At Least the Eagles Won, Right?

We learned a few things about the birds after their 40-17 domination of the rival Giants.  And, you know, at least you've still got your health, right?
 







Yesterday, we learned that Leonard Weaver is the new power back, the Offensive line controls McNabb, DeSean Jackson is the new Randy Moss, Macho Harris might not get his job back, Confusion is the name of Andy's game, and that Our Defense is pretty good.


Leonard Weaver is the new power back - When the Eagles decided to bring Weaver in this offseason much of the buzz surrounding the 5th year fullback was that he has the ability to carry and catch the ball as well as block for others who do the same. The birds seldom used Weaver as anything more than a blocker for the first 6 games of the season, but that is sure to change after the former Ram used 8 carries to run for 75 yards yesterday. He's much faster than he looks, and when you take a guy of his stature and give him a 3-yard head start at busting through the line eventually something good is going to happen. Leonard Weaver didn't have a clue that he was going to run this ball in this game, which makes me believe that either the Eagles are very good at keeping their game plans a tight-lipped secret, or that they're incredibly stupid. Either way, Andy has found yet another wrinkle to add to this already complicated confusing explosive offense.

The Offensive line controls McNabb - If it seems to you that McNabb has been either hot or cold lately, you're not alone. The explanation for this can be found by looking at the week-by-week play of the O-line. During the Oakland debacle, Donovan F. was sacked 6 times. This week - 2. While it's old-hat to point out that any NFL QB can have success when given the time, that saying is ringing truer than usual with this years' oft-shaky line play. If these guys (I'm looking at you, Jason Peters) can give McNabb the time, we can expect high-percentage, high-scoring efforts out of our franchise QB every week. FYI - While the dirt has picked off McNabb many times this season, he hasn't thrown an INT to an opposing team since week one.

DeSean Jackson is the new Randy Moss - Take a look at Randy's yards per catch and longest catches early on in his career. While DeSean doesn't have nearly the size of Mr. Moss, his early-career stats are strikingly similar. Of course, DeSean isn't putting up 190-yard games like Mr. Straight-Cash-Homey, but to be even close to one of the greatest WRs of all time this early in his career is still commendable. Fraction Jackson is quickly turning into a household name, and rightfully so -- broadcasters everywhere are already considering him the NFL's most explosive player.

Macho Harris might not get his job back - in the Rookie free safety's absence, Sean Jones looked impressive as he has recorded 6 tackles the past two weeks. When the Eagles originally picked up Jones in free agency, the consensus was that he would take Dawkins' spot -- and now he has. Macho has a great career ahead of him, but for now the birds are looking to put the best players in the field and, simply put, Sean Jones is better. UPDATE - it's official. Jones is the starter.

Confusion is the name of Andy's game - In a perfect world, Andy Reid would win differently every week. He brings in Mike Vick and uses him in 10-15 plays a week for nearly 3 consecutive weeks -- then uses him only once. They run the ball with Leonard Weaver a total of 4 times in the first six games, then double that number in the seventh game alone. They use runningbacks in the Wildcat, then don't use them, them use them again, then don't run the Wildcat at all. I'm beginning to see what he's doing here.

To Andy, the regular season is one big chess match. He's using different pieces every week to bring success and wins to this team, ensuring that opposing defenses have plenty to study the week leading up to playing the Eagles. By playoff time, there will have been so many formations and players used in this offense that gearing up for the Philly Offense will be like taking the Bar exam. While I personally like this idea in theory, I hope that Andy doesn't overthink his approach and ultimately lose a big game trying to do too much. For the time being, though, this crap is working.  And trust me, one of these weekends Mike Vick is going to be throwing passes. Watch out, Dallas.

Our Defense is pretty good - Remember two years ago when the eagles couldn't get a turnover for the life of them? Recent additions to the D-line and the Secondary have completely changed the mentality of this football team. We wanted to attack the quarterback and now have the personnel to do so. We wanted to get players that could create turnovers, and now we have the personnel to do so. We wanted to be able stop the run, and now we have the personnel to do so. All three of these things were once issues and no longer are. Let's not have a short memory here and give some praise to the coaching staff for altering this defense as needed to be successful. I mean, if the fans had their way, we'd still have a terrible Lito Sheppard, and while we'd probably have a formidable WR (Anquan Boldin?), we would have given up valuable draft picks and wouldn't have a team as close to as talented as this current Eagles squad. Kudos, guys.