Archive: December, 2009
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
On the longest day, partly because of injuries but mostly because of an unending series of flags and officiating conferences, the last conference went the Eagles’ way.
Aided immeasurably by a key call with 59 seconds left, when referee Mike Carey overruled one of his officials and decided that Jeremy Maclin got both feet down on a really close play along the sidelines, the Eagles beat the Denver Broncos, 30-27. David Akers kicked the game-winning field goal with 4 seconds left.
In pulling it out in the end -- after blowing a huge lead in the third quarter on the day that Brian Dawkins returned to Philadelphia -- the Eagles left open the possibility that they could win the NFC East later tonight if Dallas were to lose at Washington.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Last year, it took a miracle for the Eagles to make the playoffs -- a three-cushion bank shot on the last day of the season, an event no one could have predicted.
This year, despite the occasional hiccup, has been so much smoother. This year, the Eagles are in the playoffs with two games remaining following a 27-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Now, only two questions remain: 1) will the 10-4 Eagles be able to win the NFC East and get a home game in the playoffs and, 2) will a spate of snowball throwing from the stands in the fourth quarter become a note among the national commentariat or a cause celebre?
Questions, questions. The Eagles were not exactly methodical against the 49ers. Donovan McNabb threw two interceptions and was off on several other throws, ending a month of excellence. But he still threw for 306 yards and hit one huge play, a 59-yard pass to the uncoverable DeSean Jackson on a third-and-2 play, flipping the field and ultimately ending up with a touchdown by LeSean McCoy that snuffed out San Francisco’s last realistic chance at pulling the upset.
On the day after 23.2 inches of snow fell in Philadelphia, the field was pretty pristine at Lincoln Financial Field and the stands were, well, more pristine on the north side of the stadium than they were on the south side. The south side, behind the Eagles’ bench, is where most of the snowballs came from. Most were delivered without malicious intent, except for one brief stretch when some people dressed in 49ers garb were the targets, and another time when the officials were the target after a flag went against the Eagles. Seeing as how the officials were standing among Eagles people on their bench at the time, this wasn’t exactly the smartest act the citizenry ever perpetrated.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Join Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann for a live chat about the Eagles' 45-38 win over the Giants Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On the Eagles’ last scheduled visit to this place, to the site of so many strange doings over the last three and a half decades, to Jimmy Hoffa’s windswept sepulchre, it seemed as if bizarre was somehow preordained. Last night at Giants Stadium, it was as if history demanded it.
This is where Herman Edwards once committed a miracle, and where Randall Cunningham once punted a ball 91 yards. It is where Clyde Simmons once returned an Eagles field goal that had been blocked for a touchdown, and where Brian Westbrook once saved an Eagles season with an 84-yard punt return for the ages.
Now it is a place where the Eagles blew a 30-17 halftime lead to the Giants and still won, 45-38, in the highest scoring game in the history of the rivalry.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
I mean, what a beating. No other way to characterize it. The Atlanta Falcons, missing their starting quarterback, best running back, a starting receiver and two starting offensive linemen, played like a team missing all of that and more. Unlike the previous two weeks, when the Eagles had to come from behind to beat struggling Chicago and Washington teams against whom they were favored, this one was precise and quite thorough. The final score -- Eagles 34, Falcons 7, with Atlanta scoring on the game's final play, with no time remaining -- was a pretty fair representation of the carnage.
Which brings us to the side issues:
Michael Vick scored his first touchdown as an Eagle on a 5-yard run in the third quarter, and then threw for a toucdown on a 5-yard pass to tight end Brent Celek. The fans here for Vick's homecoming game were entirely psychotic, booing him when he went out to participate in the coin toss before the game, cheering him when he scored the touchdown, and chanting "We Want Vick" before the Eagles gave Donovan McNabb his baseball cap early in the fourth quarter. But there was a complication: Vick left the game and was seen on the sidelines with his right (non-throwing) hand bandaged up. So, we'll see.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
For all of the people who doubted whether or not Shawn Andrews really has a back injury, well, unless the surgeons are just going in for the hell of it, it can be said for sure that Andrews really has a back injury. He has been on Twitter for days, pointing to a second surgery, and Thursday apparently is the day.
Through all of his digital ramblings, one point has remained clear throughout Andrews' ordeal: that he is firm in the belief that Eagles head coach Andy Reid remains very much in his corner.
Now comes another reiteration, as they prepared to wheel him into the operating room:
