Eagles vs Giants

Even though this game has been talked about alot already, here are some of the things I liked and some of the things I didn't like about the Eagles 36-31 loss to the Giants this past weekend. 

What I Liked: 

1) DeSean Jackson: This kid is a playmaker. Give Andy Reid credit for skipping the middle man, and just direct snaping it to Jackson on the goal line. Jackson delivered with a 10 yard touchdown run. He did a great job of ducking that diving Giant linebacker to reach to pylon. He continues to be one of the only playmakers on the offense. 

2) Donovan McNabb: He did start and slow and throw an interception (and another one that should have been called back). But without him, the Eagles are not even in the game. They put up 31 points on one of the best defenses in the league, and the sole reason was McNabb. The run game didn't do anything. At the end of the season, McNabb is going to get unfairly blamed and probaly traded if they don't make the playoffs. But when Kolb is in, everyone will realize how nice McNabb was. 

3)The Giants- Ill give credit where credit was due. And as much as I hate the Giants, they are the best team in the league. Last year might have been a fluke, but this year definitly isn't. Brandon Jacobs is a man child. Running game is the key to winning in the NFL, and they do it as good as you can.

4) The Wide Receivers: All of the talk in Philly is allways how we need more wide receivers. But with Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Hank Basket and Jason Avant, the Eagles have a nice group of players there. Basket does a nice job running the fade route. Avant can make the tough catch over the middle, and Curtis is one of the fastest players in the league. They have been not the reason the Eagles have lost this season. 

5) Matt Patterson and Stewart Bradley: The Eagles have two good, young players at very key positions. Patterson had two huge take aways, which both led to Eagles touchdowns. He gave the Eagles momentum to start the game with his interception, and then gave it back to them again when he recovered the fumble. Stewart, meanwhile, had a team high 14 tackles, and was everywhere during this game. 

What I Didn't Like:

1) Andy Reid: See below

2) The Defense: For all the talk about how good they are agaisnt the run, they sure don't play like it when it matters. The Giants got 5 or more yards on 22 rushes. That leaves a lot of 2nd and 5, 2nd and 4 plays. That is the ideal position to be in as an offense. They allowed 17 points in the first quarter, and drives of 8 and 9 minutes. Thats way to long to be on the field. They need to get off the field and get the offense back on it. 

3) Jim Johnson: I wanted to to put Brian Dawkins, but when I thought about it, its not Dawkins fault that he was lined up with Plaxico Burress one on one on the goal line. Dawkins has had a great career, but at this point, he can't cover people one on one. Why isn't Asante Samuel on him? Or Lito Sheppard? Or any corner back at all. The touchdown tied the game at 7-7, and killed the early momentum that the Eagles had. 

4) Play Calling: I know I talked about it earlier, but you can't talk about this game without talking about how stupid it was for them to run the SAME play twice in a run on the most important two plays of the season. Why not have McNabb drop back, look once, and just run for it if nothing is there? Or on 4th and 1, have Correll Buckhalter just run and dive over the top. Or just call more running plays through out the game, so you have a running game established when you really need it.