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What's wrong with the Eagles' offense?
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Paul Domowitch: Two big plays from Eagles, but much sputtering

LANDOVER, Md. - A week after being held to three measly field goals in an embarrassing 13-9 loss to the Oakland Raiders, the Eagles put up 27 points in the first half of last night's 27-17 win over the Redskins.

Don't interpret that flurry of points to mean that all is suddenly well with Andy Reid's offense, though. It's not.

Seven of those 27 points were scored on a 9-yard interception return for a touchdown by the Eagles' newest linebacker, Will Witherspoon.

Six more came on a pair of David Akers field goals that were set up by defensive takeaways.

The only significant signs of offensive life by the Eagles came on two first-half plays involving wide receiver DeSean Jackson. The first was a 67-yard touchdown run on an end-around on the Eagles' first possession.

The second was a 57-yard touchdown catch by Jackson late in the second quarter that gave the Eagles a 27-7 lead. He beat Redskins cornerback Carlos Rogers on a nifty post-corner route, then waited, waited, waited for Donovan McNabb's underthrown pass to get to him.

Other than those two plays, the Eagles' offense was flat in their fourth win of the season. Finished with just 11 first downs, which was three fewer than they had last week against the Raiders.

"It was hit and miss offensively," head coach Andy Reid said. "We need to do a better job there. This is a good defense. Those points are going to be hard to come by."

Take away Jackson's two big plays and the Eagles managed just 138 yards in offense. They gained just 60 yards and converted one of seven third-down opportunities in the second half, when they failed to score.

After converting just two of 16 third-down opportunities against the Raiders last week, they were a troubling 4-for-15 last night.

"Should we have scored some more in the second half?" Reid said. "Absolutely. But 27 points against this team isn't bad."

Jackson's long run, which came on the Eagles' first possession, was pretty much the sum total of their rushing success. Brian Westbrook, who left the game in the first quarter with a concussion that very well could keep him out of Sunday's important NFC East battle with the New York Giants, had just 13 yards on three carries. Rookie LeSean McCoy gained 37 yards on 14 carries.

And for the second straight week, McNabb struggled. He was off-the-mark much of the night and completed just 15 of 25 passes for 156 yards. Underthrew the pass Jackson caught for his touchdown. Had Jackson wide open on a crossing route in the second half and threw the ball into the ground 6 feet in front of him. Overthrew Reggie Brown on a simple sideline pass that he's thrown a thousand times.

 

Did you notice?

 

-- For the second straight week, the Eagles activated just two quarterbacks - Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick. Kevin Kolb was designated as the emergency (inactive) quarterback.

-- Even with Omar Gaither out, the Eagles still didn't activate linebacker Joe Mays, who, less than 3 months ago, was the coaching staff's first choice to replace injured Stewart Bradley as the starting middle linebacker.

-- Ellis Hobbs was back returning kickoffs. Quintin Demps returned them against Oakland because of Hobbs' wrist injury.

-- The excellent downfield block by Jeremy Maclin on Redskins cornerback Carlos Rogers on DeSean Jackson's 67-yard, first-quarter touchdown run.

-- For the third time in their first six games, the Eagles scored on their first possession. The Eagles have gained 247 yards on 19 plays on first possessions this season.

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Comments   
Posted 06:35 AM, 10/27/2009
He had high apple pie in the sky hopes.
Donovan McNabb is such a sorry excuse for a quarterback, it's not even funny anymore.
Posted 07:09 AM, 10/27/2009
Jiggs
#5 is pathetic. I’m so done with that career loser. He looked like he did last year when he got benched. The Kevin Kolb era can’t start quick enough for me.
Posted 07:23 AM, 10/27/2009
cuse
Blah, McNabb, blah, blah. McNabb, blah, blah, blah. I'm so done with your career loser posts. You look like you did last game and every game (win or lose). They're such sorry excuses for posts, it's not even funny anymore. The positive poster era can't start quick enough for me.
Posted 07:30 AM, 10/27/2009
Seed
"Dumb Witch" went after Charlie following Phillies loss to Rockeys. That tells you how bogus his observation and opinions are. In football you win one game at a time and improve as the season moves forward. The bad name that Philadelphia has at the national level is based on these useless writers and their negative mentality.
Posted 07:32 AM, 10/27/2009
Phil Checchia
Seed... do you dare show your face after last night. Waiting for you to try and find some positives about 5's play last night, Some of those passes took bigger divots than a PGA pro. He's awful. Happy feet in the pocket, constantly confused, inaccurate throws. He gets a D for last night. NFL East ripe for picking this year. A real QB (KOLB) will get it done. Saddly for you Seed, 5 will not.
Posted 07:36 AM, 10/27/2009
Seed
Read this article again.... could not find a single suggestion to improve the Eagles or any positive feedback to encourage this team. Dumb Witch is well representative of his name. Eagles offense was not good but they did not commit a single turn over; McCoy held on to the ball well. The running game did not take off but McCoy did well in several short pass situation. In the horrible second half, the offense held on to the ball long enough to rest the defense by keeping the ball on the ground and not giving any easy scores to the Red Skins. A single good tackle could have saved the Raiders game; each tackle is that important.
Posted 07:42 AM, 10/27/2009
CoolRunnings
They need to spit or get off the pot with this mildcat stuff. It costs downs and busts up the flow of the game. Either they have the tools to make it work as a real addition to the offense, or it doesn't. This isn't the time to try it out. Donovan needs all of his downs to move the team
Posted 07:42 AM, 10/27/2009
He had high apple pie in the sky hopes.
Figures that someone named "Cuse" would take offense to the truth & label it as negative since it's directed at a former Orangeman.
Posted 07:49 AM, 10/27/2009
gordy
I purposely watched Macho Harris last night while he was still in the game. He is an absolute fraud. He is terrible at covering, plays timid and soft in the passing game, and is everybit as bad as Asante when it comes to tackling, EVEN ON KICKOFFS! Put Demps back in or Sean Jones, at least with one of them back there you will only have one tackling liability in the secondary. By the way, Witherpoon is a keeper!!
Posted 07:56 AM, 10/27/2009
Seed
Football team is a group of 22 player; not just one QB. When the QB is off, rest of the team pull together and win. Giants are not loosing just because of Eli or Cowboys did not win just because of Romo. Peyton won his SB in a year when his offense sputtered and his defense played lights out in the playoff. Football is a team sport, try to get the concept of "team", it works 99% of the time. Kolb has never done anything in his past to show he is a NFL QB; a team like Red Skins may gamble on him, no one else will.
Posted 07:57 AM, 10/27/2009
Joe Funk
Conversely, one tackle last night and that game goes into OT. The Birds are living and dying by the big play because they refuse to establish an legit running game. The FO passed on getting a vet RB even though Westbrook's durability is on the decline (not meant as a knock, just the sad truth). Nice block by Maclin, good to see the youngster showing some 'us' attitude.
Posted 07:59 AM, 10/27/2009
monsieurms
Truth is...Eagles didn't look so good. Offense did nothing if it wasn't Jackson making a big play. Running game--zilch. McNabb--didn't look so good. The Eagles d wasn't exactly in lock down mode either against a struggling team in disarray. It was an acceptable but rather lucky win in a game that could've been a lot closer. After Oakland, it has to make you nervous as to where this team is and where it is going.
Posted 08:03 AM, 10/27/2009
SayHello2MyLittleFriend
OK, they beat a team that they are supposed to beat. Let's see how they do against a tougher opponent. By the way, what's the deal with so many passes aimed at shoestrings? And that bomb to Jackson, I'm glad he slowed down to get under that pass. Come on Donovan! Go EAGLES!
Posted 08:11 AM, 10/27/2009
dpcoz
this offense stinks. this offense always stinks. forget the stats where they run the score up on bad teams, this offense has been mismanaged for YEARS. The only balanced and half-competent year they had was in 2007 when they realized Garcia couldn't throw as much as McNabb and they made a huge effort to implement a running game. My prediction - we miss the playoffs - enough of these ugly games tend to go the other way in the win-loss column.
Posted 08:30 AM, 10/27/2009
iladelph
Is this a continuing thread from the loss to the Raiders? I thought we won the game. A win on the road against an NFC East opponent. I'll take that any way we can get it. Quit your bellyaching!!
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