McNabb Is "Week-To-Week" With A Fractured Rib

First of all, LOL @ Jake Delhomme and the Carolina Panthers for that completely craptastic performance. It was all Jake Delhomme, McCown, and Moore. They screwed up on their own. The fact that the pressure the Eagles defense put on them had absolutely nothing to do with that. Impossible. Because that never happens, right?

Trust me, as an Eagles fan, you get used to everybody calling the other side bad and credit is never given where credit is due. Then again, I guess it's not a bad thing as it keeps us under the radar, which ain't bad at all. But on to the more important news at hand: Donovan McNabb. Here's the latest from NFL.com

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is week to week after fracturing a rib during Sunday's 38-10 season-opening rout of the Carolina Panthers, a source with knowledge of the situation told NFL Network's Jason La Canfora.

According to the source, McNabb's status depends on his pain threshold and whether anything aggravates the injury. Returning for next week's home game against the New Orleans Saints might be ambitious, but McNabb will be evaluated throughout the week.

"He's sore right now. He's got a broken rib," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "We'll just see how he does over the next little bit."

Philadelphia's dominant performance at Carolina was tempered by concerns about McNabb, who cracked the rib during the third quarter when several defenders hit him on his 3-yard touchdown run. McNabb didn't immediately get up after the touchdown, and Eagles trainers attended to the quarterback before he eventually left the field on his own.

"Don is very resilient," said Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, who caught one of McNabb's two touchdown passes. "He heals fast"

The Eagles are in big time trouble next week. Despite how well they played today, the Saints and Drew Brees are a different animal and a injured McNabb is about as bad as Kevin Kolb/A.J. Feeley. It also does not help that, while playable, a broken rib is a very painful injury. McNabb does not fare well in pain, as we have seen numerous times in the pass. And while the Eagles defense was great today, surely the Saints will find away to score some points and if the Eagles can't score at all, then it will be trouble. I'm a little more hopeful for Week 3 as they face an easier opponent in Kansas City and that's Mike Vick's return, and even though Andy Reid is constantly vowing that he won't be the starter, that will add a different dimension to the offense. I know Eagles back-ups have had success in the past (see Detmer, Koy, Feeley version 1.0, and Garcia, Jeff), but Kevin Kolb once again proved today that he is a completely inept quarterback. Jay Glazer and Fox Sports reported that the Eagles might re-track down the recently cut Feeley and Jeff Garcia, but with only 6 days to prepare and get re-acquainted with the team, you have to wonder how effective that will be. And after Eagles management all but kicked him out of town, I'd be shocked if Garcia would even give a return to the Eagles a passing thought, even if it is the only job available.

Let's put it this way: I'll be completely giddy if the Eagles can win 1 of their next 2 games before their Week 4 bye week.

I'll try to have an update or 2 on McNabb tomorrow afternoon as I'm sure there will be some.

U.S. Embarrassed

Oy ve. I can't.....I can't even....oy ve. On the plus side, it was 0-0 at halftime! I'll just let Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes of Univision take you through the 2nd half highlights of today's CONCACAF Gold Cup Championship and you'll get the point.



And to think that I thought about live blogging this game. I just hope that things turn out differently on August 12 when the U.S. travels to Estadio Azteca to take on Mexico in a World Cup qualifying game and they have their regulars playing once again. That game will by far be much more important than this one was.

And just as a couple asides, isn't it embarrassing that in a sold-out Giants Stadium, over 75% of the fans there were Mexican fans? And isn't it also embarrassing that I enjoyed watching Univision broadcasts of the game in Spanish, a language of which I only know a few words and phrases at best, then I did watching the American broadcasts on Fox Soccer Channel with Max Bretos and Christopher Sullivan? Sullivan fidgits way too much with his headset when he is on camera and Max Bretos, Gus Johnson you are not.

22-1!!!

Absolutely unbelieveable. The Philadelphia Phillies completely slaughtered the Reds tonight 22-1! The Phillies led the game 10-0......after the 1st inning!

No typo exists in the above paragraph.

For reasons I am not sure of, MLB.com, does not allow embedding of their videos, so for the highlights of the 10-run first inning, click here.

Jayson Werth ended the night in the 8th inning with a grand slam to make it 22-1, and while it was certainly a bit New England Patriot-like at that point to shove it down their throats, I don't think he was intentionally trying to hit a home run in that situation and after the huge slump the Phillies were in in the month of June, every bit of positive momentum they can gather is seen as a good one. If you see a hittable pitch, you certainly want to swing. Besides, shortstop Paul Janish was pitching and with a position player (and thus inexperienced pitcher) on the mound, if you just take and don't swing, it might be more painful and a longer night than just by swinging and secretly hoping it's a deep fly out. Here's the grand slam if you want to see it.

And now for some fun stats about this game.

The 10-run 1st inning for the Phillies ties a franchise record for most runs in a 1st inning. The Phils record for most runs in any inning is 13.

The 22 runs the Phillies scored is the 5th most in franchise history and is the most since they put up a 26-spot against the Mets in 1985.

Every Phillies starter got at least 1 hit.

I'm not even going to try to list all of the career highs that were either tied and set for the individual players.

This 21-run loss is the single worst loss in Cincinnati Reds history. And keep in mind, this is 11-year old Tampa Bay expansion team we're talking about here, this is the oldest team in the majors we are talking about here! 140-years old to be precise.

Update:It seems I have missed a couple others. So let this list o' fun continue!

22-1 is the largest margin of victory in Phillies baseball history.

22-1 is also the largest margin of victory by an NL team since 1975.

Phillies score 22 in rout (MLB.com)

At Least I Can Take Solace In This...

Brad Lidge may have blown a save, the Flyers may be in a huge hole in their series against the Pens, the Sixers may have no chance against the Magic, but alas, seeing the Indians put a 14-spot on the Yankees somehow makes all of the pain go away...

(Picture courtesy of MLB.com)

WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!! WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!! WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!! Your Eagles Week 17 Recap

"BUSH!!!!!! BUSH!!!!!!!!! TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!"

My voice has not been the same since. It was gone before the Eagles even took the field for the season finale. For that's where the drama was. And oh boy, was there drama.

The Texans disposed of the the Bears fairly easily after a shaky start. There was little doubt in my mind that either Chicago and Minnesota would both win against teams superior to them. And while the Minnesota game was exciting, it was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the drama in Raymond James Stadium.

Down 24-14 in the 4th quarter to the Bucs, the Oakland Raiders pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Philadelphia Eagles history. There are no words that I can use that I haven't already used to describe it. Enjoy the sheer amazingness of Michael Bush.

Unbelieveable. Who would have thought?

And then there was the kickoff in the Linc. And believe it or not, a certain Eagle who would end up playing a key role in the first half in turning the game into a blowout was not made aware of the scores in Houston and Tampa Bay.

It started out as a back-and-forth defensive battle which was a lot of what I expected. "But JFein, the Week 2 was a shootout, how could you have possibly thought this would be a defensive battle?" The answer is what has since happened. Neither offense was coming in that sharp and the Eagles' defense has been lights out ever since the Sunday Night game that the Eagles lost against the Giants. The teams traded field goals before Buckhalter started the fun with a 59 yard catch-and-run by Correll Buckhalter. That would eventually lead to a McNabb QB sneak for a TD. And get this. On 2nd and goal from the 1, the Eagles ran a sneak and it didn't work. But then he stuck with it, ran the sneak again and got in. It's amazing what happens when you run a sneak with a big QB. Just for that I'm adding the "Andy Reid Actually Does Something Right" tag.

The Eagles would complete another TD drive making it 17-3 before the game-changer occured. Dallas was trying to make a game of it before halftime and were driving. But then Romo threw the ultimate WTF happened interception on a pass intended for Roy Williams that went directly to the Eagle who had no idea the Eagles were in "Win and In" game, Sheldon Brown. That set up a TD to Celek. 24-3.

On the ensuing kickoff Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman" Jones fumbled the ball, the Eagles recovered, and Akers kicked a field goal to make it 27-3 at halftime.

Two redzone fumbles by the Cowboys that were returned for touchdowns by Chris Clemons and Joselio Hanson, respectively turned this one into the biggest laugher in Cowboys-Eagles history. 44-6 was the final and I'm still in shock. Not just that we absolutely creamed the Cowboys but the Raiders actually beat the Buccaneers! Repeat after me: THE RAIDERS BEAT THE BUCCANEERS!!! And remember the frequently played call by Gene Deckerhoff after the Matt Bryant kicked a 63-yard field goal to beat the Eagles. "MATT BRYANT IS MY HERO!" Well, today, to him I say, "MICHAEL BUSH IS MY HERO!"

The Eagles have been on an absolutely roller coaster ride this season. There have been highs. There have been lows. There have been lows so low that I went on a Keith Olbermann-esque Special Comment. And then there was today. The Houston Texans. Michael Bush. 44-6. It was the perfect day. The Eagles are now off to Minnesota to play the Vikings on Sunday at 4:30 on Fox. I'll have a preview of that game on Friday. Not only that, but throughtout the week, I post an exclusive preview of the other 3 wild-card games starting tomorrow with the Falcons @ Arizona.

Lastly, I have a couple points about the announcers followed by one strong point that you don't miss. First of all, what in the blue hell was up with all the pink ties today? Good lord. First it was Kevin Harlan in Tampa and then Joe Buck in Philly. Whatever was up with it, it brought good luck to the Eagles, that's for sure.

And aspeaking of our good friend, Joseph Francis Buck, I'll end by expanding on a point he said. Joe Buck takes a lot of heat, some of it deserved, some of it not. While not my favorite announcer, I think that I like him more than most other people do. However, there can be little arguing with his point at the end when they were discussing the Cowboys. Despite being blownout at this point, Aikman still called Dallas the most talented team in the NFL. Joe Buck would hit the nail on the head though.

"The Dallas Cowboys are just a bunch of talented individuals", he said, and he could not be more right. There is no camaraderie in Dallas. They are just a bunch of talented individuals wearing matching jerseys. That's it. They are not a team. And Jerry Jones thinks that money can buy championships. Guess what, Jerry, money can't buy championships. It never will. Look at the Patriots last year. Look at the Redskins every year. Look at you, Jerry. Mr. Publicity. Mr. Money Bags. What did it all get you? It got you blownout in Philly 44-6. Are you proud of yourself? And what are you going to do, Jerry? Spend more money? Try to build another team around the best collection of players. Instead, focus on building a team. Meanwhile, say what you want about Philly fans, but the Eagles are a team. They don't turn on each other. They don't complain when others are getting more playing time. They play together. They play with heart. I mentioned the roller coaster season earlier, well through all of it, one thing remained constant. The Philadelphia Eagles remained together. They were a team that never stopped believing in each other. They kept fighting when everyone had them written off. They never quit. And if you doubt that sincerity, then look at Sheldon Brown. Not even having been made aware of the situation, he played his heart out and made the interception that turned the game around. That's pride. That's passion. That's the work of a teammate. And the end result was that of what happens when a team plays up against a group of individuals.

44-6.

Week 13 Eagles Recap

The game was a blowout. The crowd left early. Donovan McNabb was benched. There was only one difference between this game and the clusterfuck last Sunday........It was the Eagles blowing out the Cardinals.

As far as excitement for the neutral fan, this game lacked it except for early in the 4th quarter when the Cards looked like they might make a comeback. However, an Anquan Boldin fumble followed up by a McNabb TD pass to DeSean Jackson quickly ended that.

For Eagles fans, this game was everything we wanted. Donovan McNabb wasn't the gunslinger QB he sometimes wants to be. Instead, he was the efficient QB who didn't make mistakes, completed short and underneath routes with high accuracy, and we even saw some old-school Donny Mac with his ability to use his legs to make plays.

So why were the Eagles so successful today yet so hideously atrocious in their past two games? They ran the football! And not only did they run the football, they ran the football successfully and Brian Westbrook was back on top of his game. In fact, Westbrook became the first player since Lydell Mitchell of the Baltimore Colts in 1975 to run for 100+ yards and score two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns.

And while Anquan Boldin had a bad case of the drops for the Cards and that hindered them heavily, credit must not be taken away from the Eagles-D that forced Warner into 2 early interceptions and never allowing the dangerous QB to get into a rhythm.

The Eagles have salvaged their season......for now. The future is not pretty for the Eagles. If they make the playoffs this year, they will have indeed earned it as their last 4 games in order are at the New York Football Giants, home vs. Cleveland on Monday Night Football, at Washington, and finally home vs. those pesky Cowboys (a game which could end up either meaning everything or nothing, depending on how things go for both teams). It won't be an easy road. The Eagles will in all likelihood have to win out. But if they somehow, someway overcome the odds and make the playoffs, any sportswriter or skeptic that says that they did not deserve it is one that is surely high on crack.