Bigplayability

You heard Troy Aikman say it and, admit it, you thought of me.

The Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox NFL analyst said something about the Eagles having "big play ability," which sparked a conversation where I was watching the game about how many words that was, and the various permutations of each.

Whatever Aikman meant by it, it didn't matter to me. He'd given me my new favorite phrase and, once Sunday's 26-14 victory over the Vikings was concluded, the title of this week's entry.

Watching the game was an interesting experience, a game that could've ended just as easily in a loss as it did in our favor. One person wrote into ESPN: "Too bad for the Vikes. This Eagles team was right there for the taking." And perhaps that's true. It also could've ended in an Eagles blowout, if some early drives had been cashed in for six instead of three. So, to be honest, I'm still not totally sure what to make of this game.

First, the frustrations:

Was it just me, or did every single call in the game go against us? The sack that wasn't a sack that knocked us out of field goal range? Maybe it just felt that way.

The running game never really got established. Now let's be fair: the Vikings had the best rush defense in the league, and the Metrodome is one of the most difficult places to play. Westbrook had just 38 yards on 20 carries. Eek. And Andy Reid, once again studying logic in order to depart from it 180 degrees, barely used Correll Buckhalter, the offensive MVP of the Dallas Destruction. The box score reads that he had two carries for 27 yards, and that his long was 27 yards. Maybe think about getting the ball into the hottest hands on the team? Even if Westbrook is 100 percent, Buckhalter should be in there for, say, 10 carries a game. All the more so if Westbrook is not.

The defense was once again really solid, but missed at least three or four opportunities to come down with interceptions that might have put the game away sooner.

However, when you have bigplayability, it only takes a couple of things going your way to make all the difference. Asante Samuel's 44-yard interception return for a touchdown was vintage Asante. I felt like I was having deja vu to every other Asante pick six I'd ever seen a highlight of. Only this one was in Eagles white and green. And did you see the Chris Clemons block on Tarvaris Jackson? WOW. Dude got picked up and pancaked.

And then Westbrook broke off the biggest play of the season, taking a screen pass 71 yards to paydirt. You had to love this for so many reasons, not the least of which was the entire team effort blocking all the way downfield, including help from receivers Kevin Curtis and my boy (yes, I wrote that) DeSean Jackson. Big-play-ability. On a side note, did anyone else notice how close the pass was to hitting Nick Cole in the back? Can you imagine if it did? I don't want to think about it. I wished I had a direct line into Reid's headset to say, "Look at that! A screen pass! We've only been saying it for months!"

Many said it would be a game of field position, and it was. Special teams came up big, and we won that battle pretty handily. Might've been the biggest difference in the game.

And the defense deserves more kudos. They have been the constant this season, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say they shut down Adrian Peterson, they certainly contained him. Don't be fooled by AP's numbers. He may have had 83 yards, but 40 of them came on one play. 43 yards on 19 carries? You can't be unhappy with that.

Not that anybody ever does, but I really have no clue what's going to happen this Sunday at the Meadowlands. The Giants' bye week and the Eagles' momentum could play either way, as we've seen in the last few seasons. I'm feeling hopeful that we'll play a good game, but I'm certainly not about to talk any trash. The Giants are a very good team, probably the better team on paper. But if the defense keeps up its solid play, run blitzing to contain Jacobs and Ward, getting some good pressure on Eli, the game certainly has a high level of winability.

We should remember that we shouldn't even be here, that we're really playing with house money, as the expression goes. Our very own Sal Paolantonio in an interview with Donovan after the game, said:

"A couple of weeks ago, your season was marooned. Now it's revived. How did that happen?"

"Well, you know what, you just gotta stay mentally strong, keep faith in God, and understand that there's something positive at the end of the tunnel."

I'm working on it, Donovan. I'm working on it.

Go Birds.
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Other Musings:

The Flyers are a hurt bunch, once again hit by an injury epidemic. If they can survive the next couple of months until they get everyone back, I think they're in great shape.

Interesting that Tampa signed Pat the Bat. That team is going to be really good again, and you have to hope that they win that division again.

In a related report that just came out, the New York Yankees have signed Satan and the Angel of Death. As you can imagine, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

In the ongoing battle between the cable companies for the dumbest ad campaigns, Time Warner's new ads advertising its calling plan might just take the cake. Why should you sign up for their plan? Cause in one moment, you're in your parents living room, in another somewhere else! So, I should sign up because Time Warner will ensure my telephone works...like a telephone? Amazing. Truly amazing.

My new favorite commercial is the LeBron James State Farm commercial, with the huge old-school shout-out to Kid n Play. Check it out.

I've been saying it for weeks, and no one's been listening. Don't be too shocked if the Baltimore Ravens make it to the Super Bowl.

Miraculous

The Jewish festival of Chanukah commemorates two significant miracles in the people's history. One is historical; a celebration of a dramatic, against-all-odds military victory that ensured the survival of the Jews despite the intentions of a tyrannical foe. The second is the stuff of legends; that when the victorious band of brothers went to re-dedicate the Temple they'd won back, there was only enough oil to light the lamps for one day. Yet somehow this oil lasted for eight.

And as Jews all over the world lit their menorahs for the eighth and final time in 2008, Philadelphians were celebrating a miracle all their own.

Somehow, some way, with the deck heavily stacked against them, the Eagles made the playoffs. Call it the Miracle at the Linc.

I could have seen the Bears losing to the Texans. But the 5-10 Raiders going into Tampa Bay and holding off a determined Bucs team? That was the stunner. Knocking Dallas out of playoff contention would have been motivation enough. But the Tampa and Chicago losses set up a showdown where the winner was headed to the playoffs, and the loser was going home.

And it wasn't even close.

When the smoke and rubble cleared, the final tally was an incredible 44-6. (Just typing that is fun. Can I do it again? 44-6! Over Dallas!) The Birds embarrassed the team--and the player (and the owner)--they love to embarrass the most. And our holiday gift to the people of Dallas is a miserably long offseason of wondering how all of that talent couldn't even crack the playoffs. I kinda feel bad for them. Oh wait. No I don't.

It was nice to see the run game return, especially without relying so heavily on Brian Westbrook. It was nice to see Donovan making nice passes into tight spots, like DeSean Jackson's inside the 10, and the touchdown pass to suddenly-stud tight end Brent Celek in the back corner of the end zone. It was nice to see touchdowns coming from red zone possessions early on rather than disappointing field goals. It was really nice to see karma in action, with TO dropping a ball in his chest and Pacman Jones fumbling a kickoff with just seconds remaining in the first half. And it was nice to be able to make jokes like, "We missed the field goal and they made it. Should be 47-3 and it's 44-6. What a difference."

And the defense. What can you say about this defense, that came to work every down of every game all season, winning a couple of games on their own, and keeping them in games they probably should have fallen out of. Four fumbles forced, two returned for touchdowns, one against the toughest running back in the league to bring down, and an interception. Who knew Chris Clemons was a) that fast and b) had such a stiffarm! Damn! Tashard Choice got schooled!

What a day. Everything that could have gone our way, did. The other games. The Akers field goal sneaking inside the corner of the uprights for that extra boost before halftime. The bounce of the first Romo fumble right into Clemons' hands. The way the Barber fumble stayed in bounds for Jozelio to scoop it up and go 96 yards. The word "unbelievable" was invented for days like yesterday.

Ed Werder said on ESPN, "When it was over, the Eagles were going for the playoffs, and the Cowboys were going for the smelling salts."

My friend Shwa texted me, in perhaps the understatement of the year:
"Didn't see that one coming."

But Brian Dawkins couldn't have said it any better than he did to his squad after his second forced fumble.

"Hallelujah. Hallelujah."

Bring on the Vikings.
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Special year-end Other Musings:

Pekka Lintu, Finland's ambassador to the United States, officially recognized the Flyers as the "most Finnish team in the National Hockey League." (Antero Niittymaki, Kimmo Timonen, Lasse Kukkonen, and Ossi Vaananen.)

I love Riley Cote, Flyers resident toughguy since Donald Brashear left. But against the Capitals two Saturdays ago, Brashear reminded Cote--and the rest of us--who's still the man. Check this out.

The winner for worst sign ever at a sporting event goes to a kid at last week's 6-4 win over the Senators, which read, "We're hot, you're not." Oooh, BUSTED! Are you kidding? How does anyone even know who he's talking to?

Have you seen the Billy Mays commercial (you know, the screaming infomercial guy) for ESPN 360? I get the concept; it's supposed to be funny. But all I can think of is Happy Gilmore saying, "Ya know, I know what you're doing right now. And I don't like it. So why don't you shut your trap. Before I put my foot in it."

I don't know about you, but when they turn it over to Marcellus Wiley on ESPN, I laugh to myself, thinking of the Ving Rhames character Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. I just want someone to ask him about a quarterback and have him say, "In the third, his ass goes down."

Shakira was on while I was at the gym the other day. Shakira, your hips may not lie, but your voice sounds like Kermit the Frog on acid.

In the past I'd been excited about Toyotathons. But now? Now is the Toyotathon of Toyotathons. So I don't know what to do with myself.

Just what the hell is a "rib-sticking meal?" Does that mean it has greater eatability?

There aren't too many commercials that have me laughing out loud for several minutes after I've viewed them. But this one did.

Happy 2009 everyone. Go Birds!

Boo, Birds

There is an expression reserved for a rare group of people that are incorrigibly stubborn, and stubbornly incorrigible:

They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

And so it was with the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. Given early Christmas presents by both Dallas and Tampa Bay, the Birds went into their 4:15 showdown with Washington finally, miraculously, in control of their own destiny. In games where the score is as close as it was yesterday, it's usually pretty easy to figure out who the goat is. Yesterday, that was not the case. Yesterday, losing was a team effort.

The defense, as it's been pretty much all year, was strong. I appreciate that half of the team actually showed up and did its job. For everyone else, there's plenty of blame to go around. So get ready, cause here it comes.

Boo on Andy Reid. How is it that you still don't know how to manage the clock and playcalling? 55 seconds into the second half, looking like they didn't know what game they were playing, Reid calls a timeout. I just knew somehow that was going to come back and bite us, and I said so at the time. You think that might have been helpful after Reggie Brown's catch on the 1? Yeah, I do too.

And another boo for Andy, from the department of If It Ain't Broke, Break It Til It Is. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think it's taking it to a new level when you've done something over and over and failed, changed it up to terrific results, and then reverted back to what was a miserable failure. 46 pass attempts, 16 runs. That's almost 3 out of 4 plays. And that's just ridiculous, regardless of Westbrook's health.

Boo on DeSean Jackson. 4 drops. 2 of them deep, one in the end zone. You wanted the spotlight. You wanted the ball. Both were given to you, and you dropped them both.

Boo on LJ Smith, for dropping two dump-off passes that I could've caught, as well as for missing that crucial block on the pass to Westbrook at the Redskin 4 that should have been a touchdown. It was a bad playcall, but it would've been fine if you hit your man. LJ, your team, coaching staff, and fans, all stuck with you, wanting you to be what we all thought you could've been. Instead, 2008 was an enormous disappointment.

Boo on Donovan McNabb. I know some of you will disagree with this one, citing the seven (seven!!!) dropped passes, tossing away the "couple" of shorties thrown. But I disagree. I saw several horribly underthrown passes and several more thrown foolishly to covered, sometimes double-covered receivers. It's true that the WR corps didn't help him out, but he didn't help himself much either, and he was lucky not to be picked off. And would it kill you to run the ball and get a first down on 3rd and 3 when you have no one open? More importantly, Donovan, it's called urgency. Look into it.

And lastly, boo on Asante Samuel. Last week's interception runback against Cleveland was not an easy pick, requiring athleticism to even get a hand on the ball, much less catch it. Yet he made it look pretty easy. On 3rd and 10 from just about midfield, a pressured Jason Campbell floated a duck nowhere near his receivers, but right into the waiting arms of a Pro-Bowl cornerback. Who subsequently let it bounce off of his elbows. Possession near midfield might have been slightly more helpful than being downed at the 3.

The worst part? They're still alive. In the unlikely event that we beat Dallas, the Raiders upset the Bucs, and the Bears fall in Houston, we're in. They can't just put us out of our misery, can they.

As my friend Matt texted me yesterday,
"Uch."
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Other Musings: I happened to look at the nutrition facts of a Dasani bottle of water the other day. As expected, everything was zero. Zero grams of fat, zero cholesterol, zero calories and, guess what, it's zero percent of the recommended daily value. It says "Percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie diet." No they're not. They're based on the fact that zero is zero percent of anything. How old were you when you learned that?

Flyers beat the Caps 7-1 on Saturday, behind a Scott Hartnell hat trick and two goals by Jeff Carter, who for the moment leads the league with 25 goals. This guy was almost dealt at last year's trade deadline. Good move keeping him, eh?

Lastly, -ability is spreading like a virus, like a cancer. The latest offender is of the repeat variety, now that Optimum is now advertising something about "knowability." Shoot me. I'll tell you one fact that's become highly knowable to myself: I know that pictures hold much more nicely to my fridge with my World Champions magnet.