Eagles Dominate Falcons; Lose 35-31

A few brief bullet points.

• There were mistakes.  There were miscues.  There were moments of brilliance.  There were moments of magic.  There were moments of frustration.  There were moments of shameful cheap shots from Dunta Robinson.  There was a moment of questionable partiality on NBC's part.  There was a freak accident that likely cost the Eagles a close game that should have never been close to being with.
• Did the Eagles coaching staff have access to every possible angle of that Falcons interception that should not have been an interception?  We will never know for sure as even if they did not, the Eagles as an organization are not ones to make a ruckus with the league over something like this.  
• If Vick stayed in the game, I do not know what would have happened.  You can't say they the Eagles would have won.  You can't say the Falcons would have won.  It is a counter-factual argument.  Mike  Vick is a better QB than Mike Kafka, but Vick in the game changes the game completely, and who knows how it would have ended otherwise.  Vick may have turned the ball over 3 more times.  He may have scored 3 more touchdowns.  Who knows.  I can't say.  And neither can you.
• Dunta Robinson should be given a heavy fine AND suspension.  Last year he laid out DeSean Jackson with a dirty hit.  Tonight, he delivered a questionable hit to Celek and knocked Maclin out with a hit dirtier than anything he had done to the Eagles before.  He should have been ejected.  He was not ejected, but a fine and suspension must surely be coming.  For a hit like that, there is no point where Goddell's punishment could possibly be deemed too much.  Just a complete disgrace to football.
• Mike Vick has a concussion.  His return date is obviously unknown at this point.  
• Mike Kafka is not Mike Vick.  This is obvious.
• Casey Matthews did not have a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination.  Jamar Chaney, on the other hand......
• Apparently Nnamdi was supposed to be in charge of Tony Gonzalez but Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie getting nicked up caused a change of plans.  That would explain how he was consistently open.
• The Falcons are who I thought they were.  Overrated.  Tonight's game does nothing to deter my beliefs of that. They needed lucky breaks, NBC intervention, dirty hits, and an unfortunate injury to beat the Eagles.  Color me unimpressed.  It's sports.  Guess what?   Sometimes the lesser team wins, even if it is painfully obvious during the game they are the lesser team.  With Vick healthy, the Eagles are top tier team in the NFC along side the likes of Green Bay and New Orleans.  At best, the Falcons are a 2nd tier NFC team.
• If the Eagles losing a Week 2 game to Atlanta is what it takes to tell me that with a healthy Mike Vick, the Eagles are head and shoulders better than one of the 2nd tier teams in the NFC, I am okay with that.  No team has gone 19-0.
• Matt Ryan will get credited for a "gritty" win.  The color of his skin may or may not have anything to do with this compliment.
• Jeremy Maclin after the game:  "We're a better team than they are.  Period."  He's not wrong.

NFL Week 2 Live Blog

Immediately following the conclusion of Manchester United vs. Chelsea, I will pack my belongings and drive back up to school after having the past week off due to a water shortage caused by flooding from when Tropical Storm Lee blew through.  I should be around by the start of San Diego-New England and will be with you through the night and will comment through Mike Vick's Homecoming in Atlanta.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LIVE BLOG!

NFL Week 2 Schedule

Well that was a fun week of football.  Well for the most part.  If you've used brain bleach to erase everything that was that 2nd Monday Night Football game disaster, which I assume all who have stayed up have at this point.  Who played in that game, again? (games I get are in bold)

Map of who gets what games Sunday afternoon.

Fox games

Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints  1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Seattle Seahawks vs. Pittsburgh Steelers  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
Green Bay Packers vs. Carolina Panthers  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and Jim Mora, Jr.)
Arizona Cardinals vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)

Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers  4:05 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)

CBS early games

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans  1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Detroit Lions  1:00 (CBS - Don Criqui and Randy Cross)

CBS late games

San Diego Chargers vs. New England Patriots  4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Houston Texans vs. Miami Dolphins  4:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Denver Broncos  4:15 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein)

Sunday Night Football

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

Monday Night Football

St. Louis Rams vs. New York Giants  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Suzy Kolber)

Eagles Week 2 Recap: Phew

Another bullet recap!

• Well that game was certainly closer than it ever needed to be.  It was a terrible, sloppy, messy, ugly game that the Eagles were probably lucky to win.
• I said last week that if I was forced in a corner and I could only have one of Kevin Kolb or Stewart Bradley back, I would choose Stewart Bradley.  This game proved me right.  Michael Vick was competent (more on him later).  Omar Gaither at middle linebacker was a walking disaster (again).  A guy whose lone asset is his speed, somehow looked slow out there.  The difference Stewart Bradley makes is only apparent when Bradley is in there.  The Eagles missed him so hard.  So so hard.  Bradley is not the answer to every defensive woe (Ernie Sims had a few bad plays as well), but he will go a long way in answering a lot of them.
• Michael Vick played very well today.  The Detroit secondary is admittedly awful, but you still need to connect with the plethora of open WRs, and with the exception of a few rare cases, Vick did that.
• Those that bash Kolb are quick to point out that Kolb's 2nd game was against a bad team in Kansas City.  What is the difference between what Kolb did against KC last year and what Vick did in Detroit today?  Why can't you judge Kolb on that game but you can judge Vick as the team's savior based on this game?
• Riley Cooper may have the face of an angel, but dude, you can't pull a Hank Baskett on an onside kick like that!
• DeSean Jackson is very fast.
• Jahvid Best is also very fast.  And someone who should be right square in the middle of the "rookie of the year" discussions at the end of the season if he keeps this up.  Omar Gaither may be complete shit and Best may have run over said shit, but the guy can elude tacklers and outrun pretty much anyone he wants to.  Color me impressed.  Also, Ron Franklin must be pleased his efforts were not in vain.
• Brent Celek needs help with his blocking.
• Owen "Runaway Beer Truck" Schmitt may not be as good as Leonard Weaver, but he looked competent as a blocker and he caught a few passes.  Not too bad for a guy who was unemployed last Sunday.
• As soon as Reggie Wells learns the playbook, he needs to get in the game and help this offensive line.  They need all the help they can get.
• Donovan McNabb played well against the Texans, but on a 3rd and 10 in overtime at the Texans 35 yardline, he overthrew a deep ball.  That overthrow resulted in Graham Gano missing a 52-yard field goal.  The ensuing drive would be the winning drive for the Houston Texans.  Outside of that throw, though, McNabb did have a decent game like McNabb can have.  But he still has not proved to me is a take-charge leader and the Eagles were wrong to trade him.
• The Eagles are at Jacksonville next week.  Andy Reid said pre-game Kolb would start.  Stewart Bradley passes his concussion tests and is likely to start as well next week.  Jacksonville does not boast a strong secondary and MJD is a beast.  To say I am interested in how each of them fare is an understatement.  Prove me right, Kevin and Stew!

2010 NFL Season Week 2 Live Blog: Criminal

"The hunger coming over me, as I learn to hide the agony, to make a final remedy, to close the door once and for all."

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WEEK 2 LIVE BLOG

NFL Week 2 Schedule

Well, Week 1 was a typical Week 1. Lots of sloppy and low-scoring games with some exciting finishes. Week 2 is the week where teams finally seem to click on all cylinders and we can get a slightly better (though still not great) idea of which teams are gonna be fine, which ones won't be fine, and which ones may have had a bit of an aberration in Week 1, for better or worse. That is, unless the game you are watching will pit one team whose starting QB is concussed against a team whose starting QB separated their shoulder. For what it's worth, the Eagles still list Kolb as the projected starter on their website, though whether or not he will be medically cleared to play and start won't be known until Friday at the earliest. CBS has the double header this week, NBC gets the chance to felate over the Manning Brothers for 4 and a half hours, so without further ado here is the Week 2 schedule! (all times eastern; games I get are in bold)

Map of who gets what Fox game.

Chicago Bears vs. Dallas Cowboys 1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers 1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, and Jim Mora, Jr.)
Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons 1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions 1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)

Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos 4:05 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Oakland Raiders 4:05 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

Map of who gets what CBS early game

Miami Dolphins vs. Minnesota Vikings 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Buffalo Bills vs. Green Bay Packers 1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Randy Cross)
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Rich Gannon)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cleveland Browns 1:00 (CBS - Don Criqui and Steve Beuerlein)

Map of who gets what CBS late game

New England Patriots vs. New York Jets 4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Houston Texans vs. Washington Redskins 4:15 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. San Diego Chargers 4:15 (CBS - Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker)

Sunday Night Football

New York Giants vs. Indianapolis Colts 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Monday Night Football

New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers 8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden)

NFL Week 2 Live Blog

All right! Let's do this! Week 2! Join Mookie, 49er16 (maybe), kt1000 (for parts), and James Craven (maybe) as we live blog all of the NFL regional action throughout the day (or a good part of it, at least). As always, feel free to leave comments unless of course you are a troll named Nathan and/or any other person who wants to troll/spam.

My Week 2 Picks

I am trying out a new style for this, vlogging via YouTube! For the first time ever (if you did not search my name on Facebook) who will see my beautiful shining voice as well as these wonderfully dolcet tones. My apologies in advance for the awkward cut off at the end. I'm not quite sure what happened, but I was not about to re-make this just because my last remarks about the Colts-Dolphins and my closing comments were cut off at the very end.

Anyway, enjoy and in case the MLB sticklers decide to delete the video because I had the Phillies game on in the background, (to them the vague audio that might have been picked up may be a violation of copyright and what not and my video may get deleted), I have my picks re-stated below the video.



In the future, I'll try to make these shorter as I was not aware how long I was until I was finished. Anyway, I was about to say the person who decided to make this a Monday night game should be fired or shot or something. That was followed by a few closing comments where I basically re-stated my point about the Saints-Eagles games and signed off by saying "peace". I couldn't think of anything else. The cutoff at the end notwithstanding, let me know what you think? Like it? Hate it? And be honest, if you think that fucking sucked, then please let me know, as I won't do it again. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed it!

Update: If you don't want to get through that, here are my picks below. I had originally planned on putting this in here, but I guess I just forgot or something. Oh well....

Atlanta
Minnesota
Green Bay
Arizona
Kansas city
New England
New Orleans
Tennessee
Washington
Buffalo
Seattle
Pittsburgh
Denver
San Diego
New York Giants
Indianapolis

Your 2009 NFL Week 2 Schedule

CBS gets the doubleheader this week and for the first time this season, Joe Buck is in Philadelphia and doing an Eagles game. Are you ready to see who will be calling your team's game? Without further ado, here is your Week 2 NFL Announcing Schedule! (games in bold indicate the games I get; all times eastern)

Map of who gets what Fox games

New Orleans Saints @ Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
St. Louis Rams @ Washington Redskins 1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons 1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions 1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)
Arizona Cardinals @ Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Trent Green)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Buffalo Bills 4:05 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
Seattle @ San Francisco 4:05 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)

Map of who will get what early games on CBS

New England Patriots @ New York Jets 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans 1:00 (CBS - Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker)
Cincinnati Bengals @ Green Bay Packers 1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Rich Gannon)

Map of who will get what late games on CBS

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Chicago Bears 4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Baltimore Ravens @ San Diego Chargers 4:15 (CBS - Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts)
Cleveland Browns @ Denver Broncos 4:15 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Beuerlein)

Sunday Night Football
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Monday Night Football
Indianapolis Colts @ Miami Dolphins 8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden)

It appears as if this is one of those weeks where I get all of the marquee games. I've got the Fox marquee game, the early CBS one, and the late CBS one. Plus we've got the can't miss event that is the opening of JerryLand in primetime on Sunday Night Football. I hope that you will be able to join us for the live blogs and while there is a bit of an overlap with some of the CBS games, it still appears like there should be a lot of variety and a lot of fun.