SAYS GOODBYE TO BIG 5 HOOPS FOR '09-'10
Each week, we provide a list of what we will be watching during the Eagles game:
1. The assault on JaMarcus. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott blitzed Bucs quarterback Josh Johnson on 60 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps (45 of 75) last week. That percentage might be even higher this week against Russell, who was sacked six times and lost three fumbles last week against the Giants.
2. Turnover time. The Eagles are second in the league in takeaways with 12, and should be able to add to that total this week against a Raiders team that has the third most giveaways (12). Seven of those 12 giveaways belong to quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who isn’t very adept at reading coverages and doesn’t protect the ball in the pocket.
3. The Jackson & Maclin Show. DeSean Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin already have combined for three 100-yard receiving performances and four touchdown catches in the first four games. The Bucs rolled their coverage toward Jackson last week and Maclin responded by catching six balls for 142 yards and two TDs.
4. Welcome back Trotter, Act II. Less than 2 weeks after re-signing with the Eagles, Jeremiah Trotter played 19 snaps last week against the Bucs, all of them on first down or in short-yardage situations. He wasn’t much of a factor, which was hardly surprising considering he hadn’t played football in almost 2 years. He’ll try to shake off some more rust Sunday against a Raiders team that is averaging the third fewest yards in the league on first down.
5. Plague of the yellow hankies. The Eagles committed a season-high 10 penalties against the Bucs last week and currently are seventh in the league in flags per game (7.25). Fewer penalties is very high on Andy Reid’s “things to do” list this week against the 1-4 Raiders.
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Four our earlier report from practice, click here.
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
