Arizona Cardinals (+2.5) over Atlanta Falcons

Yes, Arizona has a horrific defense and they lost four out of their last six games. They look terrible and Kurt Warner is fifty-six years old. There’s probably ten teams in the NFC that are better than them. They only beat one other NFC team that was not in their division. Guess who? Yes, the Dallas Cowboys. Remember that blocked punt on October 12th? Of course, we all do. We all love watching Dallas implode. But this isn’t about Dallas. This is about Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons’ defense traveling to Arizona to play the Cardinals. This game is all about who can stop who and as horrific as the Cardinals defense is, Atlanta’s is not that much better. The Cardinals are in the middle of the pack at stopping the run and if they can keep Michael Turner in check, which is something many NFL teams have had a tough time doing, then they will win the game. I see this Arizona Cardinals offense running on all cylinders Saturday afternoon. Look for Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald to hook up many times, and not in a gay way, but in a watch-how-many-touchdowns-we-can-score kinda way. Final score Arizona 31 Atlanta 24 (for the record, they will get destroyed next round, completely destroyed).

Indianapolis Colts (-1) over San Diego Chargers

Revenge game. Peyton Manning is the MVP of the NFL. San Diego is not a good football team. They aren’t. They play in a horrible division and they aren’t ‘coming on strong.’ Look who they played in their last four games. The Oakland Raiders who suck. The Kansas City Chiefs who suck. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers who suck. And the Denver Broncos who suck. Their previous three games before that were against playoff teams (Steelers, Colts, and Falcons) and they lost all three of those games. I love the Colts in this game. I truly believe they are the best team in the NFL right now with the best player (Peyton Manning). I will be completely dumbfounded if the Chargers win this game. Final Score Indianapolis 30 San Diego 20

Baltimore Ravens (-3) over Miami Dolphins

I was up the street last night grabbing dinner when my buddy asked me ‘who plays quarterback for that purple team?’ I said, ‘Tarvaris Jackson?’ He said, ‘no.’ I said ‘Joe Flacco?’ and that turned out to be the correct answer. The fat guy with no chin sitting next to my buddy said, ‘he was my neighbor.’ For the sake of not butchering anymore punctuation I will continue this story without any ‘he said, she said’ crap. The fat guy with no chin (let’s just call him Fat No Chin, FNC for short) grew up with him during the summers in Ocean City, New Jersey. FNC told me he threw a wicked long ball on the beach. So right now I picture Joe Flacco tearing up the scene in Miami Beach throwing wicked long balls which will carryover till Sunday in a very nice rookie, playoff victory. Oh, and Ed Reed might have something to say about this game, too. Speaking of Ed Reed, would you rather have him or Troy Polamalu? Food for thought. Final Score Baltimore 20 Miami 17

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) over Minnesota Vikings

There’s around 15,000 seats still available for this game and it’s subject to blackout in the Minneapolis area. How pathetic is that? Do you know what else is pathetic? Tarvaris Jackson. This is me breaking down this game. What the Eagles really need to do is establish the run and…..the Vikings quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson. If the Eagles can stop the run…..the Vikings quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson. The Eagles need to win the battle of field position…..the Vikings quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson. In conclusion, if the Eagles defense can put pressure on Tarvaris Jackson…..the Vikings quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson. You get my point? Final Score Philadelphia 34 Minnesota 17

I can barely even talk about the Eagles right now.‚ I am still fuming over Sunday night’s game.‚ Every time I think about it I just see red.‚ The team’s flaws are so obvious; they have been exposed for everybody to see. The Eagles are good enough to compete against any team in the league but they certainly are not good enough to win a championship. And it is not a matter of scheme and execution as Andy Reid would like us all to believe. They are a fundamentally flawed team. ‚ 

You can argue that the Eagles are built too small to compete against the smash mouth teams in the NFL.‚ After all, the defense gave up over 200 yards rushing against the Giants Sunday night, and the offense got stuffed on that oh-so critical 4th and 2 play.‚ I, however, happen to be one of the few who think the Eagles aren’t too small on the defensive side of the ball. ‚ Yes, they got‚ gorged by the Giants power running attack.‚ It was painful to watch.‚ But this defense was assembled to have an identity.‚ 

As a defense, you are either quick and fast or big and stout. You can’t be both.‚ The Eagles chose to be the former because it’s more prone to make the big play i.e. the sack, the turnover.‚ Now, my problem with the defense, especially Sunday night, is that they are designed to be this aggressive, attacking style defense but yet they don’t attack. They don’t blitz, regardless of what the national media thinks. They don’t take risks. That’s a problem with gameday coaching, not philosophy.‚ 

Why didn’t they stack the line of scrimmage against the Giants? Why didn’t they call more run blitzes? Because of the threat of giving up a big play in the passing game? Well, if you’re afraid of taking these kinds of risks then they’d be better off having defensive personnel like the Patriots who are big, slow, and stout against the run with their base front seven. I hate to say this, but it seems to me that the teacher, Jim Johnson, could learn a few things from his pupil, Steve Spagnuolo.

The offensive side of the ball is another story. This is where the team is fundamentally flawed and it is this side of the ball that will ultimately keep the Eagles from being an elite team in the league this year. Football is a tough man’s game.‚ I’ve always believed that in order to be a championship caliber team there will be moments where the other team knows exactly what you are going to do and you just have to impose your strength and will onto them.‚ In these moments, you just have to be stronger and tougher than your opponent. No strategy. No fancy tricks. Just pure muscle and determination.‚ 

On a macro level, what this translates into is the ability to run the football in the 4th quarter with the lead. On a micro level, what this means is the ability to convert on short yardage and goal-line situations. This year, the Eagles have not had the ability to do either with any degree of success.‚ As a result, they’ve lost three very winnable games and now find themselves in the cellar of the division.

Once again, I don’t think this inherent flaw with the offense has so much to do with personnel as it has to do with the overall philosophy believed by Andy Reid of what winning football is.‚ It goes without saying that Andy Reid believes that you win games in the NFL by throwing the football. Year in and year out, the Eagles are always one of the most pass-happy teams in the league. This year, there are only three teams in the league who have rushed to ball fewer times than the Eagles.‚ 

On a theoretical level, I don’t have a problem with the fact that Reid calls so many pass plays.‚ If they could still effectively run the ball the limited number of times he actually called for it, then I think the Eagles’ record would be much improved, possibly even undefeated. Reality doesn’t work that way, however, and every offensive lineman will state that running the ball is a mindset and‚ repetitions‚ are needed to help create that mindset.‚ 

So, it’s not a matter of being too small upfront.‚ In fact, the Eagles have a huge offensive line; across the board they’re bigger than the Giants, who right now have the most dominant offensive line in the NFL.‚ Nor is it a matter of Westbrook being too small.‚ Emmitt Smith was arguably the greatest short-yardage back to ever play the game, and Westbrook is comparable in size to Smith. Also, I would argue that Adrian Peterson probably wouldn’t have been able to convert that 4th-and-2 Sunday night with how poor the blocking was on that play. ‚ 

The problem with the Eagles is inherent in the team’s offensive philosophy. It is this same philosophy that convinced Andy Reid to foolishly keep six wide receivers and four tailbacks on the roster while not retain a single true blocking fullback (nor a single blocking tight end, for that matter). Reid believes games are won one way from an offensive standpoint, by stringing together explosive play after explosive play. The mundane three-yard gain has no function in the overall design of an offensive game plan.‚ 

It seems in Reid’s mind of minds, games are won in the abstract or on the chalkboard rather than in the trenches on the field. Strategy and the ability to create favorable mismatches override the need to be mean, tough and physical.‚ Until Reid acknowledges this fatal flaw in his offensive philosophy, I fear they’re going to experience quite a few more heart-breakingly tough losses on the field this year. ‚ 

BETHLEHEM, Penn. — On Saturday, I got to spend the entire day at Lehigh University at training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, I know, I should have posted this sooner. Give me a break.

As a football junkie, the sights and sounds of the opening weekend were very welcomed. This was my first camp experience as a media member so training camp was as new to me as it was to the shy rookies who were about to get hit by professionals for the first time. Here are my observations:

-Eagles camp is a bit of a circus this year. Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard isn’t happy with his contract and wants to be paid or traded. Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook is keg of dynamite on the field, and threatening to become one off of it as well; he also wants more money and has mentioned that he might leave camp if he doesn’t get it.

While these have been huge stories in the Philly media, they weren’t the biggest problem. Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews shocked everyone by not showing up to camp. More shocking is that it doesn’t seem money related. Word around camp is that he has some emotional issue. I spoke to several people that said that head coach Andy Reid is absolutely fuming. This is the weirdest hold-out story I’ve ever heard.

-Interesting note on the photography rules. During any kind of live passing drills, all photographers have to be at or behind the line of scrimmage. Apparently there was an incident years ago where a player caught a pass running out of bounds and had a collision with a photographer.

-Rookie seventh-round offensive lineman King Dunlap is a 6′ 9" mountain of a project that the coaches think they can turn into a real player. It’s only the first weekend, but it’s not looking good. He was getting smoked by everyone and anyone. Offensive line coach Juan Castillo was on him during one-on-one drills, yelling at him to explode forward before moving laterally.

-If you are imagining a quiet practice field with a few reporters looking on, you are way off. Philadelphia fans absolutely love their Eagles. Both the morning and afternoon practices drew about 5,000 screaming fans that pay attention to every play. To these loyal on-lookers, every 20-yard completion is a glimmer of hope that the team could be playing deep into January.

-I was a few yards from young running back Lorenzo Booker making a phenomenal one-handed catch on an awful Kevin Kolb throw to the sidelines. He snagged it effortlessly and then blazed up the sideline. This drew quite a cheer from the faithful.

-Speaking of which, if you’ve never been at an NFL practice or had a chance to see these guys do their thing up close, you have no idea just how big, fast and talented they are. Even the bad players are unbelievable to watch. To even get invited to an NFL training camp speaks volumes about one’s natural athleticism.

-The press and photographers are situated between the field and the fans. The fans who are pressed against the rail on the field level have to try to see through us and the players who are on the sideline watching the drills. A fan starts yelling at us, "if you aren’t taking pictures you have to move out of the way!" The photographer next to me looked at me like…"what the hell rule is that?" I know the fans want to see their favorite players, but there are some people who are actually working.

-Uh oh. Big-ticket free agent signee Asante Samuel just left practice with an apparent hamstring injury. No one knows the severity, and it’s just the latest issue the Eagles have to deal with in this camp. It turns out, it’s a mild sprain and that he is day-to-day. It looks like someone didn’t spend his big signing bonus on gym equipment.

-Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb looks sharp and fit. Although he didn’t finish the afternoon practice the way he would have wanted, the rest of the day he was throwing darts that cut through the Bethlehem, PA humidity and found their marks. He is now fully recovered from his 2006 ACL tear and looks to have a spring in his step again.

-Of course it’s all well and good for McNabb to be accurate, but there also has to be someone to catch it. And that someone doesn’t seem to be starting wide receiver Reggie Brown. He wasn’t terrible the whole day, but he did let a 40-yard McNabb bomb slide right through the eight and the six (he’s #86) and hit the turf.

-Remember those passionate fans I mentioned earlier? They kind of noticed that Brown didn’t make that grab and they let him have it. I won’t repeat some of what I heard.

-Another photography note: Don’t leave as much as a camera bag on the ground during live drills. I was lightly scolded by an Eagles employee for having a video camera bag at my feet as the live bullets started to fly on the field. I’m not sure if it’s for player safety, or so King Dunlap doesn’t fall out of bounds and obliterate someone’s $4,000 lens.

-I get a phone call from former Philadelphia Eagle and current 610 WIP sports radio host Garry "G." Cobb on my cell phone. He tells me he just walked by super agent Drew Rosenhaus down by the fields. Rosenhaus is Sheppard’s agent and stopped by for a little sit-down discussion with Reid and COO Joe Banner regarding the cornerback’s status. One fan yells, "Hey Drew, how about you get them to trade for Anquan Boldin?!" Drew says, "yeah, that sounds good."

-Andy Reid is the A1 head honcho when it comes to calling the shots at training camp. If he sees something he doesn’t like, he will let you know. Loudly. And not just football stuff. One event staffer said he got it from Reid when fans were leaning too far over an elevated railing. He laughed and said, "Oh, Andy does not discriminate when it comes to going off on people." That sounds about right, everyone in that complex is fearful of Reid. After seeing his commanding presence, even I was! I didn’t dare ask a question during the press conference lest I be the object of his ire.

-Although, that didn’t stop other reporters from doing so. A guy with a prominent sports media outlet, which will remain nameless, asks Reid about Asante Samuel’s hammy injury. He wanted to know how hamstring injuries are treated as opposed to other injuries. Are you serious? I’m not a doctor, but I’ve watched enough sports to know that each hamstring issue is different and that you have to be careful with it because it can be re-injured very quickly if you rush back too soon. How do you not know this?

-Defensive tackle Montae Reagor gets inches from picking off McNabb. Tackles rarely get the chance to make INT’s and you could tell he was upset with himself. Tra Thomas yells, "man that was your chance, Montae!"

-For all those Philly fans that are clamoring to move on and close the McNabb era, you may want to hold off on that thought. Kevin Kolb was drafted in the second round in 2007 as McNabb eventual successor, but he doesn’t remotely look ready. I saw poor decisions and scattered passes all day. He may be fine at some point, but right now is not his time.

-I think this is running back Ryan Moats’ last training camp in Philly. He still hasn’t grasped the playbook and drops too many balls out of the backfield. As Charles Barkley would say, “he looks terrble.”

-Rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson gets perhaps the most fan attention. He looks like he can really play based on what I saw Saturday and I was praising him. Just fyi, I spoke to a few people today after his hamstring injury who didn’t have great things to say about his work ethic.

-I wrapped up the day drinking Gatorade and water in the press tent with G. Cobb. We discussed what we saw and who won’t make the cut at the end of August. It’s a numbers game and we think there are going to be some pretty big names sent to the waiver wire when the final axe comes down.

The Philadelphia Eagles are seemingly a long way from winning the Super Bowl, but with quarterback Donovan McNabb healthy, and the additions of cornerback Asante Samuel and defensive end Chris Clemons, they may be closer than one would think. People question why they addressed the defense so quickly when struggles in the red zone seemed to be their big problem in 2007.

One answer of why they went defense? The 2007 Eagles defense lacked turnovers. Think back to the 2006 season, when the city proclaimed Jeff Garcia the best thing to ever put on an Eagles uniform. The Eagles were 5-6 and just got pummeled by the Colts by 24 points when Garcia took over. They then won five straight to win the NFC East, but was the offense any better with Garcia? No, but the defense was.

The first game after that loss to Indy was the Monday night game against Carolina. The conclusion came down to the Panthers in the Philadelphia red zone with seconds left on the game clock. A fade was thrown to Keyshawn Johnson in the back right corner of the end zone, and Lito Sheppard intercepted the ball, game over.

The Eagles then traveled down to Washington to beat the Redskins by two points. The big play in the game? A Michael Lewis interception that was brought back for a touchdown.

With the playoffs in sight, the Eagles battled the hated Giants. The Eagles took the lead with minutes left in the game to leave Eli Manning with enough time to tie it up. Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown came in unblocked from Manning’s blindside and sent the football into the air. Defensive end Trent Cole caught it and danced it into the end zone.

Then came Christmas day and oh what a day that was. The Eagles defense kept the Cowboys down to seven points, leaving the fans of Philadelphia in a state of amazement. Some fans and media were quick to credit the improvement of the offense for the NFC East title, but they averaged more points with McNabb without the defensive turnovers.

In 2007, the defense was ninth in points per game, tenth in yards per game, seventh in run yards per game, but 18th in pass yards per game. The Eagles weakness in 2006 was their run defense, which clearly was addressed. But, they were 18th in passing yards per game, which is not typical for a Jim Johnson-coached team. Boasting a strong secondary at the beginning of the season, they became unhealthy. Brian Dawkins missed some games with his neck injury, Sean Considine had shoulder problems, and Sheppard’s knee was keeping him out of a substantial amount of games. What really stands out is how many interceptions they had last year: 11, tied for last in the NFL. Defensive TD’s? Zero. What the defense lacked last year was healthy playmakers.

So, what do Asante Samuel and Chris Clemons bring to the table? Samuel leads the league in interceptions for the last two years, and Clemons racked up eight sacks in a backup role with the Raiders last year. They are game changers and that’s what the Eagles were looking for and, hopefully, found.

According to a source close to the situation – despite reports that Larry Fitzgerald is not available in trade – the Philadelphia Eagles are still going hard after him. I also heard that Lions WR Roy Williams is no longer on the radar for the Eagles.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Larry Fitzgerald has officially renegotiated with the Arizona Cardinals. His new deal is reportedly worth $40 million over four years, with $30 million in guarantees. The contract changes his cap number from $16,485,000 to $7,643,334.

Regardless, the Cardinals inability to get this hammered out before the start of free agency has cost them dearly. They now have some wiggle room to add some free agents and there is really no one left. Well done, Rod Graves.