Eagles Week 13 Recap: Cheek-y

Big win for the Eagles, now on to the bullets!

• On a key 3rd down with the Keagles up by 3 in the 3rd quarter, Vick found Brent Celek on a pass with Celek 5 yards short of the marker.  However, how he was being brought to the ground, he rolled over the defender, reached out, and by the time his left butt cheek hit the ground, he had gotten a first down.  Joe Theismann, in his infinite wisdom, encouraged to us to watch Brent Celek's left cheek (even though it is where the ball is when Celek's cheek hits the ground that counts; another thing: unless it is Riley Cooper and his infinite dreaminess we are talking about, I'd rather not watch a football player's butt cheeks).  Matt Millen then retorted by calling it a "one cheek sneak."  If you combine the 2 idiots' comments, a left cheek sneak set up the Eagles game-clinching touchdown, a short pass to Owen Schmitt.
• Brent Celek had a very interesting game today.  The left cheek sneak may have been the biggest play in the game, but Celek dropped a sure-fire touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter in addition to committing a key penalty.  That being said, at least Celek is making some plays now, something he had not been doing earlier in the season.  Unfortunately for Celek, is blocking is very suspect, so when he is not making plays in the receiving game, he is pretty much useless.  2009 was a great year for Celek.  2010....not so much.
• There is no way around it, the Eagles defense was terrible tonight.  The scoreboard says only 24 points, but it felt so much worse.  In part, that may be because the Texans had 2 long sustained drives for touchdowns in the 3rd quarter to take a 24-20 lead over the Eagles after the Eagles jumped out 17-3 early in the game.  But regardless, the Texans offense seemed to have their way with the Eagles secondary.  Dimitri Patterson who had been solid the past few games did not have one of his better performances.  The combination of Joselio Hanson and Trevard Lindley on the other side was once again gruesome to watch.  Asante Samuel can't return soon enough.  The good news is that despite not playing tonight, he did practice a bit this week, so December 12 at Dallas looks like a good possibility for Samuel to play.
• The bright spot for the Eagles defense is that Arian Foster, who averages 5.1 yards a carry was held to 3.9 yards a carry this game.  Stewart Bradley was one of the few bright spots for the Eagles defensively in his tackling of Foster.
• Opposing QBs have a QB rating of under 30 when throwing to a receiver that Asante Samuel is covering.  Think I am over-exaggerating the impact Samuel has on this Eagles secondary?  Think again.
• The Eagles just finished a stretch of 4 games in 17 days, a stretch of games where they went 3-1.  Given that their opponents during said stretch was the Redskins, Giants, Bears, and Texans, 3-1 is quite good.
• Michael Vick is a freakin' warrior.  He took shot after shot after shot after shot in this game, often coming up slowly or limping, and still hung in there and made plays.  The guy is good, the guy is tough, and the guy is a changed man, both on the field and off the field.  
• It seems like every week some network has an "exclusive" interview with Michael Vick.  At what point are these interviews no longer exclusive, and just flat out redundant? 
• Michael Vick on the set of NFL Network after the game:  "Coming to Philly has changed my entire life. I hate to even think about leaving here. Hopefully things will get worked out. When time is right hopefully I stay here."  At the very least, it seems like almost a sure thing that the Eagles will give him the franchise tag, if not a long-term deal.  The Kevin Kolb era will have to commence elsewhere.  Minnesota or Arizona, maybe?  Both will need a QB.  Badly.
• Kevin Kolb is under contract for next season, so if he goes anywhere, it will have to be via trade.  That being said, Michael Vick is injury prone just by the way he plays the game and having Kolb on the sidelines is good re-assurance in case something happens.  That being said, I am not sure if that is the ideal situation for Kolb, a guy who seems ready to be a starting QB in this league.  As valuable as he can be to the Eagles as a back-up, I think they might be able to capitalize on a desperate team and get a 2nd rounder or even a 1st rounder for Kolb.  I'd approve of that deal in a heartbeat.
• LeSean McCoy had a hell of a game.  12 rushes for 44 yards, but more importantly, 8 catches for 86 yards.  The Texans tried to employ a similar scheme to what the Bears ran last week by keeping their safeties deep.  One difference:  The Bears have the talent to be able to effectively employ that scheme.  The Texans do not.  The Eagles knew that coming in, and screened the high hell out of the Texans with McCoy being the big recipient of those screens.
• For reasons I will never understand, the Eagles lined up Chad Hall, a wide receiver out of the Air Force, a running back in the 1st quarter for a play and in the wildcat down at the goalline in the 1st quarter.  For the first one, I am yet to figure out what Chad Hall brings to the table that Jerome Harrison and Eldra Buckley do not, you know, the 2nd and 3rd string running backs for the Eagles.  Secondly, the wildcat?  Hasn't that been ineffective enough for Reid the past year and a half?  Unsurprisingly, that Chad Hall wildcat play ran deep in the redzone on 2nd and goal did not pan out and Hall, who took the ball up the middle, was stopped short of the goalline.
• The Eagles will have 9 days to rest up and prepare for their Sunday Night Football meeting at Dallas.  Despite its apparent lob-sidedness, NBC and the NFL sees the Eagles against their biggest rival, and in turn, sees ratings.  Look at the highest rated games this season.  5 of the top 15 highest rated games on all networks are Eagles games, with #1 being last Sunday's Eagles-Bears game.  It's not 13-1 vs. 2-12.  NBC and the NFL sees Eagles vs. Cowboys, the Eagles good ratings this year, and are sticking with the tentatively scheduled game of Eagles vs. Cowboys.
• Lastly, the win probability graph. (advancednflstats.com)