Tag: Michael Vick

What Goes Through My Head?-An Exclusive Look Into My Viewings of Sunday Night Football

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As many of you guys know, I have an addiction to sports, particularly the NFL. I love just about everything about it. It’s fascinating and I like to break down just about everything that I see during the game.

So I thought I would show you guys what I was doing while watching the Eagles-Giants Sunday Night game back on September 30th.

For those that are not football fans, some of this might be cryptic. However, everything that is on this blog following this explanation was written on the spot during the game.

Enjoy my mind!

Crazy night
• Winner takes lead of NFC East
o Barring Cowboys on Monday night
• Dawkins retirement
• LeSean McCoy starts slow, then explodes
• Michael Vick struggles still
• Nnamdi bum eye (somehow hurt his eye-Hospital?)
• Brandon Boykin slot corner rookie pains
• Brent Celek continuing his big season
• Dominik Hixon’s massive extension catch over DRC
• Vick finally getting his legs back
• DeSean actually taking the hits now
• Offensive line holding their own
• No turnovers FINALLY
• Lots of pass rushing on both teams
• Same commercials all the time
• Clay Matthews in back-to-back ads
• New punter-who cares
• Why did Cris(Collinsworth) and Al(Michaels)dissect the holding technique of McBriar?
• WHY CAN’T THE EAGLES PLAY SPECIAL TEAMS?
• Nnamdi didn’t go to the hospital
o Playing with a visor now
• Eagles’ stadium still has a prison apparently?
• Is this a different game with a healthy Hakeem Nicks?
• Can Boykin stop Cruz? (I guess not)
• Who can stop Cruz?
o DRC can do that
• Picks off Manning in the red zone
• No sacks through 3 quarters
• Battered and bruised
• Who the hell is Stanley Havili?
• Why doesn’t McCoy start off games that well?
o Mainly a closer?
o Is he good or Eagles’ o-line clutch?
• Is Celek getting better at blocking?
• Why do the Eagles want to use Bryce Brown?
o What is his talent?
o Dion? Polk?
• Vick throwing like a blind man? You’re supposed to be a professional, dude.
o Throwing it away or bad route running?
• First sack of the night with 10 minutes remaining
o Chase Blackburn gets to Michael Vick
• Turnover leads to score
o Not touchdown

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Birds Gettin’ It Goin’ Again

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Well, the Eagles looked pretty good again tonight. I’m very pleasently surprised to see new quarterback Nick Foles play with a LOT of poise in the pocket tonight. He’s made a lot of smart plays and really looks like a seasoned veteran tonight. I wouldn’t change a whole lot that has gone on. The team looks pretty solid. The offensive line is holding their own against a Cowboys defense that doesn’t rush the quarterback all that much, but keep in mind that DeMarcus Ware is still on that defense.

You are never safe on offense with THAT guy on the defense coming to find you.

The Eagles defense looks weak once again. It’s a disgrace. Tonight, however, the problem isn’t Nnamdi Asomugha or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The problem with the passing defense is the zone defense calls and the safeties Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman. These two are complete garbage. To be honest, I’m in complete shock that Coleman has a job. He doesn’t look to be good enough to play for a Pop Warner team. He goes for the big hits and 9 times out of 10 he misses. He’s a disgrace. I’m not as hard on Allen. He has played well for a long time but is completely overshadowed by the disgusting play of Coleman. Kurt Coleman is a big guy but at this point, I’d rather have Gary Coleman over Kurt.

No, there’s no relation.

While the outcome was not a victory, there were some highlights.

Minus his fumble resulting in a Dallas touchdown, Bryce Brown had a flawless night in LeSean McCoy’s absence. We now know that we have two running backs worth playing and third option, Dion Lewis, that could be used in specific situations. We knew coming into the season that the running back core was going to be deep. But we were never certain as to how well Bryce was going to play.

So far so good for the rookie.

Another big play was when another rookie, Damaris Johnson, took a punt all the way to the house. A 98 yard return from a rookie is something I haven’t seen the Eagles do since DeSean’s rookie season.

It was a good night for the most part. Only thing missing was the win. But we will get back at it next year. I only have to bare through four more Eagles games.

Hopefully, next season will be without that fat sack o’ losses we call Andy Reid.

Random Disney Trip

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As I write this, we are about to leave for a day long trip to Disney. These past couple days away from school have been filled with excitement, heartbreak but most of all, FOOD!

Yesterday we found a place in La Jolla that advertises the sale of a cheesesteak. Before yesterday, the only place I was getting cheesesteaks from in this town was Jersey Mike’s and Philly station. Both of which are somewhat subpar.

Yesterday, the restaurant had the ingredients that we were waiting for.

Amoroso’s rolls? Check!

Provolone and Cheez Whiz? Check!

Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer? Check!

Every thing was falling into place. That was until we found out that the cheesesteaks were made with roast beef.

Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend to have any idea what kind of meat goes into a classic Philly cheesesteak, but it ain’t roast beef. Something about the taste just wasn’t right. We quickly recognized that the meat ruined the sandwich.

But I wanna mention one massive heartbreak from today. The Eagles, once again, lost.

At this point, I’m not surprised. I’m just annoyed and pissed off. I’m disappointed. It was hard to watch my team fall so pathetically. But I digress. We move on. That’s the Philly way.

Well, hopefully Mickey Mouse and all that crap will help me feel better. I’m going to spend tomorrow in Disneyland with my family and my girlfriend.

I hope nothing goes wrong. What could possibly, right?

I sure screwed THAT up!

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In my last blog, I began praising the rookie quarterback Nick Foles for taking the reigns and looking like a pretty solid performer during his first regular season action of his career. Vick went down with a concussion and Foles was looking pretty good. I was really excited. It was now time for the new era to begin.

Foles played great ball, but the Cowboys put up 21 points in less than 3 minutes with a Romo touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, a punt return touchdown and a pick six that I don’t blame on Foles. The ball bounced off BOTH hands of DeSean Jackson. The throw wasn’t great but in the NFL, if you get both hands on the ball, you better flippin’ catch it. We didn’t give him a contract to screw up.

That isn’t me trashing DJax. The guy has played well this year despite the crap going on with his team. But there are definitely problems with this team.

There are only a couple bright spots for the offseason this year.

1) The Eagles are only faced with one player who they may want to resign. Last year, the Eagles resigned just about everyone that needed to be resigned. The Eagles are entering rebuilding mode. But that doesn’t mean losing everyone. Defensively, I’d resign DRC if they can. Is it the end of the world if we don’t? No. But that’s a fast guy with almost sure hands and pretty good vision. Plus, he’s only 26 years old. He’s got time to develop, cut down on penalties and improve his skill set as a top 10 cornerback. He’s got incredible potential. However, the Eagles will be cleaning their defense up this offseason. In my eyes, the only defensive starters I would keep are DRC, Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, DeMeco Ryans, Mychael Kendricks, Trent Cole and I would bump Fletcher Cox into the starting lineup over Mike Patterson.

A lot of you guys are probably wondering why I left Nnamdi Asomugha, someone I was obsessed with coming into Philadelphia, off the list.

Quick answer, look at his stats over the past two years. Actually look over the past three years.

He’s over 30 and somewhat washed up. If not for how massive his contract is, I’d hold onto him. But he’s scheduled to make about 15 million dollars next season. I believe only 4 million is guaranteed money, and now there are murmurs that Nnamdi might be released if they can’t negotiate his contract. I’m disappointed at this thought, but that’s what you get from being a free agent bust.

2) The Eagles will be under new management. The team is going to have to find a new group of coaches that can mold the new-look Eagles. Andy Reid is finished, that much is for sure. Is Vick gone too though? The answer appears to be yes at this point. Only time will tell. Foles will start this weekend against Washington. It’s his first pro start. I’ll be watching with excitement of course.

That’s all the good we got. There isn’t much else. Nothing to see here. We just suck.

Nick>Vick

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It’s only halftime in the Eagles-Cowboys matchup today, I don’t wanna take the chance that something negative happens before I write this blog. I wanna actually speak about the replacement of the Eagles’ quarterback.

Before halftime, Michael Vick took not one, but two consecutive shots to the head. After further evaluation, he’s down for the count.

Vick suffered a concussion today. While I hope the man can recover and get healthy again, I’m somewhat relieved as an Eagles fan.

C’mon guys. We all knew that as long as Reid is coach, Vick would never be benched in favor of a rookie. Something needed to happen in order for the fans to be pleased. We wanted Nick Foles, the phenom rookie quarterback during the preseason. He looked solid then, and so far today, he hasn’t looked bad at all.

He’s performed relatively well. Has he scored yet? No. Has he thrown any game breaking passes? No. But most of the plays that Foles has been in for have been handoffs to LeSean McCoy. He has thrown a few passes and they’ve all looked solid except for one that was almost intercepted.

Give him a break. He’s just a rookie.

As we all know, he won’t get much room for error behind our offensive line. However, the line hasn’t looked completely useless today. Does that mean they’re playing well?

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Vick Doesn’t Use Protection

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I have finally found one of the many issues surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles. Aside from the porous defense, the Eagles appear to have signed 5 members of PETA to block for Michael Vick.

For those living under a rock the past few years, Vick killed dogs. It was kinda hard to miss. That’s the joke people.

In all seriousness, the Eagles line has been completely unacceptable this season. Vick has given the ball away and been taken to the ground more than any other quarterback in football. I don’t want to see my quarterback bite the dust whenever he drops back to pass.

This offseason, the Eagle offensive line looked rather strong. Center Jason Kelce, who had a strong rookie season last year, accompanied by All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters, veterans Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans, and weak link Danny Watkins made up Vick’s protection.

During the offseason, Peters torn his Achilles tendon TWICE, ending his season for the most part. The team has stated repeatedly that they hope Peters will return sometime this season. I find this highly unlikely.

Ok, while Peters is the best we got, losing one guy won’t render us useless. The Eagles then went and signed Demetress Bell to fill the void left by Jason Peters. He’s not bad so I guess we will still be fine.

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Here We Go Again!

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Well, this sucks. The Eagles, once again, are underachieving. Despite the firing of ex-defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, the Eagles have once again fallen far from expectations. The team just doesn’t look solid, and we are close to the halfway point.

One major red flag was this past weekend. The Eagles, with Andy Reid as head coach, have never lost a game following their bye week. This year was a different story. The team looked even sloppier following their bye, almost as if they hadn’t put in any extra work to help their cause.

I don’t blame this recent loss on Michael Vick. I blame this one on coaching and defense. I do not blame new DC Todd Bowles. He was given two weeks to turn a lackluster unit and completely transform them. That’s a tall task considering how much star power the defense has.

Let’s go down the list.

Jason Babin has been horrendous. He hasn’t been able to get to the quarterback at all this season. He’s far behind his 18.5 sack mark from last year.

The other defensive end, Trent Cole, hasn’t had any success either. However, if both pieces can improve, the entire defense will improve as well.

I now turn the attention to one of the most incredible busts (although still somewhat too soon to tell) I think I’ve ever seen.

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Eagles-Giants/Don’t get much better!

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Well that was really disgusting.

Honestly, I was very concerned about this game going in. The Eagles and Giants squared off tonight in an epic battle for the division. Man, it really wasn’t pretty.

The entire first half was scoreless until the 2 minute warning where Michael Vick connected with DeSean Jackson for a touchdown pass. Then the Giants quickly made their way down the field to notch a field goal of their own.

7-3 at the half. Advantage Eagles.

Fast forward to the last 15 seconds, the Eagles could have completely screwed themselves out of a victory.

But they didn’t.

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes lined up for a game-winning field goal. The score is 19-17 and Tynes has a 54 yard kick to give the Giants the W.

He misses wide! Game over! Eagles win!….NO!!!!!!

There is a popular occurrence in the NFL known as “Icing the Kicker”. This act is when a head coach calls a timeout right before a kicker is about to make his kick. However, the timeout is used exactly as the long snapper snaps the ball to the holder. The kicker will then take the kick, yet it will not count.

Unfortunetly, Mr. Fatass…i mean Reid gave Tynes a second shot.

Thank God Tynes screwed it up again. This time, he didn’t put enough into the kick, and it fell about 3 yards short.

This time, the Eagles really did win.

I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about this one. There weren’t a lot of stats that really stood out to me.

I’ll explain more next week. I’m just freaking out that Tynes sucks. That’s all!

Next post, I’m going to discuss something completely amazing. Brian Dawkins is finally gone, and he deserves his own post. Till next time, I’m going to do Spanish.

Adios!

NFL week 2 recap-A reflection on a year ago

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This time last year, the Eagles were 1-1, after beating the Rams in their first week and losing to the Falcons a week later. People were beginning to question just how good the “Dream Team” was. This year, we have a different situation. The Eagles BARELY stole a win in week 1 by beating the Browns 17-16. This week, they had to deal with the Ravens, and the Eagles needed to step it up in order to beat the Ravens. Turnovers were once again an issue, as Michael Vick threw two interceptions (only one was his fault, the other was a tipped pass that should have been caught).

Before I continue about the Ravens-Eagles game, I want to point out my rational behind stating that Vick is only accountable for a certain number of interceptions. When the ball leaves his hand, if it hits his receiver first, I expect it to be either caught or fall incomplete. But if the receiver has good enough contact with the ball, the interception should not be on Vick. My one exception is the fact that Vick throws with such an extreme amount of velocity. It must be hard catching that ball.

Anyway back to the game. The Eagles were dropping like flies. Jeremy Maclin, Jason Kelce and King Dunlap all dealt with injuries. Maclin aggravated his hip pointer from week 1, and Kelce is likely lost for season with a torn MCL and partially torn ACL. Dunlap (who I have no sympathy for) apparently strained his hamstring. Quite frankly, I could care less about King Dunlap. Kelce and Mac are tough losses.

At halftime, 17-7 Ravens. The air was taken out of the stadium and spirits suffered.

That is…until DeMeco Ryans intercepted Joe Flacco.

A turnover can go a long way, and this time, it went for a touchdown. The Eagles were rallying.

We go inside the two minute warning. Eagles down 23-17. They need a touchdown to take the lead. They’re close to midfield, and Michael Vick showed why he’s an elite quarterback.

He chucks the ball down the field to tight end Clay Harbor (who caught the winning touchdown pass a week before in Cleveland) and gets them down inside the Ravens five yard line.

1st and goal the Eagles rush from the 3 yard line to the 1.

2nd and goal, the Eagles give everyone a heart attack by sending Vick on a pass play. He was being rushed by star defensive end Haloti Ngata, and almost fumbled the ball. However, he was able to throw it away.

3rd and goal, the prayers were answered. Vick decided to run through everyone into the end zone.

Only one problem remained. The Eagles, now up 24-23, needed to hold the Ravens in check with just less then 2 minutes remaining. A lot can happen in 2 minutes.

1:48 left in the game, Ravens at their own 21. Anyone that has followed the NFL like I have can remember last season. When it came down to close games, the Eagles defense failed to hold onto the lead, and usually cost the team the game.

Not today.

Today, Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Brandon Boykin, Mychael Kendricks, Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Derek Landri, Fletcher Cox, and DEMECO RYANS shut down the Ravens.

It wasn’t pretty however.

On 3rd down, Nnamdi played an incredible dose of coverage to keep the ball away from Ed Dickson of the Ravens. It looked completely legal, and yet was called illegal contact. That gave the Ravens a fresh set of downs. But in the end, it wouldn’t matter. The defense refused to budge. They forced the Ravens into a 4th down and 2 yards to go situation, and forced Flacco to overthrow star running back Ray Rice.

The stadium has never been louder. I’ve been to a lot of Eagles game, and I can’t remember one being much louder than that.

Now let’s break down one very funny play. Enter BRENT CELEK!

The tight end accounted for more than 150 yards of total offense, and capped off his day with a hurdle over All-Pro and future Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed.

Leap Frog!!

Coaches always teach players to stay low when engaging a tackle. They also tell you to keep your head up.

Ed Reed simply whiffed. But man was it funny!

The Eagles next week travel to Arizona, where they will take on a Cardinals team fresh off an upset over the New England Patriots. The Cardinals have showcased a relatively strong defense in the first two weeks, and the Eagles may have their work cut out for them. These two squads played against each other last season, and the Eagles fell in the minute.

There are two things that I’m very excited about going into this matchup.

Number one is seeing if Juan Castillo uses Nnamdi correctly this year against Larry Fitzgerald. If they stay 1-on-1 all day, that’s gunna be a very interesting duel.

Number two is that last year, the Cardinals used John Skelton as their quarterback.

This year, they may be forced to use Kevin Kolb, the former Eagle.

Last year, the Eagles traded Kolb to Arizona for Cromartie and a 2nd round pick that turned out to be Mychael Kendricks. Needless to say, the Eagles ended up winning that trade.

Maybe Babin and Cole can break Kolb.

Brian Dawkins-The reason I am who I am

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I will cover the NFL Draft this coming week. But, being as my childhood hero just retired for the NFL, I feel obligated to discuss the retirement.

Brian Dawkins was a model football player. He was a leader on the field for his team and off the field for his dedication to the communities of Philadelphia and Denver when he signed with the Broncos.

“B-Dawk” as many refer to him, was one of the most loved athletes in the city of Philadelphia maybe only behind Rocky, who wasn’t even a real person. Brian Dawkins was the heart and soul of the Eagles for over 10 years. As long as I have been watching football, Dawkins has played. I was about just one year old when Dawkins made his debut in the National Football League.

My first memory of Dawkins is during that season, believe it or not. His rookie season, “Weapon X”, another popular nickname for the homicidal safety, made a successful open field tackle against a running back that I think you maybe have heard of, Barry Sanders.

Ya, you read that right. A rookie took down the great Barry Sanders in the open field. That was when the city began to believe.

I’d now like to share some of my favorite moments of Brian Dawkins.

I remember in an NFC championship game against the Atlanta Falcons, where the quarterback was still Michael Vick.

The Falcons were the fastest team in football with players like Warrick Dunn, Vick and Alge Crumpler.

One play in that game set the tempo early.

Vick dropped back and fired a dart about 40-50 yards down field.

Alge caught the ball. Dawkins caught Alge.

Dawk met Crumpler with a MASSIVE hit which left him down on the field for a couple minutes. While he wasn’t injured, the Falcons became demoralized, which led to an Eagles’ Super Bowl appearance.

There are so many Dawkins moments that I could dissect. But, I will randomly provide the readers with other Dawk moments as my blogs continue to come.

Thank you, Brian, for your years of service to this great game. You are the reason for my random yell into the air before every quarter of football or lacrosse that I play. You are the reason why I hit with such intensity. You are the reason that I strive to compete every second I’m on the field. Most importantly, you are the reason I have embraced a leadership role wherever I go. You taught me to be a leader. I couldn’t have asked for a better model.