City of Pain

Speculating on what the Eagles are going to do in the upcoming weeks at quarterback is
like trying to figure out which Halloween movie is the best. Or which Zeppelin album
rocks the hardest. You think you know, you hope everyone agrees with you, but in the end there is no logical answer.

Do you go with the original Halloween you’ve shit your pants to 100 times between the
ages of 7-17, the one you’ve watched alone, the one where you have dreams of Michael
Myers coming into your bedroom at night and gutting you like OJ did Nicole?

…or do you go with Halloween 2 (Michael Myers butchering orderlies and fat cops in a hospital), Halloween 4 (Michael Myers, most likely hiding out for 10 years working at the Roy Rogers on the NJ Turnpike or doing construction somewhere to build up his strength, coming back to Haddonfield for his niece, wearing a ridiculous, re-done mask with an afro, and still not finishing the job) or what about H2O (Michael Myers somehow makes a cross country trip with no car to California, locates Jamie Lee Curtis who faked her death, terrorizes LL Cool J and Josh Hartnett, and gets his head chopped off only to find out in Halloween: Resurrection, that it wasn’t Michael Myers at all, but rather a cop who he had switched clothes with at the end of H2O)? How can you choose?

How can you possibly choose the best Led Zeppelin album? Most people say it’s Led Zeppelin IV (Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Going to California, satanic messages), but you could play it smart and go with Physical Graffiti simply because it’s a double disc and has the most songs, or if you think you have a diverse and open taste in music you go with Led Zeppelin III because it’s “different”, or maybe if you took boat loads of hallucinogens in the 70s, you may choose In Through The Out Door because it reminds you of when your life started to go wrong after dabbling in black magic and séances in your parents’ basement, where you still reside today. How can you choose?

What does any of this have to do with the Eagles? NOTHING. I just re-read everything I wrote and I have no idea where I was going with that…but these examples illustrate just how difficult it is to come to a concrete answer when none exists. The Eagles have two options this week at quarterback, and the ramifications of either decision will change the franchise. I don’t think people truly understand just how big this could be. How do you choose who should start this weekend?

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“This isn’t his fault. He played a heck of a football game,” Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said. “He’s a heck of a quarterback. That’s what a leader does. He takes criticism and puts the game on his shoulders. That’s what he did: ‘I lost the game.’ He played a heck of a football game. I’d play with him any day of the week.”

I wonder who he’s talking about?

The first thing I thought of when I was watching the Eagles last night was “Wow, these guys look like a completely different team.” I wanted to know why. I wanted to know why Vegas made them a 24 point underdog by kickoff, why I thought they’d lose by more, and why they proved everyone wrong (besides delusional Eagles fans who think they’ll win every game). The line was fair. After all, the Patriots have been steamrolling through the schedule with ease. The Patriots were Michael Jackson, fully stocked with candy, comic books, and animal rides, the Eagles were the fatherless Latino boys, and the game was an alcohol filled weekend at the Neverland Ranch.

Coming home to face a 5-5 Eagles team that has lost to the Bears and Redskins at home, a Dallas team (also at home) by 21 who had been gutted by the Patriots, and who’s biggest win of the season was…..at Washington (?) …how could you expect them to have a chance? Any given Sunday? Hell maybe, but this Patriots team is not the average team that plays on Sunday. This Patriots team may go down as one of the best teams in history, and the Eagles had them beat.

No disrespect to the Patriots whatsoever, but the Eagles proved that they belong in the discussion of playoff teams. I don’t want to take anything away from them winning the game because going 11-0 and taking everyone’s best shot every week is a challenge in itself, but let’s be honest New England fans: you almost got beat by a McNabb-less Eagles team at home and you didn’t even have any bad calls go your way. Maybe the Moss offensive pass interference, maybe. You got lucky the Eagles made a horrible play call as they sat on your 29 yard line ready to at least take the game into overtime. And the funny thing is, I know you agree with me. The following are quotes spoken to me this morning by a die hard Patriots fan here at work:

-“I never thought I’d say it, but Andy Reid completely out coached Bill Belichek last night in every facet of the game.”

-“The Eagles offense line was unbelievable last night. You guys should have won that game.”

-“The Eagles made the Patriots defense line completely invisible last night. Ty Warren had zero tackles. Your team shut them down.”

-“If the Eagles played the whole year like they played last night, we would be talking about them being undefeated.”

-“I was impressed with AJ Feeley’s composure and accuracy. He made some unbelievable throws last night and had the fire and motivating attitude in the huddle. You could just see it.”

(more…)

“This isn’t his fault. He played a heck of a football game,” Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said. “He’s a heck of a quarterback. That’s what a leader does. He takes criticism and puts the game on his shoulders. That’s what he did: ‘I lost the game.’ He played a heck of a football game. I’d play with him any day of the week.”

I wonder who he’s talking about?

The first thing I thought of when I was watching the Eagles last night was “Wow, these guys look like a completely different team.” I wanted to know why. I wanted to know why Vegas made them a 24 point underdog by kickoff, why I thought they’d lose by more, and why they proved everyone wrong (besides delusional Eagles fans who think they’ll win every game). The line was fair. After all, the Patriots have been steamrolling through the schedule with ease. The Patriots were Michael Jackson, fully stocked with candy, comic books, and animal rides, the Eagles were the fatherless Latino boys, and the game was an alcohol filled weekend at the Neverland Ranch.

Coming home to face a 5-5 Eagles team that has lost to the Bears and Redskins at home, a Dallas team (also at home) by 21 who had been gutted by the Patriots, and who’s biggest win of the season was…..at Washington (?) …how could you expect them to have a chance? Any given Sunday? Hell maybe, but this Patriots team is not the average team that plays on Sunday. This Patriots team may go down as one of the best teams in history, and the Eagles had them beat.

No disrespect to the Patriots whatsoever, but the Eagles proved that they belong in the discussion of playoff teams. I don’t want to take anything away from them winning the game because going 11-0 and taking everyone’s best shot every week is a challenge in itself, but let’s be honest New England fans: you almost got beat by a McNabb-less Eagles team at home and you didn’t even have any bad calls go your way. Maybe the Moss offensive pass interference, maybe. You got lucky the Eagles made a horrible play call as they sat on your 29 yard line ready to at least take the game into overtime. And the funny thing is, I know you agree with me. The following are quotes spoken to me this morning by a die hard Patriots fan here at work:

-“I never thought I’d say it, but Andy Reid completely out coached Bill Belichek last night in every facet of the game.”

-“The Eagles offense line was unbelievable last night. You guys should have won that game.”

-“The Eagles made the Patriots defense line completely invisible last night. Ty Warren had zero tackles. Your team shut them down.”

-“If the Eagles played the whole year like they played last night, we would be talking about them being undefeated.”

-“I was impressed with AJ Feeley’s composure and accuracy. He made some unbelievable throws last night and had the fire and motivating attitude in the huddle. You could just see it.”

(more…)

Welcome to City of Pain’s first ever State of the Union address. Sit back, crack open an Icehouse, gather your friends around the computer, smoke some weed/heroin/PCP/crystal meth/ice/crank…whatever you want. You’re going to need it when you actually start thinking about the lifelessness of the Philadelphia sports landscape. There’s more hope in finding Natalie Halloway at this point.

The Eagles

There is a very distinct possibility that the start of the Eagles official free fall happens in New England this weekend (ed note: as opposed to the costly fall of the last 2+ years). When people are doubting your inability to cover a game as opposed to being competitive, you’ve got a serious problem. When every statement about this team begins with “with the exception of the Lions game…”, something is not right.

Out of all four major sports teams in this city, the murkiest future belongs to the Eagles. No one has a clue who’s going to be under center next season, and whether that’s a good thing (Kolb) or a bad thing (McNabb, Feeley), it’s the lack of apparent direction that’s troubling. Something tells me the Eagles have no idea who their quarterback is going to be either. The good news is that the greatest head coach in franchise history doesn’t have two sons who are shooting up heroin, ramming an entire pharmacy’s worth of pills up their salad shooters, parading around with rifles and driving like maniacs, rotting in jail, and not creating any distraction whatsoever for the team.

(more…)

from profootballtalk.com who apparently has people in places that only hugh douglas used to be able to get to:

NO McNABB? NO PROBLEM

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb didn’t practice on Wednesday, due to ankle and thumb injuries. But if he can’t play, on Sunday night or beyond, we’re told that the rest of the team isn’t troubled.

Maybe it’s a reflection of the subtle message that the team sent in April when quarterback Kevin Kolb was the team’s first draft pick in 2007.

Or maybe the players don’t care because they realize that they can be competitive without or without him.

Either way, the nonchalance in the locker room regarding McNabb’s potential absence for one or more weeks is real. And it kept the team from panicking a week ago when McNabb exited what looked to be a potential lost cause against the Dolphins.