Eagles v Cardinals Recap

The Eagles finally gave the fans something to be thankful for on Thursday, as they absolutely dominated the visiting Arizona Cardinals. It wasnt hard to tell which team needed it more, as the Eagles (for once all season) dominated the line of scrimmage and played harder. The Eagles pounded the Cardinals to the tune of 185 yards on the ground, which if you've been watching this team all season, is the most telling stat as to how dominent they were.

What I Liked:

1) Donovan McNabb: As with the quarterback of any team, it all starts with him. And this week, he delivered. McNabb came out hot, and led the Eagles to two first quarter touchdowns, which is 2 more then they had in the previous 6 quarters. McNabb finished 27 of 39 for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns. He led the Eagles to a touchdown in every quarter, and really put to sleep the critics who were calling for his head all week. It sad to say, but if all McNabb is playing for now is to up his trade value, then this game showed other teams that when McNabb is on his game, he's one of the best in the league.

2) Brian Westbrook: Finally, a Westbrook sighting. His two rushing touchdowns were as many as he had in the last 6 weeks combined, and he broke 100 yards on the ground for only the second time this season. He also caught two touchdowns, including the one that put the Eagles on the board first. Not only were his stats impressive, but if you watched the game, you noticed that the Westbrook that played on Thursday was not the same one that has been playing. He ran hard, fast, and was elusive. He averaged 5 yards a carry, his second highest average of the season. Hopefully, he can keep this up, and not fall back into a slump like after the Atlanta game.

3) Joselio Hanson: Hanson came up for the Eagles, starting in the place of the injured Asante Samuel, catching his first career interception. It came off of a Stewart Bradely tip, but Hanson showed good ball skills in making the catch even though it was behind him and tipped. While it is just one game, it says something that Jim Johnson put Hanson in as the starter over Lito Sheppard. I know that it was because Sheppard has played the Nickel Corner all season, but after manning the starting cornerback spot for years, he probaly could have done it. This showed faith in Hanson, and it also showed the Eagles will be moving on without Sheppard next season.

4) 3rd Down Conversions: Its not often a player who hasnt played a down all season for a team, comes in for a 3 yard rush and gets a standing ovation. But when Kyle Eckel came in and converted 3rd and 1 for the Eagles early in the first half, it was huge for the Eagles. It got the gorilla sized monkey off their back, and set the tone of success for the night. For the game, the Eagles were 10 of 15 on 3rd down, as compared to 3 of 10 for the Cardinals.

What I Didn't Like:

1) Inconsistency: When you win by 28 points, theirs not much to not like about the win. But after watching the Eagles play the Bengals and Ravens, you have to ask yourself, where was this team during those games? The Ravens defense is good, but the Bengals defense isn't. How come the Eagles coulnd't put up 48 on them? Its been the Eagles achielles heal all season, and hopefully they can keep up this momemtum into the next game.

2) NFC East: How much does it suck that the Eagles play in the NFC East? The Cardinals were the best team in the their division by far, and the Eagles killed them. For all of the biggest problems with the Eagles, maybe their biggest problem is their divsion. For most of the Andy Reid era, the divsion has been the Eagles friend, once going 6-0. But now the Eagles are in the toughest spot in the NFL, having to climb over 3 teams that are all in the top 10 in the NFL, just to make the playoffs.

3) Max Jean-Gillies: He went down for the season, and this isnt going to help an already depleated line.

4) Andy Reid: I know they won, but in a way, it irks me that he is probaly sitting in his office thinking "I knew it was the right move to bench McNabb." It still wasn't. And he still needs to go.