Is This The Best The Eagles Wide Receivers Have Been For Quite Some Time?

Obviously, statistically, it is way too early in the season and in the careers of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin to answer that question with a sure-fire yes, but things certainly seem to be looking that way. With Kevin Curtis on the injury, Jeremy Maclin got his chance to shine, and boy did he shine, with 6 receptions for over 100 yeards. Which does beg the question, is this the best looking group of wide receivers the Eagles ever had? From the Philadelphia Inquirer

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said Maclin's emergence resulted from Tampa Bay's coverage on Jackson.

"They rolled the coverage a lot to his side, and you want to get your weapons going," McNabb said. "Teams are going to try to take someone in this offense out of it. They're trying to take DeSean out, and when you give [other] guys an opportunity to make plays for you, I have full confidence that they will."

Jackson may still end up being the featured weapon in the Eagles' offense, but this is the first time in recent years that we've been this far into the season without knowing exactly who will be McNabb's go-to guy.

During the Eagles' 2004 run to the Super Bowl, Owens was the main man, and ever since then it has been running back Brian Westbrook. Teams tried to stop both men, but usually couldn't.

Now, the Eagles have Jackson, Maclin, Westbrook, and tight end Brent Celek, not to mention Michael Vick, rookie LeSean McCoy, and this thing called a Wildcat offense.

Although the Eagles have averaged 31.8 points per game - second best in the NFL - every aspect of the offense hasn't always worked. Sunday, for instance, the Eagles averaged only 2.4 yards per carry on 19 designed rushing plays.

"We need to be more efficient when we do run the football," Reid said.

Westbrook, at least through four games, doesn't appear to be the same force he has been the previous five seasons. He had just eight touches against the Bucs, and it's strange not to see his name among the league leaders in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage. McCoy actually had one more touch than Westbrook.

Long gone are the days of Andy Reid settling for mediocrity at that position by starting guys like Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis, and Reggie Brown who all were a sure fire bet to drop half the balls thrown their way. And even though Jackson and Maclin are doomed to make some mistakes and have some bad plays just because of their age, for once we can say that the potential at the wide out position is there and we may be looking at a couple of Pro Bowlers, a term that has not even come close to describing an Eagles wide receiver since Terrell Owens was here. And while Maclin only got the start because Kevin Curtis was injured, you can bet that if he keeps playing like this, he will be starting on a regular basis soon enough. Also, while Curtis has proven that he is a decent, not great, starting wide receiver, I think he is most dangerous as a 3rd guy, when teams are not paying him much attention. And don't forget about Jason Avant. McNabb likes throwing to him in clutch situations and more often than not, Avant can make the play.

It took him awhile, but Andy Reid has woken up and has finally figured out how to draft offensive players, just look at the running back position as well. Sure, the Eagles have Brian Westbrook, but in the past the Eagles relied on him way too much, and the result is the beaten and broken down man that you see now. This is not the same Westbrook that we saw a 2, 3 years ago, and if I'm a betting man, I don't think that he will ever regain that form. He is not a 30 carry-a-game back, he never was, and the Eagles trying to make him that all but ruined his career. Sure, he'll come in and make a big play every once in awhile, and while I see him as a great change of pace back, I think that in little time, we will be seeing more and more of Shady McCoy, another great find and great draft pick by Andy Reid. Sure he is a little Westbrook-esque, but unlike Brian, Shady is more groomed to be an actual running back, instead of some random dude like Westbrook who lines up out of the backfield, but if more effective catching the ball and bouncing it to the outside rather than running the ball.

And forgotten in all of this is perhaps one of the most underrated tight ends in the NFL, Brent Celek. Eagles tight ends have never gotten any national credit or spotlight, but perhaps if Celek keeps making plays like the one in the video below, he is surely going to get the national recognition he deserves real soon.



It's not everyday that you see someone leapfrog Ronde Barber. And speaking as an Eagles fan, that was just so sweet to watch as countless times in the past, when the Bucs played the Eagles, Ronde Barber has made a big, ginormous play against us that kills our momentum.

Bottom line, regardless of who the quarterback is, if the Eagles can play defense like they know how to play defense, and if Maclin, Jackson, and Celek really emerge as the big go-to targets and stay free of injury, this Eagle team will be in the hunt for the Super Bowl for many years looking down the road. And now just ask yourself, were we really ever saying this about the Eagles during the era of Lewis, Baskett, and Reggie Brown?

Happy Rocktober, Everybody!!!

WOW! What a roller coaster ride of a baseball game! After leading 2-1 for a good part of the game, the Colorado Rockies rallied in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 2-run lead and at that point, my heart just sunk. For if a Game 5 is forced, we lose Hamels for the start of the potential NLCS series, thus making our Game 1 starter of that series either Happ or Blanton or Pedro and Hamels would not be able to go until much later in the series. Oh, and yeah, if Colorado hangs on, they have all of the momentum coming back to Philly. And with a sinker ball pitcher in Aaron Cook on the mound, a style of pitching that the Phillies have struggled with this year, there is no way we win that game.

But then, the Phillies staged a rally that will be remembered for a long time in Philadelphia and perhaps an even longer time in Denver. With 2 outs and 2 strikes on him, Chase Utley did a masterful job of working the walk to join Shane Victorino on base. Then Howard came up, and faced with a 1-2 count, this happened.



That double evened things up! But wait, the Phillies were not done yet. Jayson Werth was at the plate and then the even more improable happened. Jayson Werth singled to score Ryan Howard from 2nd to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead

Into the bottom of the 9th, instead of relying on their closer, Manual got smart and did what the Rockies did not do and play the match-ups (if the Rockies were playing match-ups, they would have never let Huston Street pitch against Howard)), instead they brought in Scott Eyre to face the lefty-laden line-up of the Rockies that was due up. Only once they got to Tulo, did Brad Lidge come in and despite the fact that there were runners on base, Brad Lidge struck out Troy Tulowitzki to end the inning, game, and NLDS series.



Simply an amazing comeback. It may just be the NLDS and the Phillies may have much higher expectations than surviving a series with the Rockies, but anytime you get a playoff win like that, it is going to excite the city and excite the town and give the Phillies all of the momentum they could ask for heading into the a re-match of the 2008 NLCS in the 2009 NLCS.

The series starts on this Thursday. I will have the full and complete LCS schedule up for you all tomorrow.

For all videos at MLB.com where they are in high quality, including the Werth single that I can't find at the moment, click here.

MLB Playoffs Day 6 Live Blog

Game 4: Phillies @ Rockies 6:07 (Lee, 14-13 vs. Jimenez, 15-12) (TBS - Brian Anderson and Jim Simpson, SR: David Aldridge)

MLB Playoffs Day 5 Open Thread/Live Blog

I'll have a Phillies live blog up later today.

Game 3: Angels @ Red Sox 12:07 (Kazmir, vs. 10-9 vs. Buchholz, 7-4) (TBS - Don Orsillo and Buck Martinez, SR: Tom Verducci)

Game 3: Yankees @ Twins 7:07 (Pettitte, 14-8 vs. Pavano, 14-12) (TBS - Chip Caray and Ron Darling, SR: Craig Sager)

Game 3: Phillies @ Rockies 10:07 (Happ, 12-4 vs. Hammel, 10-8) (TBS - Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson, SR: David Aldridge)

Week 5 NFL Live Blog

is over at Keith's Sports Journal, so please join us over there.

No video this week, but here are my picks.

Baltimore over Cincinnati
Carolina over Washington
Buffalo over Cleveland
Pittsburgh over Detroit
Dallas over Kansas City
Minnesota over St. Louis
New York Giants over Oakland
Philadelphia over Tampa Bay
San Francisco over Atlanta
Arizona over Houston
Denver over New England
Seattle over Jacksonville
Indianapolis over Tennessee
New York Jets over Miami Dolphins

Phillies-Rockies Postponed Tonight

An inch of snow fell on Coors Field last night. There are supposed to be intermittent snow showers throughout the afternoon. The coldest temperature for a postseason baseball game on record is higher than the forecasted afternoon high today in Denver. Therefore, it really should come as no surprise that tonight's Phillies-Rockies game has been postponed tonight. From MLB.com

With the series between the Rockies and Phillies tied at a game apiece, Game 3 has been rescheduled for Sunday at 8:07 p.m. MT. Game 4 has been moved to Monday, with game time to be announced prior to the start of Sunday's contest.

Snow began falling Friday night in the Denver metro area as the temperature dropped to 17 degrees in the Mile High City overnight, breaking the record low of 25 for the date, set in 1905. Coors Field was blanketed in snow by Saturday morning, and the white stuff was expected to keep coming down into the day, predicted to dissipate by the 7:37 p.m. game time. Since Coors Field is the only field in the Majors with an underground heating system, the snow might have been cleared away.

The cold is another matter, though.

Denver awoke to icy roads, multitudes of accidents on the highways and snow all around, with the updated forecast for the scheduled 7:37 p.m. game time calling for a temperature of 26 degrees -- which would have been by far the lowest for a postseason game in history. That distinction belongs to Game 4 of the 1997 World Series at Cleveland between the Indians and Marlins, with a game-time temperature of 35. The predicted high temperature for Denver on Saturday is 33.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy, whose team evened the series with a 5-4 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, said at Friday's workout that he was well aware that the weather could cause Major League Baseball to step in and postpone Game 3.

"If it's a day where ... it's not conducive for either team to be playing baseball, it's going to jeopardize our fans from the standpoint of being treated to the type of baseball that has been played thus far in the first two games of the series in Philadelphia," Tracy said.

"If moving it back because there's going to be much better weather ... that would be the most sensible thing to do ... because, you know, Game 3 in a series that's 1-1, it's a fairly pivotal game.

"You'd hate to see a game be determined one way or the other due to the fact that the conditions were not good. Somebody slips that otherwise wouldn't have, if the conditions would have been much drier and much more conducive for baseball."

Fans with tickets for Game 3 will now be able to use them only for Sunday's game at 8:07 p.m. MT. Those fans with tickets for Game 4 will be able to use them for Monday's game. Game 5, if necessary, will still be played on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

As fun as it would be to see a baseball game played in the frozen tundra, this is definitley the right call to make. Those conditions are not suited for baseball and given the nature of the game, the cold could definitley play a factor one way or the other. Making this call even more of a no-brainer is that tomorrow and Monday are supposed to be nice days with highs in the 50s, although the temperature for game time would most likely fall int the 40s. Regardless, it is much better than this.

This does bring up an interesting scenario for the Phillies pitching in Game 4, which has now been moved to Monday, time TBD. The question now becomes will Cliff Lee pitch game 4? He would be available on normal rest and especially if the Phillies lose tomorrow, may be their ace in the hole to make sure that regardless of what goes down tomorrow, that at the very worst for the Phillies, this thing goes to a Game 5.

Update: It appears as if the change in date has also affected the Phillies starting pitching. Pedro will no longer be on the mound as the starter, but rather, according to CSN Philly, the Phillies have named NL Rookie of the Year candidate J.A. Happ as the starter for Game 3.

If his leg/knee is all right, then I have no gripes about this decision. While he has never played in a game of this magnitude, he has done a solid job all year and I feel real comfortable with him on the mound.

Rule #1 Of World Series Ring Heists: Do The Opposite Of Everything This Guy Did

Oy ve. I can't.......I don't even know where to begin with this.

There are a bunch of dumb criminals in this world. And then there is this guy who tried to steal 3 World Series rings and well, I'll just say How To Steal A World Series Ring 101 would have been quite a useful course for this guy. Via Big League Stew

A Phillies fan has been charged with stealing three 2008 World Series rings from a Citizens Bank Park office during Thursday's Game 2 loss to the Rockies.

According to Philadelphia police, 22-year-old Matthew Mervine attended the game dressed as a masked "Rockies Killer" — the Philadelphia Inquirer actually took a picture of him — and was ejected by security officials during the game for acting too rowdy.

But instead of heading home, Mervine allegedly stole three World Series rings — valued at about $1,100 apiece — from a ballpark office. Police say they know this because a security camera caught him in the act shortly after he filled out a job application to work at the park.

Also filed as evidence? The job application Mervine left behind, complete with all of his contact information. Whoops!

Police say they later recovered the rings — which were made for team employees and cost substantially less than the $11K versions given to players — at Mervine's home. There's no word on whether he was still wearing the "Rockies Killer" mask when arrested (though I have a strong suspicion and hope that he was).

Nothing cracks me up more than a great dumb criminal story and boy oh boy, I'm pretty sure that this one has to be one of the best we've seen in baseball in quite some time. I mean good grief, could he have made it any easier for him to be found? Actually, the only thing he did not do was wear a shirt that says "I'm About To Steal World Series Rings Arrest Me Now Please!"

Oh, and I'd be willing to pay upwards of a million dollars* for that mug shot with him wearing the Rockies killer mask.

*slight exaggeration

/RJBO'd.