Category Archives: Sports

As Broad & Pattison Turns Superbowl Edition: Jack & the Beanstalk

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The time has come for Jack to once again attempt to climb the beanstalk.

It’s not that Jack hasn’t tried before.  But such an opportunity has been very rare, with only two prior attempts in fifty-two years, both of which were unsuccessful.

The first time, back in January of 1981, most expected that Jack would be victorious.  But as we all know, the favorite does not always succeed, and Jack was wound up tighter than a yo-yo,  nervous and on edge, and it showed as he never had a chance, hitting the ground with a thump almost before he started the climb.

During his last attempt in 2005, Jack showed more resolve early on, and for a while, it looked like he might actually succeed.  But the giant not only had too much talent, but also seemed to use some unscrupulous methods against Jack, and with time eventually working against him, Jack did not display the urgency that many expected, which eventually resulted in his downfall and another lost opportunity.

And so it’s come to this.

Thirteen years have passed, and on Sunday, Jack will once again look up at the beanstalk and attempt to do what has failed him those two previous occasions – climb to the top and rightfully claim all the riches that await there.

Many will wait with bated breath as he tries, knowing that the giant that awaits to thwart him is not only a very formidable foe, but the same one he faced previously.  The giant has seen many attempt to try, and with the exception of one, all others have failed.

Shall he succeed, there will be more than just a bag of gold coins, a goose that lays golden eggs, and a magic harp awaiting him.

If he succeeds, the heart and admiration of a city, a city that has watched him come so close before only to fall short, will be in his hands.

If he succeeds, all the demons of years’ past will have be exonerated.  All of those years when others around him were successful multiple times while Jack could not succeed even once will have been forgotten.

The “Jack”, as you know by now, is your Philadelphia Eagles, an organization that has not tasted a championship since 1960.  Ironically, the “Super Ball”, a bouncing ball made of synthetic rubber, was created four years later, which was the basis for the coining of the NFL championship being called the Super Bowl.

But 52 years of the modern age of the NFL (the “Super Bowl” age) have passed, and while the other kids that play alongside the Eagles in the NFC East playpen (the Giants, Redskins, & Cowboys) have won 12 of the previous 52 Super Bowls, the Eagles still carry the shame of never having won even once, figuratively wearing a big fat zero on their chest like a scarlet letter.

But all that could change come Sunday night.  Much like the Patriots did back in the 2001 season, a win, in the best case scenario, could catapult this team into years of organizational success with Carson Wentz at the helm.

Win, and the Eagles have some bragging rights with their fellow NFL, and more specifically, NFC East brethen.

Once again, their opponent is the favorite, but would they want it any other way?  The prognosticators haven’t had the Birds favored in three straight games, but prognosticators are like meteorologists…they only seem to be right half of the time anyway.

The one area where the Eagles lack compared to their opponent is experience, but eventually, blocking, tackling, schemes, and talent win the game, and the Eagles have enough of it to succeed.

The strange thing is that while New England has won 5 of the last 16 Super Bowls, they’ve all been close games, with their five victories decided by a total margin of 19 points.  They’ve never dominated their opponents the way the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980’s and the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990’s did.

At some point, the clock did EVENTUALLY strike midnight for Cinderella.  Perhaps it’s now time for the Patriots championship carriage to turn into a pumpkin as well?

I think the Eagles will win for one reason and one reason only – it’s THEIR time.  This team has faced so much adversity in the form of injuries to key players, with the biggest one being the loss of their franchise quarterback.  Yet they have persevered and made it all the way to the doorstep of a championship.

If the Birds don’t attain their ultimate goal on Sunday night, we can look back at a very enjoyable season with much optimism for the future.  But if they were to win, aside from celebrating in frigid Minneapolis on Sunday night, I will ecstatically look forward to one thing – writing about it afterwards.

The writing part won’t be hard at all.  Frankly, it’s been in my head for 12 years since I started writing about the Eagles to my friends by email on the eve of the NFC Championship in 2005.

I just need the Birds to do their part and give me a reason to put it on paper….and I believe they will.

So fasten your seatbelts and, as an ex-Eagles wide receiver once said “Get your popcorn ready”!

Jack is primed to climb the beanstalk once again, and this time he is meant to succeed.

E-A-G-L-E-S!

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As Broad & Pattison Turns – Divisional Playoff Weekend: And So It Begins…

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If things had gone according to form of even the most optimistic prognosticators, the Birds would have finished their 2017 season at 9-7, which would have earned them the title of  NFC East Division winners in a weak division or an invite to the playoffs as a Wildcard team. And whether they would have played a home playoff game last week in the friendly but frigid confines of Lincoln Financial Field or not, a playoff birth for the first time in four years is something that most fans would have been ecstatic about, as it would have signaled that this team was trending upwards and making great strides to becoming a contender in the near future.

But somewhere around Halloween, all those predictions were thrown out along with that deformed pumpkin sitting on your porch.

Somewhere along the way, a team that most expected to go 8-8, 9-7, or 10-6 as a stretch, started out 7-1.

Somewhere along the way, the steady improvement that we hoped to see in a 2nd year quarterback from a state most Eagles fans knew very little about turned into a franchise quarterback blossoming before our very eyes.

In 2017, Carson Wentz became the kind of quarterback that we had previously watched and envied from afar, as the kind of rare talents he displayed were always found on other teams, but never our own. And his play made those around him look better as well.

But saying that all of this team’s success was strictly due to the quarterback would be an injustice.

The general manager definitely deserves a good amount of credit as well.  And his story his one of persistence.

Howie Roseman was sending letters to various NFL teams in the hopes of getting his foot in the door any way he could.  And when the Eagles finally gave him that opportunity in 2000, he started his Eagles career as an unpaid intern who had to share the side of a desk as his workspace.

But the kid from Marlboro, NJ, who grew up a Jets fan and eventually moved up the Eagles ladder to the general manager position, had to move up not once, but TWICE in the 2016 NFL Draft to acquire the quarterback he coveted.

And not only does it seem that he got the right guy, but he got his franchise quarterback some help in areas that were vastly deficient just a year ago.

While the Eagles finished 7-9 just a year ago, it was fairly evident that the areas of wide receiver, the secondary, and the defensive line needed to be vastly improved in order for this team to make a playoff run.

It was Roseman who signed Alshon Jeffery & Torrey Smith, and traded a reliable receiver in Jordan Matthews to acquire cornerback help in Ronald Darby.

It was Roseman who traded for Tim Jernigan, who has become a stalwart on the defensive line.

It was Roseman who traded for running back Jay Ajayi, who is expected to be the workhorse against the Falcons and help take the pressure off of Nick Foles.

But while the Eagles were flying high after a tough December win on the road against a quality playoff opponent in the LA Rams, that win was tempered by the knowledge that the Birds had lost their franchise quarterback for the remainder of the year.

But while the loss of Wentz was a huge blow to the Eagles Super Bowl chances, the “lucky” part to what was an unlucky situation was that the injury took place so late in the season.

Backup Nick Foles, who ironically was the starting quarterback for this team the last time they made the playoffs in 2013, not only played admirably in the 2nd half of that game, but the win had the Birds at 11-2 and NFC East division winners.

With only two games remaining against subpar competition, the team was able to play just well enough to secure the #1 seed and homefield throughout the playoffs.

But with Foles and the offense looking mediocre over the last few weeks, naturally questions have arisen as to whether the backup has what it takes to get this team to the Super Bowl.

Everyone knows that Nick Foles is not Carson Wentz.  But the good news is that he does not need to be.

And Foles does not need to replicate his 2013 season either…a season where he threw 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He just needs to manage the game and let the other pieces around him do their job.

The most important aspect of the Eagles chances to win their next two games and advance to the Super Bowl is that both games will be played in the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field.

At approx. 4:25 PM this Saturday afternoon, right around the time that the Eagles players are introduced on the field, the excitement at the Linc will start to build.  And by the time the coin toss is completed and Adrian emerges from her coma on the big screen to tell Rocky that the only thing she wants him to do is “WIN”, the noise level will have reached a crescendo.

 

Four years is a long time to wait for a playoff game, especially for a fan base that is on 57 years and counting for a championship.  And just as Adrian emerged from her coma, this team, whose offense has played in a comatose state for the last two games, will have to emerge and fight for their playoff lives.

Most outsiders do not expect them to succeed.  The Eagles are the first #1 seed in history to be considered underdogs in the playoffs against a #6 seed, which is what the Atlanta Falcons are.

Much like the City of Philadelphia is treated like an illegitimate stepchild that sits in between the glitz & glamour of New York and the omnipresent lobbyists of Washington, DC, the 2017 Eagles and their city are the NFL’s version of  Rodney Dangerfield – they just get “No Respect”.

One would think that coach Doug Pederson has hammered this point home to his team.  At least it certainly seems that way based on his rather curt press conferences this week.  And that’s all good in my opinion…a “chip on their shoulder” mentally is just what this team might need.

As pointed out by 97.5 morning show host Anthony Gargano, it was Phillies fans who, in the 2008 National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Brewers, got into their ace pitcher C.C Sabathia’s head to the point where he walked starting pitcher Brett Myers, which led to Shane Victorino following that up with a grand slam.

At that point, even though it was only game 2 of the NLDS, you knew that the Brewers were done, and the Phillies went on to win the World Series for the first time in 28 years.

Today, on what will be a cold, windy day with temps in the 30’s, Eagles fans will be more crucial to the outcome than any other game in recent history.  This is a game where the fans will not only have to play the role of the “12th man”, but they will essentially have to make up for the loss of talent at the quarterback level by getting into the psyche of the opponent.

The Eagles have had two weeks to prepare for this game and are playing a team that is used to the comforts of a climate controlled dome.

Two weeks to digest and dissect what went wrong.

Two weeks to figure out how to put their backup quarterback in the best position possible to succeed and move on to the NFC Championship.

And with their fans in a frenzy, there is no reason why they can’t do so.

Eagles win and sit on the doorstep of a Super Bowl in this enchanted season.

And so it begins…

Divisional Playoff Schedule:

Falcons at EAGLES  4:35 PM  NBC (Sat)

Titans at Patriots  8:15 PM  CBS (Sat)

Jaguars at Steelers  1:05 PM  CBS (Sun)

Saints at Vikings  4:40 PM  FOX (Sun)

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #17: A December Snoozer

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The expectation was that Old Saint Nick would bring presents to all of the good little boys and girls on Christmas morning, while a young “Saint Nick” would deliver the #1 seed and homefield advantage to all of the Eagles fans, both naughty and nice, come Christmas night.

But while Old Saint Nick delivered on his promise, young Saint Nick almost delivered a bag of coal instead.

Clinching the #1 seed in your conference is usually a cause for celebration, but as the Eagles trotted off the field last Monday night after a victory over the Raiders, they looked more like they were walking out of a funeral.

And who could blame them?  What we witnessed last week was a less than stellar performance by the offense. What makes it even more concerning was that it was against a team that flew cross country into the cold weather with absolutely nothing to play for save pride.

After the close win against another bad team in the Giants two weeks back, the feeling was that the offense would be fine with Saint Nick at the helm, especially after he threw four touchdowns in the process in his first start this season.

The area of concern was how easily the defense was getting torched against a bad offensive team like New York, but against the Raiders, everything got flipped.

The defense redeemed itself somewhat, but it was the play of Foles and the whole offense which was doing anything but making spirits bright for the 70,000 fans who braved the cold to watch that Christmas Night snoozer.

Foles was hitting them low, hitting them high, but no one was watching the Eagles fly.  More like limp into the postseason.

To be fair, not everything that was happening to the offense was Foles’ fault.  The receivers, who have been quite an improvement from 2016, seemed like they were trying to untangle themselves from a string of Christmas lights, and were unable to get any kind of separation from the defenders.

Two wins in two weeks against two bad teams, yet the way the Eagles played has caused more consternation than optimism.

When the Eagles were blowing out their opponents back in October & November, I made the point that watching the Birds was actually getting somewhat boring.  By the 2nd half, I found myself sitting in my seat at the Linc in a very laid back manner, almost acting more like I was watching one of 162 Phillies game on a lazy summer day at Citizens Bank Park.

But all of the Bird watching boredom (a rarity I know due to all those one-sided contests) has now been replaced by a return to the “mean” for Eagles fans – the teeth clenching, fingernail biting, blood pressure rising is back and here to stay as long as the Eagles are still playing.

Things were just too good to be true back in the fall.  We can’t have it easy – the starting quarterback who seemed to be the golden child of the franchise and who’s play was elevated compared to so many others HAS to get hurt to make things interesting.

The one hit-wonder who once threw 27 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in a single season and who tied a record for most touchdowns thrown in a single game in that same spectacular season, HAS to come down to earth to make things interesting.  Otherwise, it would be just too easy for Philadelphia and we won’t know what to do with ourselves.

No, doing things the hard way is what we’re used to.  It’s what we thrive on, especially with the playoffs approaching.

If the Eagles play their first playoff game in four years at the same level as they did the last two weeks, their playoff push will be short-lived, regardless of whether they face the Vikings, Rams, Saints or Panthers.  And we’re now placing all our hopes with a quarterback who has the ability to throw four touchdowns…or kill a lot of worms while throwing the football.

When Carson Wentz first got hurt, I made the point that while the Eagles “replacement engine” is not as good as the original, it was still capable of doing the job.  And I still feel that way.

But if Wentz was starting last week, the Birds would have looked much more crisp on offense, as he had the ability to mask some of the deficiencies of this team with his play.  Unfortunately, Foles does not have that luxury, so the “wrinkles and grey hair” are starting to show.

The Birds will need to play better in all aspects if they want to make this a season to remember.    But before they embark on that quest, there is the matter of finishing out the string of the regular season first.

The Cowboys will come in with nothing to play for, but will play all of their starters for most of the game (I think) in order to finish the season at 9-7 and with a win.  The Birds would do well to give their starting offense a “tune-up” of sorts before the playoffs begin.

Ideally, the offense comes in and scores 10 or 14 points in its first two drives and is then lifted for the backups.  But if they struggle as they did last week, it will only raise the alarm bells as to whether this team can last even one round in the playoffs.

Hard to predict this game, so I won’t.  But let’s hope that the offense can get back on track and that the defense continues to play as it did last week against the Raiders.   Otherwise, what seemed to be a promising start to 2018 just a few weeks back may be another winter of our discontent.

Amit’s Marquee Matchup of the Week (only one this week):

Panthers at Falcons  4:25 PM  FOX

The Last Word:

Thanks to Amanda Moran for the pic from the Green Legion pregame tailgate at Santa Monica pier prior to the Eagles – Rams game.  With frigid temps in the forecast here at least through next week, I’d go back in a heartbeat.

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #16: Santa Comes Early

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If the Eagles were looking for an early Christmas gift from the NFL schedule makers, they got it in the form of the New York Giants.

The G-Men, in a game that meant nothing for them but everything for the Birds, got off to a 20-7 lead, while the Eagles played the first quarter as if they were nestled all snug in their beds, with visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads.

At least they managed to wake up after one quarter of play and realize that there were still a lot of presents left to be delivered to their fans before Super Bowl morning on February 4th.

In fairness to the Birds, they were on the 3rd leg of a 3-game road trip.  And after defeating a very good team in the Los Angeles Rams the week before, it was perhaps understandable that the team would not be at full throttle playing a New York team who’s season was effectively over somewhere in between Halloween & Thanksgiving Day.

But while the game ended up being a 34-29 Eagles victory which wasn’t decided till the waning minutes, it should hopefully serve as a wakeup call to the team that they can’t simply show up and expect to win.

If the Giants were not a 2-win team going in, the Eagles would have lost this game.

If the Giants were not a train wreck who had fired their coach a few weeks back, the Eagles would be looking up at the Minnesota Vikings for that coveted #1 conference seed instead of in the driver’s seat.

It’s hard to believe how much things have changed since these two teams first met back in Week #3.

The Giants were going in at 0-2, while the Birds stood at 1-1, having just come off a tough loss on the road against Kansas City after having defeated the Washington Redskins on the road in their opener.

That game not only resulted in an exciting, down to the wire finish, with rookie field goal kicker Jake Elliott kicking a 61-yard field goal with no time left to win the game, but it kick started the Eagles on a 10-game winning streak, which has put them in the enviable position to win the conference.

The Giants, meanwhile, will go into the offseason with a lot to fix, including the question of whether Eli Manning will continue to be their quarterback in the future.  In addition, they will have to search for not only a new head coach, but a new general manager as well after Jerry Reese, who held the job since 2008, was also let go.

I actually spent last weekend in Tampa and got to watch the game with the “Tampadelphia” group, which gets together to watch the Birds at the Crowne Plaza bar in the Westshore area.  Great atmosphere and great to watch the game with fellow Eagles fans.  A different kind of “road” game of sorts for me last week.

The Eagles will now come back to the creature comforts of home for their final two regular season games, which will be against the Raiders on Christmas night, followed by the Cowboys on New Years Eve.

This game is difficult to predict, if only for the fact that who actually plays for the Eagles might hinge on the outcome of the Vikings – Packers game, which will take place this Saturday night.

A Packers win would give the Eagles the #1 conference seed, and render their final two regular season games moot.  And since the Packers were eliminated from playoff contention last weekend, they will be resting Aaron Rodgers for the remainder of the season and going with 2nd year quarterback Brett Hundley, which should help the Vikings chances.

If the Birds have clinched the conference before they set foot on the field Monday night, expect the starters to play a quarter to a half before they start playing with their newly opened Christmas gifts on the sideline.

But if the Birds need a win to clinch the conference themselves, they will be facing a Raiders team that, at 6-8, is quite a disappointment considering that they had a chance to be the #1 seed in the AFC last season before losing both their 1st & 2nd string quarterback in consecutive weeks.

Part of me would like to see the Eagles needing to win the game, as opposed to watching Nick Foles’ backup Nate Sudfeld (who ironically looks like Foles) coming in for mop-up duty.

Frankly, that’s the only time Eagles fans should want to see Sudfeld on the playing field.  If Foles gets injured and he is forced to start, the Birds chances of making the Super Bowl would be severely hampered…unless Sudfeld can somehow turn into “Studfeld”.

Assuming the Birds need this game, they win easily, 34-17.  And Santa watches from the North Pole with a glass of eggnog in his hand and forgives three idiot Eagles fans for throwing snowballs at him some forty years ago.

The Last Word: 

R.I.P Dick Enberg.  While everyone remembers the #1 CBS crew of Pat Summerall and John Madden, Enberg was always my favorite as the #1 NFL broadcaster for NBC from 1980 to 1997.  Ironically, the first Super Bowl that Enberg called was the Eagles-Raiders Super Bowl in January of 1981.

More recently, Enberg served as the San Diego Padres play-by-play man from 2010-2016.  I still remember watching so many classic NFL games that were made even better by his voice, and his signature line, “Oh My!”, will surely be missed.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Bills at Patriots  1:00 PM  CBS

Falcons at Saints  1:00 PM  FOX

Rams at Titans  1:00 PM  FOX

Seahawks at Cowboys  4:25 PM  FOX

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #15: The Wentz Wagon Derailed

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On the road to the Super Bowl, even the most fine-tuned automobile can encounter some setbacks.

Sometimes the setbacks are nothing more than standard maintenance…an oil change or a tire rotation every now and then to keep the car driving smoothly.

Sometimes it may be something that requires a little more time and effort to fix, but still is nothing more than a temporary delay (a set of new tires comes to mind).

But if there are more serious matters, such as if the engine or transmission goes, suddenly what was a smooth drive to one’s destination suddenly becomes a major hassle, detour, or an altogether cancellation of one’s plans.

Carson Wentz, in only his 2nd year of quarterbacking the Eagles, was the engine of this football team.  And it had been speeding down the “Autobahn” of the 2017 NFL season at warp speed, while others such as Jerry Jones and his car with the star painted on the side were in the slow lane looking on with envy.

At one time, it was Jones and his automobile which was revered on the highway.  But now, while he does his best to keep his Mercedes looking shiny and new, the truth of the matter is that it is old and clunky, and always seem to be in the shop for one reason or another.

But I digress (as I often do).  Surely, there are other key components that have helped to keep the Eagles in the fast lane.  And even after some of those parts were lost for the season (Jordan Hicks, Jason Peters, Darren Sproles), the “replacement parts” all seemed to be of genuine quality, making the car hum without skipping a beat.

But this, my friends, is different.  This isn’t just an ordinary part that can be easily replaced.  The Eagles had been searching far and wide for this part for much of their history, and seem to have finally found it.   But losing it puts a huge damper on what was an exhilarating win on the road against a very determined Rams team.  It was a victory that not only gave the Birds the NFC East championship with three games still left to play, but also catapulted them back into the top spot for the conference, thanks to a Vikings loss to the Panthers earlier on Sunday.

On Wentz’s final play of his season, he stood in the pocket and waited, waited, waited, until he found Alshon Jeffrey  open in the end zone.  The quarterback actually had an opening to run it in for a touchdown…an opening he would have normally exploited and taken the ball in himself.  Thinking back now, it was probably painful for him to move.

So the replacement engine has been installed and is ready to go.  And while everyone is aware that it is not as good as the original, that does not mean that it cannot do the job.

Nick Foles has been here before.  In 2013, it was Foles who led the Eagles to their last NFC East title, and did so while throwing 27 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

But much like Thomas Dolby’s  one-hit wonder, “She Blinded Me With Science”, the fear is that Foles could be a one-hit wonder on the football field as well.

After his breakout season in 2013, Foles threw 13 TD’s and 10 INT’s for the Eagles the following year before he broke his collarbone in mid-season and missed the last seven games.  Still not bad numbers, but after he was traded for Sam Bradford before the start of the 2015 season, his stint as the then St. Louis Rams quarterback did not go as well, as he finished with more interceptions than touchdowns (13 INT’s vs. 10 TD’s), and was ultimately benched for Case Keenam, who is having his own career season with the Vikings this year.

The hope is that his lack of success in St. Louis was due to the team around him not being very good.  Foles will now be the maestro for a team that has a lot of quality parts around him.  And while he does not have the ability to elude the rush like Carson Wentz did, he still has good football smarts.

At the end of last week’s game, when the Eagles needed a first down to secure a victory, it was Foles who, on 3rd & 8, threw a pass to Nelson Agholor in a spot that only Agholor could catch it.  And to his credit, he did.  That is where the football smarts of Foles can shine through, especially when he is surrounded by skilled players around him.

Back in 1999, when the Rams lost starter Trent Green for the season in a preseason game, their coach, Dick Vermeil, stood in front of the media and announced, rather prophetically, that the Rams would “rally around Kurt Warner…. and we WILL play good football”.  And they did, winning the Super Bowl for the first time in their history.

Is Nick Foles on par with Kurt Warner?  Absolutely not.  But Eagles coach Doug Pederson was basically relaying the same message to his team this week (minus the crying of course).

Carson Wentz is a huge loss for this team.  But while Nick Foles is no Wentz, he WILL play good football, as the Birds win 31-13 this week against the Giants.

The engine has been replaced and the automobile is ready to go.  And while the road to the Super Bowl just became a little more treacherous, it does not mean that the new engine won’t get them there.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Chargers at Chiefs  8:30 PM  NFL Ntwrk  (Sat)

Packers at Panthers  1:00 PM  FOX

Rams at Seahawks  4:05 PM  FOX

Patriots at Steelers  4:25 PM  CBS

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #14: 1) Sloppy in Seattle & 2) He Went to Jared

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What was one of the first things Sean McVay did when he became head coach of the Los Angeles Rams?  He went to Jared of course.

No, I don’t mean Jared, the “Galleria of Jewelry”, to buy his girlfriend a ring (sorry to disappoint you ladies).

Instead, he went to Jared as in Jared Goff, the Rams quarterback who had become somewhat of an enigma, to discuss what had taken place in his rookie season.

Goff, and Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, were both taken as the #1 & #2 overall picks, respectively, in the 2016 NFL draft.  And while rookie quarterbacks generally go through some growing pains in their first year, the general feeling around the Eagles at the end of last season was that the drafting of Wentz was the right decision.  Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Goff.

The Rams were dead last in the league in scoring last season,  with Goff starting the last seven games and throwing 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions with a passer rating of 63.6, which did nothing to inspire confidence that he was the bona fide future QB of the team (ironically, the starter for the first nine games was Case Keenum, who is leading the Vikings to a 10-2 start this year).

As for Sean McVay, he is not just another rookie coach, but was the youngest coach in NFL history at 30 years old when he was hired (he is 31 now) after spending the last three seasons as the Redskins offensive coordinator .  And while experience can be a big advantage in the NFL, McVay has proven that it can be overrated, as the Rams are tied with the Eagles for the #1 scoring offense in the NFL.

But to make sure that McVay has some quality experience around him, his defensive coordinator is Wade Phillips, who at 70 years old is old enough to be McVay’s father, and was the defensive coordinator for the Eagles from 1986-1988 during the Buddy Ryan years.

As for the Birds, I don’t know about sleepless, but their movie should be aptly named “Sloppy in Seattle”.

Perhaps it was the four consecutive blowout victories that preceded the Seahawks game that had them thinking they just needed to show up to win.

Or maybe there was too much attention paid to whether the defense would be doing the 1) Cha-Cha Slide or the 2) Cupid Shuffle as a follow up to the “Electric Slide”.

Whatever the reason may be, last Sunday’s game could best be described in three words:  SLOPPY, SLOPPY, SLOPPY.

But have no fear Eagles fans…there is no reason to jump off the bandwagon or cancel your flight to Minneapolis in February just yet.

The silver lining in all of this is that no team, in a 16-game schedule, comes fully prepared to play every week.  And it wasn’t a case of the Eagles being overmatched by a veteran Seattle team.  Even with all the sloppy play, the Birds had chances to win the game.

In the 1st quarter, Carson Wentz overthrew Nelson Agholor on a pass that may have resulted in a touchdown.  He usually makes that play.

Later in the game,  another pass to Agholor is caught but underthrown.  That same pass thrown in stride may have resulted in a touchdown.

In the 3rd quarter, Wentz, while going in for the tying score, fumbles the football, which results in a turnover and a huge opportunity lost.  Funny how, when you fumble the football while heading for the end zone against the “Bad News Bears”, the ball stays in bounds and is recovered by one of your teammates for a touchdown, but when you do the same thing against a good team like the Seahawks, it goes out of bounds and results in a touchback.   Good teams create their own luck it seems.

One pass overthrown, one underthrown, and a fumble at the goal line.  Twenty-one points left on the field right there.    Good teams like the Eagles don’t make those kind of mistakes.

The good news about this Sunday’s game against the Rams is that, while it is technically a road game, it may not actually feel like such.  Much like the game against the Chargers two months ago, it may be a stadium filled with rabid Eagles fans (including yours truly).

The Rams seem to think so, as they have been practicing with a silent count this week, which is usually only needed when playing on the road in a hostile environment.

The fact that the Eagles may have a home-field advantage out in LA is both a blessing for them, and a sign of how pathetic the idea of keeping an NFL team in Los Angeles really is.

The Eagles will gladly take all the help they can get, as after last week’s loss, they now find themselves playing in a game this Sunday that will have HUGE playoff implications.

Win, and they will keep their #2 conference seed with a chance to move back up to the #1 spot, should the Vikings slip up on the road against the Panthers on Sunday afternoon.

A first round bye comes with a week of rest and relaxation and the comforts of possibly never having to leave home.

Lose, and the Eagles will fall to the #3 and maybe even the #4 seed, if the Saints can defeat the Falcons on the road Thursday night.

Lose, and the result could mean a more precarious route to take on the road to the Super Bowl, with land mines at every turn.  That’s how important a win is this Sunday, even with four games left in the regular season.

The Eagles will win this Sunday because Carson Wentz will not repeat the same mistakes he made last week.

The Eagles will win this Sunday because their Prince Harry look-alike QB will carry this team on his shoulders.

Birds win 38-20.  And the Enchanted Season WILL continue.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Saints at Falcons  8:25 PM  NBC/NFL Ntwrk  (Thurs)

Vikings at Panthers  1:00 PM  CBS

EAGLES at Rams  4:25 PM  FOX

Seahawks at Jaguars  4:25 PM  FOX

Ravens at Steelers  8:30 PM  NBC

 

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #13: The Populists vs. the Establishment

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If the NFL was a political party, it would have the same problem that the Republicans & Democrats do – a divided party.

On one side, you have the NFC Trump/Sanders “Populist”  conference, with the AFC representing the Bush/Clinton “Establishment/Status Quo” wing of the NFL.

Why the NFC as the Populists and not the other way around, even though seven of the eight original NFL teams now play in the NFC?  Because the two teams currently at the top of the NFC (Eagles & Vikings)  were teams that were not seen as anyone’s Super Bowl favorite going in.  Both were expected to be 9-7 at best by most of the so-called NFL experts, and “outsiders” in the race for the Super Bowl.  Instead, both teams have surpassed expectations and are hoping to make 2017 a year to remember.

On top of that, neither of these teams have ever won a championship in the 51-year history of the Super Bowl/modern era of football.  And while one of these teams has fans that are loyal to a fault, they have a fan “base” that any team would be jealous of.

On the flip side, the top two teams in the AFC, the Patriots & Steelers, have been a dynasty in their conference for so long, it’s hard to remember a time when they weren’t in power.  These two teams have not only won 11 of the 51 Super Bowls, but since the 2001 season, have won the championship an astounding seven of the last sixteen seasons.

One of these teams, in order to keep their hold on power, has even been accused of “rigging” games by stealing signs and deflating footballs, in order to make sure that their championship “foundation” remains intact.

Will this be the year that these two dominant football families (the Rooney’s with the Steelers and the Kraft’s with the Patriots) began to fall from grace?  Time will tell, but the climate is ripe for some new voices in the football world (just as it was in the political world), especially with young quarterbacks such as Carson Wentz and the Rams Jared Goff having such a favorable impact on their respective teams.

As for the Eagles, they now began what is their toughest stretch of the season – a 3-game road trip which includes back-to-back games against the Seattle Seahawks and the L.A Rams, the two teams that sit atop the NFC West.

Playing on the West Coast can be difficult for an East Coast team no matter who they’re facing, especially with the travel and time change involved.  But playing in Seattle, which is considered one of the loudest stadiums to play in, is just an added degree of difficulty.

Personally, the only reason Seattle’s stadium, CenturyLink Field, seems that loud (in my opinion) is due to its layout, which somehow manages to keep the sound in.  I refuse to believe that fans in the Pacific Northwest can be louder than ours.

As for the game, in any season but this one, most Eagles fans would have pegged this as a loss.  And most of us did back in the summer, before the Eagles home games started to resemble a college football game where a Division I powerhouse was beating up on the “Little Sisters of the Poor” (a.k.a the Akron’s and Georgia State’s of the college football world).

As for my predictions, the last two weeks I stated that the Bears and Cowboys would score 20 and 23 points, respectively (in an Eagles win), to which loyal reader and fellow season ticket holder Steve Market remarked that he was “having trouble coming up with how either team would score” that many points.  And to his credit, he was right, as both teams were held to single digits (the Cowboys nine points and the Bears only three).

So this week, instead of doubting the Eagles defense once again, I am handing over prediction responsibilities to Steve, who is predicting a 31-20 Eagles victory.  He also feels that since Wentz has already played in Seattle last season, his prowess of being a “film geek” will help to ensure that he’ll be better prepared this time around.

And while we’ll be “waiting all day for Sunday night”, there are a few entertaining games on FOX to hold us over till the Birds-Seahawks kickoff on NBC at approximately 8:30 PM.

First, we have the Vikings and Falcons in the “brunch w/ mimosas” game at 1 PM followed by the Panthers at Saints in the “happy hour w/ buffalo wings” game at 4:25 PM.  And in case you’re not sure, you should be rooting for the Falcons over the Vikings and the Panthers over New Orleans.

This Sunday should be a little tougher for our Birds than the last few weeks, as Seattle should be a good barometer of where the Eagles stand, though the Seahawks will be without defensive standouts Richard Sherman & Kam Chancellor due to injury.

But a 31-20 victory sounds just as appetizing as anything I’d pick up at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Patriots at Bills  1:00 PM  CBS

Vikings at Falcons  1:00 PM  FOX

Panthers at Saints  4:25 PM  FOX

EAGLES at Seahawks  8:30 PM  NBC

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #12: Da Birds & Da Bears

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When you were younger, your parents probably sat you down at some point to discuss the “birds and the bees”.   But did they ever teach you about “Da Birds and Da Bears?”

Probably not, because there is really not much to tell, save for the mid-1980’s when Buddy Ryan became the head coach of the Eagles after leaving his job as the defensive coordinator for the then Super Bowl champion Bears, and bickering with Chicago head coach Mike Ditka in the process, there is really not much history or bad blood between these two teams.

There was, of course, the infamous “Fog Bowl” playoff game back in 1988 in which a thick fog covered Soldier Field during the 2nd half of the game, which prevented the Eagles from mounting a comeback and advancing in the playoffs (speaking of fog, many parents I’ve talked to are sometimes in a “fog” as to how to approach the subject of the birds and the bees with their children, but I digress).

When the NFL schedule came out, most looked at this game just like any other in terms of the opponent.   And that’s all it is, save for the fact that the 2017 edition of the Eagles is very, very good.

So this week we have birds, bears, no bees, but a plethora of turkeys, being Thanksgiving and all.

Last week, after crossing the Betsy Ross bridge and driving down Route 90, I happened to spot not one, not two, but FIVE turkeys at the side of the highway (no joke), with two of them sitting on the highway railing as if they were waiting for an Uber to pick them up.  One can only assume that they were scrambling to get out of town before they became the main course at someone’s dinner table?

Then Thanksgiving came and while we now have three football games to watch if we desire on the holiday (which is probably not a bad idea just to distract us from having the “elephant in the room” conversation of whether you are pro-Trump or anti-Trump), only one of them was one I considered to be a marquee matchup going in (Vikings at Lions as the appetizer game).

Every time I think Minnesota is primed to lose, they keep winning.  And not only winning, but doing so with Case Keenum, who has been a journeyman mostly shuttling back and forth between the Houston Texans and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams until this season, when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings to be their backup.

An injury to starter Sam Bradford (surprise, surprise) opened the door for Keenum, who has not relinquished his starter spot even though Minnesota’s previous starter, Teddy Bridgewater, has been cleared to play and is waiting in the wings for Keenum to screw up.

Even on Thanksgiving, which is Detroit’s chance to “be seen” (since the Lions don’t get much national TV exposure), the Vikings stole the show and won 30-23, staying on the Eagles heels for that highly coveted #1 seed in the NFC.

Next up was the Cowboys – Chargers game, and while those of us in the Delaware Valley usually have a rooting interest in the Cowboys losing on Thanksgiving, this year I was perfectly content to shut off the television and discuss more interesting subjects such as 1) Why politicians don’t want to give us the ability to buy health insurance across state lines & 2) Using your airline miles to fly in business class to far flung destinations.

This season, the Eagles are playing the role of the “Road Runner” with the Cowboys playing the role of “Wile E. Coyote”.  And while the head coyote (Jerry Jones) thinks he’s a “super genius”, his team has been left way back in the dust, even without the use of an “Acme anvil” like in the cartoons.

Then there was the Giants – Redskins contest as the nightcap, to which even most “New Yawka’s” were saying, “FUGETABOUTIT”!  This game used to be a regular NFC East classic featuring the likes of Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor facing off against Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann.  Nowadays, the closest you’ll get to intrigue between these two teams is watching these two in a strange commercial where Taylor asks Theismann if he wants a turkey leg, to which Theismann replies, “I’m ok, thank you very much”.

For those who may be too young to remember, this was a bizarre exchange, to say the least, because it was Taylor who broke Theismann’s leg in a Monday night football game 32 years ago, ending his career.

As for the Eagles, they probably got to enjoy Thanksgiving like the rest of us, feasting on turkey on Thursday while also hoping to feast on bears on Sunday.  Chicago, like the Eagles last season, come in with a rookie quarterback who was the 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft.  And while Mitchell Trubisky holds a lot of promise for the future, he is learning the ropes of the NFL in a “trial by fire” method.

After this game, the Birds will enter one of the toughest stretches of their season – three straight road games which will take them to Seattle and Los Angeles before ending with the Giants in the swamp lands of North Jersey.

A win against a “not ready for primetime” team with a 3-7 record like the Bears is something that good teams like the Eagles should pull off rather easily.  The Birds do so, knocking the stuffing out of the Bears in their last home game before Christmas night, winning 37-20.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Vikings at Lions  12:30 PM  FOX  (Thurs)

Saints at Rams  4:25 PM  CBS

Packers at Steelers  8:30 PM  NBC

 

 

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #11: It’s Dallas Week!

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The bye week not only gives a football team a much needed break from the physical rigors of a 16-game regular season, but the chance to mentally get away from the game as well.  And while we don’t really know how most NFL players are spending their free time (nor should we), one can probably guess that Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz spent last weekend out on the prairie of North Dakota (or in the NJ Pinelands perhaps) hunting for whatever he considers to be “wild game”.

And while he is probably quite capable of capturing whatever he sets out to hunt, the hunt to capture a Super Bowl trophy for the city of Philadelphia has eluded all those who have tried thus far.

But with seven games left in the regular season, the Eagles will now dive headfirst into what are uncharted waters for this young team, as for the first time since 2004, they have the best record in the NFL this late in the season and are on track to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Of course, there are games that must be played and actually won to get this team to where they want to go.  And with four of their next five games on the road, the Eagles will surely get a chance to show that they are for real.  If not, the Saints, Rams, and Vikings are all knocking on their doorstep, with all three teams owning a record of 7-2 and only one game behind the Birds.

But first things first – the Eagles need to win the NFC East before bigger and better things can be achieved.  And for that, they need to start by beating a Dallas Cowboys team that is on life support when it comes to staying alive for a division title.

Things were so much easier for the ‘Boys last season.  Even after losing their starting quarterback, Tony Romo, for much of the season, they managed to go 13-3 as rookie Dak Prescott took the league by storm and led Dallas to the #1 seed in the NFC.

All that went for naught, however, when Aaron Rodgers dashed the Cowboys hopes by throwing a sideline pass to tight end Jared Cook with seconds remaining in a tie game, which then enabled kicker Mason Crosby to kick a game -winning 52-yard field goal and break the Cowboys fans hearts again.

The above should be a warning for the Eagles and their fans that even if they manage to attain the best record in the league and all the playoff advantages that come with it, NOTHING is guaranteed.  This is precisely why the thought of facing the Saints and Drew Brees in the playoffs, even at home at the Linc, scares the hell out of me.

As for the Cowboys, this season has not been as promising as the last.  They sit at 5-3 and a loss would, for all intents and purposes, mean that Dallas would have to hope for a wildcard spot in order to be invited to the playoff  dance.

A win for the Eagles Sunday night and they would have a four game lead in the division with only six games to play, which would practically guarantee them the division title, barring a collapse.

This blogger suspects, as many do, that the Birds might be a little rusty in the first half tomorrow, which would keep the Cowboys in the game and give them hope of pulling out a win.

But after halftime, the team would get into gear and roll off another victory, 27-23, with visions of some turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes on their minds.  And the Enchanted Season continues….

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Titans at Steelers  8:30 PM  NBC/NFL Ntwrk  (Thurs)

Rams at Vikings  1:00 PM  FOX

EAGLES at Cowboys  8:30 PM  NBC

Falcons at Seahawks  8:30 PM  ESPN  (Mon)

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #9: All Treats, No Tricks

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After the Eagles began the first of three straight home games with a convincing win over a division foe in the Washington Redskins, many felt that last week’s game against an 0-7 49ers team would be like feasting on “Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat.”

Instead, with the Birds struggling on offense for most of the first half and nursing only a 3-0 lead at the 2-minute warning before halftime, it looked more like the visit from the winless Niners would end up a trick instead of a treat.

But this is not your father’s Eagles team (or any Eagles team from the recent past for that matter).  A team that had actually lost four of its last six games when they were favored by double digits has now learned how to win even when they are facing an inferior opponent.

Before the fans even had time to contemplate whether to stand in line for crab fries or nachos, the Eagles scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes before halftime to turn a nervous 3-0 lead into a 17-0 comfortable one.

All the treats continued in the 2nd half, as the Eagles built a 33-7 lead with ten minutes left in the game, resulting in the fans heading for the exits before the rain, which was off and on during the game, finally began to get heavier and continue through the night.

But while the skies looked quite gloomy overhead, and over the rest of the 49ers season, there was nothing but sunny skies for the Birds at the halfway point of their 2017 campaign.

To their credit, the team did not go into the locker room with any bombastic swagger.  They knew they had won only because they were facing a winless team that they allowed to hang around in the first half.

San Francisco was the team of the decade in the 1980’s and was once a model franchise that others, like the Eagles, sought to emulate.  But in their current state, they are a wretched team that is at one of its low points in their 72-year history, which explains why they just traded a 2nd round pick in next year’s draft for Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Speaking of trades, the Eagles pulled off one of their own as well before Tuesday afternoon’s NFL trade deadline, sending a 4th round pick to the Miami Dolphins for running back Jay Ajayi.

The trade for Ajayi is another smooth move by general manager Howie Roseman, who seems to have a penchant for fleecing the Miami Dolphins whenever possible.  It was Howie, after all, who engineered a trade before the 2016 season to move up from 13th to 8th in the NFL draft, which was later used to move up to the 2nd overall spot to draft Carson Wentz.

Ajayi was a Pro Bowler last season, but he fell out of favor with Miami’s head coach Adam Gase, and the one worry with him is that he tends to pout when he doesn’t get the ball, even after games when his team wins.

One would suspect that in the Eagles locker room, such a disruptive attitude would not be tolerated.  The Eagles do seem to be a very unselfish team, which is a rarity in this day and age of big contracts that are earned based mostly on stats.  But perhaps Ajayi realizes that he has a chance to win a Super Bowl here, and could be the focal point of the running game in the future with LeGarrette Blount unsigned beyond this season.

Either way, it is currently a crowded backfield, with Ajayi, Blount, Wendell Smallwood, and Kenjon Barner all at the running back spot.  Most likely, it will be Barner as the odd man out, who will be mostly relegated to the punt return duties with the addition of Ajayi.

As for the team, they have the Denver Broncos at home this Sunday before embarking on their much deserved bye week.

The Broncos started the season 3-1, but have since lost three in a row to fall to 3-4 and currently sit 2.5 games behind the division leading Kansas City Chiefs.  Along with their current losing streak, the stock of their quarterback, Trevor Siemian, has concurrently fallen as well, and Siemian was benched this week in favor of backup Brock Osweiler.

The Broncos have outgained their opponents in all four of their losses, but turnovers continue to kill them, as Siemian has thrown 10 interceptions on the year, including three last week against the Chiefs.

Last Sunday, the Eagles faced a 49ers quarterback (C.J. Beathard) that would never be confused with either Joe Montana or Steve Young.

This week, they  will face a quarterback (Brock Osweiler) that would never be confused with John Elway or Peyton Manning.  As such, it is another chance for the defense to tee off and pad their stats, before taking a week off to tee off at the golf course.

Birds head off to their bye week on a high note, defeating the Broncos, 27-17.  And the enchanted season rolls on…

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week:

Falcons at Panthers  1:00 PM  FOX

Broncos at EAGLES  1:00 PM   CBS

Chiefs at Cowboys  4:25 PM   CBS