The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I have to wonder how many heart attacks have occurred amongst die-hard Eagles fans through their team's first five games this season. Including today's game, four of the team's five contests have been decided by a combined six points. If not for a last-second field goal by the Steelers today, the Eagles would have won their fourth game and by a combined five points. Having watched the game, I'm still not sure how the Eagles were a missed field goal away from winning again. For the majority of the game, they were dominated in all three phases. On offense, the Eagles were shut out in the first half, before putting forth two solid drives in the second half for their two scores. The rushing game was largely ineffective, although LeSean McCoy wasn't utilized nearly as much as he was last week against the Giants. The passing game wasn't very effective in the first half, but picked up some in the second. Quarterback Michael Vick got pressured early and often, and w...

For the second time in two weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles turned the ball over at least four times (five last week) and for the second time in two weeks, they won by a single point. The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the ball over nine times in their first two games (six interceptions and three fumbles) and yet have found a way to hang around in both games before quarterback Michael Vick has led them to a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes. Looking at the turnover situation, I honestly have no idea how the Eagles are 2-0, yet looking at all the other statistics, I have no idea how they wouldn't be either. On Sunday against the always solid Ravens defense the Eagles converted 26 first downs, were 7 for 15 on 3rd down (46.7%), gained 486 total yards (129 on the ground and 357 through the air) and held onto the ball for 34:21. While the team only averaged 3.1 yards per carry, the Eagles averaged 11.2 yards per pass attempt and 6.5 yards per play. On the season, the Eagles ...

The Denver Broncos' season is officially over! Hooray! I hate to say that, especially since they fell victim to the New England Patriots, my least favorite team in the league before the media became overly-obsessed with Tim Tebow. This game was over from the get go. The Patriots scored 35 points in the first half and put it in cruise control in the 2nd. Let's look at some stats, shall we? First downs? Patriots - 31 and the Broncos - 15. In 71 plays, Denver gained 252 yards (108 through the air and 144 on the ground), while New England compiled 509 yards on just 64 plays (363 through the air and 146 on the ground). Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (yeah, remember him?) completed 26 of 34 pass attempts for 363 yards (10.7 per attempt), 6 touchdowns and 1 interception for a rating of 137.6. Tim Tebow? He completed just 9 of 26 pass attempts for 136 yards (5.2 per attempt) for a rating of 52.7. He also ran the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 per attempt). He lost a fumble and was ...

Starting tailback Rashard Mendenhall? Out. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger? Hobbled. Left tackle Max Starks? Center Maurkice Pouncey? Out. Cornerback Cortez Allen? Out. Nose tackle Casey Hampton? Center Doug Legursky? Defensive end Brett Keisel? All hurt in yesterday's game. These players and others were either too banged up to play yesterday for the Steelers or severely limited. I didn't realize how banged up the team was going into the game. I heard announcers and analysts mention it pre-game, but until game-time, I was fairly ignorant on how bad things really were for the Steelers on the injury front. However, injury-riddled or not, the Steelers came in with a poor strategy on defense, executed that strategy poorly and were burned for it time and again. Get this. Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow completed just 10 passes for the entire game, including overtime. He was 10 for 21 throwing the ball. However, those 10 completions added up to an astounding 316 yards through the ai...

...and so it happened again. I'm really beginning to wonder if the football gods are pissed at me. I had 32 confidence points on Georgia Tech to beat Utah. Tech was up 14 in the 4th quarter and somehow, Utah came back to tie it and win in overtime. I had 26 points on Georgia over Michigan State. Georgia led 16-0 at one point and went up 27-20 late in the 4th, before Michigan State tied it. In the first overtime, State was intercepted and Georgia went ultra-conservative on their play-calling to set up a field goal and missed. State wound up winning in three overtimes. I had 18 points on Stanford over Oklahoma State. Stanford led 14-0 and never trailed throughout regulation. They had a chance to win the game with a 34-yard field goal with no time remaining. The kicker was Pac-12 2nd team All-American and Stanford had only failed to score once inside the red zone all season. The kicker missed and Oklahoma State ended up winning in overtime. Stanford gained 590 yards for the game...

Sooooo...where was this team through the first 12 games of the season? The Philadelphia Eagles, whom were pre-season NFC East favorites, with some even predicting they'd make the Super Bowl, capped off a four-game winning streak to end the season 8-8 with a 34-10 win over Washington on Sunday. The Eagles have outscored their past four opponents (Miami, the Jets, Dallas and Washington) by the score of 125-46 (average of 31.3 - 11.5). The Eagles finish the year 8-8 to finish 2nd in the NFC East. Dallas finished with an identical record, but were swept by the Eagles in the season series. The New York Giants, whom the Eagles split their two games with, finished 9-7, one game ahead of Philadelphia. The sad thing about the Eagles' season is that they had the numbers and the opportunities. They only have themselves to blame due to penalties, turnovers and poor playcalling. Philly led Atlanta by 10 in the 4th quarter before relinquishing the lead. They led the Giants going to the 4...

For the third consecutive week, the Denver Broncos lost. Luckily for them, they play in the AFC West and found a way to win the division with an 8-8 record. The Broncos, being division winners, have the 4th seed in the playoffs and will play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the opening round this upcoming weekend. It seems that just 2-3 weeks ago, ESPN "analysts" and sportwriters couldn't think of enough good things to say about Tim Tebow. He was magical in the 4th quarter. He was a winner. He motivated his teammates to play harder and never give up. Blah. Blah. Blah. Throughout all of this, I remained firm on my belief that the Denver Broncos recent successes were more due to the defense, running game, special teams and lack of turnovers than Tim Tebow's play. Granted, he had a lot to do with not turning the ball over much, but there's a big difference between leading a team to victory and not losing a game for a team. Tebow was more the latter than the forme...

While I feel it's too early to completely write off a young quarterback like Tim Tebow, it seems as if I've been one of the only people not completely convinced that the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback was the main reason for the Broncos recent winning ways and that he's going to be a long-term success in the NFL. From the start, I've said that the defense's improved play, the strong running game, big plays by the special teams and the lack of turning the ball over were the main reasons for the Broncos recent surge. Tebow die-hards, along with a growing number of "respected" football analysts began singing the quarterback's praises and for any naysayer whom was critical of the quarterback, they'd just point to his record. For the second consecutive week, Tebow and the Broncos lost and are now in a fight for survival in the AFC West. Let's get something straight here - going into the game, Buffalo had lost 7 straight. They were 5-2 at...

The Philadelphia Eagles won their third consecutive game on Saturday, defeating then division leader Dallas by the final score of 20-7. This upped their record to 7-8 and with a win next week against the Redskins, would close the season at an even .500 record of 8-8, winning their final four games. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the New York Jets fell to the Giants, which eliminated Philly from playoff contention. Back to this game, for the second consecutive week, Michael Vick was extremely sharp, throwing for 293 yards (9.2 per attempt) and two scores for a rating of 107.9. He held a rating of 107.0 the week before against the Jets. Philly didn't get much of a running game going, but did finish over 100 yards. Vick completed passes to 8 different receivers, with his two standout receivers, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin catching a total of 10 passes for 162 yards and a score. But, while the offense was fairly efficient, the defense was the main factor for the Eagles' v...

I'm not going to write much about this game, because frankly, I'm getting a little tired of writing, hearing, reading the name Tim Tebow. In any case, like I mentioned earlier in the day, Tebow and the Broncos offense have greatly benefited during their recent winning streak from their defense, whom had allowed an average of just 14.2 points a game in 6 of Tebow's previous 8 starts. That wasn't the case in this game, as the Patriots threw for 310 yards and ran for another 141 en route to a 41-23 victory over the Broncos. To his credit, Tebow played better than he has been, outside of the Minnesota game, which is his best of the season to this point. He wasn't stellar throwing the ball, as he completed just 11 of 22 passes but for 194 yards (a good average of 8.8 per attempt) and an average quarterback rating of 80.5. He was void of any touchdown passes or interceptions. He ran the ball very well, as he ended with 12 carries for 93 yards (7.8 avg.) and two scores. ...

This was a strange game to watch. We saw the best and worst of the Eagles in this game. As  has been the trend when Michael Vick has been healthy, the Eagles' offense was very efficient moving the football. They garnered 260 yards through the air and 160 more on the ground, averaged 11.8 yards per pass and 4.8 yards per rush. On the flip side of that, the Eagles turned the ball over 4 times, which has been their achilles heel this year, leading the entire NFL in turnovers. The Eagles also got out to a big lead early in the game and at one point led 28-0. This hasn't been strange for Philly this year, but they did about everything in their power to allow the Jets back in the game, turning the ball over three times in the 2nd quarter, which led to 13 Jets' points. Lucky for them, the Eagles' defense was in charge for most of the game and limited the Jets to a touchdown and a couple field goals on those turnovers, which occurred in Philly territory. Michael Vick had a ve...

It's that time of year again - bowl season. I've finalized my fill-in sheet and am ready to spread my knowledge or lack there of what I see happening in the 35 bowl games. I'll list the games according to confidence level, starting up top with my most confident pick - 35 - and moving way down to my least confident pick - 1. 35 - TCU (over Louisiana Tech in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 21st) TCU is one of the hotter teams in the country and won't have much of a layoff between their final regular season game and the Poinsettia Bowl. They were seen as a disappointment until they defeated then unbeaten Boise State en route to a top 20 ranking at season's end. My only worry with this game is the fact it's my most confident pick, so it would not be a good thing (for me at least) to lose this one. Result: TCU 31 Louisiana Tech 24 (1-0 for 35 pts.) 34 - Boise State (over Arizona State in the Last Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22nd) This will be Boise quarterback Kellen M...

For anyone whom has been regularly watching the Philadelphia Eagles this year, yesterday's game with the Miami Dolphins had to have been a strange sight to behold. What has hampered the Eagles all season long has been the turnover and being able to maintain the lead in the 4th quarter by stopping their opponent. In yesterday's game against the Dolphins, it was the Eagles' defense which came up big, in forcing 3 huge turnovers, getting a safety and upholding the 26-10 lead at game's end. Watching the game, it was quite unbelievable to think the Eagles could have scored 26 points. They racked up just 239 yards of total offense, including just 51 yards on the ground (1.6 ypc). Vick was hit 6 times (felt like more), sacked 4 and seemed to be lying on his backside at the end of most plays. This was his first game back after missing the previous three with broken ribs. When he did get the ball off in time, he was streaky. He started off a tad rusty, but got into a rhythm ...

I've been quite critical of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow as many others have praised him since he was named the starting quarterback for his team. I'm still not going to ride the Tebow train yet. As I said about Cam Newton early in the year, I've got to see at least one full season, if not two, from these guys before concluding on how they'll fare in the long-term as NFL quarterbacks, barring injury of course. As has been typical. Tebow didn't throw the ball much, but was efficient when he did, completing 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and 2 scores. It was the first time he's completed more than 50% of his passes in his 7 starts this year. He also ran the ball 4 times for 13 yards. It should be noted he lost one fumble, just his second turnover in 7 starts this year. The Broncos defense played pretty poorly throughout, but came up with some big plays that eventually helped lead the team to victory. Mario Haggan took back a Christian Ponder interceptio...

I don't really have much to say here. The Eagles are banged up, as they played without quarterback Michael Vick and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. They appear to have given up on the season at times. The play-calling has been terribly inconsistent this year. The defense has fluctuated more in effectiveness and position than Mitt Romney. While Philly is not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they are about as close as is possible. The funny thing is, the Eagles are 3-1 against NFC East teams (1-1 against the Giants and 1-0 versus both the Cowboys and Redskins) yet are now 1-7 against everyone else, with their only other win coming against the St. Louis Rams. They finished 1-3 against the horrendous NFC West, losing to Arizona, Seattle and San Francisco (this loss is excusable, but not how they lost in, in giving up another 4th quarter lead). Up next for the Eagles will be a road game against the revamped Miami Dolphins whom suddenly don't appear to be a team that started...

...and it wasn't even that close, as the Eagles scored a touchdown with 32 seconds left to make the score appear a little more respectable. The really sad part about this game (if you're an Eagles fan) is the fact Philadelphia led 10-0 at one point, only to get outscored 38-3 until the final score with about half a minute left on the game clock. Last week was arguably the Eagles' best all-around defensive effort, as they shut down the New York Giants, holding them to 29 yards rushing and 10 points. No such luck this time around. Philly's run defense played pretty well, as they allowed just 2.9 yards per carry, but their secondary didn't fare well. Tom Brady had a field day for the Patriots, completing 24 of 34 pass attempts for 361 yards, 3 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 134.6. Offensively, sure, the Eagles got their yards, but only 20 points (13 through the first 59:28). Andy Reid largely abandoned the running game, as LeSean McCoy carried the ball ju...

It was announced on Friday that Eagles' starting quarterback, Michael Vick, and starting receiver, Jeremy Maclin, wouldn't be playing in last night's game against the New York Giants. With the Eagles at 3-6 and likely needing to win at the very least, 6 out of their final 7 games to have a chance at making the playoffs, this bit of news seemed to be the end of the Philadelphia Eagles this year. Vince Young was going to make his first start of the season. His only pass attempt prior to last night's game resulted in an interception against the Washington Redskins. Fast-forward to last night's game - There is no quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. Vince Young did throw 3 interceptions and had a fourth reversed via replay. The Eagles offense wasn't nearly as crisp as they have been for most of the season, rushing for only 136 yards and 60 of that coming on one run by tailback LeSean McCoy late in the 4th quarter to seal the 17-10 victory for the Eagles. I d...

Geez... For the second consecutive week and the third out of four starts, the Denver Broncos won with Tim Tebow at the helm, to help improve the Broncos to 4-5 on the year and just a game back of Oakland in the AFC West. Tebow for the game? He completed just two of eight pass attempts for 69 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed the ball 9 times for 43 yards. He was responsible for only 112 of Denver's 313 yards of offense. But, yes, the Broncos won. I've honestly never seen such stats in a NFL game before. The Broncos rushed the ball 55 times and threw it only 8. 87.3% of their plays were rushes. On the year, Tebow has completed 47 of 105 pass attempts (44.8%) for 605 yards. I honestly cannot believe such numbers for a NFL starting quarterback and that the team is actually winning. It'd be ridiculous to give Tebow much credit for the win, however. Lance Ball carried the ball 30 times for 96 yards. Knowshon Moreno carried it 4 times for 52 yards. Eddie Royal added 3 r...

It's pretty amazing for as much talent as they have, how the Eagles can play as they have this year. Well, I should specify, how the Eagles have played in 4th quarters this year. If games ended after three quarters, Philadelphia would be 8-1, with their only loss coming to Buffalo. BUT, since it is a four quarter game and with their loss to the Cardinals yesterday, the Eagles are 3-6. That's right, they've blown 4th quarter leads in five games this year, five of their six losses and five of their nine total. In all four of their losses at home (1-4 at home), they've had the lead going into the 4th quarter and blown it. Going into today, a lot of the blame by the media was laid squarely on quarterback Michael Vick's shoulders. However, news came today that Vick had suffered two broken ribs in the game and played through it, having to sit out just one play. Also, even if he hadn't have broken a couple ribs, while he didn't play particularly well, he cannot b...