Monday Morning Quarterback

A win is a win.

First and foremost, I attended the game yesterday and the Jets' fans were absolutely terrible. Eagles' fans were everywhere and it felt like we were watching a tennis match.

Now onto my analysis.

Offense - McNabb and his crew were not exactly amazing, but they did enough and put the Eagles in the situation to score at least 22 points. Also, the offense converted 9 of 16 third downs, which is definitely an improvement on the season. McNabb did miss some wide open receivers and he still holds on to the ball instead of throwing it out of bounds.

Example: On the play where McNabb was rushed out of the pocket and sacked along the sideline, he should have just thrown the ball out of bounds; however, before that even happened, he had Reggie Brown wide open on a crossing route. And I know one may argue that well it may have been a tough throw because he was running, but that is not the case at all. Brown was wide open while McNabb was standing in the pocket, seconds before he was flushed out.

I'd like to see a little more balance in the play calling. When all was said and done the Eagles threw 35 times and ran 28 times. They ran 6 times and threw once on the final drive, so before that there balance looked like 34-22, 60-40 again. The running game was working all day and I can understand if they did not want to give Westbrook a huge workload, but he proved he could carry the load and the line has been opening holes all season for their ball carriers (The Eagles offense is tied for second in the league averaging 4.9 yards a carry).

There were a ton of positives from this game. McNabb was only sacked three times and only once when McNabb really had no other option but to take the sack. The offensive line played well the entire game and it was nice to have our entire left side back out their playing. On a windy day, McNabb threw the ball well and was accurate for the most part. He was hitting his wide outs in stride once again. The Eagles really need to improve their third down efficiency numbers on the opposing team's side of the field. Yesterday we were 0-4 in the Red Zone forcing 4 field goal attempts, 2 being missed. Akers has continued to struggle in Giants stadium (6 for 14 lifetime) and the winds by no means were helping when he missed two attempts at the same end.

Also, I will give McNabb credit on Curtis' touchdown. McNabb called for the slant when the blitz was coming. He threw the pass perfectly in stride and truthfully he threw all of his slant patterns pretty well today. It was also nice to see Reggie Brown "break out" a little. If the Eagles want continued success he is going to have to continue to step up.

Defense - The defense has been great all season. Outside of Thomas Jones' first half, and really his first quarter, he was shut down the rest of the day. He had a few runs here and there, but nothing entirely spectacular. They have allowed only 6 touchdowns all season and 3 came against Detroit, a game where the Eagles led 35-7 at one point. They made the second half adjustments necessary to stop the run and they got some pressure on Pennington. I was sketchy with our linebacker situation at the beginning of the year, but they have played well along with Broderick Bunkley. Will James drifted back into his history of being burnt at Giants stadium. Cotchery was open often, but Pennington was not exactly able to get it to him. We really need Sheppard back. Mikell has done well in a backup role for Dawkins (who might not be coming back for awhile, if he does at all.) The Eagles and B-Dawk have been real 'hush hush' about his injury.

Special Teams - Our kickoff coverage is still terrible. It seems like whenever the opposing team makes a return they are often starting past their 30 yard line. Rocca had a big punt on the first drive in the 3rd quarter (64 yards) and a wobbly one in the fourth, which looked not only to be tipped, but was also kicked straight into the wind. As I mentioned earlier, Akers continued his struggles at Giants stadium, but he did pound 2 through.

Final Word - The Eagles improved to 8-0 all-time against the Jets and 9-0 after the bye week during Reid's reign. I am not quite sure if the team that won this game is that much better than their record suggested, but a win is a win and Chicago comes to The Linc next weekend. Brian Westbrook had his second straight 100 yard effort. He has had at least 85 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving in every game this season.