Week 20 GC: Philadelphia @ Arizona

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

If you really think McNabb is to blame for the loss and not the Eagles defense you must have been watching a different game than the rest of the country was or are just trying to be argumentative.

That's a pretty strong statement seeing as there are at least a couple other people that agree with me here. And if you were watching the same game as me, you would have seen the throws that were well behind open receivers and the overthrows to receivers open for big plays downfield. Arizona's defense isn't that good, yet McBabb struggled. Also, how about easing up and accusing me of being argumentative? I just stated my opinion.

Thicken your skin man, saying you may be being argumentative was not meant as an insult.

In the game I watched McNabb struggled in the first half and made some bad throws the entire game however I also saw a pathetic attempt at defense by the Eagles. Like I said McNabb could have played better but the fact remains that Philly's D did not show up, they looked horrible. You're completely ignoring what he did in the 2nd half to put his team in a position to win. He obviously needed help from his defense and didn't get it.

I'm not ignoring what he did in the 2nd half. He did a lot better than he played in the first half, but that doesn't mean that he did well in the 2nd half. Like I said, Arizona's defense isn't very good, and he should never have had them in the position to have to comeback in the first place. Keep in mind, if the refs hadn't completely blown the call on that kickoff, the game likely would have been out of reach before the 2nd half. Football is a 2 half game. 1 good half and 1 bad half does not equal a good game.

[Metroid]

That's a pretty strong statement seeing as there are at least a couple other people that agree with me here. And if you were watching the same game as me, you would have seen the throws that were well behind open receivers and the overthrows to receivers open for big plays downfield. Arizona's defense isn't that good, yet McBabb struggled. Also, how about easing up and accusing me of being argumentative? I just stated my opinion.

Thicken your skin man, saying you may be being argumentative was not meant as an insult.

In the game I watched McNabb struggled in the first half and made some bad throws the entire game however I also saw a pathetic attempt at defense by the Eagles. Like I said McNabb could have played better but the fact remains that Philly's D did not show up, they looked horrible. You're completely ignoring what he did in the 2nd half to put his team in a position to win. He obviously needed help from his defense and didn't get it.

I'm not ignoring what he did in the 2nd half. He did a lot better than he played in the first half, but that doesn't mean that he did well in the 2nd half. Like I said, Arizona's defense isn't very good, and he should never have had them in the position to have to comeback in the first place. Keep in mind, if the refs hadn't completely blown the call on that kickoff, the game likely would have been out of reach before the 2nd half. Football is a 2 half game. 1 good half and 1 bad half does not equal a good game.

Save the remedial football lessons for someone else, it comes off as a little condescending.

But to use your lesson: 1 good half and 1 bad half doesn't equal a bad game either.

Lets look at how well the defense played, first half: poorly, second half: poorly. Thats the whole game...they didn't play well the whole game. Again McNabb and the offense played well enough, not great...not even good, but well enough to win. He orchestrated a second half comeback rallying his team back from 18 points down to take the lead and what happened? The defense couldn't keep the Cards out of the end zone. I've agreed with numerous, numerous times that McNabb didn't have the best game and could have played better but Philly's D couldn't have played any worse.

[Munboy]

If you really think McNabb is to blame for the loss and not the Eagles defense you must have been watching a different game than the rest of the country was or are just trying to be argumentative.

Yes the D is to blame for putting McNabb and the O in the position of having to make a comeback, but it's safe to say that McNabb's eratic passing killed that last drive when they were trying to go down to tie the game at the end of the 4th quarter. He had a horrible 1st half, a good 3rd quarter and most of the 4th, but down the stretch, it was his high or behind the WR passing that cost them the game.

But see you can't say any one series is where the game was lost. Should we blame the loss on the no PI call on Curtis on Philly's final drive? No. McNabb made some bad plays and some great plays, he threw for 375 yards and 3 TD's which is normally enough to ask of your QB. What cost the Eagles the game was the play of their defense the entire game. Warner was upright pretty much the entire game, I think only sacked twice. He and Fitz picked the Eagles apart. Put the blame where it lies.

I am. Like I said, it's on the D and McNabb. And I dont think it's any one game or drive that will drive him out of Philly. Its Philly fans that will drive him out. All reports say he's tired of them and being in Philly where he's booed if he has a bad game because they forget he has taken them to 5 NFC championships and a superbowl.

[Metroid]

Yes the D is to blame for putting McNabb and the O in the position of having to make a comeback, but it's safe to say that McNabb's eratic passing killed that last drive when they were trying to go down to tie the game at the end of the 4th quarter. He had a horrible 1st half, a good 3rd quarter and most of the 4th, but down the stretch, it was his high or behind the WR passing that cost them the game.

But see you can't say any one series is where the game was lost. Should we blame the loss on the no PI call on Curtis on Philly's final drive? No. McNabb made some bad plays and some great plays, he threw for 375 yards and 3 TD's which is normally enough to ask of your QB. What cost the Eagles the game was the play of their defense the entire game. Warner was upright pretty much the entire game, I think only sacked twice. He and Fitz picked the Eagles apart. Put the blame where it lies.

I am. Like I said, it's on the D and McNabb. And I dont think it's any one game or drive that will drive him out of Philly. Its Philly fans that will drive him out. All reports say he's tired of them and being in Philly where he's booed if he has a bad game because they forget he has taken them to 5 NFC championships and a superbowl.

I misread or misunderstood you saying they lost the game on that one play, my bad.

I still say McNabb played well enough to win.

[Munboy]

But see you can't say any one series is where the game was lost. Should we blame the loss on the no PI call on Curtis on Philly's final drive? No. McNabb made some bad plays and some great plays, he threw for 375 yards and 3 TD's which is normally enough to ask of your QB. What cost the Eagles the game was the play of their defense the entire game. Warner was upright pretty much the entire game, I think only sacked twice. He and Fitz picked the Eagles apart. Put the blame where it lies.

I am. Like I said, it's on the D and McNabb. And I dont think it's any one game or drive that will drive him out of Philly. Its Philly fans that will drive him out. All reports say he's tired of them and being in Philly where he's booed if he has a bad game because they forget he has taken them to 5 NFC championships and a superbowl.

I misread or misunderstood you saying they lost the game on that one play, my bad.

I still say McNabb played well enough to win.

He did......ok. He didn't lose the game, he just didn't play well enough to win it...lets put it that way. The D was a disappointment for the #3 ranked D. But honestly, as explosive as that Card's passing game is, it really wasn't unexpected.

[Metroid]

He did......ok. He didn't lose the game, he just didn't play well enough to win it...lets put it that way.

Fair enough.

[Nfl Fan]

Im crying the tears of joy, this is awesome. Ive never been this happy in my life. Thank you everybody who doubted us!!! Pittsburg, here come the Birds!!!!!

Big time congrats to THE CARDS and their fans!!!!!









Love Warner, and I'll be pulling for you to stomp the Squeelers on February 1st!!

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

Thicken your skin man, saying you may be being argumentative was not meant as an insult.

In the game I watched McNabb struggled in the first half and made some bad throws the entire game however I also saw a pathetic attempt at defense by the Eagles. Like I said McNabb could have played better but the fact remains that Philly's D did not show up, they looked horrible. You're completely ignoring what he did in the 2nd half to put his team in a position to win. He obviously needed help from his defense and didn't get it.

I'm not ignoring what he did in the 2nd half. He did a lot better than he played in the first half, but that doesn't mean that he did well in the 2nd half. Like I said, Arizona's defense isn't very good, and he should never have had them in the position to have to comeback in the first place. Keep in mind, if the refs hadn't completely blown the call on that kickoff, the game likely would have been out of reach before the 2nd half. Football is a 2 half game. 1 good half and 1 bad half does not equal a good game.

Save the remedial football lessons for someone else, it comes off as a little condescending.

But to use your lesson: 1 good half and 1 bad half doesn't equal a bad game either.

Lets look at how well the defense played, first half: poorly, second half: poorly. Thats the whole game...they didn't play well the whole game. Again McNabb and the offense played well enough, not great...not even good, but well enough to win. He orchestrated a second half comeback rallying his team back from 18 points down to take the lead and what happened? The defense couldn't keep the Cards out of the end zone. I've agreed with numerous, numerous times that McNabb didn't have the best game and could have played better but Philly's D couldn't have played any worse.

The defense did fine in the second half. They gave up 8 points for the entire half against a very good offense. Just like McNabb, they had 1 bad half and 1 good half, it just happened to be the opposite half for each. The Cardinals are averaging 29.2 points per game at home this year. They scored 32 on the Eagles defense. So actually, the Eagles defense was basically average given who they were playing against and where. And you are talking about how McNabb led an 18 point comeback, but just like he led scoring drives, the defense stopped the Cardinals during that entire span. Then, just like the Eagles defense faltered for one drive when the Eagles scored, the Eagles offense faltered for a drive at the end when they had the turnover on downs.

[Metroid]

Did fine in the 2nd half? They gave up the go ahead TD after McNabb and the offense finally got them ahead! Whatever man I don't even know why I'm debating this, it doesn't matter. I know the Eagles D played like crap, most people I've talked to here and everyone that I was watching the game with would agree to that. I've also said McNabb didn't play great, but well enough. He did his part, the defense did not. For a top 5 defense I expected a lot more than "average." And calling them average yesterday is a real stretch, especially when the Eagles are use to giving up less than 20 a game.

[steelerfan513]

The Cardinals are averaging 29.2 points per game at home this year. They scored 32 on the Eagles defense. So actually, the Eagles defense was basically average given who they were playing against and where.

Met basically already said this, but I typed this post up so dammit, I'm posting it.

If Philadelphia were ranked 16th in the NFL in total defense, their performance yesterday would be acceptable because it would be an average performance from an average defense. But the Eagles were ranked 3rd in the NFL in total defense. Elite defenses are supposed to make offenses perform below their averages, not at or above them. McNabb's errant throws definitely had something to do with Philly's loss yesterday, but his ultimate statistics look to be around what's expected of him, if not more so. The defense should shoulder much more of the blame for not playing at the level expected of them.

Time of possession didn't have anything to do with it either. Philly (by my rough and likely inaccurate calcluations) actually led the first half and the game in time of possession by a few seconds; their secondary just got toasted.