Philadelphia Eagles: What A Difference A Year Makes

Last year the Eagles had a barley average season. They finished 8-8 while being the only team in the NFC East not to make the playoffs.

Last year, with quarterback Donovan McNabb injured, the Eagles needed A.J. Feeley to fill some very large shoes. Let's just say he didn't excel. Feeley completed 59 of 103 pass attempts for only 681 yards.

The Eagles receiving numbers suffered as well. Reggie Brown had 4 td's while catching 61 passes for 790 yards. Greg Lewis had only 3 td's while catching only 13 passes for 265 yards. Jason Avant had 2 td's with 23 catches and 267 yards.

Brian Westbrook had 5 td's and 90 catches and 771 yards...an off year for the standout from Villanova.

The only Eagle to stand out offensively last year was Kevin Curtis. He had a career season hauling in 77 catches for 1,110 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The Eagles were in desperate need of a special teams expert. They only had 2 people return kicks for over 20 yards. JR Reid had 33 returns 709 yards. Correll Buckhalter had 37 return attempts for 798 yards. They combined for zero special teams td's last season.

The leader in tackles for the defense was the rookie Omar Gaither he finished the season with 102 tackles. Defensively, the Eagles forced 20 turnovers. 9 forced fumbles, 11 interceptions.

The Eagles were the only NFL team not to have a defensive or special teams td the whole season.

Akers had another average season. He was 22 for 22 on kicks inside the 40 yard line and 2 for 10 on kicks past the 40.

So going into the off season the Eagles needed another wide receiver to play the slot, good return man, and a couple of people on the defense to force more turnovers and give the defense more opportunities to score.

On March 1st they signed shut down corner Asante Samuel to a 88 million 6 year deal. That fills up the void in a defender that can get td's and turnovers for your defense.

March 2nd they sign Chris Clemons a good role playing Defensive End to fill up Jevon Kearse's spot on the defensive line. So they were able to address the teams defensive weaknesses over the off season.

Fast forward to draft day: it's Round 2 the Eagles are on the clock with a wide receiver and return man needed. Still available is a quick, agile, smart, talented wide receiver and kick returner from the University of California named Desean Jackson. (Don't forget cocky and prone to pre-mature celebration, but at least he creates reasons to celebrate.)

All told the Eagles did a great job this off season addressing the immediate needs of the club and so far it shows.

Week one at home against the St. Louis Rams. So Brian Westbrook finishes the game with 1 rushing td, and one passing td, and 91 rushing yards. McNabb was 21-33 with 361 passing yards and 3 td's. Rookie Desean Jackson had 6 catches for 106 receiving yards in his NFL debut.

The defense held Steven Jackson to no td's and the whole team to one field goal. Asante Samuel had an interception and 1 tackle. Final score: 38 - 3 Eagles.

Wow, what a difference a year makes.