B-L-O-G-G-E-R-S

Let's start off this Eagles recap with the view from the left coast of the blogosphere:

For the first time this year, the 49ers were out-schemed. The Eagles began by using the 49ers' defensive aggressiveness against them.

That was Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle, live-blogging the Eagles-49ers game, and observing that Donovan McNabb's 50-yard strike to open the game preyed on safety Tony Parrish's failure to sense a flea-flicker.

You can tell the 49ers are playing a far better team than the Cardinals or Rams.

On this side of the ball, Sean Portnoy at For The Birds seized on the moment late in the game, when the San Francisco crowd was roaring and any Eagles fan with a one-week memory started to worry:

There was a point when the score was 31-17 that Eagles fans had a slightly sinking feeling in their stomachs: Could the team possibly blow another huge lead, much less to a club that won only four games last season? Almost as incredibly, that feeling dissipated thanks to Matt Schoebel, who up until this point has been known in Philadelphia for dropping the ball. The back-up tight end caught a dump-off pass and turned it into a huge gain, setting up Brian Westbrook's third touchdown carry of the day, and effectively ending the 49ers' comeback attempt.

Three games into the season, and the Iggles Blog is measuring the 2006-07 Eagles' character:

It's obvious this offense has the potential to be very, very good.  The Eagles are currently the number one offense in the league, and I would argue that they haven't yet hit their ceiling.  Westbrook and McNabb are at the top of their games, but guys like Reggie Brown, Donte Stallworth, and a rebuilt offensive line all have room for improvement as they get more experience playing together in this system.  Barring a significant injury (read: McNabb), this team is going to be scoring points in bunches for the rest of this season.  ...

The problem is that explosive offenses don't win Super Bowls.

And the defense, blogger Derek Sarley describes as a question mark. Giving up 24 points to a team that can only be described as improving, doesn't cut it, he argues. Yet....

There was maybe a glimmer today of something we haven't seen in awhile.  That defensive series in the third quarter, when the 49ers had first and goal from the Eagles' one-yard line, was one heck of a goal-line stand:

Enrico at the Funhouse (wasn't that Iggy's place?) has video of Patterson's scamper and Westbrook's stiff arm.

Over at Scrapple, the Mean Guy  starts off with some strong lower-case words:

mcnabb continues to look awesome, simply awesome. he's surpassed randall as the best eagles QB i've ever seen. for a couple of weeks, i've been thinking that when all is said and done the me-o circus may have been a good thing for don to go through. he survived the trial by fire and he seems to have come out more determined and tougher. he's playing with an anger and a desire to destroy the other team, that i don't think he's displayed before. i've never seen him go through his progressions quicker. i've never seen him throw the ball more accurately. i've never seen him throw the ball with better timing.

Despite Brian Westbrook's three-digits of ground gain, Scrapple frets over the running game:

how is it possible to have 5 massive mashers up front, incapable to doing any mashing? don't let the 150 rushing yards fool you. today was not a successful running day.

Mean guy credited 49ers second-year QB Alex Smith for taking a beating and never flinching:

he never resorted to any of the falling away/turning his back to the rush that eli manning continues to display.

Some other Scrapplisms: Dropped passes still vex. The secondary remains a concern. The defensive line pressured well, but Jevon Kearse is sorely missed. For a cerebral guy (my notes: went to Michigan, wears bow ties) Dhani Jones made stupid back-to-back penalties.

Next up, as Mean Guy notes, a Monday night date with "the interception machine formerly known as Brett Favre." (Nice work finding that cartoon, Mean Guy. The Excusamatic? Brilliant! "Ninjas stole my game plan!")