It is hard to be too upset and down about your football team when your baseball team is sitting pretty in the MLB “final four”, but alas, we are in Philadelphia and this is still a football town.  Until the Phillies prove the same dominance that the Eagles have in recent years, this will remain a football town.  However, if things continue on the path that they are on now with the Eagles struggling and the Phils on the verge of their first World Series berth since 1993, this will slowly but surely become a baseball town.

On that note, the Eagles are still the king and therefore, they deserve our scrutiny and constructive criticism.  After a disappointing performance versus the Bears, the Birds looked to rebound against a team in the Redskins who were riding an emotional high after defeating the Cowboys in Big D.  Unfortunately, here we are five weeks into the season and the Birds sit at 2-3 after a 23-17 loss at the hands of Washington.

Boy…where to begin?  Well, the easy place to start and quite the recurring theme in why we lost by another slim margin is none other than David Akers.  Kickers are somewhat like offensive linemen in that you don’t hear about them until they mess up.  Well, David, welcome to your fifteen minutes of fame because I am going to lay it on pretty thick here.  You cost us two games this year.  I don’t know what it is, I don’t know why you are playing this poorly, but you need to fix it and fix it fast.  In the Bears game, Akers missed two field goals in a game where the Eagles lost by four points.  Against the Redskins, while he only missed one field goal, it lead to great field position for the Skins and ultimately, they put three points on the scoreboard.  That is a six point swing if you are counting at home.  The Eagles lost by six.  He needs to be held accountable and if I had any say in this, I would present Joe Banner and Andy Reid with two options: 1) Bring back Koy Detmer to hold for Akers or 2) Bring The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon Tony Danza in for a try out.

Beyond Akers, I place much of the blame on the Eagles defense and Jim Johnson.  The defense is simply too inconsistent right now.  They stop Marion Barber, Steven Jackson, Matt Forte, and Willie Parker for close to no yards rushing.  But Clinton Portis apparently didn’t get the memo that we wanted to play two hand touch this week.  I know what you are thinking- “one out of five isn’t bad.”  I agree.  But we haven’t gotten to the pass defense.  Whether it be covering the running back out of the backfield or the tight end down the field, our secondary has been average at best.  Part of this comes right back to Jim Johnson.  I don’t know if it is his age or what, but Johnson is too inconsistent of a coordinator for me.  Year in and year out he does this but rarely catches flak.  Usually Donovan and Andy Reid get the blame (and yes, they do deserve it from time to time), but Jim Johnson gets a free pass.  He let Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell beat us.  Let me say this again- he let Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell beat us.  Jim- bring the pressure, get creative, and cause mayhem!

So where do we go from here?  Well, let’s hope Donovan’s players-only meeting and public sentiments about his embarrassment changes things up.  Are they still a playoff team?  That I don’t know.  Can they still win games and compete with the best division in the NFL?  They certainly can.

Next up- the San Francisco 49ers.  Go Birds…and Go Phils!

After losing to the very average Chicago Bears last Sunday, the Birds look to right the ship against the surprisingly good Washington Redskins.  They almost beat the Bears in Chicagowithout stud multi-tasker Brian Westbrook, dough boy Shawn Andrews, and speedster Kevin Curtis.  No excuses needed though.  The game wouldn’t have even been close had several things happened differently.

First, DeSean Jackson made two rookie mistakes.  He dropped a punt which lead to a Bears TD and ran the wrong route leading to a Donovan McNabb INT.  He is a rookie.  Rookies are dumb.  It happens.  He is certainly electric and is very valuable but he has to eliminate the mistakes.  I would exchange not making two mistakes for one amazing TD catch or return from this guy.  We all mocked Reno Mahe for his lack of explosion but the man never dropped a punt.  I’m just saying…

Second, Andy Reid has to learn the QB sneak.  From my eight years of grade school and high school football experience to my 10+ years of Madden (PS1 and PS2) and Joe Montana Football (Sega Genesis), I can tell you that the QB sneak DOES work.  It especially works when your QB is 6’2″, 250 lbs.  I don’t care that he has a chest contusion.  It is a bruise.  Let’s not use big words here.  The man’s got a boo-boo.  You want illness? Back in my playing days, I was a fan of supplements…legal ones…and due to not cycling off of them and lack of hydration, I developed Kidney Crystals.  Not quite stones but you get the picture.  But I digress…Andy, in grade school we ran this brilliant play.  Let me explain.  The QB gets the ball and steps forward, perhaps he may fall or jump forward.  Not brain surgery.  When I was 10, we even put a wrinkle into that play.  Instead of the QB calling a cadence, he lined up under center, tapped the center’s butt which would tell the center to snap the ball.  I can tell you in all honesty that this play worked EVERY SINGLE TIME we tried it.  In Madden, I may have failed once or twice but that is due to a glitch in the video game.

Finally, Mr. Akers…what to do, what to do?  The ultra-reliable David Akers has suddenly become a liability.  He missed two field goals against the Bears that should have been made.  I know both were from 40+ yards and one was from 50,  but still.  In a league where kickers are making 50+ yard kicks with ease and even some 60 yarders, Akers has to fix whatever is broken.  We cannot have kickers cost us games in a division where every win is a must-win game.

As for next week, we have the Washington Redskins at home.  Who knows which Redskins team will show up.  Heck, with the injuries, who knows what kind of Eagles team will show up.  Let’s just say this- if I knew my way around placing a bet on a game, I would take the Birds in this spot for two reasons: 1) The Skins are coming off of a huge, emotionally charged win over the Cowboys and 2) The Eagles under Andy Reid, typically fair well after a loss…

Go Birds and Go Phils!

In what could only be described as an American League Baseball game, your Philadelphia Eagles took it to the Pittsburgh Steelers 15-6 this past Sunday.  It was one heck of a busy Sunday, mind you.  My thumb got a full workout and needs a bye week already.  Let me run you down what I tried to accomplish on TV this Sunday.  The Eagles were top priority, but right behind them were the Phillies beating up on the Marlins.  Then I realized the great US of A Ryder Cup team was taking it to the Europeans on NBC.  I think, and I may be wrong, but I think that Bloodsport was also playing on Versus. 

As for the Birds, well, any win versus a strong AFC team is a good win.  We could have won that game 1-0, not literally of course as 1 point is impossible to get in football, and I would have been happy.  We shut down one of the best running backs in the NFL in Willie Parker and made Ben Rothlisberger look like the Cheeseburglar.  They did this on a short week of rest and practice.  They did this after a very emotional and very draining loss to the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national audience.  Not to get all “footbally” on you, but they also did this against a 3-4 defense that they have been known to struggle against. 

So you didn’t come away impressed by the Eagles W this Sunday?  Did I mention that they played most of the game without Brian Westbrook who went down with an ankle injury early? 

My takeaways from the game include:

1) Jim Johnson finally brought the heat…had he brought pressure and blitz packages against the Cowgirls like he did against Big Ben, we would have won that game too and stand at 3-0.

2) Brian Dawkins is still old, but I still love him.  Literally.  My wife will allow me to leave her for Dawkins.  That is not made up.  Still old, but still a badass.  B-Dawk made several nice plays including causing a fumble and recovering a fumble on the same play.  He may be just a scoatch slower but he still amazes me.

3) LJ Smith is still very mediocre.  Go Rutgers!

4) Donovan, when healthy, is fun to watch.  As he has done for most of his career without stud wide receivers, McNasty had a very good day.  He is consistent, can provide the big play, and rarely hurts your team.  The notorious fumble against Dallas still baffles me…I have a theory on what happened on that play but there is a space limit in this blog…I think.

5) The NFC East is the best division in the NFL.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Our weakest team in the division is the Redskins and they are better than at least a third of the teams in the NFL.  The Cowboys dominated the Packers, the Birds manhandled the Steelers, the Giants beat the Bengals, and the ‘Skins beat the Cardinals. 

As for this weekend, Andy, if you are reading this…which I am sure you are, please sit Brian Westbrook.  We can beat the Bears without him.  Let him heal and let Buckhalter carry the load.  What is the gameplan, what would I do?  See # 1 above- Jim Johnson, bring the heat.  Pressure Chicago’s terrible QB-of-the-week into making mistakes.  Let’s play that grind it out game and come out of Chicago 3-1. 

Go Birds (and Go Phils!)!!!

Well, it is 12:30 in the afternoon after the Birds‘ Monday Night Football game versus the Cowboys and I am finally waking up.  I’ve been at work since before 8am but the coffee and breakfast bar didn’t do anything for me.  I would like to attribute the “hangover” to massive amounts of alcohol consumption, but in reality, it is the loss to our hated rival and the way we lost that really makes me feel this way.

There are no moral victories and even if you subscribe to that notion, I’m going to go ahead and say last night wasn’t one of them.  Was it a good game?  Well, it certainly was entertaining.  But it was still a loss.  Win or lose, writing is my sports therapy.  This is where I figure it all out.  If I didn’t have this forum, I would probably take it out on my refrigerator.

So, to get right to it, these are my three biggest observations after last night’s game:

1) Yes, DeSean Jackson needs to be brought back down to earth.  Yes, he is an idiot for “Leon Letting” the football after a beautiful pattern, catch, and run.  Yes, he did get lucky.  However, he is a major talent and one heck of a gem from this past year’s draft.  He has stepped up in an otherwise complex offensive system and thrived through the first two games of the season.  However, the antics he pulled last night were a joke.  I think Joe Paterno once said something to the effect of “act like you have been there (the endzone) before” or “act like you’ve done it (made a good play) before” and this could never ring more true.  What worries me especially with last night’s game is that he sees someone like T.O. showboating and tries to keep up.  In a way, I am glad it happened.  Had we not scored on the next play, I might have a different point of view.  But in the long run, maybe it isn’t the worst thing to happen.  He already has a big head and something like that should humble him.  If it doesn’t, Andy sitting him on the bench will.

2) Either Jim Johnson’s defense has run its course or the pieces of that defense need to get better- plain and simple.  I can’t figure out which one it is so I’ll go with a combination of the two.  One the whole, Brian Dawkins, Sean Considine, and the pass rush were all utter failures last night.  Dawkins is my favorite player on the team but he was abused by Jason Whitten and T.O. last night on several occasions.  He is still a leader and can still lay the wood, but boy is he slower molasses in January.  For a normal dude in his mid-30s, Dawkins is fast.  For a defensive back in the NFL, not so much.  Now, I don’t know if it was just a bad night last night, the fact that Whitten and T.O. are two of the best at their positions, or Dawk’s age but something wasn’t right.  Cue Sean Considine.  Can someone please tell me what he is doing on an NFL team?  He is TERRIBLE.  He blew several assignments last night and without having the capabilities of Steve Sabol and NFL Films, I’ll go ahead and say T.O.’s first touchdown was Considine’s fault.  Someone figure out a way to replace that Woody Harleson knock-off in the defensive backfield, please!  As for the pass rush, did we have one last night?  And this is where my initial question about Jim Johnson comes in.  There may or may not have been a blitz last night.  I couldn’t tell you in all honesty.  You know Jim, prevent defenses prevent you from winning and boy did it look like we ran a very unaggressive gameplan last night.  Romo got more abuse from the Northeast Philly bar I was in last night than he did on the field.  And we were hundreds of miles away, under the influence…eating wings.

3) The referees were unbelievably inconsistent.  There must have been something in the air this weekend because the NFL refereeing was just plain bad.  And believe me, this isn’t me saying that the Eagles got screwed and had this call or that call gone their way, they would have won.  No, I am saying that the refs were bad for both teams.  They missed calls, they played the “make-up call” game too much, and made too much of an impact last night.  There were phantom pass interference penalties called and in-your-face facemasks that were missed.  There were obvious holds that were ignored and blocks in the back that were irrelevant.  Overall a bad weekend for the stripes…

Until next time, Go Birds!

For the last few years…ever since Terrell Owens left the Birds nest for the Cowgirls, media and fans alike in the City of Brotherly Love chat about the “what ifs”.  Frankly, I don’t want to hear about it anymore.  Let’s forgive and forget.

Yes, when T.O. was here, he and McNabb were amazing.  They broke Eagles records, scored a ton, and lit up the NFC.  They could have been one of the best QB-WR combos in history. Well, coulda, woulda, shoulda…just let it go already.  He talked and acted his way out of town.  He was and is unprofessional.  He acts like a baby if he doesn’t get his way.  Plus, above all, his agent is one of the most hated people in professional sports today.

My biggest issue isn’t that it is talked about on sports talk radio or in the papers.  Heck, those guys have jobs to do.  My biggest issue isn’t that fans talk about it in the office or at the bars.  I am one of those same guys.  My issue is that the T.O. situation, because it was just that- a situation, is never analyzed in full.

First myth- T.O. led us to the Super Bowl.  False.  The Eagles were without T.O. during their playoff run and didn’t get him back until the Super Bowl.  They made it to the Super Bowl with guys nicknamed Fred-Ex and G-Lew.  Now, did T.O. have a great Super Bowl?  No question about it.  But why doesn’t anyone wonder aloud if the ball was not run enough or spread around enough in the passing game because T.O. was playing?  Just think about it. 

Second absurdity- the Eagles should have just paid him.  Not the answer.  Not only does it set a bad precedent for the future, but the clown was in his second year of a contract that the ink had barely dried on.  More than anything, it was the way he went about it.  Ignoring coaches’ orders, skipping training camp signing sessions, working out on his lawn and in his basketball court…the list goes on. 

Third issue- McNabb should have stepped in and said something.  Let’s get something straight: McNabb didn’t have to do anything.  He was T.O.’s QB, not his mother, his agent, his friend, or his personal assistant. (You remember her right? ”Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive.”)

The bottom line is that T.O. will end his career without a Super Bowl ring.  Mark my words.  Under the current set-up in Dallas, he is playing with a QB and for a head coach who have never won in the playoffs.  So win or lose next Monday night (and the Birds will win), at least you can take some solace in the fact that T.O. is and always will be a loser.

Here’s what I don’t get: why am I being told to put this week one W over the Rams into perspective?  Why does the Philadelphia media think this wasn’t as good as it looked?  Why do fans call in to the radio shows saying, “It was the Rams…don’t go crowning the Eagles the champs quite yet.”

Since when did the Rams become the joke of the NFL?  Are they the Lions, Falcons, Texans, 49ers, or Redskins?  Am I missing something here?  The Rams had a bad season last year but do they not still have Marc Bulger and Torry Holt?  Don’t they have one of the best running backs in the NFL?  Are they really the bottom-feeding team that the Philly naysayers would have you believe they are?  I don’t think so.

I hate to sound like Andy Reid, but every win in the National Football League is a good win.  Just ask the Colts and Chargers how they feel after losing their week one contests.  Better yet, ask those who took either of those two teams in survivor pools…the Colts were supposed to beat the Bears and the Chargers were supposed to beat the Panthers.  Neither did.

Sure the Rams were 3-13 last year, but what about the last few years before that? 8-8 in 2006, 6-10 in 2005, 8-8 in 2004 (they also won their first round playoff game), 12-4 in 2003 (they lost their first round playoff game in OT).  They aren’t as bad of a team and franchise as everyone makes them out to be.

If you really want to stick to your guns and make the argument that the Rams aren’t that good, I’ll counter that with the fact that the Eagles were without two starting wide receivers YET STILL racked up over 300 yards in their passing game with a rookie and several 3rd and 4th wide receivers.

So you want to argue that Steven Jackson wasn’t quite ready for real game action after holding out for most of training camp and the pre-season?  I disagree.  If anything, veteran running backs benefit from a light workload in the pre-season.  He was well-rested and able to carry a heavy workload.  While he may have only gotten the ball 14 times, he was held to only 40 yards by the Birds defense.

Well, I am not one of those guys who looks down on this win as being a cheap one.  The Eagles only won eight games last year.  I will take as many of “these” wins as possible.  There were not any glaring weaknesses from the game and that is what the take-away should be.  The offense looked very fluid, the defense almost pitched a shut-out, and the special teams won the field position battle by all accounts.

A win is a win.  I don’t care how you shape it.  Plus, it is Dallas week…doesn’t get much bigger than this!  Speaking of Dallas, “Pacman” Jones isn’t too impressed by our success against the Rams saying, “They played the Rams, dude.”  Well, I never wish bad against anyone, but I hope he gets suspended again before the end of the season.  Let the football gods have the last laugh…please!

Go Birds!

First, let me boast- I will be at the Eagles-Rams game this Sunday at The Linc.  Take that.  Actually if I really want to rub it in, I would tell you that I am heading up to Shea tomorrow to see the Phillies season end, I mean stay alive.  But I am not that type of guy.  Plus, apparently God doesn’t want me to have the ultimate sports weekend and appears to be taking a leak on the Eastern seaboard tomorrow.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say rain-out.  Therefore, I will subject my wife to UFC 88 tomorrow night.

Ok, now down to the meat and potatoes of the Birds kickoff game versus Marc Bulger/Steven Jackson’s St. Louis Rams.  Let me start be pointing out that the Birds are favored by 7.5 at the time of writing this article.  That’s a healthy number for those of you who have placed a bet or two in your day.  The Eagles are notorious for coming up short (not “stopping short”, Costanza) for their home season openers.  So bet at your own risk.

Now, I do expect a win but religion and lack of funds prevent me from wagering on the contest.  Ok, it’s really just the lack of funds.  I am already in some sort of gambling/church fundraiser thing for this NFL season.  PS: God likes the Saints to win it all.  Coincidence?  I think not.

I am excited though.  Donovan appears healthy.  Westbrook seems happy.  The defense and special teams could be destined for greatness.  But there are question marks…

On offense: Will DeSean Jackson step up while Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis nurse their injuries?  Will L.J. Smith, from Rutgers, finally have that breakout year?  Yes, I had to mention he was from Rutgers to knock him down a peg or two.  Will the offense score in the red-zone or will your David Akers pick in the 3rd round of your fantasy draft pay dividends?  Will the o-line stay healthy?  Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan aren’t getting any younger but in all honesty, will someone give Tra some extra-strength Tiger Balm.  If used properly, Tiger Balm may cure cancer.  And the economy.

On defense: Will Lito Sheppard stop crying and just play?  Moreover, will his agent ever shut-up?  How about that Jerome McDougle-less d-line…will they create a constant pass rush on Marc Bulger?  In case you were wondering, McDougle didn’t show up in the box score from last night’s game, but he did have several foul tips.  Thanks Bob Uecker.

Those are most of my questions heading into the season opener this Sunday.  Oddly enough, I do have answers to two of your questions: Yes, the Redskins are THAT bad.  And no, the Giants aren’t THAT good.

Go Birds!

53.  That’s the magic number.  No, we’re not talking Mark Simoneau.  Thank God!

This past Saturday, the Birds needed to trim the fat (PS: I can’t wait for Thanksgiving) and cut their roster down to 53 players and narrow down the ever-popular practice squad to a select few.  I am personally pumped that Mike Marquardt is part of the “pinnie squad”.

Most of the hype in this town on the local sports talk radio and TV stations about the roster cuts surrounded Jerome McDougle.  Yes, that Jerome McDougle.  Number 95 in your program but number 1 in your heart.  That guy.

Well, some of the beefs that I heard about the cutting of McDougle center around his fantastic pre-season, yes pre-season, and holding onto Darren Howard.  Let me address these one at a time.  First, he had a fantastic PRE-SEASON.  This was mostly in mop-up duty against guys who will be bagging groceries this week.  Does that mean you discount all pre-season performances?  No, but in four seasons with the Birds, he has 3 total sacks in 35 games played.  If you are counting at home, that translates to .08 sacks per game.  Hardly a number worth bragging about.

So why keep Darren Howard?  Well, Howard is versatille.  He plays defensive tackle and defensive end…albeit, very average at both, he still is able to do so.  Regardless, what is the big deal?  We are still talking about back-up defensive ends.

When healthy, the Eagles DE rotation looks like this: Trent Cole, Jaqua Thom…err, Parker, Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemmons, and Darren Howard.  Since Clemmons and Abiamiri are banged up, Howard’s place on the team is more important for the early going but let’s not get our panties in a bunch over a back-up player.  This is starting to remind me of the digruntled Jeff Garcia fans from last year…let it go my friends, let it go.

Boy, do I like seeing the New England Patriots lose…

I don’t care if it was the pre-season.  A loss is a loss. 

Your Philadelphia Eagles beat the Pats 27-17 in their third and most important pre-season game heading into the 2008-2009 campaign.  The score, however, is not that crucial.  Unless you are a degenerate gambler.  By the way, the Eagles covered and hit the over.  Not that I am counting.  To me, though, the most impressive things on Friday night included both the offensive and defensive lines and the special teams units. 

The first and second string o-lines gave up only one sack versus a very strong New England defense.  To make things even better, they accomplished this versus the 3-4 defenses they usually struggle against.  This also marked the return of the Big (Husky) Kid, Shawn Andrews, to the starting line-up.  The collective group kept the Patriots defense off of Donovan and back-up Kevin Kolb enough to generate 280+ passing yards.  They also made sufficient room for the core group of running backs to eclipse the 100 yard mark totaling almost 400 yards of total offense.

The defensive line accounted for three of the Eagles’ four total sacks of New England QBs.  They also held the Patriots’ rushing attack to only 65 total yards (22 of which came from a Matt Cassel run).  This is exact production we needed out of our d-line.  If anyone remembers back to last year’s Super Bowl, the Giants won because of their ability to pressure Tom Brady and throw off the timing of their passing game.  God, I hate praising the Giants.  It’s ok Eagles fans, with the latest news of Giants DE Osi Umenyiora going down for the season with an injury, the Giants return to the promised land just took a HUGE hit.

Finally, how about that Rory Segrest!  Special team genius!  John Harbaugh who? Kidding, kidding.  Well, let’s not anoint Rory to the Pro Football Hall of Fame quite yet, but his special teams units looked mighty stellar on Friday.  Where to begin…well, David Akers was perfect on all of his kicks on the night, converting two field goals and three extra points.  Hell, even Sav Rocca punted the ball well.  But the two highlights of the evening came courtesy of Quintin Demps and DeSean Jackson.  Quintin Demps- you just made the team, young man.  Sean Considine…well, better luck next year.  Demps, the rookie out of UTEP, took a kick-off back for 6 after running over the Pats kicker and running past John Lynch.  By the way, did anyone notice how slow Lynch looked?  Way to make the white man look good, John!  Not too long after the kick-off return by Demps, Jackson fielded a punt cleanly then proceeded to slice and dice his way 76 yards to the house.

At the end of the first half, the Birds led the Pats 24-3 and the starters were pretty much done for the night.  The next stop is against the New York Jets this Thursday in Philly to wrap up the pre-season.  While I would want nothing more than to see us rough up John Madden’s adopted son Brett Favre, I’d rather us head into the season healthy.  So please, Andy, let the starters rest and the back-ups compete for the final roster spot.

Times yours.

Is Freddie Mitchell the answer to the never-ending question posed by Philadelphia Eagles fans? You know the question- (except for when T.O. was here): what are the Eagles going to do to upgrade their wide receiving corp?  Well, no, bringing back Freddie Mitchell isn’t the answer…but this picture is priceless.

The reason this topic is even blog-worthy is two-fold: 1) Reggie Brown, the Eagles #2 pass catcher, went down with a hamstring injury against the Carolina Panthers and 2) the Eagles’ faithful just won’t let the issue go.

Right now, your starting WRs look something like this (in no particular order): Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis.  More than likely, that is going to what your 2008-2009 Eagles will head into the season with.

Is there a bona fide #1 wide receiver in the group? Not really.  But do you need that to win the Super Bowl? Also, not really.  But don’t take it from me, let’s look at the most recent champions of the NFL.  For the sake of this argument, we’ll use the last 10 Super Bowls.  The list of “number 1 WRs” from the Lombardi Trophy winners look like this: Plaxico Burress, Marvin Harrison, Hines Ward, Terry Glenn, David Givens, Keenan McCardell, Qadry Ismail, Torry Holt, Rod Smith.  On that list, the only two that jump out to me as being superstar, number 1, difference-making wide receivers are Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt.  The others are very good wide receivers and yes, I would have taken them on the Eagles during their respective careers.  However, what happened when we had Terrell Owens?  If you remember correctly, and most fans don’t, we made it to the Super Bowl without him.  He was injured in the playoffs.  When he did return and play in the Super Bowl, he was amazing but we came in the “like kissing your sister” place.

The top twenty wide receivers of the NFL today (according to their 2007-2008 stats) have three, yes 3, Super Bowl rings total.  They belong to Burress, Holt, and the Colts number 2 wide receiver Reggie Wayne.

So what do the Eagles do?

Go get a number 1.  (Did you ever notice we say that like it is a loaf of bread? Hey, Banner and Lurie can you guys head out to ACME and get us a number 1?  And while you are there, we are low on stud special-teamers.  Can you pick up a half dozen of them while you are out?).  Don’t hold your breath fans, because it ain’t happening.

OR trade for Joe Horn or Anquan Boldin.  Hell, why not get both?  I did it on my fantasy league team last year and won first place.  Keep dreaming dreamers…

OR go into the season with what you have and hope that you don’t have to rely on a number 1 WR.  With a healthy Donovan McNabb, a happy Brian Westbrook, and the “ever-ready for a breakout year” L.J. Smith, the Eagles group of three number 2 wide receivers isn’t that bad of an option.

In Curtis, Brown, and Jackson (fingers crossed), you have guys that can do the job but won’t make the Pro Bowl. And I can live with that as long as we make the other kind of Bowl…