Archive: November, 2010
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Update: ESPN's Chris Mortensen questioned the $40M in guaranteed money that his colleague Michael Smith reported Donovan McNabb would be receiving in his new contract.
Mortensen's words are interesting because he was the one who reported that the Redskins had to cut the playbook in half for McNabb. Mortensen also said Washington considered benching McNabb before the first matchup with the Eagles.
His sources are clearly close to Shanahan, while Smith's sources are obviously in McNabb's camp.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
As it turns out, Donovan McNabb encouraged the Eagles to sign the quarterback that would end up replacing him: Michael Vick.
McNabb sat down with ESPN's Mike Tirico for a one-on-one interview that aired during Sportscenter. Tirico asked him what it's been like to see Vick succeed and why he urged the Eagles to add Vick before last season.
"Mike is like a little brother to me," McNabb said. "I've known Mike since he was a senior in high school. When he got out, I wanted to talk to Mike and let him know that everything he set as his goal is still reachable, that you're going to work extremely hard, keep your nose clean and you'll get yourself back to where you want to be. He told me he would, and look at him now."
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Join me for a live Eagles-Redskins chat on Monday night. The action starts at 8:30 p.m.
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Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
For much of the 2009 season, the Eagles leaned on their offense.
In their 11 wins, the Birds averaged nearly 33 points per game, and they finished the year averaging 26.8 points per game, fifth-best in the NFL
But in the back-to-back losses to the Cowboys in Week 17 and in the wild-card round, the Eagles managed just 14 points - total. And, well, you know what happened after that. Donovan McNabb was shipped off to Washington, Kevin Kolb was groomed as his successor, and yada, yada, yada... Michael Vick's name is being mentioned in MVP discussions ("I mentioned the bisque...").
So today, as Vick and the Eagles prepare to take on McNabb and the Redskins, I wanted to take a look at how this year's offense with Vick and Kolb compares to last year's offense with McNabb. Let's start with the basics. The numbers in parentheses indicate league-wide rank.
| YPG | PPG | Passing YPG | Rushing YPG | |
| 2009 | 357.9 (11th) | 26.8 (5th) | 255.6 (10th) | 102.3 (22nd) |
| 2010 | 376.3 (4th) | 24.8 (8th) | 238.8 (11th) | 137.5 (5th) |
The Eagles are better in yards per game, but down in points. The passing yardage is down, and the rushing yardage is up.
Part of that can be attributed to LeSean McCoy's improvement, but a big part is what the Eagles are getting from Vick's legs, and what they're getting from receivers on running plays.
On average, the offense is getting 53.75 yards per game on the ground from its quarterbacks/wide receivers. Last year, that number was just 22.4. The runs have been more effective this year, as the Eagles are averaging 5.1 yards per carry, which is tied for first in the NFL. Last year, they averaged 4.3, 14th in the league.
Here's a closer look at the passing numbers:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Giants' loss to the Cowboys Sunday evening has opened the door for the Eagles to move into a first-place tie with a win against the Redskins on Monday night.
The game is huge for Washington also. Despite the chaos that has enveloped the franchise in recent weeks, the Redskins would be just one game out of first with a win, and they would have a 3-0 record within the division.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here's a roundup of who's picking the Eagles in their Week 10 matchup against the Redskins:
SI.com's Peter King likes the Eagles in a 24-13 victory:
"Got your Stat of the Week for you,'' Sal Paolantonio told me on Sirius NFL Radio the other day. "Donovan McNabb's 1-0 after being benched.'' Make that 1-1 by Monday night, Salvator. Last time McNabb came off a benching, he was facing Kurt Warner and one of the worst defenses (at the time) in football. This time, he's facing a hot Mike Vick and the league's third-rated D. But there'll be a lot of emotion in this game for McNabb, and a lot of motivation for him to play one of the games of his life. So we'll see.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
With the Eagles' season halfway over, here are my picks for midseason awards:
Offensive MVP: Michael Vick
The case could be made for four guys: Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Even though he only played three full games (and parts of two others), Vick gets my vote.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles were able to neutralize Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney in last week's win over the Colts.
Part of that was Jason Peters playing well in his return.
And another big part was the game plan. By my count, Peters was asked to block the opposing Colts defensive end (usually Freeney) 13 times. The other 21 times, there was help. Sometimes that meant the Eagles running a screen or rolling Vick out. And many other times, that meant a tight end or running back chipping or staying in to block.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here's the weekly roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles after their win over the Colts last week:
SI.com's Don Banks has the Birds 11th in his power rankings:
I know the quarterback theme has been the story of the year so far in Philly, but who would ever thought we'd get to see Andy Reid's passing form this season? If you haven't seen it yet, you have to watch the just-surfaced clip of a rather large 14-year-old Reid in a 1971 Punt, Pass and Kick competition in Los Angeles. I'm reduced to near-tears of laughter ever time I see the size of the little kid standing behind Reid, who I might add is absolutely shoe-horned into a Rams uniform. Ah, the internet. What wonders you do hold.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Michael Vick returned to the field Sunday, leading the Eagles to a 26-24 victory against the Colts. The Birds are now 3-0 on the season in games that Vick has started and finished.
However, Sunday's performance was different from Vick's outings earlier this season.
And with that, let's get to the weekly breakdown, starting with pass targets:
| Targets | Catches | Yards | YAC | Drops | |
| DeSean Jackson | 8 | 7 | 109 | 16 | 0 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 7 | 4 | 48 | 8 | 0 |
| LeSean McCoy | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| Jason Avant | 3 | 2 | 41 | 27 | 0 |
| Brent Celek | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Owen Schmitt | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 26 | 18 | 218 | 65 | 0 |
Football is a complicated game, but sometimes it can be simple. Like in this case: Get DeSean Jackson the ball, and the offense will have success.
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