Philly Sports Today

With their 26-14 win on the road over the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings, Andy Reid has now guided the Philadelphia Eagles to a win in their first playoff game for seven consecutive postseasons. That’s straight-up money. If the Birds get to the playoffs, you know they’re moving on. It’s the rest of the games that should have the Eagles worried. Since Reid is now 9-6 in the playoffs as head coach, that means that the Eagles are a terrible 2-6 in their second playoff game and beyond. Not so good, but back to Philly’s game against the Vikings. It wasn’t their best game of the year and it wasn’t their worst game. The defense performed much better than the offense. Asante Samuel returned an interception for a touchdown and the Birds also recovered a fumble and had a sack. The run D wasn’t good, giving up 4.4 yards per carry and two rushing touchdowns, but the Eagles wreaked havoc on Tarvaris Jackson. Philly’s offense was alright and Donovan McNabb threw for 300 yards and a touchdown, which was a back-breaking 71 yard screen pass to Brian Westbrook. However, the Eagles couldn’t run the ball at all, which is cause for concern. With the win, Philly earned a rematch with the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It’ll most likely be a loss, but maybe the Eagles can shock the world, just like the Phillies did in October. The only way that I can see the Birds pulling the upset would be if they play exactly like they did when they went to Giants Stadium a few weeks ago. However, that’s highly unlikely.

In the other NFC playoff game, the NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals upset the Atlanta Falcons, winning 30-24. Nobody really thought the Cards would win (I actually picked Arizona to win in my picks), but they dominated for much of the game. The Falcons really only played well in the second quarter, where they scored 17 points. For all of the talk about how great Atlanta’s offense was, the Cardinals threw for more yards and actually out-rushed the Falcons. While Kurt Warner was expected to throw for a ton of yards, nobody really thought that Edgerrin James would out-rush Michael Turner. Either way, neither team would have beaten the Panthers in Carolina next week. By the way, we should see the Falcons in the playoffs again in the very near future, but since the NFC South is the most volatile division in football, who really knows.

On to the AFC, where the AFC West champion San Diego Chargers upset NFL MVP Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 in overtime. This game was basically a coming out party for Darren “LaDainian Who?” Sproles, who gained 328 total yards and had 2 touchdowns, including the game-winning 22-yard TD run in overtime. Indy couldn’t run the ball, and San Diego’s D seemed to frustrate Manning for much of the game, especially down the stretch. The unsung hero of the game was San Diego punter Mike Scifres, who punted six times for an average of 52.7 yards, which included a 67-yard boomer, and pinned the Colts inside their own 20 and deep in their own territory on each punt. It was pretty remarkable. For some reason, the Chargers seem to have the Colts’ number. Now, San Diego is rewarded with a trip to face the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The two teams met in Week 11 and the Steelers won 11-10. The Steelers’ defense should be able to shut the Chargers down again, but Pittsburgh’s offense is pretty bad, so this is anyone’s game.

In the other AFC playoff game, the Baltimore Ravens crushed the AFC East champion Miami Dolphins 27-9. The Ravens intercepted Chad Pennington four times and recovered a fumble. Ed Reed returned one of Pennington’s picks 64 yards for a touchdown. Reed just has a knack for big plays. There wasn’t really much of a difference in total yardage, but when you turn the ball over as much as the Dolphins did, it’s going to be pretty tough to beat a team with a defense that is as good as the Ravens’. Overall, the Dolphins had a very nice year and an amazing turnaround, going from 1-15 and the #1 pick in the draft in 2007 to 11-5 and the AFC East title in 2008. That’s what I call progress. Now, Baltimore will travel to the AFC South champion Tennessee Titans. This will definitely be a defensive struggle and I wouldn’t really be shocked by either team winning at this point. This season has been so crazy, especially in the AFC, that I wouldn’t be shocked if either team wins.

Playoff Schedule–Divisional Round
January 10, 2009:
AFC: #6 Baltimore at #1 Tennessee, 4:30 p.m.
NFC: #4 Arizona at #2 Carolina, 8:15 p.m.

January 11, 2009
NFC: #6 Philadelphia at #1 New York Giants, 1:00 p.m.
AFC: #4 San Diego at #2 Pittsburgh, 4:45 p.m.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS