NFL Football

Temps outside are cooling off. Summer is slinking out the back door and autumn is knocking on the front door. I am not happy about this.  I am definitely a spring and summer guy. There is just so much life during the warm months of the year.  The birds are chirping. Flowers are blooming. The trees are full of green foliage. During autumn and winter things just seem to die out.  Flowers close up. Trees are bare. I hate this time of the year. There is one thing, however, that comes with this time of year that I just cannot live without.  FOOTBALL!  I am a frothing at the mouth, rabid football fan. I just can’t get enough! I look forward to Sunday and Monday like they are a Friday during pay week.  Who is my team you ask? I am an Eagles fan, and yes, I bleed green. Being an Eagles fan has its risks though. We crazy fans live and die with each play, every week. That can cause much stress. So to alleviate some of that stress, Ive decided to vent… I mean write… about how my team does each week.

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The first two games of the season for Philadelphia were really a tale of two defenses. The one that showed up big time for the win over Carolina and the one that decided to stay home in bed for the embarrassing loss to the Saints. The game against the Panthers was a fun one to watch. Apart from the opening drive for Carolina, where they drove down the field seemingly at will and scored a touchdown, the defense played a heck of a game. They played fast and swarmed to the ball. The harassment of Jake Delhomme was relentless and continued the entire game. That is, until he was benched. The Defense had 5 sacks by Howard, Cole, Jordan, Gaither and Patterson. They also had  2 fumble recoveries and 5 interceptions. That was a heck of a start for our new, young defensive coordinator. The offense played pretty well also. Donovan McNabb looked sharp and had plenty of zip and accuracy to his passes. He even ran one in for a touchdown. That touchdown came at a price though, with McNabb suffering a broken rib on the play by what looked to me like a late hit in the end zone.  DeSean Jackson also contributed nicely with a punt return for a touchdown.

Enter week two against the Saints. The game actually began in much the same way the Carolina game did. The Saints “came marching” right down the field for a touchdown during their opening drive. I wasn’t worried though because on our next drive Kevin Kolb, in quick fashion, delivered a pretty pass to DeSean Jackson for a touchdown. Speaking of Kolb, he was where my worries for this game lay before Sunday. My feeling going into this game was of hope. I hope we win despite Kevin Kolb. I wasn’t going to be surprised if we lost though because of him. As the game unfolded, however, I began to think, “I hope we don’t loose despite our defense.” Even though Kolb threw 3 interceptions, I felt he played a good game considering it was his first start. I didn’t expect the letdown from the defense. There were a couple of decent plays from the “D”, including a brilliant pass tip and interception by Akeem Jordan. But in the end, the bevy of mistakes and bonehead penalties by special teams and the ineffectiveness of the defense proved to be too much to overcome against a good offense led by Drew Brees. Brees is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the game, and he sure played like it.  He methodically picked our defense apart and scored points. It was hard to watch.

Thankfully, this is only week 2 of the 2009 season and there is plenty of football left to play. Next week brings the Kansas City Chiefs. They are coming off of a stinging loss to Oakland and you can bet they will be looking for a win. Knowing Andy Ried, he will have the mistakes corrected and his team ready to battle it out with KC on Sunday. This team has a lot of potential. Hopefully, we will see some of that on Sunday.

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