Requiem For A Dream Team

The best thing you can say about the 2011 is it's now 2012.

For the Philadelphia Eagles, it was a year where seemingly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.  The best possible off-season had the worst possible season.  With so much hype surrounding the team, that they could finish 8-8 is a slap in the face.  An embarrassment.  An indictment of everything wrong with Andy Reid, Howie Roseman, Joe Banner, and Jeffrey Lurie.

Or was it?

NFL Week 17 Live Blog

Happy 2012, everyone!

As much as I hate being Captain Buzzkill on one of my favorite weekends of the NFL season, this is perhaps the least excited I have ever been for a Week 17.  That the Eagles are eliminated and playing a team that is also eliminated with Ron Pitts and Charles Davis on the call may or may not have anything to do with this.

Seeing as CoveritLive has a new system and I suck at figuring it out, for the second straight week, I failed to realize someone set up a live blog before me!   Ignore my invitation, wherever you received it.  Instead, log onto coveritlive.com, go to upcoming events, and launch "KSJ NFL Week 17 Live Blog".  That is the live blog we are using.  If this message does not pertain to you,

CLICK HERE TO GO TO LIVE BLOG!

While you do that, I will make a New Year's Resolution to better learn CoverItLive's new system.  Or something.

Top 10 Philadelphia Sports Games In 2011

Last year, I debuted my now annual end of year Top 10 list for best Philadelphia sports games of the year.  Even though there was so much less excitement and great games this year, the list is back this year, anyway!  Last year, I felt the ordering of the games, including what was the number one game, was very clear cut.  This year, not so much.  But I will make an attempt at it anyway.  With all the sadness, scandal, and shame this year has wrought on many a people in the area, perhaps looking back at the year's higher moments will be a plus for everyone involved and a good way to end a shitty year on a high note.  Just like last year, I will start with some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions

Union comeback verse New England Revolution:  Usually I try to only post wins on here.  After all, what is worth celebrating about a game that is not a win?  Well, in soccer there are draws, and when you have a 3-goal comeback in dramatic fashion, even if the match ends in a 4-4 draw, it is still pretty noteworthy.  And thus was the exact case when the Philadelphia Union hosted the New England Revolution on September 7, 2011.  New England Revolution 4, Philadelphia Union 4



The Kids Are Alright: Following a 2nd round playoff exit to Boston that saw numerous goalie changes, Ed Snider demanded a ridiculously overpay for a position not worth a ridiculous overpay.  In order to fit that overpay in, Paul Holmgren had no choice but to blow up the team, trading the previous faces of the franchise away for youth and draft picks.  Low and behold, the Flyers first game of the season immediately followed a 15-hour banner raising at Boston.  With many fearing a rocky year, the kids played a great game and the Flyers defeated the Bruins. Flyers 2, Bruins 1



Someone From Philadelphia Wins A Trophy!:  The New Mexico Bowl.  Yes, this is the kind of year that was.  A boring New Mexico Bowl makes the list. Temple 37, Wyoming 15.

NFL Week 17 Schedule

It's the last week of what can only be described as an infuriating NFL Season on so many levels.  This is one season I will not miss any time soon.  I will probably have some sort of lengthy end of year reflection on the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles, but for now, here is the Week 17 Schedule.  There is nothing more depressing than on Week 17 turning on the TV to watch your team's last game of the season and hearing the words "Along with my partner Charles Davis, I'm Ron Pitts."

Maps of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

CBS early games

New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)
Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars  1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein)
Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots  1:00 (CBS - Don Criqui and Randy Cross)

Fox early games

Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints  1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)
Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Charles Davis)

CBS late games

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals  4:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
San Diego Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders  4:15 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns  4:15 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)

Fox late games

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons  4:15 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals  4:15 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Chad Pennington)

Sunday Night Football

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

NFL Week 16 Live Blog

It is Christmas Eve and for the Eagles, it will be the most tension filled afternoon of the season.  If the Jets could make an emergency trade for Michael Bush, I'd appreciate it greatly.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO LIVE BLOG!*

*If you got an email from me, please disregard it.  As I am sure you have seen, both Mookie and I sent live blog emails at around the exact same time.  Even creepier, we then notified each other that we both sent live blogs at the same time at the exact same time.  After one of us finally got a word in edgewise without the other repeating the same thought verbatim at the same time, it was agreed that Mookie would host this live blog.  If you clicked my live blog first and got worried because I deleted it, please, do not worry.  Just click on Mookie's invitation and go over there.  If you did not get an email and want to comment, click the above link and follow Mookie's instructions.  

NFL Week 16 Schedule

The Eagles need to beat the Cowboys.  The Jets need to beat the Giants.  If one of these things do not happen, the Eagles will be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Thursday Night Football

Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan

Maps of who gets what Saturday afternoon games

CBS games

Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills  1:00 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots  1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens  1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Rich Gannon)
Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

San Diego Chargers vs. Detroit Lions  4:05 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)

Fox early games

New York Giants vs. New York Jets  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnson, SA: Tony Siragusa)
St. Louis Rams vs. Pittsburgh Steelers  1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
Arizona Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Bengals  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Minnesota Vikings vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers  1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Chad Pennington)

America's Game Of The Week and other Fox late games

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys  4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks  4:15 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Charles Davis)

Sunday Night Football

Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Some Person)

NFL Week 15 Live Blog

The Eagles 2011 Season is now in the hands of the Redskins and the Raiders.  This can't end well.

NFL Week 15 Schedule

Nothing left to do now but hope that by the time 4:15 rolls around on Sunday afternoon, the Eagles still have a chance.  Go Buccaneers!  Go Redskins!  In case one of the Sunday afternoon games is a blowout, hurray for me being home for the next month and hurray my brother being a Vikings fan and forcing my family to shell out way too much money for Sunday Ticket!

Thursday Night Football

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Atlanta Falcons  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

A Special Saturday Night Edition Of Thursday Night Football

Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Maps of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

Fox games

Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants  1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)

Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)

New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)

Seattle Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Charles Davis)

Detroit Lions vs. Oakland Raiders  4:05 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)

CBS early games

Cincinnati Bengals vs. St. Louis Rams  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)

Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts  1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)

Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)

America's Game Of The Week and other CBS late games

New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)

New York Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles  4:15 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)

Cleveland Browns vs. Arizona Cardinals  4:15 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

Sunday Night Football

Baltimore Ravens vs. San Diego Chargers  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Francisco 49ers  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: John Sutcliffe)

Fun With NFC East Pythagenport Records

(Originally published, for better or worse, at Bleeding Green Nation)

Those who are familiar with baseball and The Good Phight are no doubt familiar with the concept known as Pythagorean records. In short, it is a formula invented by Bill James serving as a means of predicting a baseball team's record based off runs scored and runs allowed. A few years ago, a writer at Baseball Prospectus named Clay Davenport figured out that because the offensive environment of the league changes with time, the exponent used in the formula should be changed as well to reflect that. Hence the name in the title, Pythagenport records. And if one seeks to be even more accurate, one can derive an exponent for each individual team as each individual team plays in a slightly different offensive environment. While Baseball Prospectus calls this Pythagenpat records, in their Week 13 DVOA column from which this little exercise is derived from, Football Outsiders continue to use the term Pythagenport. For the sake of consistency, I will use the term "Pythagenport" throughout the rest of this column.

The same principles invented by Bill James can also be applied to NFL football. Now I know the question of how this is relevant will eventually come up, so I will answer it before we get into the numbers, so you understand right away what you are looking at. Football Outsiders did the math on this in the above linked column, and on a scale of 1 to -1 with 1 being the two variables are a perfect positive relationship on each other, 0 being the variables are completely independent of each other, and -1 being a perfect negative relationship, the correlation between Pythagenport wins and actual wins from 1990-2010, according to Football Outsiders, is .9134. This is a very strong correlation and the numbers that you are about to see below are relevant and will tell us about the 4-teams in the NFC East.

The formulas used in this column are as follows.

Exponent = 1.5*log ((Points scored + Points allowed) / number of games)
Pythagenport win percentage = Points scored^exponent / (Points scored^exponent + Points allowed^exponent)

As a baseline, here is each NFC East team's actual win percentage rounded to the nearest thousandth.

New York Giants: .538
Dallas Cowboys: .538
Philadelphia Eagles: .385
Washington Redskins: .308

And now each team's Pythagenport win percentage:

Dallas Cowboys: .575
Philadelphia Eagles: .511
New York Giants: .452
Washington Redskins: .284

What Does This Mean?

First of all, in case you have not yet figured it out, the NFC East is a bumbling pile of mediocrity plus the abysmal Washington Redskins. The best team in the division, the Dallas Cowboys, are somewhere between a 7-6 team and an 8-5 team when you convert the three-digit percentage number into actual wins.

Perhaps what may be startling to some but less so to folks who have been paying attention close attention to the Eagles' point differential, the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles are not all that bad of a football team. Certainly not as bad as their 5-8 record would lead you to believe. Now a record hovering around .500 is certainly not what many people, Eagles fans included expected out of the Eagles coming into the 2011 campaign, but it is certainly better than the Eagles' actual 5-8 record and enough to have the Eagles right in the middle of the NFC East title race without having to rely on some sort of miracle as they currently do.

So why is there a such a discrepancy between the Eagles' actual win percentage and Pythagenport win percentage?

A very good question, and the answer probably is not what people want to hear and/or believe, although it is true. In one word: luck. In two words: bad luck*.

*Addendum: In this context, I am attributing luck to the reasons why the Eagles are 5-8 and not hovering around .500. I am not suggesting luck is the reason the Eagles are not 10-3 or better and right in the midst of a race for a 1st round bye with San Francisco and New Orleans. This is also not to say the Eagles do not have flaws. Clearly, this is not a perfect team. However, they are not as bad as a 5-8 record (.385 win percentage) would suggest.

A basic theory of football is there is the ability to win close football games (with close football game being defined as games where the final margin of victory is 7 points or less) is not an actual ability. Some might define this perceived ability as being "clutch." But alas, no coach/QB/team hold an ability to consistently win/lose close football games. Over the course of a season, teams will tend to hover around the .500 league median. In his article last Friday, Bill Barnwell elaborates on this general point further with Tim Tebow's performance being the subject of the post. To go back to the Eagles, the Eagles are 2-5 this season in games where the final margin of victory is 7 points or less. The bad luck the Eagles have seen in these close games is a major reason why the Eagles' actual win percentage is as far below the Eagles' Pythagenport win percentage as it is. The fact that over 50% of the Eagles games have been decided by a touchdown or less is part of the reason their Pythagenport win percentage hovers around the .500 mark.

Conclusion

Barring a near miraculous final three weeks of the season, the narrative of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles will be written as followed: "A team with all sorts of talent but no heart and a coach that lost the locker room. (Insert bad Dream Team pun here)." Unfortunately for many in the media, that narrative does not match with the reality. Barring a drastic turn of events in the final three games of the season, the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles were a team whose actual record fell well below that of what it should have been, according to Pythagenport win percentage, a metric whose that correlates very strongly (.9134) with actual win percentage. The Eagles Pythagenport win percentage (.511) is by no means great, however, in a watered down NFC East where mediocrity reigns supreme, is good enough to have the Eagles in line to contend for the division title. However, thanks to a couple unfortunate losses early in the season, the Eagles are only hanging on by a thread and would need everything to fall just perfectly into place in the final three weeks of the season to have a chance at winning an NFC East championship.

NFL Week 14 Live Blog

Because the question of whether or not the Eagles fans are rooting for a win tomorrow, my answer tomorrow is yes, I am rooting for the Eagles to defeat the Miami Dolphins.  I understand the logic of wanting a better possible draft pick, and a loss against a team they are "competing" against would help them in landing a better pick, but the Eagles are not yet mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.  And even though the odds are hovering around 1% that they will make the playoffs, I just can't bring myself to root against them when the Eagles still have a chance, no matter how slim it may be.  Until the Eagles are mathematically eliminated, I can't find it in my heart to root for them to lose and I won't root for them to lose.

NFL Week 14 Schedule

Thanks to some rather hilarious ineptitude on the part of the Cowboys and Giants, the 4-8 Eagles still have a path to the playoffs that does not involve back-breaking mathematics.  If in their last four games, the Eagles go 4-0, the Cowboys 1-3, and the Giants 2-2, the Eagles will (incredibly) be the 4-seed.  Now mind you, the probability this actually happens is somewhere around 1%, but hey, on September 1, the Tampa Bay Rays had a .3% chance of winning the AL East.  The point: This would not be the most statistically improbable comeback of the year.  So on that desperate note, here is your Week 14 NFL Schedule! (all times ET; games I get are in bold)

Thursday Night Football

Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Maps of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

Fox games

New Orleans Saints  vs. Tennessee Titans  1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Miami Dolphins  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Jim Mora, Jr.)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars  1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Chad Pennington)

Chicago Bears vs. Denver Broncos  4:05 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals  4:05 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)

CBS early games

New England Patriots vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets  1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

America's Game Of The Week and other CBS late games

Oakland Raiders vs. Green Bay Packers  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Buffalo Bills vs. San Diego Chargers  4:15 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)

Sunday Night Football

New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

St. Louis Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Rachel Nichols)

I Push My Fingers Into My Eyes

NFL Week 13 Live Blog

Eagles.  Seahawks.  Thursday Night Football.  Mediocrity at its finest.  Join us, why don't you?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO LIVE BLOG

Why The Seattle Seahawks Will Beat The Philadelphia Eagles....And Why The Philadelphia Eagles Will Beat The Seattle Seahawks

As incredible as it may seem, tomorrow night will be the first time since I started blogging* that my Philadelphia Eagles will play my internet friend Mookie's Seattle Seahawks.  Earlier this week, Mookie reached out to me via email to ask if I wanted to join him in doing a series of posts, with me saying some words on why the Seahawks will beat the Eagles, and him writing a few words on why the Eagles will beat the Seahawks.  The results of that are as follows.

*I started blogging after what is still the latest tie in the NFL.  The Eagles last played the Seahawks a few weeks prior to that infamous game.  I have no visual recollection of that Eagles win at Seattle in 2008.  No amount of hard alcohol has been able to wash away the memories of the two Seahawks-Eagles games prior to that one.


Why the Seahawks will beat the Eagles, by Justin F.

The Eagles Defensive Coordinator is their old offensive line coach:  The Eagles Defensive coordinator is their offensive line coach.  It as worked out about as well as most imagined.  It's imbarrassing.  As much as I (and the Eagles players themselves) did not like Sean McDermott, the Eagles defense put up a respectable -11.0% DVOA last season.  This season, the Eagles defensive DVOA (DVOA explained) is a sub-par 2.8% (in case you do not know or have not yet figured out, in terms of defense, a negative DVOA is better than a positive DVOA).  That's right.  The Eagles defense has actually regressed from last season.

NFL Week 13 Schedule

Mookie and I have a surprise for you that should be up Wednesday night or Thursday morning, but until then, have fun and enjoy the Week 13 schedule.

Thursday Night Football

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Seattle Seahawks  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler  and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Map of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

CBS games

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers  1:00 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Oakland Raiders vs. Miami Dolphins  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
New York Jets vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills  1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein)

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns  4:05 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

Fox early games

Atlanta Falcons vs. Houston Texans  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts  and Jim Mora, Jr.)

America's Game Of The Week and Fox late games

Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants  4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals  4:15 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers  4:15 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)

Sunday Night Football

Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

San Diego Chargers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Suzy Kolber)

NFL Week 12 Live Blog

The only question I have is how bad is New English going to demolish a suddenly injury plagued Eagles team?

NFL Week 12 Schedule

Thanksgiving week!  This year the games are.......actually quite good.  This is certainly one of the better Thanksgiving slates of games I can remember in quite awhile, namely because the Lions are not the laughing stock of the NFL.  But still, instead of the hapless Colts, they have been given the unbeaten Packers.  Eagles host the Patriots in a game where I reckon the first team to 50 will win. (all times ET; games I get are in bold)

Thanksgiving games

Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions  12:30 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Miami Dolphins vs. Dallas Cowboys  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Maps of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

Fox games

Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Tennessee Titans  1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
Carolina Panthers vs. Indianapolis Colts  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Cardinals  1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Chad Pennington)

Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders  4:05 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Washington Redskins vs. Seattle Seahawks  4:05 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Jim Mora, Jr.)

CBS early games

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

America's Game Of The Week and other CBS late games

New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles  4:15 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers  4:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)

Sunday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Wendi Nix)

Fire Andy Reid? (A Link To) A Debate With Brian Solomon

After posting my rebuttal to Phil Sheridan on Sunday night, Philadelphia Eagles blogger Brian Solomon sent me an email asking to debate him on whether or not Andy Reid should be fired.  Having a great respect for Brian's wanting a chance to engage him in a fun debate, I accepted.  You can read the debate for yourself at his site, McNabb Or Kolb.

The debate was his idea and for his blog, so I will not takeaway his pageviews by doing a straight re-post, but if you want to read the debate, you can CLICK HERE AND READ IT.

I thank Brian very much for this opportunity and hope all you will read his blog and follow him on Twitter.

NFL Week 11 Schedule

I am working on something big that will hopefully appear later this week, but until then, here is your Week 11 schedule.  Yes, I actually remembered to post this on Tuesday for once.  I am as impressed as you are. (all times ET; games I get are in bold)

Thursday Night Football

New York Jets vs. Denver Broncos  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Map of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

Fox games

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Green Bay Packers  1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Carolina Panthers vs. Detroit Lions  1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)

Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers  4:05 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams  4:05 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)

CBS early games

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harland and Solomon Wilcots)
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

America's Game Of The Week and other CBS late games

San Diego Chargers vs. Chicago Bears  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Tennessee Titans vs. Atlanta Falcons  4:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)

Sunday Night Football

Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Suzy Kolber)

Phil Sheridan's Latest Column Is Slightly Mis-Informed

There are some people that absolutely despite Phil Sheridan.  Personally, I think there are worse columnists in the Philadelphia sports media than him (*cough*cough*Jack McCaffery *cough*cough*), but the column he wrote after the Eagles loss to the Cardinals is by far and away one of the most ridiculous pieces of writing I have ever written.  Not that I am intentionally getting away from directly talking about the Eagles, okay, never mind, I am, I am intentionally getting away from directly talking about the Eagles second real all-round poor performance of the season, but as poor as the Eagles were today, this column from Phil Sheridan is worse.  After the jump, a FJM style breakdown (Sheridan's words in italics).