Duba's 5th Annual "Only When I Have a Blog or Other Available Forum Where I Can Riff" Ideal Superbowl Matchups

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Flipping the Bird: An End to the Surprising Season of the Philadelphia Eagles

 

Well folks, the end has happened. The season that we all thought was about rebuilding, took an amazing turn and suddenly everybody changed their expectations. I know mine did. I tried to determine if I expected more or hoped for more. Either way, when I predicted them to go 6-10 this year, I hoped it would be close and I expected them to lose. It certainly looked that way. But then the defense shored themselves up. You started to hear the names of Cedric Thorton. Fletcher Cox. Benny Logan. They are the young defense's nucleus. Then, as Sports Illustrated put it, "Nick Foles Happened." Nick Foles and Peyton Manning are in the same display case at the Football Hall of Fame. The team rallied around each other while Michael Vick, despite being quiet and a backup, did his best to be a leader of a team that was clearly moving on beyond him. The team played like a team, and they won the division.

That was the season in a nutshell. There are many more things that developed. Lesean McCoy won the rushing title. Nick Foles tied the NFL record for touchdowns in a game. I think he had the best Quarterback rating or something like that, too. The defense went from allowing 50+ points to the Broncos to averaging less than 20 a game. Some big steps. There were some let downs, like the midseason loses to the Giants and Cowboys. The Chargers game was disappointing, as I was there and you knew if San Diego got back the ball with anything but 0:00 on the clock, it was over. Also, the Eagles could have put the Andy Reid train to rest had they not relied on Michael Vick too much to beat them.

 

An up and down year, or should I say more like a down and up year. Going 7-2 in the last nine total games of the year is impressive. Unfortunately, that last loss ended the season. So, since my Flipping the Bird articles have been sparse this season, I think this best fits a Top 10 Memories from the Past Eagles' Season...

 

10. Nick Foles throws 7 touchdowns. I remember we were cleaning the house during this game. Every time the Eagles had the ball, it seemed like they scored. By the 5th touchdown, I told Kim my cleaning duties will be shirked every time they had the ball. Ruthless aggression came to the forefront after the 7th Touchdown. They tried for 8. They could have had 8. But perhaps Chip thought it wise not to allow too much performance pressure on Foles by being the record holder after he stunk up the previous week in Dallas.

 

9. Eagles beat Tampa Bay. Foles' first game this year as a starter, and he owns the Buccaneers. He looked like the quarterback that those who loved him could be. It started the reversal of the season this year and showed that they could potentially kill teams.

 

8. First Monday Night Football Game of the year. That's when the hype train was unloaded. It was at that point (until at least the last game of the year) that I felt the Eagles would not lose if they held a lead. They started out like a wrecking ball, then finished like a deflated ball, but watching bewilderment on the faces of all the Redskins was awesome. Watching Washington's defense gasp for air, followed by the next day buzz was remarkable.

 

7. Riley Cooper. The buzz was generated when Maclin went down with an ACL. Everybody pinpointed Cooper to be the next man up. Thank God it wasn't Demarus Johnson. He really is terrible. BUT then the video came out where he threatened to fight every N-word out there. The other guy who was shown wasn't ever called upon, and he appeared inebriated. They say most truths come out when you are drunk. I pointed out last year how the majority of the NFL is black, so I can imagine even where he grew up with a root to use that word, he has been around and playing with or for black people his whole life. Yes, he is just a jock who is paid to catch a football and I don't expect Nobel Peace Prizes from him, but it was wrong what he did. Chip Kelly diffused the situation, and then Cooper had an uphill battle the whole year. He took every hit he had coming, and was a frequent target regardless. It was almost like he knew the outcome of every play, often having 2 or three guys wanting to get in there to deliver the hit. He fought with his own teammates. I liked that. I also liked how Vick and Avant did what they could to ingratiate him back into the team. Yeah, I just said ingratiate.

 

6. Carry Williams. I don't know if that's how he spells his name, but whatever. He started on so many wrong feet in this city. He probably should've said the C-word in response to Cooper using the N-word. He came over from Baltimore, and chose to build his house in this area rather than join voluntary workouts. I would've rather he been with the team, as perhaps his leadership and playing by example could've been more conducive to winning more games in the long run, but I saw that as him wanting to build his home and life here. He had a Super Bowl ring, and he could've just rode that laurel all day. His play helped the Eagles stay in both the Dallas and playoff game. He was prominent all year as well.

 

5. The young defense. Every time I heard the name Cedric Thorton on the broadcasts, it was almost always a negative yardage play. I don't know where he came from or what he looks like not on top of the ball carrier. I never really heard Isaac Sopuaga's name. Except when he was traded away. Benny Logan needs more experience, and Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, and perhaps even Brandon Graham have a lot of responsibility to shoulder that they seemed to be 75% successful with. Keep the core.

 

4. Jason Avant. I love Avant. That dude was the first one by Riley Cooper's side. He is maybe the best at maintaining possession as a receiver I have seen. He has the two or hand "big up to God" hand shake he does after every catch. He makes some catches that either have no business being thrown or no business catching. He doesn't go on for long yards, but he is there when needed.

 

3. Nick Foles. I noticed a major difference between him and Vick. Vick almost always waited for the guy to get open, and threw it as hard as he could. Foles knows when the guy is supposed to be where he should and lets it go, allowing his receiver to make the play. Foles would throw away from the coverage, rather than Vick throwing threw an opponent's arms, often at a speed the receiver isn't ready for. When he got off the rails earlier this year, Foles provided no help in the first Cowboy's game. And he got rattled again a couple times toward the end of the year, but he recovered then. He even isn't afraid to run, and he will throw despite being about to be creamed. Merril Reece once called him "Nick, The Antelope, Foles."

 

2. Chris Polk. What? A third string back as my number two favorite thing? Often times, last year's boy wonder Bryce Brown had trouble getting it going. Polk was devastating as the type of back that Lesean McCoy is not. That dude just doesn't go down, and when he got the ball I think it was almost always for positive yards. I truly think a little more of him in the Saints game could've helped the Eagles be playing in Seattle this coming weekend. The kid has a much better future than Bryce Brown, I believe.

 

1. The snow game. Yeah, I watched that from start to finish. The TV broadcast did an excellent job by displaying the yard lines digitally and keeping with the action. The fact that McCoy beat the Eagles' single game rushing record, Foles was accurate, and the defense held up was one of the first times I realized that we had a chance at the playoffs. I think that was the week that Dallas lost, and put the Eagles in first place in the division. I can get over the shot of Calvin Johnson with three inches of snow in his helmet. Just watching that game was a visual orgasm, and the win was the money shot.

 

So, this season was a success. I wanted more when they got us up there, but all in all an inverse of what I predicted their record to be was pretty nice. A division title was nice. The rest of the division is in flux. Jay Gruden is the Redskins coach, and I don't worry about them. Tom Coughlin has the sad sack Giants and Jason Garrett still looks like the little brother trying to play with his big brother and friends. Next year brings much tougher opponents. Aside from the NFC East (6 games), they host the Seahawks, Rams, Panthers, Titans, and Jaguars. Those four teams, especially towards the last half of the year, played all their opponents kind of tough. Going on the road to the NFC East plus the Cardinals, 49ers, Colts, and Packers could be tough. The Texans are on the road trip, but I think they aren't a problem yet this year, especially if the Eagles get them early in the year. The other teams are becoming indestructible at home, so that worries me. Bold prediction? Next year, the Eagles finish 10-6, and make the Super Bowl. That's what I'm sticking with.