considering the cornerbacks situation and the depleted secondary.

Either way, buckle up Philly, because it's certainly going to be a trip.

NFL VP of Officials Admits Call was Wrong in Cowboys Game

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:19:00 -0500

Mike Pereira, VP of officiating for the NFL, said on his usual Wednesday chat with Rich Eisen of NFL Network's Total Access program, said he would have moved the ball on the fourth-down Donovan McNabb sneak.

Pereira said that with the presence of the field logo, it made the spot very easy to make because the ball lands at a point in the Eagles' logo. He said that had the logo not been there, he probably would have kept the call on the field.

However, the thing that will get your blood boiling is not the fact that it would have moved the ball, but that Pereira added, "It might have made a difference."

Which is the VP of officiating's way of saying, "Yes, it would have been a first down."

First, let me say that I'm very surprised and pleasantly at that, with Pereira. He usually goes on those chats with Eisen and blows a whole lot of smoke for Eisen. He will waiver on calls here and there, but rarely does he ever dispute a call.

This time, it was very obvious that the ruling needed to be overturned and I give kudos to Pereira for actually saying it, rather than continuing to stick by the incompetent officials.

The first challenge that Reid made, I believe, was a good challenge. It wasn't conclusive and was worth another look. He probably should have and did, lose that challenge, but to lose the second challenge is inexcusable.

But when is the league going to make officials like Walt Coleman and Alberto Riveron, who are absolutely awful, stand up and be accountable? When is there going to be a repercussion other than a bad mark and maybe the loss of a playoff game?

It's a shame that there aren't more officials like Ed Hochuli, who messed up the call between the Broncos and Chargers last season, but instead of clamming up and acting like he did nothing wrong, the man read and answered every piece of hate mail he received.

That's a man with character. That's the guy who should be the new VP of officiating when Pereira steps down, which evidently is going to be at the end of this season.

It's always a stretch for me to say that one call could change the outcome of an entire game, because anything could have happened on that next play. McNabb could have fumbled the snap, threw an interception, gotten sacked, and had the ball stripped or anything else.

Or he could have hit DeSean Jackson up the middle of the field for a touchdown to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

The fact is we just don't know, but what we do know is that Coleman blew the call. It was plain as day, even to Cowboys fans. Anyone can say, "Well, you can't see the left elbow," but if you look at the replay, it's not possible.

McNabb would have to have a much longer left arm, or be tilted to the left. In fact, he's tilted to the right, making it impossible that his elbow touched the ground.

Either way, the game is over and it's time to look ahead to the Chargers. Hopefully, this blown call and knowing how close they came to overtaking the NFC East will light a fire under this team which has looked lackluster, to say the least, at points in this season.

NFL's Joselio Hanson Suspension Is Nonsense

Bob Cunningham — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:02:00 -0500

When is the NFL going to finally just admit that a diuretic in no way improves the performance of a player, and that even the idea of a diuretic being used to mask steroids is a rare occurrence at best?

Well, the short answer is never. The NFL, while a juggernaut that could easily use its size to shape public opinion, constantly seems to be bowing to the court of such opinion.

Because of the circus taking place in the MLB under the incompetent rule of Bud Selig, the word "steroids" has gotten such a negative connotation that the major sports leagues are doing all they can to make sure the word is not even brought up.

Therefore, by banning diuretics that could possibly at some point in time perhaps be used to mask the presence of steroids, the NFL and other sports leagues are able to quiet the uninformed and ignorant yells of the media.

Enter Joselio Hanson.

Even riding on the coattails of the blocking of the StarCaps suspensions, the NFL can't open their eyes long enough to see that what they're doing is absolutely wrong. They're giving in to nothing more than a sophisticated form of peer pressure from the media and other outside sources.

Should Hanson have known better than to take a diuretic? Probably. But if someone walks down a dark alley at night in a bad neighborhood and gets beaten and mugged, people don't shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, they should have known better."

Instead, they go out and get the guy who did the mugging.

Right now, the NFL is the mugger and it's time to put a stop to it. Allowing themselves to be influenced by a bunch of know-nothing media members should be embarrassing and is actually quite dangerous for their business moving forward.

It's time for the NFLPA to put pressure on the owners and get this nonsense sorted out.

Philadelphia Eagles' Crisis at the Cornerback Position

Bob Cunningham — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:24:00 -0500

Hobbs is done after being put on I.R. on Wednesday.

First, I received a text message telling me that Ellis Hobbs would be out for the season because he required surgery on his severely-injured neck, which was a bit of a shock because I'm not sure that most believed it to be that serious.

Then, not a half hour later, I received another text telling me that nickel-corner Joselio Hanson would miss the next four games after being suspended for testing positive for a diuretic.

And just like that, a position that was thought to be overflowing with talent was cut down just as thin as the linebacking crew, a unit that has caused the Eagles defense many problems this season.

To make matters worse, Akeem Jordan missed practice, and could miss the Chargers game with a hyperextended knee, while Moise Fokou missed practice with the flu.

To replace Hobbs, the Eagles signed cornerback—and former Mr. Irrelevant—Ramzee Robinson, who played in 19 regular season games for the Detroit Lions in 2007 and 2008.

In place of Hanson, the Eagles have called up cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu, who was a fourth-round pick of the team last season. Ikegwuonu was called the steal of the draft last year, but has suffered greatly from a torn ACL, which caused his stock to plummet in the first place.

He'll get a chance to prove his worth as the dime corner behind Robinson, who has much more playing time and experience than Ikegwuonu.

Macho Harris, who played cornerback in college, could be asked to do it again for the next month until Hanson is able to return.

Quintin Demps, who played some corner for the Eagles during his rookie year with some success, will most likely be asked to do it again in addition to taking over kick-return duties, which were formerly held by Hobbs.

Hobbs had been doing fairly well returning kicks, but if Demps can hit the hole, he is much more explosive. He has the breakaway speed that Hobbs lacked, but is really a feast or famine return man. Demps will either get you to the 20, or break it into enemy territory.

This is still a good defense, but the loss of depth at the cornerback could certainly prove to be a challenge for Sean McDermott and his crew. If the passing defense is going to be able to sustain itself for the next month, the front four are going to have to do a much better job getting pressure on their own and force some errant throws.

Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown are going to be asked to play a lot more in the base defense and the Eagles could use the nickel a lot less than usual. However, the guys they have are there because they believe they can get the job done in any situation.

Through all of the bad news, there is some good news to report.

Chris Gocong came back to practice today and is expected to play when the Eagles head west to San Diego. Akeem Jordan is questionable at this point, but it's good to have at least one of the original starters in the lineup.

Fourth Quarter Woes the Fault of Reid

Bob Cunningham — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:35:00 -0500

Reid watches McNabb throw too often in the fourth.

A lot is being made of the Eagles fourth quarter woes after their loss to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, but too much of the blame is heading Donovan McNabb's way.

While the quarterback does deserve some blame for an offense not being able to score, everyone is stopping one step too short. If you want to find the real culprit for the Eagles' offensive woes in the fourth quarter, look no further than Andy Reid.

More specifically, take a look at his play-calling sheet.

The problem with the Eagles in the fourth quarter is the lack of ball control. They don't focus on controlling the clock for the entire game, so they can't be expected to just turn it on when they need to. It's a mentality that the play-caller instills by committing to running the ball, and Reid never has or never will be that way.

Reid's offense is focused around putting up so many points early that it becomes impossible for the opposing offense to come back. He figures that the opposing team will have to pass to get back on top, but the defense's blitzing ways won't allow that to happen.

The problem is that if one key to that plan doesn't work out, he finds himself scrambling to adjust but just doesn't know what to do. He can't turn the offense's philosophy on its ear in the middle of a game because it's not built to do anything else, so he sticks with the same plays—even though they're not working, and he knows it.

If he would just run more often earlier in the game it wouldn't be so difficult to play ball control at the end of the game.

It's certainly a problem that needs to be addressed, but it would take a full overhaul of Reid's offensive philosophy to fix it. I'm a personal fan of Reid as a head coach because of the way he can get players to overachieve and mold them into Pro Bowlers from nothing. However, his play-calling has hurt this team too long.

Let Reid coach, but let someone else call the plays.

Eagles' Team MVPs at Halfway Point

Bob Cunningham — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:14:00 -0500

After eight weeks of the season, the Eagles are sitting at 5-3 overall with a 2-1 record in the division. It's not a bad place to be at the halfway point, but the Eagles, as well as their fans, understand that 7-1 bounced off this team's fingertips.

A combined eight points between their two losses is the only thing keeping them from having complete control of the NFC East, but they're still in the mix and with a number of players getting healthy and are in good position to make a push in the back eight of the season.

There are a number of players who have stepped up in all three phases of the game, allowing this team be in the position they're in now. So, let's take a look at this team's MVPs at the halfway point of 2009.

Offense: DeSean Jackson, WR

Jackson has already doubled his number of receiving touchdowns from his rookie season with four and two more touchdowns—one on the ground and one on a punt return—to bring him to six total.

Twenty-six receptions for 530 yards and four touchdowns has him on pace for 52 receptions for 1,060 yards and eight touchdowns—not a bad season for a second-year receiver. However, those will be difficult numbers to reach if he doesn't increase that catch total.

At the moment, he's averaging over 20 yards per reception which will be very difficult to keep up.

Add his receiving numbers to his versatility to the run the ball on the end-around or the wildcat, and you've got a special player.

Jackson figures to be a deep, big-play threat for the rest of the season, but will need the rookie Jeremy Maclin to step up and starting getting more separation to draw the double team away from Fraction Jackson.

Defense: Trent Cole, DE

With 7.5 sacks on the season, Cole is on his way to a 15-sack season—a stat that should be plenty to get him to his second Pro Bowl, and would be a career high by 2.5 sacks. Cole has always started off fast but faded at the end, so it will be important for him to keep up this kind of production and finish with at least 14 sacks.

Not only has he been great against the pass, but he's been fantastic against the run. Whether teams run at him or away from him, he's doing a wonderful job of shadowing the runner and bringing him down immediately.

His entire game is coming together beautifully, and he now deserves to be mentioned among the top defensive ends in the league in the same breath as Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers, John Abraham, and others.

Special Teams: Eldra Buckley, RB

Ellis Hobbs has been decent returning the ball, David Akers has done a good job of putting points on the board, and Rocca has been good but inconsistent. Eldra Buckley, however, has been by far the best performer on special teams.

He's consistently the first guy down the field for kickoff coverage, and if he's not making the tackle he's forcing the return man inside so that someone else, usually Akeem Jordan or Tracy White, can make the tackle.

Buckley is showing why he's on this team and his competition in training camp, Lorenzo Booker, is floating around the free agent wire.

Most Improved Player: Brent Celek, TE

Celek, only halfway through the season, is already looking at career bests for the season. With 40 receptions, 486 yards, and four touchdowns, he should be on his way to his first Pro Bowl in only his third NFL season.

At this pace, Celek will finish with 80 receptions, 972 yards, and eight touchdowns. Those are unbelievable numbers for a tight end that, if he can pull it off, should put him in the conversation for one of the best young offensive talents in the league.

Just to show how much he's improved, let's look at his first two seasons.

Rookie season (2007): 16 receptions, 178 yards, one touchdown
Second season (2008): 27 receptions, 318 yards, one touchdown

This season, even if he disappears in the second half of the season, he's going to blow those numbers away. He is most definitely the most improved player on this team, if not of the entire league.

Ignorance of Eagles Fans Shines On Day After Loss

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:39:00 -0500

They say ignorance is bliss, but in the circle of Eagles fans it's become more of an epidemic.

This city used to be populated with the most knowledgeable of fans who could back up their beliefs with real football insight and nothing but a love for the Eagles. Whether they agreed or disagreed with the coaches or management, someone could always look forward to a well-informed discussion with an Eagles fan.

Unfortunately, those days are long gone. The city has become populated with people who wear midnight green with more of a mob mentality than an actual love for the game and for their team.

Don't get me wrong, the passion is there, and it's there in abundance. Unfortunately the knowledge of the game has been completely thrown out the window.

When the Eagles are winning, the city is ready to put Andy Reid in the Hall of Fame and already have their Super Bowl parties planned.

The Eagles are the best team in the league, and there's no one who will tell them otherwise.

However, lose a game that drops them to a respectable 5-3 and only one game out of the NFC East lead with eight games left to play and it's time to fire the coach, change quarterbacks, and break out the petition to have Jeff Lurie sell the team.

It's disgusting to listen to, and embarrassing to have to address.

But with this new age of instant opinion, anyone with a keyboard is able to hop on any site and give their uninformed and off-base opinion.

Then to make matters worse, these are the same people who are employed to fuel the fire that's been started by the village buffoon.

The writers that populate the newspapers and websites covering the Eagles, for the most part, are ignorant to the way football is played because they've never played. They don't understand the intricacies of the game and only see the shell of what is happening.

They see wins and losses, and they see the stat lines. That's it. Outside of that, they're completely oblivious to what goes into even the most fundamental of plays.

These people write the stories with the intention of stirring up an uninformed fanbase; a fanbase uninformed because of the writers who are uninformed in their own right.

See the circle? It's vicious, and has trapped an entire city.

The worst part is that there are people out there in the media who are informed, and do understand what they're talking about, but get brushed to the side in the firestorm of ignorance and downright stupidity that floods the profession.

The cast on NFL Network (Marshall Faulk, Jamie Dukes, Mooch, Rod Woodson, etc.), for example, all speak of Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb as a Hall of Fame duo who are among the top five in the league at their respective positions.

These are all people who have played, or coached, the game and understand what they're talking about. Rather than listen to the people who have experience and an understanding of the game, the masses would rather listen to journalism majors who just happened to get stuck covering the Eagles.

There are still a handful of good Eagles fans who have not been influenced by the hacks hyping themselves as "experts," but at this point it's the minority.

Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb are one of the winningest head coach-quarterback combinations in the league and currently are manning a 5-3 football team. With eight weeks to go, and a 2-1 record in the division, the Eagles are very much alive in the NFC East race and are still in great position for, at the very minimum, a playoff berth.

But by all means ignorant and uninformed masses, hit the panic button. Fire Reid and release McNabb for a quarterback with two career starts.

I'm sure that will work out for the best.

Cowboys Running Illegal Wide Receiver Screens

Bob Cunningham — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:03:00 -0500

If you're thinking "Ogletree, who?," you're not alone.

The Cowboys have run two wide receivers screens in this game to No. 85 Ogletree, and both of them have been illegal.

As soon as the ball is snapped, Marc Colombo is running down field to block any defensive back he can get his hands on, but that problem is that the screen is actually a pass, unlike a lot of wide receiver screens.

For a lot of screens, the wide receiver will take a step behind the line of scrimmage, technically making it a run. But instead of doing that, Ogletree is actually taking a step or two forward before catching the ball.

Because he's going forward, what Colombo is doing should be ruled as an illegal man down field. The way the officials are missing these calls is absolutely atrocious and if the Eagles do not bring it to their attention, then they are fools in their own right.

If you make the officials aware, they will begin to look for it and therefore have absolutely no excuse for not calling back every single screen the Cowboys run until they run one legally. And if they were to actually run one legally, it wouldn't work.

Watch to see if the Cowboys run the screen again, and if they do, watch for the yellow laundry hitting the grass.

Brian Westbrook Must Always Have His Eyes On DeMarcus Ware

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:34:00 -0500

Usually Brian Westbrook is the man being spied upon. In fact, the NFC East foes of the Eagles have adopted the saying of "twenty-two eyes on No. 36," because of what he can do to a team if not properly accounted for.

But this week, it will be Westbrook who does the spying. No matter where DeMarcus Ware goes, Westbrook must follow him and make sure he can't get his hands on Donovan McNabb.

Andy Reid's balance from last week's game against the Giants will most likely disappear because he feels more comfortable passing the ball with Westbrook blocking for McNabb, so B-West will have to do just that. And he'll be doing it often because McNabb will probably be asked to throw 35-40 times.

Everyone would love to see Westbrook and McCoy rush the ball a combined 35 to 40 times, but it's unlikely to happen. Therefore, the main focus falls on protecting your quarterback. In order to do that, Westbrook must be allowed to move to whichever side Ware happens to be prowling that particular play.

Ware is a guy that Wade Phillips likes to move around and use in different places on the field, so keeping track of him may be a chore on its own.

But instead of keeping Westbrook on a certain side of the formation in order to block, say on the weak side, he simply has to be allowed to follow Ware, no matter which side of the field he is on.

Jason Peters is struggling as of late, allowing two sacks this past Sunday. Winston Justice, though playing fairly well this season, is not ready to handle Ware on his own. It's not a jab at either tackle, but there's not one single player in the league who can handle Ware by themselves.

Westbrook is a fantastic pass-blocker, and with his help the Eagles offense should be able to shut Ware out of the game entirely.

Ware is the key to this offense either crumbling or succeeding, and both teams know that. The rest of that Dallas defense is not overly impressive, so containing Ware should allow the Eagles to have their way.

How Much Can Brian Stewart Help Against Dallas?

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:49:00 -0500

Most thought that there were a few motives behind coach Andy Reid going out and getting former Dallas defensive coordinator Brian Stewart before the season, and one of them just happens to be coming into view this week.

Stewart was brought in during the now late Jim Johnson's leave of absence. He was brought in without being given a role for his first week or so on the job, and the Eagles probably had no idea what they would do with him.

However, life has a grim way of working things out. With the untimely loss of Johnson, Stewart found a role as the team's secondary coach with coach McDermott then taking the role of defensive coordinator.

Now, with the Eagles' first game against Dallas coming up this Sunday, the Eagles coaching staff is not making it a secret that they're grilling Stewart and bleeding out every ounce of information possible about the Cowboys.

Although he was the defensive coordinator and spent his days focusing on that aspect of the team, he would have had to pick up some of the offensive calls and tendencies simply by watching it in practice. He knows football, and a guy who knows football doesn't have a difficult time picking up on something even outside of their own specialty.

For this reason, coaches will make subtle changes from year to year in their calls, formations, and will make an attempt to change their tendencies, although that is nearly impossible.

It's understood that not everything is the same in Dallas, but Stewart can certainly add something to the Eagles knowledge of the Cowboys inner-workings.

Whether or not it's enough to win the game is yet to be seen, but it will certainly give the Eagles even a small advantage. Even the smallest of advantages could make a difference in a game between two very good teams in a very important game.

Philadelphia Eagles: Week Eight Report Card

Bob Cunningham — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:19:00 -0500

In a game that could set the tempo for the rest of the season, the Eagles showed up with their A-game and took care of their hated rival, the New York Giants.

A beat-down to the tune of 40-17 is a great way to make a statement to not only to the rest of the league, but to themselves. They've shown the rest of the league that they can stick with the best that the NFC has to offer, and have instilled some confidence that they can carry with them for the rest of the season.

Well, it would appear as though the Giants may no longer be in the upper echelon of the NFC at this point in the season, but it's still a fantastic divisional win to put them in place for a push in the latter half of the year.

Enough jabbering, let's break it down.

Quarterbacks | A

Could McNabb have been better? Perhaps, but we're nitpicking at this point.

A few of his passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage, so obviously the trajectory of the passes were a bit off. However, it's also the fault of the offensive line who, while they were much better this week, still were allowing far too much of a push by the defensive line.

Either way, McNabb was on point all game long as he hit the open receivers, made good decisions, and even took off for a first down and added another 14 yards to his impressive career rushing total.

The Cowboys secondary is better than the Giants', there's no doubt about that, but if he can carry the momentum from this game into the Dallas game this Sunday, the Eagles should be able to grab their third straight divisional victory.

Running Backs | B+

With Brian Westbrook out of the game with a concussion, LeSean McCoy would have to step in and fill the shoes of a superstar here in Philly. It's a pretty big task for a rookie, but I was among the majority who thought he had it in him.

Well, 11 attempts for 82 yards and a touchdown, along with two receptions for 10 yards, is certainly good enough to make Eagles fans forget that Westbrook was watching his protege' from the sideline.

Add that onto the fact that Leonard Weaver beat the Giants defense for 75 yards on eight carries and you have a successful day on the ground. If Reid keeps this up when Westbrook is actually in the lineup, the Eagles could actually have a running game this season.

Receivers/Tight Ends | A

McNabb's top three targets, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, were all able to haul in a touchdown reception, in addition to having at least 45 yards receiving.

Jackson hauled in three receptions for 78 yards, with his touchdown again coming from over 50 yards out. Celek had four receptions for 61 yards, and Maclin had four receptions of his own for 47 yards. Alex Smith and Jason Avant also chipped in with three receptions between them, McCoy had two catches, and even McNabb caught a pass.

He had one of his passes tipped up into the air, caught it, and promptly took off for a one-yard gain, moving his career receiving total to five receptions and -7 yards.

Offensive Line | Grade: B

While the pass blocking was much better this week, the run blocking was still only good enough to get the job done. They opened up a very nice hole for Leonard Weaver on his 41-yard run, and LeSean McCoy was able to get through the line untouched on his 66-yard romp.

However, outside of that, there were not many holes opening up. This line is still attempting to find itself as a unit, so that will take a few weeks, but until then it's important that Reid continues to run the ball so the line can acquire the mentality that running the ball takes.

Like I said, the pass blocking was very good as McNabb seemed to have all day to throw on most of his pass attempts, with the exception of Jason Peters' two, yes two, blown blocks that both led to sacks.

They need Peters, and Stacy Andrews, to come into their own if this line, and this team, expects to make any kind of push this season.

Defensive Line | C+

For every time that Trent Cole seemed to get into Eli's face, there were two plays that Eli had all the time in the world to stand in the pocket and do as he saw fit.

On the flipside of that, the line was stout against the run. Brandon Jacobs was still able to rack up some decent numbers on the ground, but that's to be expected from a 265 pound freight train running behind 325 pound mammoths.

McDermott felt the need to blitz because he didn't feel as though he could trust his front four to get pressure, which means the line still is not where it needs to be. McDermott likes to blitz, but as he joked last week before the game, he would only bring one guy if that's all it took.

The pressure, pardon the pun, falls on Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons, and Jason Babin. Trent Cole has been getting consistent pressure, but still needs more help from the other side if he's going to get it consistently throughout the entire season.

Linebackers | C+

Akeem Jordan and Will Witherspoon have been very good over the past two weeks, but Chris Gocong has been nearly non-existent. Jordan and Witherspoon have been hanging right around seven or eight tackles the past two weeks, while Gocong has only had two or three.

He seems to be a bit nicked up at the moment, and isn't practicing of now, but that hasn't come up over the past two weeks, so it doesn't really explain the Redskins game. It could, however, explain his poor play against New York and also explain why Moise Fokou was covering Kevin Boss on his touchdown reception instead of Gocong.

Either way, the Eagles need more production out of the SAM position. Whether it's Gocong or someone else, something needs to be done.

Jordan and Witherspoon seem to be filling their assigned gaps and making the plays that need to be made, but a lot of the time it just feels that the Eagles could be better off playing the nickel most of the game and fielding only two linebackers.

Secondary | B

The corners were harassing the Giants' receivers all day. Even though they were able to get some catches and some decent yardage, they were kept out of the endzone for the entire game.

Asante Samuel and Quintin Demps both had an interception of their own, but Sheldon Brown and Quintin Mikell could just as easily had one for themselves. Mikell dropped his opportunity, two of them actually, and Brown had his called back because of a phantom holding call.

The real bright spot was Sean Jones, who is now the starting free safety. It would appear as though he stole the spot from Macho Harris while he was injured, but Reid said that Jones was going to be the starter regardless of whether or not Harris was injured.

Jones may be the physical presence that the Eagles need at free safety since the departure of everyone's favorite Eagle, Weapon X.

Special Teams | B+

It was nothing special, but the special teams did their job, and that's all you can ask.

David Akers made all of his kicks, Sav Rocca had a long of 57 with two of his three punts inside the 20, Ellis Hobbs averaged 29 yards per return, and the kickoff team was even able to force and recover a fumble that turned into points.

DeSean Jackson also had a 30-yard punt return, but it was right before halftime and didn't wind up meaning much of anything.

Overall, I'd say that's exactly what we need the special teams to do all year.

Coaching | A-

Andy could have run a bit more for my liking, but then again my personal philosophy would resemble that of Pittsburgh or Baltimore and the run-it-down-their-throats mentality.

However, it's a bit difficult to complain about Andy's play calling when he only passed the ball 25 times and ran the ball 24 times. If he keeps it that close to 50-50 all year, the Eagles will be the team we saw Sunday, rolling over even a good divisional foe.

On the other hand, if he doesn't stick close to 50-50 and calls plays like he did in Oakland, the Eagles will be the team we saw in Oakland, losing to sub-par, bottom-of-the-barrel teams.

Reid's Eagles Fielding the Most Perplexing Offense of the Decade

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:17:34 -0400

The only thing we really know after this game is that the Raiders are really not as good as the Eagles made them look. Well, that, and there's no way that the Eagles could possibly be as bad as they played against the Raiders.

All in all, this game screams "Aberration!"

This is the NFL, after all, and every team has at least one game where they let down the way the Eagles did. Actually, most teams still win their let-down games. The Eagles, however, always seem to lose those games.

So here's what it comes down to: the play-calling was awful, but the execution of the terrible plays being called was even worse. The line was not blocking, the receivers weren't getting open, and McNabb was having a difficult time hitting an open receiver.

The line play was doomed the second that Jason Peters went down. King Dunlap is far too light to be a lineman in this league, and just didn't have the power it would have taken to stop Richard Seymour.

Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles have been disappointing all season, and this game was really a microcosm of their entire year. They just got beat play after play as the Raiders defensive line, which really is not all that impressive, moved the line of scrimmage two and three yards back every play.

It goes without saying, but an offense cannot execute when the defense is playing in the backfield all game long, which is exactly what happened.

The receivers seemed lazy. Many times, McNabb was flushed from the pocket only to stare at the back of his receivers. They were not running back toward the line in order to help McNabb, and he was forced to either take the sack, take a chance, or just toss the ball away.

Even with Nnamdi Asomugha out, the receivers could not beat a pedestrian corner like Stanford Routt, and even Chris Johnson, who is a good player, but not good enough to stick with the speed the Eagles have in Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, handled them.

They dropped passes, they didn't block, and they just didn't seem to be in the game.

McNabb was having accuracy issues, but I attribute that more to the lack of protection he was getting all game long. There was always a guy in his face; then add in the lazy play of his receivers and you'll have a long day for any quarterback.

That said, he did miss some throws of his own.

What this really comes down to was the awful play-calling.

You've seen the numbers, you saw what happened, and it's just ridiculous. It's absolutely insane. The protection was shoddy all game long, and the running game was working. Brian Westbrook was averaging nearly 10 yards per carry on the ground, but still, Andy refused to feed him.

It's to the point of disaster with this playcalling. In fact, if I'm Jeff Lurie, I would sit Reid down and tell him that I would love to have him as the head coach of this team for another 10 years, but with one condition; he's either got to find a coordinator that he trusts to call the plays, or he's got to balance it out more.

Simple as that. Do it or move on.

Andy is a fantastic teacher. He can mold a young player into a superstar better than most coaches in the league past or present. However, his play-calling is downright atrocious. He doesn't remember what worked and what didn't, and his affinity for the play-action when he hasn't called a single running play is maddening to watch.

Andy is good for Philadelphia. Eventually, he will get this team where they want to be. But there's a reason he was never an offensive coordinator. He's been doing the same thing now for just over 10 years and it's not working.

NFL Coaches Who Could, and Should, Lose Their Jobs

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:27:49 -0400

Every year there's a turnover of about five or six NFL head coaches, and this year should be no different.

This league is about instant success more than it is about being able to sustain a team. College coaches will get chance after chance and will have losing seasons excused because they're attempting to build a culture of winning and build a team the way they'd like.

In the NFL, that's certainly not the case as some coaches get the boot after only one year. Cam Cameron, for instance, has a 1-15 record as a head coach in the NFL, and it will probably stay that way. One bad year with the Dolphins had him back to being a coordinator and most likely will ensure he never sees a head coaching job again.

Of course, that's not guaranteed. I mean, Norv Turner, Dick Jauron, and Wade Phillips all have jobs, don't they?

Well, for now they do.

Norv Turner (San Diego)

Why the Chargers ever brought Turner in as their head coach in the first place is beyond me. I thought he proved he wasn't capable of running an entire team during his days in Washington and Oakland, but apparently A.J. Smith is just smarter than the rest of us.

Ya know, or not.

The truth is that Turner is the only thing standing in the way of this team reaching the Super Bowl. They have a great young quarterback, a very good receiving core, a hall of fame running back, and a solid defense. However, he is unable to prepare them for a game and can't win consistently. It's time for the Chargers to ditch Turner.

As an offensive coordinator, he's one of the best in the league. As a head coach, he's awful. The Chargers will continue to see seven, eight, and nine-win seasons as long as he stays.

Dick Jauron (Buffalo Bills)

Like Turner, Jauron does not know how to run a team. He can't get them to even perform up to their talent level much less coach them into the playoffs and beyond. As long as he sticks around, Buffalo will be doomed to seasons below .500, and will be nothing more than a team of under-achievers.

Realistically, the only hope of this Bills franchise staying in Buffalo is if Ralph Wilson hires a coach that can help Trent Edwards in his maturation as a quarterback, and get this group of talented individuals to play as a team. Dick Jauron is not that go, and it's time for him to go.

Wade Phillips (Dallas Cowboys)

Phillips is a fantastic defensive coordinator. However, he's not a head coach. He proved that in Denver, but for some reason, Jerry Jones thought he knew more than anyone else.

Am I the only one seeing a pattern with these three coaches?

Anyway, if Phillips wants to stay in Dallas as the defensive coordinator, I think any head coach would love to have him. But that is where he belongs. He's always been underrated as a defensive coordinator, as he was probably only a half-notch below Monte Kiffin, Dick LeBeau, and the late Jim Johnson.

It's time for a coach who can handle everything that comes along with Dallas.

Jim Zorn (Washington Redskins)

The genius that is Danny Snyder decided it would be a good idea to first hire Jim Zorn as an offensive coordinator (absent a head coach), then when he couldn't find a real head coach, decided to just promote Zorn and be done with it.

After an impressive 6-2 start in the first half of his first season, his team did a complete 180, finishing the year 2-6 for an unimpressive 8-8 result. Little did anyone know, that would be the highlight of his head coaching career.

His team is now 2-3 despite playing five consecutive teams without a win at the time, meaning that the Redskins are responsible for three teams getting off the schneid already this year. It appears as though they're going to do it for the Kansas City Chiefs next week, and Zorn could see his way out of D.C. before the halfway point of 2009.

Eric Mangini (Cleveland Browns)

Yes, it's only Mangini's first season as the Browns head coach, but he's already lost the locker room. The players don't like him, and worse yet I don't believe they respect him as a head coach. This is really a team that should have lost every game this season were it not for the Bills imploding on themselves.

Braylon Edwards has already been traded for what turns out to be peanuts, and it appears as though Brady Quinn will either be moving in the next few days, or during the offseason. Mangini wasn't even smart enough to know that when he declared Quinn the starter before the season that he had to stick with him no matter what.

Quinn is now officially ruined in Cleveland, marking up just another string of first-round misses that has buried this team.

Jeff Fisher (Tennessee Titans)

This may come as a surprise, but just one season removed from Mike Shanahan's surprise firing, it appears as though it's Fisher's time to go as well.

He's had great success as the coach of Titans, and of the Houston Oilers for that matter, but with this recent debacle in Tennessee, it appears as though his message in Tennessee has grown stale, and that it is time for a change.

Because he's been around so long and has had a lot of success, he gets a pass on a lot of things because you just assume that he'll fix it eventually. However, this winless start has to be throwing red flags into the face of the front office.

I'm a fan of Jeff Fisher, and think he could still be a successful head coach. Unfortunately it looks like it's got to be somewhere other than Tennessee.

Other coaches who may get the boot: Jack Del Rio (Jacksonville Jaguars), Jon Fox (Carolina Panthers), Raheem Morris (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Tom Cable (Oakland Raiders)

Philadelphia Eagles Week Five Report Card

Bob Cunningham — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:32:19 -0400

There was a lot working in favor of the Eagles today.

First off, Andy Reid and his teams do not lose after the bye week; coming into this game, they were 10-0 coming off the bye. Add that to the fact that they were playing the lowly Bucs, Reid was going for his 100th win, and Donovan McNabb was making his return, and you have a fairly obvious outcome.

33-14 gave the Eagles a 19-point, and seemingly decisive, victory. However, the fact of the matter is that this game could have been a whole lot closer than what the score would indicate.

Quarterback | Grade: A

Donovan McNabb could not have been more perfect in his first game back since breaking a rib in Week One. Well, he could have been a little bit better judging by his 157.2 quarterback rating. One or two more completions and he probably would have had it.

Anyway, quarterback rating aside, McNabb looked absolutely phenomenal. It didn't take him real long to get going, either. A nice long run on his first play back, then a 51-yard strike to Jeremy Maclin is how his day got started, and it didn't end real shabby, either.

16-for-21 for 264 yards and three touchdowns compared to zero interceptions was the end result as he picked apart a patchwork Tampa Bay defense.

Michael Vick threw the ball three times, completing one for one yard, so not a whole lot to discuss there. He did toss one deep intended for Maclin that was a bit underthrown, but it was a nice show of arm strength as he tossed the ball downfield with that signature flick of the wrist.

Isn't it sad that Vick gets discussed for a 1-for-3 day as much as McNabb gets discussed for throwing three touchdowns? It's the world we live in, God help us all.

Running Backs | Grade: Incomplete

I'm going to do my rant about the play-calling when I grade the coaches, so I'll try to leave that aspect of it out for the moment.

The fact is that there just was not a body of work for the running backs to really give an accurate grade. 12 carries total by Westbrook and McCoy is just not enough to see what kind of day they had. Westbrook averaged three yards per carry, and McCoy averaged a little over two yards per carry, but it was the play-calling more than bad execution.

See, I couldn't help myself. The playcalling was just putrid.

So the grade stays as an incomplete until Andy Reid and Mary Mornhinweg can call some running plays and let us see what a Westbrook-McCoy combination could do.

Receivers/Tight Ends | Grade: B+

As much as I want to give them an "A" just because of the outstanding day that Jeremy Maclin had, it's tough to do so when the only other catches made by receivers was one catch for 12 yards by Jason Avant, and one catch for one yard by DeSean Jackson.

Brent Celek had four catches for 58 yards, which ends his 100-plus-yard receiving games streak at two, but he has been so impressive this season, and Maclin was so dominate all day, it's tough to give him a lower grade because he just wasn't targeted as much as he was while Kolb was playing in Weeks Two and Three.

And wasn't that leap just incredible? Wow.

DeSean Jackson, while accounting for only one yard today, actually had a good game beyond the stats. His play this season and the way he gives 100 percent on every play is a big reason why Maclin was able to succeed.

The Bucs respected Jackson to the point that they were double-teaming him, which allowed man coverage on Maclin. Then Jackson, unlike most receivers who get double-covered, ran his routes every single play expecting to get the ball. That drew even more attention to himself, and even less from Maclin.

The Maclin-Jackson combination is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, and Leonard Weaver pitched into the passing game with a combined five receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown (Weaver). Well, at least they were able to pitch in somewhere.

Offensive Line | Grade: C

Once again, there wasn't much of a push for the running game, and McNabb was sacked three times, all by Jimmy Wilkerson. If you're scratching your head and wondering, "who?!," you're not alone. A role player with three sacks? Not a good day for the offensive line.

However, it's still not time to panic. Todd Herremans should be back next week, and Stacy Andrews is coming around slowly but surely. With those two back and playing (in Andrews' case, playing full time), the line should start to get some much-needed continuity back.

That continuity will lead to much better offensive line play. The Eagles have the Oakland Raiders next week, so that's a great opportunity to work on playing together and working out the kinks.

Defensive Line | Grade: B-

While there was not much of a pass rush all day long, the line did do a great job of stuffing the run all day long. Cadillac Williams was held to 10 carries for eight yards, and even though Derrick Ward had six carries for 37 yards, 28 of that came on one carry. So if you remove that run as just an aberration, he had five carries for nine yards.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a pretty impressive day for a stout defensive line, and really it was mostly the defensive line. Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson may be the best, and are at the very least one of the best, defensive tackle combinations in the entire league and they put it on display today.

The line will have to get more of a pass rush on its own before the entire defense can take that next step, but the feeling is that the pressure will come as the season progresses. They had a good day today, but will have to step up because a better offensive line won't get manhandled like the Bucs line did today.

Linebackers | Grade: C+

The linebackers played off of the defensive line today and really didn't make many plays of their own. All in all, Jeremiah Trotter was unspectacular in his first game back as an Eagle, and was even outplayed by Omar Gaither. Gaither made a nice play against the pass, nearly coming up with an interception, and had four solo tackles, compared to Trotter's two.

Chris Gocong was able to come up with a sack, and Akeem Jordan got jipped out of a fumble recovery for a touchdown, but overall they haven't been impressive this season, and this game didn't do anything to reverse that.

This is the obvious weak-point of the defense, as the unit is made up with four middle-of-the-road (four because of Gaither/Trotter) players. Jordan, Gaither, and Gocong all have the potential to make that next step, while Trotter is in his decline, but as of now, it's nothing but unrealized potential.

Secondary | Grade: B+

Three interceptions isn't enough to earn an "A"? No, I don't believe so.

Two of the interceptions landed right in the gut of the corners (Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel), and the other interception fell into Samuel's lap after the ball was tipped into the air.

The coverage was okay, not great, as the corners got burnt a couple of times by Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton down the field. Were it not for the inexperience of Josh Johnson, both guys likely would have given up long touchdown passes.

The safeties were not much better as Kellen Winslow, Jr. was able to exploit the middle of the defense for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Macho Harris was especially victimized and will have to pick it up as far as covering tight ends goes if he expects to remain the starter for the rest of this season, much less next year.

Special Teams | Grade: B-

David Akers was money all day long. He was booting the ball like we have never seen before. I got the chance to listen to him speak this year at training camp and he said he had worked on his leg strength, and it has officially paid off.

Sav Rocca has been lights out since I called him out after the Saints game and continued that today as he continuously booted the Eagles out of trouble. Now, I'm not saying it's my fault he's playing well now, just a coincidence, but honestly I couldn't care less why he's playing well, just as long as he keeps it up.

The return game is what it is. Ellis Hobbs offers little explosion returning kicks, and Jackson was swallowed up as soon as he caught the ball today. The blocking for both players has to get better.

Covering kicks and punts was actually pretty good today. They gave up a long return to Clifton Smith, but it was called back for a ticky-tack holding penalty, so they got lucky on that one. If that aspect of the game doesn't get better, the Eagles will eventually lose because of it.

Coaching | Grade: C-

The only reason the grade is this high is because while I didn't agree with all of the blitzing that Sean McDermott was doing, it's hard to argue against and really just goes down to a defensive philosophy. I'm not going to argue too much with blitzing, although in this game I thought it was unnecessary, and actually wound up hurting the defense.

Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg, on the other hand, need to have their play-calling sheets taken away from them. I don't care if they hand it to Doug Pederson or the towel boy, but the play-calling was absolutely hideous and tough to watch.

Why do they feel that it is impossible to just call a running play? Why does everything have to be out of this flippin' Wildcat formation all of a sudden?

I was on board with running it with Vick because it exposes his strengths and hides his weakness, but when they use it in place of a running game, I have a real problem with it. It's unbelievable that Reid, a former offensive lineman, doesn't understand the mentality that goes along with running the ball.

The Wildcat is not a replacement for running the ball. If Reid doesn't realize that, the Eagles won't make the playoffs, much less make a Super Bowl run. It's absolutely insane and it needs to stop. So Reid, we love you, and the knowledgeable Philly fans want you to sign that extension, but for the love of everything will you please run the ball?

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Philadelphia Eagles' Week Three Report Card

Bob Cunningham — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:30:07 -0400

While it's always fun when the Eagles dominate over the course of an entire game, it loses some of its value when it's a team like Kansas City. Philadelphia and Eagles fans specifically hate a lot of people in a lot of different cities around the country, but Kansas City just is not one of those cities.

Regardless of the team, it was good to see the Eagles get a much-needed win Sunday, as falling to 1-2 in the NFC East would have killed their playoff hopes.

Last week's report card certainly wasn't anything to run home and show to the parents, but this week's will certainly be fridge-worthy.

Quarterback | Grade: A-

After a pretty decent game last week against the New Orleans Saints, Kevin Kolb came back Sunday against the Chiefs and lit up the Linc. With 327 yards and two touchdowns through the air, along with one more touchdown on the ground, Kolb led this team to the victory today.

He made a lot of tough throws, like the slant to DeSean Jackson that went for a touchdown and the late touchdown pass to Brent Celek. Both throws showed off his strong arm and even showed a bit of accuracy necessary to be a successful quarterback in this league.

The one thing I still notice about Kolb is the fact that he will feel phantom pressure. What I mean by that is even in a clean pocket he will shuffle to his left and right and move backwards, causing a throw off his back foot. He's got to learn to stay in the pocket, feel the pressure when it's there, and step up rather than falling backward and throwing from his back foot.

If he doesn't fix this fundamental flaw, it's going to lead to a lot of interceptions. However, that's just nitpicking at this point, as he'll now get to go back to being Donovan McNabb's backup and will have the time to work on those mechanical issues.

Running Backs | Grade: B+

There was really only one running back today, and that was the rookie LeSean McCoy. In his first career start he showed why the entire city was excited to get him in the second round, and why a lot of draft experts were calling him a value pick at the 53rd overall selection.

As a runner, he's much better than Brian Westbrook. I don't mean to say that he's already a better overall player than Westbrook, but as a runner he's light years ahead of him.

He is very good at feeling players around his feet and moving away from them, while at the same time keeping his eyes downfield and making moves to avoid the oncoming defender as well. This ability leads to an outstanding capacity to make a play out of nothing, as he did on at least three separate occasions Sunday.

He was able to see the cutback lanes, hit them hard, and make a play when the offense needed it. He was extremely physical today throwing out the stiff arm and lowering the boom on several defenders today, bouncing off three different Chiefs players to score his lone touchdown of the day.

McCoy still has a lot to learn about becoming an all-around playmaker, but Westbrook's injury should give him more snaps, more time, and more of a chance to learn on the fly. Don't be surprised if this kid is the primary running back by Week Eight.

Receivers/Tight Ends | Grade: B+

Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson were absolutely phenomenal. Celek has shown that he deserves to be in the conversation of premier tight ends in this league, and Jackson is certainly making a case for himself as one of the most explosive players in the entire league. The game Sunday only furthered the argument for each player as premier at his respective position.

However, outside of those two, there was not much production. Jeremy Maclin had four catches for 33 yards in his first career start in place of an injured Kevin Curtis, and the duo of Reggie Brown and Jason Avant was all but unheard of throughout the entire game.

Kolb certainly did plenty with those two players, but a big part of McNabb's game is spreading the ball around to several different receivers, so the other guys will have to step up in Week Five if they want to start their first winning streak of the young 2009 season.

Offensive Line | Grade: C+

Kolb had all day to throw the ball, as I don't recall him even being hit all that often, much less getting sacked. He was able to stand in the pocket, go through his reads, and deliver the ball without any issue.

However, McCoy did not have the same luxury, as running lanes were few and far between. The Kansas City defense was able to penetrate on running plays as the line just did not seem to be able to get onto their man when it was time to run block.

Linemen are creatures of habit, and in this offense, their habit is to pass block. They don't work on run-blocking as much as pass-blocking because the Eagles don't run as much as they pass. Therefore, when it's time to turn it on and plow the defense backward, the linemen are unable to turn it on and get the defense moving backward.

Regardless of the reason, the line simply needs to block better for the running backs; until they can do that, they're going to receive low marks.

Defensive Line | Grade: B

The line was getting pressure on its own and was in the face of Matt Cassel all day. They were able to stop Larry Johnson behind the line on several occasions and created a brick wall for the Chiefs offense.

It would have been nice to see the line get more sacks, but two by the line (three total) isn't bad, though it should definitely be higher. Cassel did a pretty decent job of getting rid of the ball before the pressure got there, or the defense would have had a lot more sacks. However, they were able to force some errant throws and make him very uneasy, so it's difficult to complain.

If Victor Abiamiri and Juqua Parker can continue to get pressure opposite Trent Cole, this defense should be able to hide the subpar play of the linebackers all year long.

Linebackers | Grade: B-

With Omar Gaither coming up with a sack, Chris Gocong forcing a fumble, and Akeem Jordan flying all around the field, whether it be on defense or special teams, the linebackers had a pretty good day.

They did a very nice job of reading the play and reacting, which caused four tackles for a loss and had the Kansas City defense nervous all game long. It's difficult to get excited about a good showing against such a bad team, but it's a step in the right direction for a squad that has been a bit questionable early in the year.

Secondary | Grade: B-

The grade may seem a bit low, but I was disappointed in this squad because they could not capitalize when given the chance. The front seven was forcing some errant throws, but no one behind them was able to come up with a pick.

Not only did they not create any turnovers, they also allowed some big plays by being out of position and even allowed Cassel to throw two touchdowns. Had the rest of the defense not been playing well, this game could have been a lot closer than what it was.

If the Eagles want to continue to win, they're going to have to get that high-paid secondary in gear and making some plays. Asante Samuel has been especially disappointing this season, as he has only one interception and certainly isn't much of a help in stopping the run.

Special Teams | Grade: B

David Akers was good again this week, connecting on both of his field goal attempts and on all four of his extra point attempts. In fact, excluding the blocked field goal, he is perfect so far in 2009.

Then there's Sav Rocca, who must have read the terrible things being said about him because he came out and had his best game of the season. He booted one 53 yards, while two punts inside the 20 brought his average down, but overall he had a good game.

Maclin was not good returning punts. Moving on.

Jackson, however, did look good, and Ellis Hobbs was even able to find some space returning kicks, although I still think Quintin Demps should take over the return duties when he's back to 100 percent.

The penalties were still there, however, and even though some of them were a bit, let's say, ticky-tacky, it's inexcusable. Ted Daisher will again have them running hard during the special teams sessions and will make their lives miserable until they get it right.

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Official 2MinutestoMidnightGreen.com NFL Power Rankings: Week Three

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:09:36 -0400

Every week I will be running down my list of the best and worst teams in the NFL. I'll look at and dissect all 32 teams and rank them accordingly. Looking for power rankings? Look no further than the official 2M2MG.com Power Rankings.

Here's how things look heading into Week Three.

1. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: 4)

Right now, the Falcons are the most consistently good team in the NFL. Are they the overall best team in the league? Maybe, maybe not. However, they're currently getting the job done when it needs to get done, which cannot be said of some of the other top teams.

2. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: 8)

Their defense is a little worrisome, but they should be able to get it together here soon. And really, there's not much shame in giving up over 400 yards to a quarterback like Philip Rivers. The offense is the really impressive part, as they've just been tearing it up. Joe Flacco just might be the real deal in Baltimore.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 2)

They didn't play real well against the Bears, but they should rebound this week. Like a lot of other good teams, we saw them have a let-down, but good teams don't allow a let-down to go past one week. The Steelers are a good team and will be just fine.

4. New York Giants (Last Week: 6)

The Giants were down in a hard-fought game with the Cowboys, but Eli Manning was able to drive them down the field to pull out the tough win. I've been critical of Eli, but that was an impressive showing. A few more games like that and he might just have me sold. Let's also not forget Mario Manningham, who appears to be a star in the making.

5. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 2)

The Eagles are in the same boat as the Steelers. Yes, they lost. Yes, they lost pretty bad. No, their season isn't over because of it. While Kevin Kolb played well, there's just a difference in a team when its starting quarterback isn't in there. I expect them to rebound with an easy slate of games in the coming weeks.

6. San Diego Chargers (Last Week: 5)

The Chargers drop a spot this week because of their loss, but it was to a very good Ravens team, so it's difficult to drop them too far. Philip Rivers is a top five quarterback, and as long as they have him they will be contenders. Darren Sproles is really turning into their go-to guy, and as soon as the defense can get it together, they're going to get hot.

7. New York Jets (Last Week: 15)

The Jets manhandled the Patriots. There's really no other way to put it. They talked all week long about beating the Pats, and they did just that. Rex Ryan has instilled an attitude in that team that could have them overachieving all year long. And in case you hadn't put it together, a good team that is overachieving can mean bad things for the other 31 teams.

8. New England Patriots (Last Week: 3)

It's tough to drop the Patriots further than this, but they did not look good against the Jets. They were exposed as a finesse team that will shut down if you hit them in the mouth hard enough.

Tom Brady looked shaky, and according to Bart Scott, Randy Moss was afraid to go over the middle, as he probably should be. They need to get more physical if they even want to win their division.

9. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: 9)

The Vikings beat the Detroit Lions. That does not warrant moving up at all, and in fact, may warrant consideration to move down because they didn't destroy them. The Lions were up 10-0 at one point, which is bad news for a Vikings team that has to play with a lead.

10. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: 10)

They only had about 15 minutes of possession, but it was all they needed to squash a valiant effort by the Miami Dolphins. Chad Pennington and the offense played well, but the defense could not stop Peyton Manning and the big play all night. If they want to win games and be contenders, they're going to have to play defense.

11. Houston Texans (Last Week: 13)

The Texans played a tough game against the Titans, but they made far too many mistakes on defense. Allowing Chris Johnson to be that wide open is completely unacceptable for a team that feels like they can make a playoff push this year. The offense bailed them out, but they won't be able to do that all year.

12. New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 12)

Yes, the Saints did go into Philadelphia and beat an Eagles team that many have slated for the Super Bowl. However, they did it against an Eagles team without Donovan McNabb. Not only that, but their defense still did not look very good.

The Eagles lost that game more than the Saints won it, as evidenced by the good numbers Kolb put up against them in his first start.

13. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: 16)

Personally, I expected the 49ers to be a fairly decent team this year. In the preseason, I put them somewhere between 8-8 and 10-6 because of playing in the NFC West, and it appears as though I may have been right. They have done very well the past two weeks against division opponents, but that's not saying a whole lot. They've got a test this week in the 2-0 Vikings.

14. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 19)

The Cardinals bounced back from their Week One loss to the 49ers by completely dismantling the Jaguars. Kurt Warner was on fire, completing 92 percent of his passes and making the Jaguars defense look like they belonged on a high school field. There's reportedly some friction between Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, but I don't buy into that.

15. Chicago Bears (Last Week: 21)

Defeating the defending world champions should mean something, and for the Bears it means moving up six notches in the rankings. Jay Cutler played the way that we know he can, and may have found an early connection with rookie receiver Johnny Knox. If they can cope with the loss of Urlacher all year, they could surprise at the end of the season.

16. Tennessee Titans (Last Week: 7)

The Titans are taking a tumble down the rankings because of the way they lost to a division opponent. They allowed 34 points and seemingly are unable to rely on what was once their strength in the defense. They seem to be playing decent football, but just can't come up with the right plays when they need them.

17. Green Bay Packers (Last Week: 13)

Green Bay laid an egg defensively against Carson Palmer and the Bengals, but that was expected a couple times throughout the year. It's a bit troublesome that it came in Week Two against a team that last year was completely incompetent on the offensive side of the ball, but a complete defensive overhaul is going to create those bumps along the way.

18. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: 14)

Tony Romo is proving that he's not the caliber of quarterback that everyone thought he was this time last season. He only threw one touchdown, compared to three interceptions that would eventually cost his team the win. Last week's routing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was apparently a direct result of a poor Tampa team, and not a good Dallas quarterback.

19. Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 20)

The Dolphins move up a notch, even in defeat, because of the way they were able to control and move the ball. Their defense has to become better at defending the big play, and they will. Sparano will help them to adjust and they will be a better team for it.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week: 26)

They scored a lot of points against a defense in transition, and also allowed a lot of points. They pulled it out in the end, which is really all that counts, but it wasn't convincing enough to take them seriously just yet. If they can get that defense where it needs to be, they could climb the rankings very quickly.

21. Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 24)

Like the Bengals, they just have not been impressive enough to be taken seriously quite yet, but behind a strong defense and running game, they could have what it takes to shake that losing feeling off of themselves this year. The Raiders were my surprise team this year, so I'm rooting for them, but if JaMarcus Russel can't hit his receivers, they won't go anywhere.

22. Seattle Seahawks (last Week: 17)

The Seahawks looked good in Week One, but that was against possibly the worst team in the NFL. When given a challenge in Week Two, they seemed to completely crumble. The defense was awful, as Frank Gore rushed all over them, and now with Hasselbeck likely out with a broken rib, they could find themselves in an early hole.

23. Denver Broncos (Last Week: 27)

The Denver Broncos are 2-0. At this point, they're atop the AFC West and could be looking to get on a roll, right? Well, no. Probably not. They got lucky against the Bengals, and then they played the Browns, a team in the running for worst in the league. Expect the losing to start real soon.

24. Buffalo Bills (Last Week: 22)

Sure, they beat the Bucs, but that's not exactly going to be a difficult feat for teams to accomplish this year. The Bucs are in complete disarray, and the Bills still didn't look all that polished against them. They have some kinks to work out before they're even in consideration to be contenders.

25. Carolina Panthers (Last Week: 24)

Jake Delhomme still doesn't look good, and they're still losing. Falling to 0-2 may have killed their chances for anything this season, as they're showing no signs of being able to turn this around. Nothing is working for them like it was last year, and it could be a long season in Carolina.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 18)

After sticking with the Colts in Week One, they were destroyed by the Arizona Cardinals in Week Two. I previously thought their lack of explosion on offense was the problem, but now it appears as though everything is the problem.

27. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 28)

They played a hard-fought game against the Raiders, but came up just short. I'm not exactly sure where all this talk of benching Matt Cassel is coming from, as Chiefs fans have already endured the Brodie Croyle era, but it's lunacy. He put them ahead, it was the defense that let them down in the end.

28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: 29)

They lost to the Bills, but Byron Leftwich looked good and the offense has shown that they can move the ball. Their Achilles' heel all season long will be the defense. It's in complete shambles and will continue to lose them games.

29. Washington Redskins (Last Week: 23)

Why did they fall so far after a win? Well, it could be because they nearly lost to the St. Louis Rams for the second consecutive year. They won because of three field goals. That is not the way you're supposed to win football games, especially against such a poor team. Expect them to have the dubious distinction of being the Lions first win since 2007.

30. Detroit Lions (Last Week: 31)

They were in it with the Vikings for about three quarters of the game, but eventually the Vikings remembered they were playing the Lions and beat them. It's a sign of life for a team losing to join the '76 Bucs as the worst ever, but I do expect them to end their streak this week against Washington. However, this just in: the Lions are still bad.

31. Cleveland Browns (Last Week: 30)

They looked lost against the Broncos. Brady Quinn doesn't belong on an NFL field and that defense plays like they're afraid to get hit. There is absolutely no life in this team, and really they're only 31 by default.

32. St. Louis Rams (Last Week: 32)

The Browns can thank the Rams for being so bad, because it's the only reason they aren't the worst. Seven points in the last two games is just sad. Like the Browns, they just have no life out on the field and are a shell of the team they once were. Management has stripped this team to nothing and it will be a while before they can rebound.

Philadelphia Eagles-New Orleans Saints: Keys to the Game

Bob Cunningham — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:29:37 -0400

Getting a win in Week One is vital, but getting a win in Week One can start a roll that can last deep into the season. Every season at least one team does it, and both of these teams are prime candidates to get on such a roll.

The Saints come into Philadelphia toting possibly the most explosive offense in the entire NFL. They'll face off against the Eagles, who boast one of the most suffocating defenses in the league over the past 10 years. Even without the late, great Jim Johnson, the Eagles defense proved they could dominate last week against the Panthers.

With that said, let's take a look at what the Philadelphia Eagles must do to take this Week Two game and walk out 2-0.

Health of Donovan McNabb

While I believe the Eagles could beat the Saints with or without McNabb, having him makes the task much easier.

There's not much debate regarding McNabb's status as an elite top-five quarterback, so it's obvious the Eagles are a much better team with him. On the other side of that, Kevin Kolb—who would start in his absence—is unproven, and in fact has done nothing but show that he is incapable of making a push for McNabb's job.

Just having McNabb on the field adds a new aspect to the offense the Saints defense must worry about, which in itself makes him a vital piece of the game. Broken rib or not, he gives this offense the best opportunity to score points.

Disrupt Drew Brees' Timing

If the Eagles defense is going to stop the Saints' high-powered offense, they're going to have to disrupt Brees' timing. How do they do that? They do it by blitzing, blitzing, and when all else fails, just blitzing some more.

It does, however, have to be precise and well-planned blitzing, or Brees will pick the defense apart. By this, I mean blitzing a corner from Brees' blind side, stunting along the line, and just simply blitzing effectively. If the blitzers are getting stone-walled, then Brees will have an easy day.

If Brees has an easy day, the Eagles will lose.

Control the Clock—Keep Brees & Co. On the Sideline

This is the simplest key to achieve, as it should be easy for Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy to run behind Leonard Weaver and this athletic offensive line. The Saints' defense is below average, and should struggle mightily against the run if the Eagles will commit to it.

This will be a key for every team facing off against the Saints this season, as the defense is obviously nothing to be worried about, but the offense can win games all by itself. Teams will certainly rather have their offense playing the same squad that gave up 27 points to the Detroit Lions rather than the quarterback those nearly beat Dan Marino's passing yards record last season.

Reid should have Eldra Buckley active this week, as a power back would certainly go a long way in wearing down this defense even further.

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Official 2MinutestoMidnightGreen.com NFL Power Rankings: Week 2

Bob Cunningham — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:33:33 -0400

Every week throughout the season, myself and Derek Peiffer will be doing a run-down of the best and worst teams in the NFL in our power rankings. These are the official 2M2MG.com power rankings heading into Week 2 of the NFL season.

No. 1)

Derek: Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 1)

They did just enough to pull out a win on opening night. Hines Ward nearly fumbled the game away in the 4th quarter, but unlike Leodis McKelvin, luck was on his side that night. They have the tough Bears this week, but Cutler looked awful and Urlacher is gone for the season. It might be an easier game than you think.

Bob: Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 2)

The defending champs found a way to win when things looked bleak for them at the end. Hines Ward nearly fumbled away their first win of 2009, but they bounced back and won in overtime. It wasn't pretty, but they got the job done. It's tough to keep them out of the No. 1 spot when they find a way to win like that against a good team like Tennessee.

No. 2)

Derek: New England Patriots (Last Week: 2)

I just couldn't drop them. After all, they did pull out the win. As ugly as it was, they did what you always expect from the Patriots. They capitalized on a Leodis McKelvin fumble to set up the game winning touchdown. Tom Brady wasted no time as he threw 53 times in his first game since the season opener last season, and he looked fine. I'm sure the Patriots will take two touchdowns and a win every game.

Bob: Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 3)

The Eagles showed that they can score points on offense and defense during an absolute destruction of the Carolina Panthers. There's not much worry over Sean McDermott anymore, and the offense averaged 5.8 yards per rushing attempt. McNabb is hurt, sure, but I don't see him missing any time and with an easy next few games, they should keep rolling.

No. 3)

Derek: Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 6)

I could hear the collective groans as the Eagles defense shot themselves in the foot numerous times on the opening drive and the Panthers scored. It was going to be a long day as is the case almost every opening day the past few years. Until the defense was notified that this one actually counts. Seven turnovers and 3 quarterbacks later, the Eagles found themselves up 38-10. Oh, and don't worry Philadelphia, McNabb will play.

Bob: New England Patriots (Last Week: 1)
They did pull out the win, but anyone who thinks they did anything other than steal that game from the Bills is dead wrong. Leodis McKelvin fumbled that game away. Had he just held onto the ball, the Bills would have won and the Pats would have done a barrel-roll down this list.

No. 4)

Derek: Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: 3)

They didn't show me anything. Two turnovers down at the goal line and a near upset by the Jaguars. Not want you see from a Peyton Manning led offense. Could it be attributed to the loss of Marvin Harrison? The loss of offensive coordinator and head coach? The loss of Anthony Gonzalez in the first quarter? Only time will tell if the Colts will bounce back. They started off slow last year then ripped off nine straight.

Bob: Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: 6)

The Falcons had a good showing from Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez, and could see a wonderful connection beginning there. Michael Turner will have to pick it up, along with the entire running game, but their defense did a good job containing that Wildcat offense and good showing from Chad Pennington.

No. 5)

Derek: San Diego Chargers (Last Week: 4)

Another team that was hopped by the Eagles this week. They almost blew it last night at the hands of the Oakland Raiders. San Diego has the talent to get to the Super Bowl, but as far as I'm concerned, Norv Turner just cannot get a team prepared to play properly.

Bob: San Diego Chargers (Last Week: 4)

The Raiders looked good Monday night, but they still looked inferior to the Chargers when San Diego was actually on their game. It was a sloppy game for San Diego, and it took them a bit to get started, but once they did they showed that they can put a game away. This was more the Chargers not playing well than it was the Raiders outplaying them.

No. 6)

Derek: Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: 5)

Yes, you read the box score correctly. The Ravens offense accounted for over 400 yards of total offense. Joe Flacco will not be the victim of the legendary sophomore slump. At least he didn't show any signs of it on Sunday. The defense didn't look that good, which is the reason for the one spot drop. 24 points to the Brodie Croyle led Kansas City Chiefs without Tony Gonzalez. Yeah, it does sounds as bad as I thought.

Bob: New York Giants (Last Week: 5)

The Giants defense looked good -- especially Osi Umenyiora. However, the offense was only decent. While the numbers may say they were good, it was more about the Redskin defense not being able to tackle, well, anyone. Giants are a good team, but let's see that offense against a good defense before getting too carried away.

No. 7)

Derek: New York Giants (Last Week: 7)

The defense was stout as you would expect from the Giants. The thing that caught me off guard was that the running game struggled and the receivers actually performed quite well. Aside from 2 or 3 decent runs, Jacobs and Bradshaw were held in check by an upgraded Redskins defense. These receivers won't make that many plays every week, and they even lost Nicks for a few weeks.

Bob: Tennessee Titans (Last Week: 7)

The Titans lost a tough game to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday. It's a game they could have won, but a lackluster offensive performance doomed them. Kerry Collins was good last year, but I don't have much faith that he can duplicate his 2008 season this year.

No. 8)

Derek: Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: 9)

Tony Gonzalez looked good in his Falcons debut. He shredded the Dolphins defense, but aside from Tony G, the Falcons were flat on offense. Turner struggled and Jerious Norwood was your second leading receiver behind Gonzalez. Defense kept them in the lead by shutting out the Dolphins until late.

Bob: Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: 12)

For those not paying attention, I have a newsflash: Joe Flacco is the real deal. The kid had his first 300-yard game, and did everything he needed to do in order to overcome a letdown by the defense and pull out the win. Many would be worried that the defense allowed 24 points, but until it happens again, I'm calling it an aberration.

No. 9)

Derek: Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: 16)

I was shocked when I saw that Adrian Peterson had only 40 yards at the half. The Browns were shutting him down! That didn't last too long as Peterson hit his groove in the second half. If Peterson can put up 180 yards every game, Favre might get a 5-year extension. he can hand-off until he's at least 46, right?

Bob: Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: 11)
Brett Favre wins his first game as a Minnesota Vikings by managing the game. That's right, he managed them to a win and even managed to toss a touchdown to rookie Percy Harvin. Adrian Peterson went nuts on the Browns and carried the Vikings to a win, which he could do all year long.

No. 10)

Derek: Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: 14)

The 3rd NFC East team in the top 10, and rightfully so. The most competitive division in football every year. Dallas looked good hitting three long pass plays without Terrell Owens who was cut this off-season. I mean, were still in September so Tony Romo has about 10 weeks of good football in him

Bob: Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: 10)

The Colts didn't do enough to move up, but they certainly were not very impressive. They played a sloppy game and nearly let a division rival knock them off in the first week. However, the still have Peyton Manning, which is enough.

No. 11)

Derek: Tennesee Titans (Last Week: 10)

They almost pulled it off on opening night, but the defending champs were too much. Look for Tennessee to bounce back and play well this year.

Bob: Green Bay Packers (Last Week: 15)

Their offense was disappointing for the first three quarters of the game, but the defense was phenomenal throughout. They forced Jay Cutler into four interceptions and did a good job containing Matt Forte. Aaron Rodgers did a good job of leading them back and getting the win over a division rival, which should give them momentum for the rest of the season.

No. 12)

Derek: New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 12)

Drew Brees threw for 6 touchdowns. Bad news? He was playing against the Lions and they put up 27. No defense kills the Saints all year.

Bob: New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 16)

Drew Brees is an absolutely phenomenal quarterback, and there's really to argument to the contrary. If that defense can find its stride, this will be a dangerous team. If not, they're destined for .500 yet again. However, for now, they deserve this spot.

No. 13)

Derek: Green Bay Packers (Last Week: 15)

Four turnovers for this defense, but it still took late game heroics by Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings to pull it off.

Bob: Houston Texans (Last Week: 8)

Last week I had the Texans in the top 10, but a poor offensive performance and a defense that got burnt by a rookie has me thinking twice about the Texans. I still think they could challenge for the playoffs, but that game against the Jets was just bad.

No. 14)

Derek: Buffalo Bills (Last Week: 20)

The game was given away by special teams. They almost pulled it off with T.O. only getting two catches. When he heats up, look for the Bills to be a force.

Bob: Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: 14)

Tony Romo had a good game, but let's not get carried away. He was playing against a poor pass defense in Tampa Bay, and most of his yardage came from the receivers running after the catch. They won't be able to do that against good teams, so for now they don't move one way or the other.

No. 15)

Derek: New York Jets (Last Week: 23)

Mark Sanchez looked like he settled into his starting role quite comfortably, against a good Texan defense too. The Jets could be the real deal this year with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.

Bob: New York Jets (Last Week: 20)

I have the Jets ranked below the team they beat simply because it's Week One, and I want to see Sanchez do it again before we get carried away. He looked good, but it's only one game. I mean, the Texans beat the Cowboys in their first game, so anything can happen opening day.

No. 16)

Derek: San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: 25)

"I want winners!" Well you got 'em Coach. Mike Singletary expressed a team effort and got just that as the 49ers shut down Fitzgerald, Boldin and the defending NFC Champions.

Bob: San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: 23)

Coach Singletary apparently can play, coach, and win with this team. He wants winners, and it looks like that's what he's gotten. He's instilled a discipline in this team and has presented a gameplan for how to win games. The team has bought into his plan, and don't be surprised if this team is contending for the NFC West at the end of the year.

No. 17)

Derek: Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 8)

Shut down completely by the 49ers. Starting to look more and more like a fluke as we go on. Maybe it is time for Kurt to step away from football.

Bob: Seattle Seahawks (Last Week: 17)

They beat the St. Louis Rams, possibly the very worst team in the league. For that, you don't move up. However, 28 points is convincing enough that they also won't be moving down.

No. 18)

Derek: Houston Texans (Last Week: 17)

This team has a good defense, but still couldn't slow down Thomas Jones, Leon Washington or Mark Sanchez. I was high on Houston going into the season. Maybe they can bounce back.

Bob: Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 21)

They were able to stick with the Indianapolis Colts, but fell short by two points. They deserve to get some love, as it appears they're heading in the right direction. Right now their offense is the problem, and I'm not sure they can overcome their lack of explosiveness.

No. 19)

Derek: Seattle Seahawks (Last Week: 18)

They almost went into halftime with the worst team in the NFL tied at 7. Of course the Rams screwed that up, and Hasselbeck showed up in the second half. Still not convinced.

Bob: Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 9)

The Cardinals take the most significant dive after looking completely incompetent in all phases of the game. It could be the Super Bowl hangover, or it could just be an off day against a division opponent but whatever it is they need to fix it and quickly.

No. 20)

Derek: Chicago Bears (Last Week: 11)

18 interceptions while throwing to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal. 4 in one game while throwing to next to nobody sounds right. Should've stuck with Orton, Chicago.

Bob: Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 19)

As I said, the Wildcat is showing itself to only be a gimmick offense. If they try to rely on it as their primary source of offense, they will continue to lose. They need to find more conventional ways to win, or they're going to be at the bottom of the AFC East.

No. 21)

Derek: Denver Broncos (Last Week: 26)

They won, but didn't really deserve it. The "Immaculate Deflection" as it is now known was one of the craziest plays I've ever seen. Luck running wild in Denver.

Bob: Chicago Bears (Last Week: 18)

Jay Cutler did not play well, at all, and now the face of that franchise is out for the remainder of the season. If Cutler continues to miss his mark, the defense is going to be on the field a whole lot, getting beat a whole lot.

No. 22)

Derek: Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 24)

Looked real good against the Colts, but couldn't pull it out late. Failed a 2-point conversion to tie it, and then failed to move into field goal range.

Bob: Buffalo Bills (Last Week: 25)

They played a good game against the Patriots for about 3 1/2 quarters, but last I checked a game takes four quarters. If they can't close out games and win the close ones, they'll be right back to 7-9 for the fourth straight year. Slightly less impressive consistency than the Bills of old.

No. 23)

Derek: Carolina Panthers (Last Week: 13)

I have nothing to say here. 7 turnovers, and you're lucky to be at 23. A.J. Feeley will start for this team come season end.

Bob: Washington Redskins (Last Week: 22)

They stuck with the Giants fairly well, but when it comes down to it they just don't have anyone who can step up and make a play. On paper, they're a fairly decent team, however they're a team without a leader and that leads to losses.

No. 24)

Derek: Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 30)

Oakland should be glad Richard Seymour showed up. He looked good, and the whole Raider defense looked good. Jamarcus Russell is still all over the place, but looks to have two good rookie targets.

Bob: Carolina Panthers (Last Week: 13)

A team that was thought to be a contender had a rude awakening against the Philadelphia Eagles this past Sunday. They got abused in every aspect of the game and looked like a team looking for answers. Jake Delhomme will soon lose his starting spot, but even the running game couldn't get going. The Eagles are a good team, so this could be a bit of an overreaction.

No. 25)

Derek: Washington Redskins (Last Week: 19)

Maybe there was method to the madness of trading Jason Campbell this off-season. He didn't make many good reads and just looked out of sync completely.

Bob: Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 28)

They gave a valient effort against the Chargers, but their defense let them down when it mattered most. On top of that, JaMarcus Russel is still unbelievably inaccurate. If he can turn into a real quarterback, I think this team could be playoff caliber (seriously). However, until then, they stay in the cellar.

No. 26)

Derek: Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week: 22)

Ochocinco showed up. Cedric Benson showed up. Problem: Football is played with 22 people. They were short 20 for this game.

Bob: Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week: 26)

They were clearly the better team this past Sunday, but dumb luck got them the loss with Brandon Stokely's outstanding play. Some will say dumb luck, but others will say that a team creates their own luck. That's a bit hard to argue, especially with the team lovingly referred to as the "Bungals."

No. 27)

Derek: Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 21)

Last year's feel good story and AFC East Champions looked completely flat on offense. It took them until the 4th quarter in garbage time to score.

Bob: Denver Broncos (Last Week: 27)

Yes, they won. No, they didn't look good doing it and no, they didn't deserve the win. They caught a break this week, but odds are it won't happen more than two or three times after this.

No. 28)

Derek: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: 27)

They looked real good until the second half. Cadillac was cruising and they looked poised to pull off and upset. I still believe in Byron Leftwich, but I'm sure we'll see Freeman by season end.

Bob: Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 29)

They put up 24 points against a good Ravens defense with a backup quarterback, but top to bottom this is still a very bad team. Todd Haley and Scott Pioli have a lot of work to do before this team can even "back in" to the playoffs.

No. 29)

Derek: Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 28)

I don't care who you are, but if you give up over 400 yards to the Ravens, you're a bad defense. We'll see what this team is made of when starter Matt Cassel comes back.

Bob: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: 24)

They are not officially back to the "Yucs." As I've said, I'm a fan of Byron Leftwich and he played well, but the defense, particularly the pass defense, was absolutely pathetic. They could not stop anyone and won't be able to all year.

No. 30)

Derek: Cleveland Browns (Last Week: 29)

They almost looked good on Sunday. Too bad they forgot we play four quarters in football, not two.

Bob: Cleveland Browns (Last Week: 30)

Is Brady Quinn the answer for this team? Well, I'm not sure, but it sure doesn't look like it at this point. In his defense, this team has a lot of holes and have a good two or three years before they're even respectable. It's time to trade one of the quarterbacks and Braylon Edwards for some picks to start this rebuilding process properly.

No. 31)

Derek: Detroit Lions (Last Week: 32)

Only the Detroit Lions could give up 6 touchdown passes and move up a spot. Sorry Detroit, it's nothing you did right...

Bob: Detroit Lions (Last Week: 31)

They played a pretty decent game against the Saints, but Detroit's defense is still awful. The offense was able to put up 27 points, but that was against a Saints defense nearly as bad as their own. Stafford might be a good quarterback, but it will take a while before it pays off.

No. 32)

Derek: St. Louis Rams (Last Week: 31)

...It's what the Rams did wrong, which was everything. They had a blocked field goal and tied the game at 7. Good right? Well not if you need 12 people on the field to do it. Simple mistakes.

Bob: St. Louis Rams (Last Week: 32)

The Rams are the worst team in the league. They can't play offense, they can't play defense, and usually that leads to being a bad team. I'd be surprised if this team wins two games this year.

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