Painful year for Philadelphia Eagles fans posted by Eagles Fan

It was an interesting and somewhat painful year for Philadelphia Eagles fans, but given that the city’s been on a bit of a roll with sports and the Eagles are still very well setup for the future, fans’ disappointment shouldn’t last too much longer. Heading into the 2011 season, the Eagles signed a number of noteworthy free agents, and seemed primed for a fantastic season, as well as a potential playoff run. In fact, some even went as far as to call the Eagles a “dream team,” and some predicted outlandish things like undefeated seasons and surefire Super Bowl contention. Everything from jersey sales to Philadelphia direct tv action seemed to spike as an always-faithful fan base grew even more excited than usual. Unfortunately, the season didn’t go as planned, and the Eagles wound up missing the playoffs – however, they were still a dangerous team, and here are a few r easons to expect a very good season next year.

- The first reason is as simple and obvious as any analysis that can be made on the NFL: Michael Vick. Vick didn’t quite have the year some were expecting following his stunningly sharp 2010 campaign, but this was partially due to injury concerns. Michael Vick is a proven winner with as strong a will to compete as just about anyone in the league, and he is perfectly capable of putting Philadelphia on his back. As long as he’s still around – and in 2011, he will be – this team will be a playoff threat.
- LeSean McCoy is another very clear reason to expect the Eagles to stick around as contenders, despite the disappointing 2011 season. McCoy reached a new level this season, rushing for 1309 yards at 4.8 per carry, with 17 touchdowns to show for it (stats according to ESPN.com). It’s common knowledge that Vick will have huge offensive games, and that when it’s on the Philly defense is a force to be reckoned with – but McCoy’s numbers on top of this are essentially an added bonus, and could be the “x-factor” that pushes a healthy Eagles team toward the Super Bowl.
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Reid and Turner back for 2012: Really? posted by Joe Anello

Black Monday came and went, but the coaching news continued on Tuesday with releases in Chicago and major retentions in San Diego and Philly. Were they the right moves? Let’s break ‘em down!

San Diego Chargers retain General Manager A.J. Smith and Head Coach Norv Turner

OH COME ON!!! I was finally ready to break-up the Turner/Philips romance. However, you can chalk up this stay of execution to a few select reasons. First, key players (i.e. Rivers) probably bitched enough to convince management that it would cause chemistry issues to change coaches. Second, who were they going to get that was even marginally better? Turner’s still got swagger when it comes to his offense, so I’m not sure who was out there (that would come to San Diego) that would be a marked improvement. Maybe Cowher or Gruden if they got extraordinarily lucky, but I’m sure they were rejected outright on those fronts. Finally, it’s the AFC West. A couple plays would have made the difference in getting the Chargers to the playoffs, so they don’t need to improve much to get there next year.

Fudge no. I’m sure team President Dean Spanos thought it’d easier to improve with continuity than an overhaul. I don’t care. I still think both of these guys needed to be put down. I’m still shocked they have their jobs. You let me down Dean.

The Final Drive: Week 17, 2011-12 posted by Joe Anello

The 2011 NFL regular season ended with a bang with some great finishes and superb drama on Sunday. Records were set by a back-up QB, a team captain was benched for “quitting” and a fat-handed QB lost missed out on the post-season. The Final Drive must begin!

This makes me beyond furious. Mike McCarthy takes out his MVP quarterback and starts a fourth year back-up with one career start in Matt Flynn, and f*cking records are broken. Six touchdowns? 480 yards? Who wouldn’t want to be Matt Flynn right now? That guy is about to make BANK as a free agent. Blow me Green Bay. Take your awesome quarterback development and blow me.

(6-10) Miami Dolphins 19
(8-8) New York Jets 17
Mark Sanchez: 3 interceptions. Santonio Holmes: benched and called out as a whiny quitter by his teammates.  (Seriously. Worst team captain ever.) Bart Scott: flips off a photographer and refuses to talk to the media (For once). Finally seeing theses loathsome Jets miss the playoffs is SO satisfying to me. Take it Rex Ryan. Take it hard.

I don’t give a crap about the result of this game. What I do care about is DeSean Jackson deciding to actually play like he means it and be remorseful for his completely idiotic actions this season in the last game of the year. I’d be surprised (not stunned though) if the Eagles kept Jackson around. Maybe franchise him and get him on a one-year deal, but you would have thought he’d have been on better behavior once he showed up to 2011.

The Final Drive: Week 16, 2011 posted by Joe Anello

It was a Christmas Eve of meaningful NFL action as all the remaining playoff spots were nearly filled and draft orders are beginning to finalize. Miss any of the action? No need to worry, because the Final Drive starts right now!

Indy… what are you doing??? After all the speculation, you could single-handedly win yourself out of a franchise quarterback. Knock it off. (Or play more scrubs.) To Houston, I say congratulations. You’re in the playoffs. Now get ready to go home before anyone else.

This was about as disappointing a loss as you could find on Sunday. For a division-leader that could have locked up their playoff berth to lay down to a team that had nothing to play for is unacceptable. The Teebs magic was all used up apparently as Timmy tossed four interceptions, two of which were boomerangs. I wish I had been able to watch this one. It would have felt SO good.

It was looking awkward when the ‘Phins were up 17-0 at halftime, but Brady rallied and made sure his team clinched a first-round bye. I’m expecting the Patriots to take the number one seed in the AFC, but I don’t feel very confident about their postseason chances.

PFFT. I’m glad this turned out to be less of a game, because if it had been overly dramatic I wouldn’t stop hearing about it all week. And the rumors that the Jets aren’t completely sold on Sanchez for next year? Frosting on the cake baby. And this picture of Jacobs and Ryan jawing afterward? Weird.

The Opening Drive: Week 16, 2011 posted by Joe Anello

Christmas Eve or not, there’s no way I’d let a schedule of great NFL action slip past my nets! The playoff positioning is settling in, but there’s some unresolved business in the NFC East with two pivotal games on Saturday. There’s plenty to talk about in week 16, so let’s get right to it!

John Skelton gets another chance to prove how little publicity the Cardinals can garner, despite his Tebowian winning ways. They travel to Cincy to take on the Bengals, who are desperate to climb back into the playoffs after stumbling the past few weeks. (I mean, they didn’t exactly blow out St. Louis.)

Can a game between a 7-7 and 8-6 team be any more unnecessarily hyped? I know there’s playoff hopes on the line and it’s between the two New York squads, but please, can we settle down slightly? The Jets defense has been utterly mediocre and Mark Sanchez has regressed. Give me Eli and the inconsistent Giants in this one.

This one would be almost not worth writing about except for Big Ben’s injury. Instead, the ancient Charlie Batch will get the start against the lowly Rams, a team that is now in the running for the first pick in April’s draft. I’m picking the Steeler defense in this match-up… because not much else excites me.

The Final Drive: Week 15, 2011 posted by Joe Anello

I’m not sure what else you could have wanted from week 15 in the NFL. Two impressive streaks ended, the “Trap of the Week” proved to be true once again and one win never mattered as much as it did for Indianapolis. (And Candlestick Park was sans light… for a few second before auxiliary lighting come on. Not as much drama.) Many a-loser won on this day. Oddsmakers be damned! Get ready for The Final Drive!

Oh Tennessee. How could you? You somehow managed to give their first lowly Colts a victory whilst in the midst of your own playoff hunt. For shame. While it’s nice to get a win (I’m sure), Jim Caldwell should still get effing fired.

Another streak brought to a necessary conclusion! Honestly, as much as we generally thought the Packers COULD do it, it’s probably better that they didn’t. Injuries to their offensive line killed them yesterday against the Chief pass rush, just one facet of a defense that made it difficult on Aaron Rodgers. Well done Romeo Crennel. Oh yeah, and the Chiefs can somehow still get into the playoffs.

BOOM! You got TRAPPED Eli! This was such an obvious upset to pick, even in a day that ended up with a metric ton of stunning results. How the Giants could come out and lay an egg like this when they had a chance to put some distance in front of the Cowboys is appalling. (And hilarious.)

The Opening Drive: Week 15, 2011 posted by Joe Anello

Week 15??? Really? Time goes by so fast! With the playoff races tight and Tebow versus Brady on the schedule, week 15 has everything you want. Let’s set-up for The Opening Drive!

We’re starting this week’s drive by diving right into the “Trap of the Week!” The Giants are coming off a huge win against the Cowboys, with whom they’re tussling for the division title. It would be fitting of this annually inconsistent team to lose a game late in the season that they absolutely should win.

I seriously have no idea what’s going on in this game. Two aggressive defensive lines, but two very different offenses will take the field. The Lions can’t run the ball to save their lives and the Raiders would prefer to simply pound you into the dust. Something has to give.

Speaking of something has to give… I will do anything to be able to see a beatdown of these Broncos. Tom Brady… I will do ANYTHING. Just have the Patriot PR person get in touch with me. Away from divine interference on the field, I simply don’t see the Broncos keeping pace offensively with the Patriots. Brady should have a two-touchdown lead going into the fourth quarter, which should be more than enough. If the Pats score more than 24, they should win.

Going Forward: The Playoffs Begin Now for the Dallas Cowboys posted by Amari Harris

Going Forward

I think there is a general consensus in the football world that the Dallas Cowboys are in a heap of trouble.  For two consecutive weeks the 'Boys have had an opportunity to distance themselves away from the NFC East pack after taking the division lead during a four game win streak.  But for the last two weeks the Cowboys have gotten out coached and out hustled by the Arizona Cardinals, and then they let the New York Giants ring the door bell, break into their house, and steal their division.  To make matters worse, of the Cowboys 6 losses they had ample opportunity to win every game except the "Imma piss on you like R. Kelly"  Eagles game (I'll have to tell you about that one day).  But as a famous former Cowboys coach once said, "You are who you are," and these are the Cowboys.  They always have the talent compete and with Tony Romo at quarterback, but sometimes they find the most perplexing ways to lose games

The last two losses hurt like hell. They should have been wins, but they are losses and now the Giants control the NFC East.  So should Cowboys fans just put their collective heads in the sand and hide themselves from the inevitable collapse of the Cowboys season?  Or should they dust off their shoulders and push forward for three more games?  I think the answer is obvious.

The last 3 games (Tampa Bay, the damn Eagles, and the damn Giants) are no cake walk but I know I am not alone in thinking that the Cowboys can pull off a three game winning streak.  They pulled off a 4 game streak not too long ago. They've lost steam, but it's just a matter of the elements coming together.  Last week vs. Arizona, the Cowboys met the "good" Cardinals team that upset the Cowboys and the 49ers in successive weeks instead of the bad Cardinals team that was eliminated from playoff contention about a month ago.  In that game it appeared the Cowboys were playing to "not lose" the game while the Cardinals played like it was their Super Bowl (guess that's what being knocked out of the playoffs does for you).  But the blunders and mistakes of that game did not keep the Cowboys from getting ready for those G-Men and they had them dead to rights with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter.  Of course that is where things unraveled on offense, defense, and special teams and the Cowboys allowed a team to come back from more than two scores in the fourth quarter for the third time this season.  Hurts like hell.

The Final Drive: Week 14, 2011 posted by Joe Anello

Heart attacks were felt across the nation on Sunday (especially by me), leading to plenty of hospitalizations. While you’re incapacitated, why not get the full scoop on week 14’s heart-stopping action?

So maybe the Texans aren’t absolutely screwed with T.J. Yates at quarterback. Who knew? They probably won’t make a lot of noise in the playoffs depending on the seeding, but they should stay competitive. Unfortunately for Cincy, there may be too many “respectable losses” on their record.

If the Titans weren’t in the middle of a playoff chase, I’d say it was time to start Jake Locker. Though with Hasselbeck’s injury, it might happen anyway. Kudos to the Saints for not falling into the “Trap of the Week.”

Oh Tony Sparano, we hardly knew ye. Wait, I did. You were a mediocre coach. Its obvious management was waiting for him to lose just ONE more game after that streak of wins they went on. Dropping one to the Eagles wasn’t going to cut it.

Sparano wasn’t the only coach let go today, as Todd Haley was relieved of his duties in Arizona following this shellacking. When you make Mark Sanchez look good… nothing good can follow. The Jets inch closer to the playoffs with a surprisingly lop-sided win.

Pick 6: Week 12 posted by Randolph Charlotin

1. It took until his fourth season, but CB Antwaun Molden had his first career interception on a deep pass intended for WR DeSean Jackson.

2. A round of applause to WR Tiquan Underwood for his impeccable Chad Ochocinco impersonation. He was on the field for two plays, was thrown to deep on one, dropped a probable touchdown, and then exited stage left.

3. After setting some records this season, QB Tom Brady actually lost one. Green Bay’s Aaron Rogers set the record for consecutive games with a passer rating of over 100 with eleven. Brady previously shared the record with Steve Young.

4. The Julian Edelman as a defender story gets better. He played more on defense, replacing an ineffective Adams, lands a nice hit on a quarterback blitz, finishes with three tackles, including one on the athletic QB Vince Young, forcing a third down at the two yard line. Two plays later, Young overthrew his target and the Eagles came away with nothing.

5. You had to pay close attention as Donald Thomas, a reserve OG, saw his first action as a Patriot. He lined up at fullback on the RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis touchdown run. Thomas is the latest in a line of players that played more than one position this year. Before the season is done, I want to see either Edelman with an interception, Nate Solder catch a touchdown pass, or Thomas get a carry for a touchdown.

6. RB Shane Vereen sure likes to cut back on runs. For the second week in a row, he looked to backside of the run to find yardage. Are the Patriots a man-to-man or zone blocking team? If the latter, that would play Vereen’s change of direction desires. I really want to watch how he runs stretch plays.

Eagles TE Celek passenger in DUI crash

State police say Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek was apassenger in a car involved in an early-morning DUI crash. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL

Eagles TE Celek uninjured in car crash (AP)

State police say Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek was a passenger in a car involved in an early-morning DUI crash. No one was hurt in Thursday morning's crash on a highway off-ramp near the team's stadium in South Philadelphia. Police say the car's driver was driving too fast when he spun out and hit a concrete barrier around 2:30 a.m. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Patriots' Road Keeps Clearing Up for a Fourth Ring: A Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Netwo

Ever since Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and my Philadelphia Eagles, both teams have been a little cursed. The Eagles have only come close to coming back to the Super Bowl one time since, while the Patriots have been upset more than once before getting that... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Patriots' Road Keeps Clearing Up for a Fourth Ring: A Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Netwo

Ever since Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and my Philadelphia Eagles, both teams have been a little cursed. The Eagles have only come close to coming back to the Super Bowl one time since, while the Patriots have been upset more than once before getting that... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Raiders to interview Eagles' Mornhinweg (AP)

Reggie McKenzie's short list of candidates to fill the Oakland Raiders' vacant head coaching job has grown by another name. The Raiders' new general manager has been given permission to interview Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg for the job, a person with knowledge of the request said on condition of anonymity because the team was not publicizing candidates. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports