Young and Kafka. A 1970's soft rock duo? No. A law firm ? No (maybe). A failed Fox sitcom about two completely opposite personalities living in a New York apartment? No. (actually this might happen, look for it next fall.) Sadly, this is the current quarterback situation for my Philadelphia Eagles coming off a home loss to division rival the New York Giants by a score of 29-16. Why you ask? Because for the second straight game Eagles star QB Michael Vick could not finish the game due to an injury. First it was the concussion scare in week 2 against the Falcons that forced Vick out and on Sunday afternoon a (late) hit by Chris Canty left Vick on the ground with what was diagnosed on Sunday as a broken hand. This diagnosis was later changed to only a bruised hand, something that I still don't fully understand. If there was even a doubt in the diagnosis, why give out a false one? Especially one so severe. Good job by the Philadelphia medical staff (this is like your university professor telling you that you failed an exam on Sunday and then calling you up on Monday saying you actually got a 70).
Vick inexplicably raised some eyebrows after the game with what was in my opinion (again I'm an Eagles fan so i will defend almost everything Eagles related. For example, Andy Reid fat? No Wayyy. he's just big-boned) a warranted criticism of the referees. Basically what he brought up was the fact that he gets knocked down on basically every play (in the first 3 weeks of the season Vick has been hit and hit often while staying in the pocket and the hits haven't always been on time) and doesn't get the same type of calls that other quarterbacks in the league get (see Brady, Tom). These comments caused several analysts, most notably Trent Dilfer to lash out at Vick for criticizing the referees. To these analysts I say settle down. The guy had just lost a game and had what he thought at the time to be a broken hand. It's normal to be frustrated at times like that. Grantland writer Chris Ryan has a good take on this.
Now on to the actual game. Philadelphia started this game in the worst possible way. A promising opening drive that went all the way to the Giants 19 before Vick got intercepted by Aaron Ross. This led to a 40 yard Brandon Jacobs touchdown and just like that we were 7-0 down. It got worse when on the next Giants drive, Eli hooked up with Victor Cruz (who had an absolutely monster game making Nnamdi look very average on some plays) for another big play (72 yards) touchdown. The Eagles managed to fight back and take a 16-14 lead going into the fourth quarter (Vick would not play after this point) but not before showing some weaknesses. One, Michael Vick when rushing is nearly impossible to catch but when he is hit, he is fumble prone. In 2 consecutive weeks Vick has fumbled the ball on a broken play where he has decided to run the ball. This Sunday the Eagles were lucky to recover but this could cause problems later on in the season. Secondly and more importantly, the Eagles cannot score in short yardage situations in the red zone. Two separate drives ended on the Giants 3 and 2 yard line with Philadelphia settling for field goals on both occasions. I blame the play-calling (on 3rd and goal from the 2 with the score 14-13 in favour of the Giants, Andy Reid called a fullback dive. Really Andy? A power run against a D-line that has over-matched our O-line the entire game? This further made me believe that the paper on Reid's clipboard is a Denny's menu), the Eagles' usually explosive and dynamic offense becomes stagnant and predictable in the red zone. Something that must be changed if we want to win anything this year. The rest of the game was predictably dominated by the Giants who scored two TD's to win the game 29-16
Next week Philadelphia takes on the San Francisco 49'ers (who are somehow 2-1) at home. I predict a win for the Eagles even with Kafka at QB. If Michael Vick plays then it should be an easy win. I believe I said the same thing last week and look how that turned out... Actually, I'm changing my prediction to Niners blow Eagles out on the strength of Alex Smith's 9 touchdowns!
The only way to find out is to watch.
Until next time,
Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment