Eagles lose a terrible game
Titans 37, Eagles 19
Eagles lose a terrible game
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- This is a game the Eagles always seem to lose: on the road, against an AFC team with some credentials, just before the bye. It is something we have seen several times during Andy Reid's tenure. There is no explaining it, just like there is no explaining why their Septembers are always so unstable, and why they always win the game right after the bye, and why they play like crazy in November and December. It is just part of the annual cycle.
And, well, for a long time on Sunday, this one looked like a win -- until, that is, it turned into one of the ugliest Eagles losses in recent memory. Titans 37, Eagles 19 will live in infamy -- at least through the upoming bye week. Cortland Finnegan's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown with no time remaining was the final indignity.
Quarterback Kevin Kolb wasn't playing well when trying to throw the ball downfield, but the running game and the short passing game were solid, and kicker David Akers was money after a tough day the previous weekend against Atlanta. On defense, the Eagles' No. 1 job was to stop Tennessee running back Chris Johnson -- and for the third straight game, the defense did just that against an opposing back.
It wasn't going to be pretty, not even a little, but the Eagles were going to win. But then the Eagles fumbled away the touchdown that would have put them ahead by 23-7 in the third quarter when the Titans' Jason Jones blew through the Eagles' line and disrupted the handoff between Kolb and LeSean McCoy just 3 yards from the end zone. And then Titans backup quarterback Kerry Collins began to find the only player on the field who could beat the Eagles -- wide receiver Kenny Britt.
With about 13 minutes left, and with the Eagles' pass rush flagging, Collins hit Britt with an 80-yard touchdown pass, a play on which rookie safety Nate Allen did not react well. (Britt had caught a 26-yard TD already in the second quarter against the beleagured Ellis Hobbs.) But after that it was pitch and catch, and then pitch and catch again, and again, and again -- and the Eagles had no answer. With 5:03 left, Collins hit Britt with another touchdown pass, this one from 16 yards.
By the time it was over, Britt had seven catches for 225 yards. He had been benched early in the game because of a bar altercation during the week, and when he arrived, it was like lightning.
For the third week in a row, the Eagles' offensive game plan was excellent. The screen game was working, the run game was consistent, and there were enough people open downfield. This week, though, Kolb had trouble with the deep ball. He was intercepted once and could have been picked off for a second time if not for a play made by wide receiver Riley Cooper, a play of the year candidate.
Out of the wildcat formation, the Eagles ran a kind of double-reverse thing: direct snap to Jeremy Maclin, to Shady McCoy, to Kolb (who had been lined up wide), and then deep down the middle to Cooper. Except the pass was badly underthrown, and the Titans' Chris Hope was a certain interceptor until Cooper made a great comeback break to snag the pass in front of Hope. Thirty-seven yards, no sweat. A couple of plays later, Cooper made his first NFL touchdown reception, a 5-yarder from Kolb.
But the offense stalled, badly, in the second half. Kolb did nothing to cement his position as the starter in the Kolb-Michael Vick sweepstakes. And a young team that could have burnished its credentials with a win against a backup quarterback on the road instead will deal with the awful taste of this one for 2 weeks.
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Mike Vick is going to slide now. Thank God— elijah29
lol headline "Birds lose a tough one". Since when is 37-19 a 'tough one'?— linuxdood- I don't care what coverages you are playing, please get rid of Hobbs. If Samuel is our No.1 corner why not shift him to cover a player who is certainly destroying the other DB(s) trying to stop him.
Ellis Hobbs is the new Izel Jenkins.— bwt112 - Damn, thats whats up tpizza. Only problem is, people will STILL make excuses why Klob should start. They need to put Vick in and roll with it— elijah29
Our defense thought that was Britt Reid out there. So they let him catch the ball.- FIRE SEAN MCDERMOTT! Got his new players, got his year to prepare, still stinks.— alyosha
- Hobbs played matador defense like he has all season. The guy just can't play...he stinks. Anyone miss Sheldon Brown?— jmb53
- This was A Tale of Two Backup's, and Old Yeller came out victorious.— Klobber
- This team sucks— jibberjabber
elijah29, I was all for giving Kolbjob his chance and said so. He beat a winless team, beat a decent team and then reverted to what I thought he was, a back up. If not for Riley Cooper, no TDs at all today. Kolb did nothing the entire second half. I'm sick of him running away from the LOS at a 45 degree angle and then throwing off his back foot. He went from his best game to the bench and this loss was squarely on him with a big assist from the D. When we needed him he played small and that's just what the complaints were about McNabb except Kolb was cr@ppy for the entire game to boot, not just when the Titans were coming back. The Kolbettes will recede back into their holes, the pom poms will be off to get dry cleaned because they won't be needed against Indy with Vick playing. And have you noticed a conspicuous silence from one of the regulars? I believe the last thing wiff was heard saying was Eagles 27, Titans 17, Kevin Kolb 300 yds and 3 TDs. That was after a week of crowing about Player of the Week BS. Player of the Weak is more like it. Awful display of QBing and that pick six was icing on the cake. Back to the bench KK, time for Vick again.— tpizza
Comment removed.- We now know why Vick became the starter.— Chilladelphia
- CAN WE MOVE ON NOW!!!!
KOLB IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A BACK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every deep pass he threw today, was UNDERTHROWN!!!
He should of had 4 INT's today, if it wasn't for the titan DB'S drops. The one deep throw kolb did complete, should have been pick off, if it weren't for the tight end fighting for the ball.
kolb is fool's gold!!! You better hope, kolb is not the quarterback for the next five years or the eagle's will be drafting in the top ten, the next five YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LISTEN, THERE IS NOOOOOOOOOOOO QB CONTROVERSY.
It was time for Mcnabb to go, so it's not kolb fault on that subject, but kolb is not the QB for this team, if you want to be a contender.
Kolb can't handle the pressure of being a QB in Philly. you'll see, once Vick leaves, next year to get his own team, ya'll REGRET IT!!!!— GOLDIE69 - McNabb barely won, with 5 turnovers by that nitwit Cutler.— peteinmich
- Funny how when Kolb plays terrible or loses it's all the defenses fault or it was windy, or the offensive line sucks, or Avant should have caught that pass. But when Mcnabb had bad games it was entirely his fault. They would say "trade him he sucks". Mcnabb did have games where he shared most of the blame, but it seemed like evertime we lost it was his fault. One game that I'd say wasn't his fault but everyone blames him for is the NFC championship game against Arizona. He played amazing football in the second half and had one of his best performances as an eagle. Brought the eagles back from 24-6 after the defense was torched. Took the lead 25-24. And the defense gave it right back. After the game everyone blamed Mcnabb for the loss.
Just saying. Stop making excuses for Kolb.— nas927
