Eagles Mimic Seahawks Circa 2004

If you live on the East Coast then you may have already forgotten about the meltdown that Seattle endured two years ago at the hands of the St. Louis Rams. In case you can’t recall, early in the 2004 campaign Seattle lead the Rams 27-7 at the half in Seattle at Quest field, and 27-10 late in the 3rd quarter. But the ‘Hawks played too conservatively, the offense failed to generate any first downs, and the Rams rallied behind Marc Bulger to tie the game. Then they won it in overtime, 33-27, when Bulger hit a streaking Shaun McDonald down the middle of the field for the game winning touchdown.

I mention this because Philly fans probably don’t remember the game, but their team duplicated the feat this past Sunday when they blew a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter that allowed the visiting Giants to steal a victory in a crucial division rivalry. The G-men rallied behind Eli Manning to tie the game late in the 4th quarter, and then Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a streak pattern that was very reminiscent of the Bulger-McDonald connection in Seattle two years ago.

Philly fans probably don’t want to hear this, but that sort of loss haunts a team. It haunted Seattle. They would later face the Rams in the playoffs, again in Seattle, but the homefield advantage did not help the ‘Hawks. Instead, the memories of that meltdown, which plagued them all season, manifested again in that playoff game and the Rams emerged the victors.

There’s a really good chance that the Eagles and Giants will meet in the playoffs, and if Philadelpha can’t get over this loss - a game that they gave away - it will come back to haunt them.

Womack Out 6 Weeks, But It’s A Good Thing

Floyd “Porkchop” Womack went down in the Seattle-Arizona game Sunday, but unlike other serious injuries that occured this weekend, this is actually a good thing. Womack has been horrible so far this season in pass protection, and his run blocking hasn’t been much better, forcing head coach Mike Holmgren to call the majority of the running plays to the right side, away from the normal strength of the Seattle line.

After Womack went down against the Cardinals, he was replaced by Chris Spencer, the first round draft pick (normally a center) from two years ago. Spencer played really well, and the rest of the offensive line picked up their game, giving Hasselbeck time to find some very wide open receivers. If Seattle intends to duplicate their success from a year ago they must have a top-5 offensive line. Womack doesn’t give them that, but Spencer looks like he might be just the ticket.

Did You Buy Miami As A Playoff Team?

So far the Miami Dolphins have looked exactly like I thought they would: bad. And most of it can be blamed on the play of Dante Culpepper, who is showing everyone that he’s (a) not fully recovered from knee surgery and (b) can’t read defenses. But then again, any Minnesota Vikings fan could have told you the latter part. Culpepper looked pathetic last season after Randy Moss was traded away, and he hasn’t looked any better for the Dolphins. If you picked this team to make the playoffs you might want to start lobbying for a quarterback change now, because there’s no way Culpepper is taking this team anywhere but the cellar.

Greg Knapp Deserves Some Credit, But The Falcons Still Can’t Score

No one is talking about this yet, but Greg Knapp deserves some serious credit for the way he’s utilizing Michael Vick this season. I’ve long thought that Vick would never be a good quarterback in the NFL, and I still think that. I think he’s the most overhyped, overblown player since Brian Bosworth. He simply isn’t accurate as a passer, nor is he a good game manager or decision maker. But Vick’s strengths do not lie in those areas. His best asset is his atheleticism, and until now no offensive coordinator at the NFL has had the courage to use Vick the way he needs to be used in order for the team to win.

Vick is a rare athelete, and he brings a completely unique skillset to the quarterback position. Justfiably NFL head coaches and coordinators have been wary to unleash Vick’s atheleticism for fear that he would get hurt (as he did in 2004) and spend the rest of the season in rehab. After all, defenders in the NFL are faster, more talented, and hit a lot harder than they did in college.

But the only way to truly take advantage of Vick’s talent is to build an offense to his strengths.

I heard an interesting tidbit from a Doug Flutie interview this summer. He was being asked why he had so much success in the Candadian Football league. His reply was this: In the CFL he was allowed to call his own plays, so he simply stayed away from plays that didn’t suit his strengths. In other words, he called the plays he knew he was going to succeed with, and then executed them perfectly.

Until now, Atlanta’s head coaches and coordinators have tried to stuff a round peg in a square hole. They’ve tried to get Vick to do things their way, and that hasn’t played to Vick’s strengths. It hasn’t put him in a position to be successful executing the plays he believes in. But Knapp has come out this season and changed the playbook. He’s running plays that are tailored to Vick’s abilities, and that has got Atlanta to a 2-0 start. I watched a good portion of the Falcons-Bucs game Sunday and I didn’t see a whole lot of drop-back passing from Atlanta. They weren’t asking Vick to do the things he’s not good at. The three and five-step drops that they were forcing Vick to make last season were mostly gone. Instead, there was a lot of running, bootlegs, called quarterback runs and play-action passing. The gameplan played to Vick’s strength, and it had the Bucs defenders on their heels all game long.

If Knapp keeps this up, and Vick stays healthy, Atlanta will challenge for the NFC Championship game. And Knapp deserves credit here. He’s the first guy to step up and see what Vick is good at, and go with that. Yeah, Vick’s chance to get hurt goes up dramatically with this style of offense, but this is who he is. At this point in time you have to live or die by his talent. I like the choice Knapp is making.

Have You Seen The NFL Network’s Commercial?

Maybe you’ve seen it: Brian Gumbel and Chris Collinsworth pitching for the NFL Network, about the live games that they will be broadcasting later this season on the NFL Network, starting with the 3rd game on Thanksgiving night. The pitch line to the ad is: A broadcast made by NFL Fans, for NFL fans.

I like Gumbel on HBO’s RealSports, and I like Collinsworth just about everywhere except when he’s teamed with Bob Costas. But if the NFL Network is serious about a broadcast “for NFL fans” then they need to take a hard look at ESPN’s second team of Ron Jaworsky and Dick Vermeil. As I said last week, they were the best broadcast team I’ve seen ever, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Paul Zimmerman and Peter King thought so too.

I know it’s not fair to criticize Gumbel and Collinsworth before they’ve broadcast their first game, but after the Jaworsky/Vermeil telecast I just can’t imagine Gumbel and Collinsworth topping it. That was great insight and analysis.

Final Observations

• Chad Pennington would be a Pro Bowl quarterback if he played on a playoff calibur team.
• The Seahawks’ defense is better than people realize.
• The Baltimore Ravens’ offense is not.
• Michael Turner, the backup runningback in San Diego behind LaDanian Tomlinson (arguably the best runningback in the NFL), could be a Top-10 runningback if he were on a different team.
• The New England Patriots are in real trouble. It’s a good thing it’s a long season, because they’re going to need the next 15 weeks to come together.
• The Denver Broncos are in real trouble, and it’s not all Jake Plummer’s fault.
• Yep, that’s the Washington Redskins team I thought we’d see this season. Inept.
• It’s only the 2nd week of the season, but Mario Williams is already living up to the hype… as a first round bust. The Houston Texans are proving to be a franchise full of bafoons.