Ok, let’s get through this as quick and painlessly as possible. The Eagles lost in the Super Bowl. It sucks. I’m disappointed. But I’m moving on. It was a hell of a game, and that almost hurts more. Losing by only three points when your team makes so many mistakes really gets to you. I had trouble getting to sleep at first, because I just kept running through the blown opportunities at the beginning of the game. Just a single conversion in the red zone early on – even a field goal – would have completely changed the game. That’s going to gnaw at me for a while, so imagine what it does to the players and coaches.
My breakdown of the game:
The Good
- TO is now officially the greatest receiver in the game today. Not only did he come back from injury early, but he was a major force in the game and would have been the MVP if they had won. 9 catches for 122 yards. Amazing!
- Pinkston really showed up for this game, too. 80 yards in the first half. It’s a shame he cramped up later on.
- Greg Lewis is a star in the making and LJ Smith will only get better with time.
- The defense played well over all. Against a powerful offense, they stood firm for most of the game.
- That was an exciting game – I’m glad the Eagles were a part of it. No more of this waiting for a Super Bowl, now we’re just looking forward to next year’s.
- Did you hear the crowd after the last TD cut it to 24-21? They were singing “Fly, Eagles, Fly”! Best fanbase, period.
- Best halftime show ever, and a return to fun commercials. Looks like the powers that be may have learned their lessons.
The Not-So-Good
- That was a shakey performance by McNabb overall. He had some amazing passes (in particular the TDs), but he played scared most of the game.
- Reid and Johnson coached decently, but did blow it a couple times. On first and goal from the eight, why did we not try running?!?! Up until that point we had 11 passing plays and 3 running, why not give Levens the chance to take it up the middle?
- The refs had some bad calls overall. Bruschi TACKLED Westbrook before Harrison intercepted that one by the endzone, there was at least one flagrant face mask overlooked, LJ should have been whistled dead by forward progress long before that fumble, and Seymour should have had a 15 yard PF after he DROVE McNabb into the ground. All of these could have been overcome, but it still makes it harder to play the game.
- That’s the second time in the playoffs that a fumble was reversed against Philly when there was no clearcut view on the instant replay.
The Bad
- It’s called no-huddle for a reason boys. Why was Hank Fraley the only guy who realized this? They killed so much time at the end of the game, which literally killed their chances for a real comeback.
- Harrison is a cheap shot artist and continues to go for ankles rather than tackles.
- Anyone notice that the Patriots taunted the Eagles after every big play? I’m sure the media will ignore that and continue to talk about how professional they are.
- Now we get to hear the media talk about a dynasty that hasn’t even been able to make the playoffs more than 2 years in a row. Not to belittle what they’ve done, but the other teams considered dynasties were still competing even in the years they didn’t win it all. Let’s see what NE does after this before we annoint them.
And The Worst: The football season is officially over. What made me saddest yesterday was realizing that after the game, we go back to waiting for all of the little bits of information (draft, free agency, training camp, etc.) until September and the start of next season. Man does that suck.
Oh well. This will be bugging me for a while, but I should be able to get back to the rest of my life…