Kolb, Eagles take down Ryan, Falcons

Kevin Kolb came into Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons with something to prove. Boy did he prove it. Kolb went for 326 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception in the Eagles 31-17 victory over the Falcons, by far his best performance of the season. On the receiving end, Jeremy Maclin had 159 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns, while Desean Jackson had just 34 receiving yards but two touchdowns (1 rushing). Jackson exited the game early with an apparent head injury after a nasty hit by Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson. The Eagles defense played fairly well the entire game, intercepting Matt Ryan once and recovering a lost fumble late in the game. David Akers, however, had one of the worst games of his career, only making one out his four field goal attempts. Whether the cause was the wind or not remains to be seen. Overall, the Eagles (4-2) proved that they can hang with the big boys (Atlanta fell to 4-2), even without the presence of Michael Vick.

Grading:
Offense: B (Kolb's spectacular day was hampered by a lackluster rushing attack)
Defense: B (Solid outing by the defense, but nothing spectacular)
Special Team: D (1/4 field goals is never a good sign)
Overall: B (Eagles proved that they can beat good teams without the help of Vick)

Kolb proves he can play

If Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers taught us anything, it's that a) Kevin Kolb can clearly play in the NFL, and b) The Eagles defense needs some serious help. The Eagles slipped by San Francisco 27-24 in what was a 27-10 lead in the 4th quarter. Kolb went 21-31 with 253 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and a 103.3 quarterback rating. Lesean McCoy had an average day, rushing for 92 yards on 18 attempts and scoring a touchdown despite having a cracked rib. The defense, despite intercepting Alex Smith twice and recovering two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Quintin Mikell, allowed him to throw for three touchdowns, two of which were late in the game. The defense almost allowed San Francisco to pull out a victory on a day where the now 0-5 49ers shouldn't have even come close to success. The defense will need to step it up for the now 3-2 Eagles to have a chance to win the division.

Grading:
Offense: B (Kolb and McCoy had solid days, but they could have produced more)
Defense: D (almost blew the game with a late lead)
Special Teams: D (allowed 181 kickoff return yards on just 5 kickoffs)
Coaching: C (simply average, which is actually good for this coaching staff)

McNabb gets standing ovation, Eagles booed

Yesterday, the Washington Redskins, led by Donovan McNabb, came to Philadelphia and defeated the Eagles 17-12. McNabb, in his first game against the Eagles since he was traded to the Redskins in the offseason, had a average game, passing for 125 yards and a touchdown, including an interception. The Redskins, who had one of the worst running attacks coming into the game, ran all over the Eagles defense, going for 169 yards. The Eagles offense, on the other hand, could not run or pass the ball efficiently all game. Michael Vick went down in the first half, giving Kevin Kolb yet another opportunity to prove himself. He would go for 201 yards, a touchdown, and a late interception, and though he did not look as bad as he did in Week 1, he still did not look good. Kolb often checked down and went to the fullback or running back instead of looking deep for playmakers such as Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Though the extent of Vick's injury is not known, he will more likely than not be out for this week's game vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Kolb will have to step up and make the deep throws the Philly fans have become accustomed to with Michael Vick at the helm.

Grading:
Offense: C (could not make plays all game)
Defense: C (gave up a lot of rushing yards against a lackluster team, yet buckled down in the second half)
Special Teams: C (Akers had two nice field goals)
Coaching: F (terrible play calls and the missed touchdown opportunity at the end of the first half)
Overall: C (this team is capable of playing much much better football)

Vick does it again

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-3 in what was yet another impressive showing by Michael Vick. Vick threw for 291 and scored 4 total touchdowns (3 passing and 1 rushing),while Desean Jackson had 5 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown. Lesean McCoy was pretty much a non factor this game, rushing for a mere 54 yards and no touchdowns. The Eagles defense was stingy, giving up just 3 points to a lackluster Jacksonville team that, from the way it looks, may have its own quarterback controversy soon. David Garrard went an abysmal 13 for 30, only threw for 105 yards, and threw no touchdowns and 1 interception. While Jacksonville is not the best of teams, it is still reassuring to see the Eagles winning the games that they should be winning. During the McNabb era, teams such as the Jaguars would have given the Eagles problems, but with Mike Vick at the helm, those problems seem to have momentarily disappeared. Perhaps Mike Vick was the best choice after all.

Grading:
Offense: A (big day dominated by Mike Vick and Desean Jackson)
Defense: A (3 points against any team is a good sign)
Special Teams: A (the best special teams plays are the ones you forget the next day, and I don't remember anything!
Overall: A (If the Eagles can keep up this pace of play, the NFC East title may be much easier than previously thought)

Breaking News: Vick to start Sunday vs. Jaguars

The Eagles have just announced Michael Vick will start for the team this Sunday vs. Jacksonsville, despite having a healthy Kevin Kolb ready to go. While Vick has obivously outperformed expectations, one must wonder what made Andy Reid change his mind so quickly.

Though Vick may lead this Eagle team to 10 or so wins this season and possibly win a few playoff games, there is one thing that is a fact: Michael Vick will not be an Eagle in 2011. Next year, this team will be right back where they were this preseason, only this time, with an angry, upset, and largely unproven Kevin Kolb.

Hank Baskett Released

Today, the Eagles released Wide Receiver Hank Baskett and signed Running Back Joique Bell, a member of the Bills Practice Squad. Bell's role as a member of the team remains to be unknown, though it is possible he could fill in for injured Fullback Leonard Weaver, who suffered a season ending injury Week 1 vs. the Packers.

Eagles-Lions Week 2 Recap

It appears Philadelphia has a bigger problem than we previously thought.

Yesterday, Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) defeated the Detroit Lions (0-2) by a score of 35-32. Vick had a solid outing, going 21 for 34 with 284 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Desean Jackson had his first solid outing of the year as well, catching 4 balls for a total of 135 yards, including a touchdown. The story of the day, however, was the dominant performance by Lesean "Shady" McCoy, who had 15 carries for 120 yards, including 3 touchdowns.

The run-pass play calling was even throughout the entire game, which is a shocker considering the Eagles are such a pass heavy team. The thing that suprises me is that it came with a quarterback at the helm that is a very capable runner. If the Eagles can keep the run-pass playcalling even with Kolb, I believe they will experience the same success they did this week. Shady McCoy can obivously run the ball.

Defensively, the team was borderline terrible. Besides Nate Allen's 2nd career interception, the defense seemed to sit down and let the Lions run all over them, including allowing rookie Running Back Jahvid Best to rush for 3 touchdowns. The team nearly lost the game in the end, allowing two Lion touchdowns in the final minutes of the game. That being said, the Special Teams were also lackluster.

On Special Teams, one player in particular sticks out in everyone's mind: Riley Cooper. When the Lions were down just three points with less than two minutes left, they opted for the onside kick, which they recovered thanks to a mishandling of the ball by Rookie Wide Reciever Riley Cooper. This play could have cost the team the game; thankfully, it did not. Overall, Special Teams play needs to durastically improve.

Grading:

Offense: A (Strong outings by Vick and McCoy)
Defense: C (Almost lost the game, gave up 3td's to a rookie rb)
Special Teams: D (Almost lost the game on onsides kick)

Overall: B