Somebody Missed a FG???

Posted: October 1st, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 67 Comments »

Yes. This would have been a perfect time for Al Michaels to bring his classic line out of the closet…”Do you believe in miracles?  YES!!!”

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Great win.  Let’s start with that.  The 2011 Eagles would have lost this game 37 different ways.  The 2012 Eagles are really a different team.  The Giants only scored 17 points.  They were 2 of 4 in the Red Zone and we even came up with a takeaway.  The offense gained 432 yards.  The running game got going and looked dominant at times.  How many people predicted us out-rushing the Giants 191-57.  Wow, huh?

The Eagles are 3-1 and atop the NFC East.  If the Bears win tomorrow night, we’ll be a game up on the other 3 teams.  I know it is early and meaningless, but still fun to see and it is a good thing.  1-4 was such a nightmare.

I will only complain about a couple of things tonight.  I hated the 3rd/goal play.  I wanted Vick to be in the shotgun and run.  Vick said after the game that his knee wasn’t in good shape so it could be that they actually called the smartest play.  We could have run Shady, but you get nervous with the Giants attacking the A-gap and hitting him as he’s getting the hand-off.

I hated the icing the kicker moment.  Ugh.  It works occasionally, but not enough to do it.  You leave yourself exposed to second guessing when it doesn’t work.  I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that final kick was good.  I was already going into postgame depression when Al Michaels said that it was short.  The Football Gods threw us a bone.

I don’t want to analyze the game right now.  Lots of great stuff to say, but I want to relax and enjoy this for a few minutes.  I will say that Michael Vick just played a hugely important game for his future.  He’s now been good in 2 of the last 3 and hasn’t thrown an INT since the Ravens game.  Great to see Mike play like that.  And the OL…they actually started to figure some things out.

There is hope.

As the guys from EaglesFanCast said on Twitter…it was great to win one last game with Dawk.  GO EAGLES!!!

_

  • Jonzee72

    Man, I thought the 2nd attempt was through, too. Would have sucked staying up past 5am for that.

    I think I need to go out and invest in a Havili jersey.

    • http://twitter.com/JackfinBauer Jack Bauer

      HAHA agreed. I need to now put the hole in the drywall picture up as proof

  • http://twitter.com/zugogas Nathan bishop

    i would love it if coleman wouldnt always get beat by play action passes thats was the only big problem i had tonight

  • http://twitter.com/JackfinBauer Jack Bauer

    A win is a win Tommy. Henry was clutch in FG at 3-3 and we can knock the kickoff coverage all we want but with the Giants 6-217 on KO returns and the Eagles 3-50 he wouldn’t have to been as clutch if he could put a few more KOs through the EZ. 1 man problem vs. 10

    • TommyLawlor

      Trust me, I’m happy about the win. We needed that in a huge way.

      • http://twitter.com/JackfinBauer Jack Bauer

        HAHA sir I popped the barefoot bubbly 5 min after i figured out we actually won the game…..the hole in the wall will take a litle longer to repair

        • http://twitter.com/JackfinBauer Jack Bauer

          watched the entire 3-day Ryder cup collapse, watched the skins squeak out a game they should have lost, went 0-3 in Fantasy (Nicks my #1), but the bubbly was popped for 3-1…its a good day

          • TommyLawlor

            Now that’s pretty crazy.

    • T_S_O_P

      STs without Akeem and Anderson. That may explain some of the KO coverage mess

      • Anders

        You missed Cooper.

    • TheRogerPodacter

      wasnt henery 4-4 on FGs? the 48 yarder was pretty sweet too.

    • teltschikfakeout88

      Henery was 4-4 with a 48 yarder

  • http://twitter.com/deshawnbentley BG

    http://i.imgur.com/They1.png

    Look how crazy the end was in terms of win probablity. Upwards of 75% before the OPI and then 20% after.

    • A_T_G

      I can relive my emotional swings on that graph.

    • Mac

      And these % probably don’t account for how frequently opposing teams hit long FGs against the Eagles.

    • http://twitter.com/benjabad Ben Hert

      Fangraphs for football!?!?

  • slackerjoe

    Hell of a win. Really hard fought on both sides. Of all our division rivals, I do respect the way the Giants play the game.

    That’s 3 4Qtr comeback wins (in the last 2 minutes!) for Vick in just one month! Really nice to see the Eagles coming through int he clutch. I’m not sure if we’re going to be a great team, a good team, or something in between, but these guys are showing me something in the early season.

    • TommyLawlor

      Great point on the comebacks. That’s more in a month than we’ve had in a few years. That said, I’m ready to blow someone out. Nail biters are killing me.

      • Anders

        I think we have to wait for Detroit. I think the Steelers will be tough consider they are coming of a bye

  • SebastianAubrey

    Reid run balance attack against Gmen. Wins 8 of last 9 or something like that. Coincidence??? Hat goes off to the defense. ST’s put them in terrible situations and only allow 17 points. Pretty incredible!

    • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

      We got many of those 8 wins in aerial shootouts, if you remember some of the games from 2008 and 2009 (not to mention the offensive explosion behind the Miracle in 2010).

  • http://twitter.com/abrad45 Alexander Bradley

    I sit in the end zone opposite the endzone Tynes was kicking into. We could tell the first was wide by a mile. Hugs all around, then lots of cursing at Andy. The second looked dead on, and then everyone started cheering. Hugs all around again. Great win. Fun game to be at. Go Birds

    • TommyLawlor

      I bet it was awesome to be in the stadium for that game.

  • eagles2zc

    Several questionable decisions on both sides in the final moments. Vick running out of bounds. Giants calling that pass play where OPI occurred. All it matters in the end is the win though!

  • SteveH

    Crazy game, what I’m dying to know is what in the hell is up with Kurt Coleman getting burned by play action on back to back plays. Coleman seems to love hanging Asomugha out to dry.

    Oh and also, we’re paying Demetress Bell a ton of money to play some crappy football.

    • Anders

      I think that is his limitation,

    • D3FB

      I’m pretty sure the second one was actually Allen

      • http://www.facebook.com/burkander Paul Burkander

        I’m pretty sure the commentators incorrectly said it was Allen when it was in fact Coleman

        • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

          Now I’ll have to go back and look when I get home.

    • miked718

      His best play was his accidental tripping of the blitzing LB! Give that man an extension now.

    • teltschikfakeout88

      Hey Bell’s Big toe stepped up big time in this game….just saying

  • A_T_G

    For Brian Dawkins night, it was great for the defense to come up so big.

    It was also great for the Eagles to play the old fight song for Dawkins, without the modifications. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the changes:

    “…score a touchdown, 1, 2, 3.
    Hit ‘em low,
    But not the quarterback if he is in the pocket.
    Hit ‘em high,
    but not to the head, and leading with the shoulder not the helmet,
    and not launching, especially if the receiver is defenseless.
    And watch our Eagles fly…”

    • TommyLawlor

      That version needs more Dolby.

      • Joe Hinchliffe

        (with British accent) – They recorded it in “Doubly”. ;)

  • iskar36

    I thought the double seemed to be getting pressure throughout the game, and it seems like they have done that all season, but is there any concern or explanation to why we haven’t been getting sacks to go along with the pressure we have been putting on QBs? It seems to me that we are not likely to get any where close to the same sack numbers as last year, although I am not sure if that it is because our dline is playing poorly.

    • Neil

      The biggest difference now is how focused offenses are on stopping our pass rush.

    • Anders

      Offenses are designing alot of short stuff against us or like the Giants chipping alot.

  • Julz

    I swear to god Eagles vs. Giants is aging me at least 5 years every freakin’ season.

    Delighted about that, I’m actually happy with the performance behind the win for the first time this season. Kinda odd and fun to see the D show up big in the first half then play so poorly but have the O stepping up. Safety play wasn’t great, and as discussed the K/O coverage was abysmal.

    Thought Havili played well in the 2nd half, almost spat my drink out when we used him on a run play.. TWICE! He’s got good ball carrying abilities I wouldn’t mind seeing him mixed in a bit like Leonard Weaver was, isn’t as gifted as a run blocker though.

    Man, 3-1 is just awesome, especially since it could easily be 1-3 or, god forbid, 0-4.

    • Anders

      I thought Havili was a great lead blocker today and once the OL gets head out of its ass and start blocking, we might see a great trio of Havili, McCoy and Brown (we are already seeing glimpses of it but I really think that trio can be special together)

  • http://www.facebook.com/brian.borkowski.71 Brian Borkowski

    Did Andy icing the kicker remind anyone of Mr. Burns benching Daryl Strawberry because he thought it was strategy?

    Andy Reid. The Chubby Mr. Burns.

    • http://twitter.com/Average__Joseph JustAnAverageJoseph

      Andy doesn’t come close to having the kind of money Mr. Burns has.

    • TommyLawlor

      As someone on Twitter noted…Andy Reid never says no to icing.

    • A_T_G

      So who is Smithers, Marty or Juan?

  • JRO91

    Kickoff coverage WAS HORRIBLE and almost cost them the game. It seemed like April did nothing to change his approach. The giants ran the same play over and over, wedge up the middle blow the hole open!! How bout kicking to a corner, or loft it high like they did last year with Devin Hester. Give your coverage team time to get under the kick.

    • teltschikfakeout88

      On the one KO that Giants took out to the 17, they did kick it in the corner….seemed to work…But Eli was able to drive it down the filed and get the TD anyways…I was just hoping that they would just kick it our of the EZ which Henery has been doing and just spot them the 20 yard line.

    • Todd B.

      Tommy,
      Dorembos normally plays on the coverage team. Correct?
      Did he play last night on a bum ankle or was he replaced?
      Either way, could his injury be the reason they didn’t do well on coverage?

  • miked718

    That win and the Ravens win were more fun to watch than any game last season, even the Vince Young giants win. The LBs! The press coverage! In game adjustments! Chip blocking! Stanley MFin Havilli!!!!

  • P_P_K

    This was a fine, tough, classic Eagles v. Giants game. I’m going to remember it as the Dawk Bowl.

  • http://twitter.com/benjabad Ben Hert

    After the first quarter, these are the Eagles drives:

    11 Plays – 70 Yards – TD
    9 Plays – 78 Yards – FG
    8 Plays – 50 Yards – FG
    11 Plays – 74 Yards – FG
    12 Plays – 75 Yards – FG
    -——————————
    51 Plays – 347 Yards

    That, is remarkable. Play like that, and we’ve got an amazing year ahead of us.

    Also, sick and tired of people hating on Nnamdi. Don’t even know why I bother to listen to the WIP goons in the morning.

    • TommyLawlor

      Wow. That is pretty amazing.

    • TheRogerPodacter

      amazing that those drives went so far for a FG. we had some pretty awful starting field position all game. was anyone else screaming for boykin to just take the touchback? lol

      • Mac

        Thought it was DRC, but yes I was like… comon’ man… but then I decided he got us a RZ Int so he can do what he wants. Haha

    • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

      Very impressive on the one hand, but it’s also the problem with a grind-it-out offense, especially if you don’t convert in the Red Zone. For all of that ball-control, you don’t get very many possessions and you don’t pile up points very quickly, meaning the other team is always in the game. After all, we scored 5 more points on the Ravens with a pass-heavy attack in spite of three turnovers (all in scoring range).

      As Michael Lombardi says, “The running game in the first half does not set up anything other than field goal attempts and potentially low-scoring games.” That’s not 100% true, but it’s basically right.

  • Smitty2K3

    Tommy, Vick’s knee was not feeling good after the game BECAUSE of that red zone play. Not before it. He got hit awkwardly and was slow to get up. That’s even more reason to hate the play-call.

    • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

      What’s the name of that play, where Vick rolls left from under center? They run it a lot in the Goal Line offense and it seldom works. The field is already compressed enough, and it seems like you do the defense a big favor by cutting it in half AND letting them use the sideline as a helper.

  • Kevin_aka_RC

    Pretty fun game to watch because it had a little bit of everything. I don’t think we’ll see Reid “icing” the kicker anytime soon though.

  • http://twitter.com/benjabad Ben Hert

    Also, Babin and Cole both commented that they’ve been getting a lot of extra attention every game this year. I think this could be a viable excuse for our lack of sacks, and proficiency against opposing TE, which some people thought might be an issue with such small linebackers.

  • Mac

    I loved the play they had drawn up to hand off to Havili and I’m glad Marty/Andy were smart enough to go to that well again and had success.

    • Yuri

      Good 1st down play, I had a problem with repeating that play call on 2nd and 10. Problem is that 8 yards is just about the max you can hope for with Havili (a big gain is REALLY unlikely). As I recall we ended up not converting the 3d.

  • http://twitter.com/benjabad Ben Hert

    Has anyone noticed coaches going for it on 4th down a lot more this season?

  • Ark87

    As an Eagles fan, I have a very cynical relationship with the football Gods, but the football gods came through last night. First Tommy, you just HAD to voice your fears about Henery-Briar combo in a critical moment. And then legitimize those fears with solid rationale (Henery hasn’t looked steady this year ANYWAY, Briar may be a bad holder, at the very least unfamiliar to Henery, and Dorenbos was on a bum leg). So naturally those 3 dudes are put in 4 FG attempts tonight. Each time sending my blood pressure way up. Keep your shared fears limited to accidentally buying a sugar-free pudding and warm PBR from now on Tommy.

    The PI almost gave them the game, but the football gods bailed us out with an O-PI. Andy Reid “goofed” and iced the missed FG. Then the football gods stepped in for us again to stop that thing just short (and stopped me just short of Hulking my couch through the TV in that moment)

    Wild ending to a great game, very happy to be 3-1.

  • http://twitter.com/ScottJ610 Scott J

    I was disappointed in our pass rush, especially at the end of the game.

  • http://twitter.com/ScottJ610 Scott J

    Run the ball…opposing defense gets tired…Vick doesn’t get hit. Genius!

  • NoDecaf

    It’s more than just “finding ways to win.” I felt like I saw the Birds figuring things out, albeit the slow grinding way. It’s important that they keep current lessons learned and continue adjustment as necessary.

  • Frencheaglesfan

    Hi tommy, I’m new Here, I follow your blog on a daily basis since I heard of it. Tough to find from France. I just wanted to say that this game is the reason why I’m a fan of American Football, just a great and exciting entertainment no matter what happens (sure it’s great that the birds pulled this one off). But I also wanted to point out that M.Vick managed that game very well. He was very criticized for his lack of awareness and field vision but I really like the fact that He didn’t want to make the big play (especially on the last drive when he takes the sack instead of risking an int). Finally except the last touchdown drive where our pass defense was awful, I think it was another great game from our defense. The only thing we miss was a big sack. Sorry for my english.

    • poetx99

      your english is great. and much better than my french or any non-english (and I’d imagine that to be true for most americans reading this blog). glad you’re a fan of American Football, as well. you made some very good observations that show a very solid grasp of the game. tommy is a great one to follow in terms of building on that understanding.

  • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

    The 2011 team started off the season with a lot of disorganization and was incredibly unlucky to boot. If the 2011 season were 18 or 20 games long, I think that team would have fared much better. The turnaround was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, it was too late..

    I’m not saying this to excuse the 2011 team, just to explain why I don’t see the different results from early in 2012 as an indication of a vast change in the character or makeup of the squad. After all, the overwhelming majority of coaches and players from last year are still here.

    Of course every year is going to be different in some ways (and there are key differences — Cox, Kendricks, Ryans; continued improvement on defense; loss of Peters and Kelce), but the overall continuity from 2011 to 2012 is very strong.