Eagles Week 3 Recap: Vick-tory

I came up with that pun all by myself.  Why do you ask?

Onto the bullet points...

• Good teams beat the shit out of bad teams.  The Eagles beat the shit out of the Jaguars.
• It's been awhile since I was this comfortable watching the 2nd half of an Eagles game.  I missed the feeling. 
• LeSean McCoy carried the ball a grand total of 11 times this game and was not injured.  In the middle of the 3rd quarter with the Eagles up 21-3 and driving, he had seen 6 carries, averaged 5 yards per carry, and was not featured on the drive.  That's unacceptable.
• On a 4th and 1 at the Jags 31, the Eagles decided to go for it on a pitch to the outside.  They gave the ball to power back Mike Bell.  Predictably, they did not get the 1st down.  Andy Reid apparently never heard of a "Vick option" or a "pitch to Shady McCoy,"  2 play calls that would have been much more ideal if you are going to the outside.
• Andy Reid, bad timeout management.  Bad timeout management, Andy Reid.  
• Ron Pitts has not done an Eagles game since the 2005 season.  If  it is another 5 years before he does another Eagles game, it will be too soon. From "Joseph Avant" to him calling Maclin a "sung hero," I about vomited from the patheticness.  And John Lynch needs to either speak up or show some enthusiasm.  I don't think I understood a word he said all game.
• Reading these last couple bullets you would think the Eagles lost or something.  It is always easier to write about the negatives than try to mention the positives, mainly because, but the latter makes you look like a homerific jerk.  But it was a 28-3 blowout, so here goes......
• I criticized the decision to bench Kolb.  And I still do.  While it will likely be 3 years til my questioning is validated or not, I gotta give major props to Vick.  Vick started out slow, but I would say this was his best performance of the year.  On the 2nd touchdown pass, he was able to ignore a gaping running lane and pass the ball to a wide open Jeremy Maclin.  The result would have been the same if he ran, but Vick is recognizing there are other options besides taking off and running every chance you get.  On the 3rd touchdown pass, Vick was able to successfully look off a safety before (once again) finding Jeremy Maclin who would run the catch in for a TD.  Mike Vick looking off a safety?  Is he becoming a polished passer?  On the 4th TD, well, Mike Vick needs to remind everyone that he is Mike Vick.  It is good he is becoming a better passer, but you always want to keep the running threat available and you always want to keep defenses honest.  Vick dropped back to pass, had a huge hole, and he waltzed into the endzone. for the easiest 17 yard touchdown run he has ever had.
• I have a paper to write for Tuesday so I don't have time to do it now or tomorrow, but perhaps in the middle of the week, I can illustrate with pictures and videos what I am talking about in the above bullet.
• The Eagles defense held the Jacksonville Jaguars to 3 points, MJD to 88 yards on 22 carries, Garrard to 13/30 passing for a miserable 105 yards.  In related news, Stewart Bradley returned and played the whole game at middle linebacker.
• Eagles defense sacked Garrard 6 times.  Playing in his 1st game of the year, Darryl Tapp dominated.  Juqua Parker lost his job as starting DE to 1st round draft pick Brandon Graham.  Parker leads the team in sacks.  Trevor Laws, who is finally coming around after a rough 1st 2 years, added a sack and was a beast all game.  And need I mention that the Eagles also have one of the best DEs in football?  That guy, Trent Cole, had 2 sacks of his own on the day.
• Fact:  The Eagles selected Trevor Laws ahead of DeSean Jackson in the 2008 NFL Draft.
• Donovan McNabb is so good he led his Redskins to a loss to the St. Louis Rams.  Wait, what?  McNabb's numbers were not deplorable, but they were not great either.  And against the St. Louis Rams, they should be better than meh.  19/32 for 236 yards, a TD, and an INT.  Should be better against the Rams, whose greatest improvement from last year has come on offense in the form of Sam Bradford.
• The New York Giants are an embarrassment to football.
• The Texans and the Cowboys exchanged places for a game.
• The Eagles are going to have to beat a good team before anyone can call them Super Bowl contenders, but if they continue to beat bad teams (Washington and San Francisco are next), they will set themselves up nicely for an opportunity.  And when they play Indianapolis later in the year, we will learn a whole heck of a lot more about the Eagles.
• The Phillies lost to the Mets, but as a result of the Padres losing to the Reds 3 hours later, the Philadelphia Phillies have officially clinched a playoff berth.  The Phillies magic number to clinch the NL East is 1.  It is worth noting it is supposed to rain non-stop in DC and Atlanta tomorrow. But if the Phillies get rained out and the Braves do play, then the Phillies could clinch both a playoff spot, the NL East, and the best record in the NL all by sitting on the couch after a rough loss.
• This is my 1st year playing fantasy football.  I am 3-0.  I am clearly a natural at this.
• Get ready for week long talk about McNabb coming back to the Linc.  I will tell you right now, half the crowd will cheer, half will boo, and the other half will be completely indifferent.  The Redskins defense is marginally better than the Jags' and the Lions', their offense is probably on par with that of the Jags, with a QB slightly better than Garrard, an RB lesser than MJD, and WRs about the same.  If the Eagles play like they did tonight, there is no reason they don't leave the Linc next Sunday 3-1 on the year.