A Far from Flawless Performance

By: Michael J. Cheal

Well, after the fiasco at Oakland last weekend, a win is a win, but the Eagles are going to be in trouble on Sunday against the Giants if they don’t get their problems on both sides of the ball fixed.

The defense was inconsistent once again, looking brilliant at times, and downright awful at others. The highlight was when the Washington offense was backed up near their own goal line. Jason Campbell went back to throw, and then Quentin Mikell deflected the pass, and the ball fell right into Witherspoon’s arms. He then ran it in for a touchdown.

The lowlights were the stupid off-sides penalties that kept Redskins drives alive when they should have been punting. What’s more disturbing is we saw the same thing happen in every game so far this season. They’ve played six games. You’d think by now Andy Reid would have laid the law down with his players. Apparently not.

There were flashes of brilliance from the offense. There was the sixty-three yard end around to Desean Jackson, which resulted in a touchdown on the Eagles first drive of the game. The other highlight was the fifty-seven yard bomb from McNabb to Jackson just before halftime.

Those were the only offensive highlights of the game for the Eagles. The Eagles defense forced two turnovers on Washington’s side of the field, and the Eagles offense could only produce two field goals. The Eagles win should have been at least 35-17, maybe more They couldn’t score a single point in the second half. Without those two plays from Jackson, the final score would have been Washington 17, Philadelphia 13. They almost let another game slip away that they should have won more handily.

If these problems aren’t corrected, the Giants are going to eat the Eagles up on Sunday. Unlike the free-falling Redskins, the Giants will take advantage of every opportunity the Eagles give them. The Eagles cannot only score field goals when they force turnovers. The Giants are too well disciplined. On top of that, the Giants have lost two straight, and they are ravenous for a win in Philly next Sunday. The question is are the birds going to be as prepared? After the first six games, I’d have to say no, but it’s the NFL. Who knows what could happen? Remember what happened with the Raiders a couple weeks ago?