Monthly Archives: September 2019

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #3: Eagles vs. Lions

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One by one, they started falling.

First, Dallas Goedert suffered a calf injury in warmups. Then, the dynamic duo of the “Shawns”, as in DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, both suffered injuries, which meant that the Eagles top two starting wide receivers would be inactive for the night. Add Corey Clement’s shoulder and Tim Jernigan’s foot, and the blue tent on the Eagles sideline began to resemble a MASH unit.

To make matters worse, Carson Wentz took a hit to the ribs which made all of us wince when we saw it, and he ended up going through the concussion protocol before being allowed to return to the game.

But while injuries were the biggest conversation point after last week’s loss to the Falcons, the Eagles, for the 2nd straight week, failed to score any points in the 1st quarter. This continues a disturbing trend that dates back to last season, when Philadelphia was ranked 31st out of 32 teams when it came to first quarter scoring, averaging a paltry 3.2 points/game.

To the Birds credit, they bounced back, just as they had against Washington one week earlier, eventually taking the lead for the first time, 20-17, with 3:13 left in the game.

But that lead was short lived, as the Falcons, facing a 4th & 3 at their 46, managed to do what Julio Jones and the rest of his teammates could not do in the NFC divisional playoff game two seasons ago at the Linc…score the winning touchdown.

Jones caught a short screen pass, got a good block from fellow receiver Mohamed Sanu, and was off to the races, giving the Falcons the lead.

The Eagles had their chances on their final drive, going all the way down to the Atlanta 16 before a 4th & 8 pass to tight end Zach Ertz only earned them 7.9 yards (or something like that). The big play, or lack of it, on that drive was the catch that Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor didn’t make, which would have possibly been a touchdown and, at worst, put the Eagles in great field position with ample time left to take the lead.

But while it’s easy to criticize Agholor for that play, he did come up big in the absence of DeSean & Alshon, catching 8 receptions for 107 yards as the Eagles top wide receiver on the field.

Agholor may have to continue to play a bigger role in this week’s game against the Detroit Lions, as DeSean Jackson has been ruled out and is likely to miss next week’s game as well, which is against Green Bay on a short week.

With Alshon Jeffery (and tight end Dallas Goedert) also questionable, expect Mack Hollins as well as 2nd round draft pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside to see more playing time. Speaking of which, for all of the preseason, I thought his name was Ortega-Whiteside, which caused me to develop a craving for tacos with “Ortega” shells every time he touched the ball. Hopefully my taste for tacos reaches a climatic peak on Sunday, as that can only be a positive for the Eagles offense.

As for this week’s opponent, if you thought that the Washington Redskins have had a mediocre history as of late, that is still nothing compared to the Detroit Lions, who have won exactly ONE playoff game since they last won a championship in 1957.

One playoff win in 61 YEARS. And you thought watching the Phillies under Gabe Kapler was frustrating?

Detroit has had some winning seasons over the years, and have looked at times like they had the talent for sustained success. But if you’re a Lions fan, you must have a fetish for being teased…because every time you thought they had a chance, you were bound to end up disappointed.

The Eagles can help their cause on Sunday by actually getting off to a fast start for a change, and will need a much better game from guard Isaac Seumalo, Seumalo looked like a revolving door against the Falcons last week, which is great if you’re the Ritz-Carlton looking for a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor. Unfortunately, quite the opposite playing on the offensive line.

The Birds would do well to run the ball more often, especially if some of their skill position players won’t be playing in this game. Playing at home, especially with a tough Thursday night road game looming, I see the Eagles winning 27-20, on what will be an unusually hot mid-September day.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week (all games on Sunday and in EST unless noted otherwise):

Lions at EAGLES 1:00 PM FOX

Ravens at Chiefs 1:00 PM CBS

Saints at Seahawks 4:25 PM CBS

Texans at Chargers 4:25 PM CBS

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #2: Birds of a Feather

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Many prognosticators looked at last week’s opening day tilt between the Eagles and Redskins and felt that the Birds might be a little rusty in the first half. Unfortunately, no one predicted that the Redskins would come out looking like a well-oiled machine that could move up and down the field at will.

Before the charcoal grills in the parking lot had even begun to cool from all the pregame tailgating, the Birds were already down 7-0, and it did not get any better from there.

The ‘Skins tacked on a field goal, and a 69-yard bomb from Case Keenum to wide receiver Terry McLaurin had the visitors from the nation’s capital up 17-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter.

Save for a Wentz to DeSean Jackson touchdown pass, the Birds were down 20-7 at halftime, and the natives were already starting to get restless.

When the Eagles struggle in the 1st half at home, it is usually the halftime entertainment that suffers the wrath of the disgruntled fan, and last Sunday was no different.

The Eagles had hired an artist to render a painting at halftime, and fans could be heard yelling comments such as:

1) “THIS is the halftime entertainment?”.

2) “Wonder what Jeff Lurie is paying for this?”

3) “This is as bad as the Eagles”.

Even when the artist was finished, no one in the stands could make out exactly what he was rendering. That is, of course, till he turned his painting around to reveal a beautifully drawn Eagle.

The irony was that for most of the first half, no one could figure out what the Eagles of the football variety were doing either. But they turned it around in the 2nd half, scoring 24 unanswered points before Washington scored a meaningless touchdown with six seconds left when the game was no longer in doubt.

In the 2nd half, the Birds showed flashes of what we thought they were, as the Redskins reverted back to what we thought they were as well, which is mediocrity at its finest. The 32-27 victory, though too close for comfort to start, was a good win in what will be a tough first half of their season.

This week, the Eagles travel to Atlanta to take on another type of bird for the Sunday night NBC game. But while the Eagles have soared over the last few years, it is the Falcon that has had its wings clipped more often than not.

Three seasons ago, the Falcons were on the verge of defeating New England and winning their first ever Super Bowl. That is, until Atlanta’s offensive coaches tried to outsmart themselves, and the Patriots came back from a 25 point deficit to win, which became the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

While we all remember fondly the Eagles 2017 Super Bowl winning season and the great win over the Patriots, the “Philly-Philly” play, etc., it was actually the Falcons who came the closest to beating us that postseason.

Atlanta had a 4th & Goal at the 2 in the final minute of the game when an incomplete pass to Julio Jones gave the Birds a divisional playoff victory at home. If Julio catches that pass, the curse of the Eagles never winning a Super Bowl most likely lingers on today.

Instead, it is Atlanta who is still trying to climb to the mountaintop for the first time in its history. The Falcons had an injury riddled 2018, and finished with a 7-9 record to show for it. And when they were soundly defeated by Minnesota last week 28-12 (including being down 28-0 at one point), many wondered if the Falcons were for real.

If Atlanta loses this game, they will be down 0-2 and the rest of this season will be an uphill climb for local Philadelphia native and Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan. The Falcons not only have the advantage of playing at home this week in a dome, but it will be their home opener and they want to show their fans that they are for real, especially after last week’s drubbing.

The Eagles are definitely the better team in my opinion. But the better team does not always win. For that reason, I think the Eagles keep it close but lose 28-27, especially with their suspect secondary.

But all is not lost. The Birds should still have a successful season barring major injuries. And who knows…believe it or not, the predictions of “Nostra-damit” have been proven wrong before. 😉

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week (all games on Sunday and in EST unless noted otherwise):

Colts at Titans 1:00 PM CBS

Seahawks at Steelers 1:00 PM FOX

Vikings at Packers 1:00 PM FOX

Saints at Rams 4:25 PM FOX

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #1: The Wentz Wagon Returns

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When we last left our beloved Birds, the football was seen glancing off the hands of one Alshon Jeffery and into the hands of Saints cornerback Marcus Lattimore, effectively ending the Eagles hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions.

As Lattimore raced down the field, a dejected Jeffery lay on the ground, looking at his hands as if they had deceived him at the most inopportune time. But blaming the usually sure-handed receiver, who has been an important cog in the Eagles receiving corps since he arrived from Chicago two seasons ago, would surely be an injustice.

No, the Eagles lost that Sunday because all of the lucky breaks that had gone their way in the previous month or so finally ended. Their late-season surge to the playoffs almost made us forget that this was a team that stuttered through the gates, and were actually 4-6 at one point after a blowout 48-7 loss to the Saints in Week 11.

But the Birds managed to win five of their last six, including three in a row to end the season after quarterback Carson Wentz went down for the season. And with some luck from the Chicago Bears, who defeated the Minnesota Vikings on the last week of the season, the Eagles were in the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since the 2009-10 seasons.

A 9-7 record and a wildcard entrance, however, meant that the team would have to win three straight on the road to repeat as champs. But after a wildcard round victory over the Chicago Bears, the same team that had assisted the Birds to receive an invite to the playoff dance to begin with, many thought that destiny would once again be in the Eagles hands.

And why not? The “double doink” that gave the Eagles the victory only reiterated to the faithful that the good fortunes of this team would continue all the way to Atlanta (site of Super Bowl 53).

And when the team got off to a 14-0 lead in the Superdome against the same Saints team that had blown them out on that same field just two months prior, all the signs were looking toward Philadelphia advancing to the NFC Championship game once again.

But the Saints would not go easily into the night, especially with a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees. And any chances the Eagles had of coming back from a 20-14 deficit were dashed as the ball caromed off Jeffery’s hands.

But a new season brings with it the promise of another Super Bowl run, especially with a healthy Carson Wentz under center. And the Eagles went out this past offseason to make sure that Wentz has enough ammunition to get this offense going, bringing in running back Jordan Howard from the Bears and bringing back an older (and hopefully, wiser) DeSean Jackson to play wide receiver.

DeSean may not be the young whipper snapper that the Birds drafted in 2008 under then head coach Andy Reid, but he still has the ability to stretch the field with his speed, something the Eagles sorely lacked last season after Mike Wallace was injured early in the year.

Gone though, is Nick Foles, who was the equivalent of Linus’ security blanket from the classic “Peanuts” comic strip (as far as Eagles fans were concerned). Foles could always be counted on to provide comfort (as well as some clutch wins) during a period of uncertainty, and his Super Bowl victory will be etched in this fan base’s memory for a lifetime.

Should Wentz, who’s injury plagued three seasons with the Eagles mask the fact that he’s a very good quarterback when healthy, suffer the same fate once again, the quarterback duties would fall on journeyman backup Josh McCown. And while McCown has bounced around the league more than your average “bounce house” has bounced around your neighbor’s backyard, he has had the misfortune of playing on a lot of bad teams, having never reached the postseason in his seventeen years in the NFL.

If McCown was called into duty on this team, I actually think he would surprise some people with his play, though whether he can replicate Foles’ success as a backup remains to be seen.

The Birds start off their season at home against a divisional foe in the Washington Redskins, the same team that they ended with in the regular season last year (winning 24-0).

The Redskins have been pretty much mediocre since owner Dan Snyder bought the team in 1999, and will probably continue to be until he decides to sell.

The team’s high point during Snyder’s 20-year tenure has been three 10-6 seasons (1999, 2005, & 2012) and only two playoff wins to show for it, with the last one coming in 2005.

In the same span, the Redskins have had eight head coaches. So to summarize – two playoff wins, eight head coaches. Not a stat that would go over well in the City of Brotherly Love.

Speaking of which, over that same span, the Eagles under owner Jeff Lurie have had eleven seasons of ten or more wins, 14 playoff victories, and two Superbowl appearances, including their Superbowl victory two seasons ago.

Redskins fans continue to remember fondly the days of John Riggins barreling through the Miami Dolphins defense en route to a Super Bowl XVII victory, or Doug Williams relishing his “15 minutes of fame” when he put up 35 points in one QUARTER against the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

But as the years pass, those memories continue to fade, and ‘Skins fans are left with the bungling Dan Snyder in representing what this once storied franchise has now become.

That all bodes well for the Eagles, who will need a week 1 victory, especially considering that they have a murderous road schedule during the first half of the season. They are the only team in the NFL to have three straight road games this season, but should they get through that, they will only have to get on a plane once in the 2nd half of the season.

The Birds will struggle in the first half, as the rustiness from lack of playing during the preseason will show its effects. But the team will eventually put it together in the 2nd half, winning 27-14.

“As Broad & Pattison Turns” has returned. Let the NFL season begin and Go BIRDS!

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the week (all times in EST and on Sunday unless noted otherwise):

Colts at Chargers 4:05 PM CBS

Steelers at Patriots 8:20 PM NBC

Texans at Saints 7:10 PM ESPN (Mon)