Two Months Til Daytona!

Sigh… well, at least there is no quarterback controversy in Philadelphia.

There isn’t really too much you can say about that sort of game. You just ball it up and move on to the next one. I think we all knew that Seattle was one score plus better than the Eagles. I honestly thought Philadelphia would get beat pretty handily (obviously not like this). But it is the NFL. You get blown out in this league when you lose the turnover battle by three- let alone six- and have three, really four, returned directly for scores.

Not to belabor the obvious, but the Eagles were terrible awful bad last night on offense. Clearly they whiffed mightily with their back-up quarterback selection. Maybe McMahon can play- but he can't right now. It is sort of odd- because the Eagles have been able to secure a pretty good string of guys who have filled in admirably in McNabb’s absence: the younger Koy, AJ, etc. But Reid missed here. McMahon is clearly an extremely raw project at this point- and really ought not be on the roster as a number two. Couple this failure at the most important position in pro-ball, with seven offensive starters with less than a full year's real experience really playing in the league (sixteen real starts)- and it unmistakably was too much to overcome against a probable 13-win team on a roll.

But you know, I still think this is the smart thing to do. With an eye toward their soft last three games, I guess the Eagles could have strapped Thomas up, sat McNabb for a week or two and gave him another try, endeavor to get a Hicks/Fraley/etc. back in the line-up- and tried to make a run at something. But this team isn't going anywhere in 2005- let alone winning a pair of road play-of games. So play the kids. They largely did okay against the Giants for a half and the Pack. Last night was rough- but I'd rather having the growing pains now. Make a concerted effort to see what you’ve got every Sunday from here out.

Yes, the kids seemed brutal last night I suppose, but McMahon & Detmer were sooo bad- who really knows? You can't evaluate the running game when the 'hawks could put eight/nine guys in the box with impunity- playing ahead 21 points. I loved when they put Moats right back in after his brutal fumble. Don’t let the kid sulk all night. Find out about him. Twelve touches, every game, now until the end. I don’t want to see Gordon once. McMahon: 25-30 throws. And so forth. I have seen enough of Mahe and #80- would it really hurt Reid to cut one of them to get the other younger guys' attention?

Yes, it would be easier to just dream wistfully of Tony Stewart and Daytona. But, for all the problems this year, Reid kind of realizes that four games is a long time in an NFL campaign. They have three largely pick’em games left on the schedule- and are only a game out of third. Win one or two- with the B-offense showing they have some able, cheap, young replacements- particularly on the offensive line- goes a way toward salvaging this campaign.