The Eagles Examiner, Week 10: That’s What You Get for Having a Racist Nickname
This week in the Eagles Examiner, we have a new addition: Ciara Todd, our dutiful intern and resident Eagles fanatic, has graciously agreed to add her comments underneath our points. Disagree with her in the comments or at ctodd@phillymag.com.
Donovan bites back … sort of: You look at Donovan McNabb’s day yesterday and you’d have to be encouraged: four touchdowns, 251 yards passing, 37 rushing yards and, most important, a win against a division rival. However, it’s tough to say how convincing those throws were: a shuffle-pass to Brian Westbrook, a screen pass to Westbrook, an acrobatic grab by Reggie Brown on a ball that was thrown to the wrong side of him. We’ll give him the L.J. Smith pass. The Redskins penalties helped him out a bunch and, of course, so did Westbrook. After a week of being criticized — and crapping on his teammates — this is the game McNabb needed stat-wise. The brief embrace he had with his equally embattled coach, Andy Reid, on the sideline after the game was wrapped up told you everything: These are two men who desperately needed this win.
Ciara’s take: Minus the fumble, Donovan was on point. The people who keep pointing out his inaccurate passes are ridiculous. He is allowed three bad passes a game, and at least they don’t land in the hands of the other team. As much as we talk about how much Westbrook means to this organization, we should also point out the contributions by McNabb. Looking at the majority of wild card contenders in the NFC, they all suffer from one major problem: inadequacies at the quarterback position. At least we know, as a team, that when we step on the field with Donovan, we have a chance to win the game. Half the city (and WIP) needs to acknowledge that.
Without Westbrook, this team is putrid: There aren’t enough praise-worthy adjectives in the dictionary for Brian Westbrook. To put it bluntly, this team is nothing without him. He’s one of the deadliest open field runners in the NFL, he blocks, he catches passes. In short, he does everything right. He’s the one person on the team that, week after week, when called upon, actually delivers. How miserly do the Eagles look hanging that $3 million bonus over his head? If they were smart, they’d double it, apologize for the aggravation, and keep him happy.
Ciara’s take: During the Duce Staley holdout in 2003, stomachs churned at the future of the Eagles run. Would we even run? We all know the answer to that, but here comes Brian Westbrook to save the day. He singlehandedly saves games. But what is also important alongside the run was the blocking. Everyone was involved, from Kevin Curtis to Big Jon Runyan.
The revenge of James Thrash: If only Will James had played cornerback for the Carolina Panthers back in 2003. This is the guy who chest-thumped his way into a starting position? Will, if you can’t cover James Thrash, you can’t cover your own ass. Luckily, the rest of the defense stepped up when it had to and made a miraculous goal-line stand after a game where they let Clinton Portis run all over them. Although the secondary has been bothered by injuries all season, it’s got its core players back. They shouldn’t let the Redskins third-string receiver beat them. If they continue to play this way, it’s probably best to take the over in that Patriots game in Foxboro over Thanksgiving weekend. Randy Moss might score nine touchdowns that game.
Ciara’s take: How could you have faith in a team that let Southeast Jerome (a.k.a. Clinton Portis) run up and down the field for 52 minutes? The rotation didn’t seem to work, Will James looked disgusting, James Thrash and Keenan McCardell (where the hell did he pop up from?) made the Skins’ first receiving touchdowns for the year, and the once-proud Eagles D looked worn. Thankfully, the defense woke up. Seeing half the line pile-drive Portis down in the red zone was almost smile-worthy. Also of note, Jevon Kearse was benched in the first quarter, and rightfully so. He’s a waste of money …
PHOTO: Daily News
