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6:01:00 AM EDT
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing Dire Straits - Where Do You Think You're Going?
…and Into Taking Issue With SBL
Where do you think you're going
I think you don't know
You got no way of knowing
You got no place to go
I understand your changes
How long before you reach the door
I know where you think you're going
I know what you came here for
And now I'm sick of joking
You know I like you to be free
Your Humble Brewmeister has been presented with a fine opportunity this holiday weekend: four glorious summer days at the Jersey Shore to savor the 2006 vintage Mobetta Pale Ale, hours at the beach with SPF minus-15 cocoa oil, savoring enough eye candy to cause a non-diabetic to require insulin, and hours to catch up on what little NFL news is there for the curious mind to consume.
One of the items brought into this foamy existence was the “NFL's Most Improved Teams with Jeff Chadiha” feature. The Atlanta Falcons are the most improved team? All-righty then! NFC South the toughest division in the NFL? As if the Saints have a chance to sniff the playoffs this season! AFC West the second-toughest division? Have the vision blinders excluded the fact the Raiders with their inexperienced defense and Chargers with the less than awe-inspiring Phillip Rivers at QB are in that division? Add in an aging Chiefs team… Hmmmmmm.
Listening further into Chadiha feature, (and reading his 5/31 feature on over-hyped teams to discover his anti-Eagles bias) we hear Blog Boy and his habitually-myopic “Redskins, baby!” point of view referring to the Eagles offense as “garbage.” Mixed into this morass of journalistic excellence (typed with all tongue-in-cheek sarcasm) is the stupefyingly repetitive drone of, “Without T.O., the Eagles have reverted to what they were.”
At face value, this comment is ludicrous! What the Eagles before T.O. were only the three-time NFC Champions, and the second-winningest team in the NFL for the previous four seasons. Excuse me for saying, but were the people uttering this phrase seated at my micro-bar, until the question, “What’s so bad about that?” is answered by something other than a mumbled “Where’s your ring?” they’d be reduced to enjoying my other specialty brew: iced tea. (Hint for the "Ringless Bashers": the NFL Titles in 48, 49 and 1960 COUNT! There was an NFL prior to the Super Bowl!)
Repeat after me, haters: The Eagles 2005 season was an aberration! Say it! An aberration! Beginning with “Leon” Owens attempting to renegotiate his then one-season old contract in the media rather than with the Eagles management, and the resulting rifts that ensued from this action, through the numerous injuries the Eagles sustained, the 2005 season was a fluke! And while on the T.O. man-crush bearer topic, may I be the first to point out, in the playoffs; the Eagles with Owens on the field have won exactly ZERO times.
Excluding “Leon”, the Eagles had half of their starter players miss significant time due to injury last season. That’s 11 starters! In several situations, the backups to the injured starters were also injured, particularly on the defense. Included on this list are Pro-Bowlers Donovan McNabb, Lito Shepard, William Thomas and David Akers, as well as center Hank Fraley, Jerome McDougle, Todd Pinkston and Paul Grasmanis. Grasmanis has retired, but the rest of that injured list will be returning for the 2006 season.
During the off-season, the Eagles have made significant free-agent acquisitions to address the weaknesses uncovered last season. Darren Howard was picked up from the Saints, and his presence, combined with McDougle’s return will provide the backfield pressure lacking in 2005 opposite Jevon Kearse. Shawn Barber adds quality depth to the line-backer position.
Like it or not, free agent Jabar Gaffney had 50+ receptions in the Houston Texans offense last season. Considering David Carr’s propensity to wind up in a supine position on passing plays, that fact alone indicates under-rated skills in the slot receiver position. Tight End Matt Schoebel adds a starting-caliber player to the offense. Jeff Garcia adds real veteran leadership to the depth chart behind McNabb.
Two players to be factored into the offensive mix are second-year players Reggie Brown and Ryan Moats. Brown showed flashes of brilliance being thrust into a starting role not anticipated for him in the preseason last year. Brown spent must of the past winter in Philadelphia increasing his body mass, strength and speed, as well as fine-tuning his knowledge of the Eagles offense. Moats dedicated his offseason to fine-tuning his pass route technique and increasing his knowledge of the complex Eagles playbook. Moats possesses Westbrook’s elusiveness at the point of attack, plus has greater straight-line speed and toughness finishing off his runs. Both players will showcase much-improved skills over their respective rookie campaigns.
As mentioned in my previous entry, the Eagles offensive line will be a physically intimidating presence for opposing defenses to deal with. The starters average nearly 340 pounds per man, and depth has been added in the form of draft picks Winston Justice and Max Jean-Gilles. Look out for “The Porterhouse Five” NFL!
Say what you will about the Eagles Offense, “going back to what they were” is hardly the truth here in Philly. The players in the fold are a vast improvement over the group that won the NFC East four-consecutive years.
Back to what we were? Contending for the Lombardi ain't a bad place to be. I’ll take it!
Written by mrbiersnob Blog about this entry |
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I say well written as always But the Big L is coming HOME were it belongs. Watch out for the Big Blade in MA lol
7/3/06 6:51 PM
mo hike up to 30spf. t o didn't lose the super bowl. don't count on mc dougle just yet.