Game 1

 

OUCH ! Eagles stink up the Linc. Sept 9th by Jules Pilla

Wow! Fireworks, Giant Plasma screens, Teddy P and last but not least, Rocky Balboa working out on film and his alter ego in the flesh, Sly Stallone. All to open up the Linc. Everybody showed up. Well, almost everybody... The Eagles offensive line was missing.

The pain of last year's Championship game that we carried for 8 months didn't go away. It just found a way to get deeper into our psyche. Another bitter loss to the Bucs. If we are truthful to ourselves, we now realize that the road to the Superbowl goes through Tampa. Make no mistake about it, Tampa is a strong team. One that we don't match up well against.

Two problems as I saw it. Andy's game plan of passing first. And second, the play of the offensive line.

Look inside the numbers and it will turn your stomach...

Staley rushed for 14 yards on 7 carries. Ouch!

Westbrook rushed for 5 yards on 2 carries. Ouch!

Buckhalter rushed for 0 yards on 1 carry. Ouch!

John Ritchie (our new FB) rushed 0 times. That must be a misprint. Nope.

Are you kidding me? We have 3 Pro bowl offensive players. Where were they? It all starts with the Offensive line. Well, Andy had them trying to block for Donovan. Andy wanted to throw the ball first because we run West Coast offense. But the Bucs defend the pass as good as anyone. You have to establish the run against this team to beat them. Running the ball is especially important since Tra Thomas has problems with Simeon Rice. The same way that Runyon has trouble with Strahan. To beat the Bucs , we need to run the ball well.

The defense held there own but they were on the field too long. Just like teams of old. The Eagles are a good team and we shouldn't panic yet. Andy just needs to be more flexible when his original game plan is not working.

Next up, New England. They were also shut out this week by Buffalo.