A heartbreaking loss by the Eagles in Atlanta last night. Despite all the injuries and QB Carson Wentz' poor first half, the Birds had had several chances to win and go 2-0 on the young season. Here are my comments on the 24-20 loss:
- Yes, the Eagles had at least three chances to win the game over the Falcons. 1) Nelson Agholor's dropping catch in the 4th quarter. All he has to do is catch the ball, run down the wide-open sideline and score. Back to the Agholor of old. 2) Zach Ertz not getting to the first down marker on the final Eagles' play. Ertz should've gotten farther downfield, or fallen towards the marker when he was tackled. 3) Julio Jones; 54-yard touchdown catch. Stop the falcons there, on 4th down, and Philly runs out the clock with a great comeback win.
- I can't blame Defensive coordinator Jim. Schwartz for calling a blitz o the Jones TD xatxh to ice the game for Atlanta. We've been waiting for Schwartz to blitz more, and the strategy all along was to be aggressive not just sit back in a zone and allow Matt Ryan to pick the secondary alone.
- Why so many injuries? Was DeSean Jackson dehydrated? How did he suffer a "groin injury " before even playing? What about Alshon Jeffrey aand his sore calve? Both Wentz and center Jason Kelcy had protocol concession examinations. Was it just luck or a flaw in training that so many key bBirds went down. We will find out at noon if any of these injuries will linger into next weeks' game against the Lions.
- I've had it with offensive linemen Vitai and Suemalo. Both always have holding calls which stall drives every single game.
- The Eagles' poor tackling continued. You gotta wonder how much of that is limited practice time or a factor of not playing in the pre-season?
The Falcons and Matt Ryan extracted a little revenge against their nemesis, even though the Eagles probably shouldv'e won the game. It's a NFC conference loss, something that may come back to haunt the squad later in the season when the playoffs arrive.
- Cris Collindworth is still annouing to listen to on NBC. Al Michaels is good but Collinsworth continues to be a front-runner.
- I picked the game on the nose- Falcons 24-20.I'm 2-0 on the season with Eagles' games. During their 2017 Super Bowl championship season, I went undefeated. Let's see if that happens again this season!
- Carson Wentz' failed two-point conversion was stupud and confusing. His knee did hit the ground as he was diving for the end zone, but that wasn't the call. Instead the refs ruled that Wentz "gave himself up" when his knee hit the ground. That makes no sense. How did Wentz surrender on the play when he was attempting to score? That play cost the Eagles in the end. If it was successful, and the score was 24-22 going to the wire, the Birds only needed a field goal to win.
- The 1-1 Eagles host the Detroit Lions next week at the Linc. The Lions beat the visiting Chargers on Sunday, 13-10, to go 1-0-1. The tie was in Arizona, when Detroit was up by 18 points in the 4th quarter and tied in overtime. Matthew Stafford is a good quarterback, but get the Lions outdoors ( this will be their first game this season not under a dome) and they are a different team. my prediction will come later in the week.
As for the rest of the NFL in Week 2...
- The Cowboys went to 2-0 with a victory in Washington. The Redskins are going to stink this year. Dallas has lowly Miami net week at home, then their schedule finally gets tougher: games against the Saints, Packers and Eagles are upcoming.
- The Steelers may be finished already. QB Ben Rothesberger hurt his throwing elbow and will have surgery this week. He is out for the season. Suddenly the AFC North is wide open, and Baltimore, already 2-0, is first in line to make a big move this season.
- Buffalo became the first team in history to go 2-0, win their first two games on the road, and win both games in the same road stadium ( beating the New York Jets and New York Giants). Speaking of bad, the Giants will be right there in the cellar with Washington. Which team will win fewer games this year?
- The Rams took advantage of bad calls by the refs and an injured Drew Brees in beating the Saints in LA. With the 49ers going 2-0, the NFC West may be very interesting, with Seattle also 2-0. The first NFC West division game is in Week 5 when the Rams travel to Seattle.
-As expected, New England crushed Miami. The Patriots were 19 point favorites but ended up winning by 42.
- Week 3 match-ups to look forward to: Baltimore at Kansas City; New Orleans at Seattle; and Denver at Green Bay.
Meanwhile, the Phillies lost their two-game series to the Red Sox over the weekend. They are now 4 1/2 games out of the wild card. With a brutal 11-game road trip to Atlanta, Cleveland and Washington looming, this club is dead. The countdown to fire Manager Gabe Kapler 9 and hopefully General Manager Matt Klentek) has begun.
I was at Saturday's game against Boston. Good game, a pitcher's duel to the 7th inning. A wasted effort by Aaron Nola, who had 9 strikeouts and gave up only one run in 7 innings. As usual, the Phillies couldn't hit, only gathering 5 hits all night.
Great crowd of over 40,000 on Saturday, with the warm late summer weather and no other activity in town. It was Childhood Cancer Awareness Night, and the Phillies always do these theme nights so well.
They were plenty of Boston fans in attendance. Some were loud and obnoxious, like they are going somewhere this year.
The Bosox won again yesterday, evening the season series after the Phils swept two games in August at Fenway Park..
The Phillies are second-rate now that the Eagles' season is in full-swing.Other than Saturday Night, fans are not going to Citizens Bank Park. Hopefully the empty seats are being noticed by Owner John Middleton and crew.
Things could be so much better with the Phillies.
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