Time for the Eagles to make a major change

Dare I say it is time for a major change for the Philadelphia Eagles - as in a coaching change.

Andy Reid has done a phenominal job putting together very talented football teams over the years. For that, he deserves a ton of credit.

But he has lost this team.

For the third straight week, the Eagles came out with no passion, no heart, and no desire to win and take control of their own destiny.

For the third straight week they were absolutely embarrassed.

The Eagles were never in this game. Jacksonville ran the ball at will. The high powered Eagles offense could do nothing. They had dropped passes, they failed to convert on third downs. Averaging 28 points per game, they only scored a measly six.

With the second half schedule they have, this season is over.

It's time to make a major change and shake things up. It's time to bring in a new coaching staff.

Reid comes out with the same crap every week. "We'll look at this, we'll fix that." When Andy, I ask? When are things going to be fixed?

Nothing is changing around here. If it was, they would have bounced back from a devastating loss to the Saints. Instead, they came out flat and lost to a lousy Tampa Bay team. And they were even worse today.

The loses fall on the players. They have been the one's who are not executing. But the Eagles coming out with no fire falls on Reid and the coaching staff.

The defense is getting burnt and the offense is faltering. These Eagles are going nowhere.

Phils could have been World Champs

The Philadelphia Phillies won more games during the regular season than the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

But the Cardnials won when they needed to. The Phillies did not.

On a night when St. Louis fans celebrated their first championship since 1982, Philadelphia fans sat at home, wondering what could have been had the Phillies won when they needed to.

And all we can do is wonder. The fact of the matter is that Philadelphia sports teams are cursed, and the Phillies did not win when they needed to.

But could they be closer to a title than we think? Maybe.

The Phillies have a talented group. Of coarse, they could use a little bit of pitching help and a bat to prtect Ryan Howard, but they are close.

I am excited to see what they do in the offseason.

Could they go after sluggers like Alfonso Soriano or Aramas Ramirez? Don't count on them signing a big bat.

Will Pat Burrell be traded? Would any team even want him and his contract?

General Manager Pat Gillick has salary room this year. Now is the time for him to work his magic.

And for the sake of Phillies fans, let's hope we'll be the ones celebrating next October.

Eagles must turn things around now

It's time for the Eagles to get back on track.

After losing two straight games on last second field goals, the Eagles find themselves at 4-3 with the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) coming to town this weekend.

The Eagles need a win - bad.

With the bye week approaching, this is a must win game for Philadelphia. New York is a game ahead of them, but Dallas is on a tailspin with the benching of quarterback Drew Bledsoe and Washington is having a horrible year.

With the second half of their schedule as tough as it is, Philadephia cannot fall to .500. And there is no reason they should.

Their offense, ranked number one in the league, along with an injury depleted Jacksonville team should mean an Eagles win.

The Eagles very well could be 7-0 right now. They have lost all three games on the final play, because of dumb penalties and mistakes.

Philadelphia must find it within themselves to put teams away, not turn the ball over, and not take bad penalties. If they continue on as they have been playing it will be a long second half.

Despite being only 4-3, the Eagles are close to being a dominant team that could make a run at the Super Bowl.

That run starts Sunday, in a must win game.

Flyers GM, coach gone - finally

I guess I should watch what I write. Just two days after calling for Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock to be fired, he was let go by the struggling club. General Manager Bob Clarke is also out, resigning after being unsuccesful in bringing a championship to Philadelphia.

There is one comment Clarke made at this mornings press conference that really bothers me.

"I just don't have the desire to do what this job requires," he said. "I was tired of doing it."

Then why in the world was he here to begin the season?

This could not be a feeling he had all of the sudden. This is a feeling that builds over time.

"I don't know what happened. I don't know why it happened," he continued. "I would have never thought I'd get tired or burnt out or something. But this is what's happened. I've got to try and figure out why and how."

Forget about trying to figure out why or how. He needs to get away from this team.

I don't want him around anymore and the Flyers should not either.

Hey, I understand getting burnt out, it happens. But don't stick around if you are burnt out.

The Flyers should have gotten rid of Clarke a long time ago. I am glad owner Ed Snider had the guts to go it now after their pitiful 1-6-1 start. They needed a change on the bench and at the helm.

I have to question the moves though of making their assistant coach, John Stevens, and assistant GM, Paul Holmgren, into the coach and GM, respectively. Will there really be much change? Although, I'm sure there were not a lot of options out there.

Oh well, what's done is done. And it was the right thing to do.

Time for the Flyers to make a coaching change

You would think the Flyers would show a little emotion after an embarrassing 9-1 loss the other night.

Instead, they followed it up with yet another loss, 4-1 to Tampa Bay. Philadelphia has lost nine straight against the Lighting.

The Flyers have hit rock bottom. In seven games, they have only won once. Not only that, but they lost their star captain, Peter Forsberg, to a wrist injury tonight.

For some reason, the Flyers can't seem to get things together. They are getting beaten to pucks. They are not skating with opposing players. They are slow up and down the ice.

But what erks me most is that they have no intensity. They have no passion.

It is time for a change. It's time to let go of Ken Hitchcock. I am sick and tired of seeing his blank look on the bench. Give me a coach that is going to light a fire under these players.

There is absolutely no excuse for how badly the Flyers are playing. None.

Flyers pummeled by Sabres

It is apparent that things aren't going well when you can't even get anything on goal on a penalty shot.

In an embarrassing 9-1 loss to Buffalo, the Flyers were out hustled, outmatched, out coached. They downright stunk.

After a shaky first period but great goal tending from Robert Esche, the Flyers found themselves down by only a goal early in the second period.

But unable to muster anything, even on their powerplay, Buffalo took over, scoring six times in the second period.

Philadelphia had a chance to take a lead in the first period when Mike Richards was taken down on a break-a-way. He was awarded a penalty shot and went wide to the left but was unable to get off a shot before losing control.

The third period did not turn out much better. Philadelphia actually scored 1 minute, 22 seconds in, but Buffalo came right back with a goal 24 seconds later.

If the start the Flyers have had this season is any sign of things to come, it is going to be a long season. Philadelphia is 1-4-1 and in last place. Buffalo, meanwhile, is 6-0-0. It was clear that they are a much better team than Philadelphia.

Mistakes kill Eagles

It was an inexcusable penalty that doomed the Eagles.

Late in a tie game, the Eagles sacked New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees on a 3rd and 10, to put the Saints out of field goal range. Everything looked great for the Eagles. But there were flags on the play and the Eagles were called for 12 men on the field.

Instead of a victory party all the way back to Philadelphia, it gave the Saints a 3rd and 5, which they connected on and led to a game winning field goal as time expired.

Rookie linebacker Omar Gaither should not have been on the field. "I didn't look over to the sidelines and the personnel call," said Gaither. "It's my fault. I didn't have enough awareness to know that we were getting out of 'dime' and going into 'Buffalo.' It was my fault. I didn't get off the field. We had too many men out there."

Great that the young man takes responsibility, but that is no excuse and it ended up costing the Eagles. But that was not the only downfall.

Michael Lewis was burned on a deep ball to Joe Horn to tie the game, right after a Philadelphia touchdown.

The Eagles trailed 17-3 at halftime - that cannot happen.

However, they came back with 21 unanswered points before the Saints again took control of the game.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this team. Can they run the ball effectively? Can they control the clock. Why does their defense allow so many yards and points? Can their offense continue to carry them? How much can Donovan McNabb actually do?

The Eagles need to answer these questions and fix these problems quickly. The way they played today, they are not a Super Bowl contender.

T.O. a non-factor in return to Philly

The homecoming of Terrell Owens to Philadelphia could not have turned out worse for the former Philadelphia star receiver, who was banashed for the team last year.

Not only did the Cowboys lose, but Owens only had three catches for 45 yards and was a non-factor.

Flyers finally post win, but excitement for me not there

Sure, I was glad to be watching the Flyers play tonight. After all, there are only about 5-10 games on national TV every year.

I got excited when they scored and pumped that they won 4-2.

But the excitement is nothing compared to the Eagles game on Sunday against Dallas. That game got me so pumped, it is going to be hard to reach that level of excitement again - at least until the Eagles play a playoff game.

There was so much hype and it was such a thrilling victory.

The NHL season is early. Games are important but a loss here and there is no big deal. In the NFL, where you only play 16 games, every loss is huge.

Maybe the NHL just needs to get deeper into the season for me to be more excited. My focus right now is on the NFL. Maybe I just need to get a few NHL games under my belt to get the juices flowing.

Right now though, all I can think about is next Sunday, when the Eagles head to New Orleans.

Big plays propel Eagles to exciting win over Dallas

Donovan McNabb is off to the best start of any quarterback - not just this year - but ever.

He leads the NFL in yards passing (1,602) and touchdowns (11). His rating of 107.2 ranks third and he's thrown just one interception.

McNabb and the offense are quick to score, with eight touchdown drives lasting fewer than 90 seconds. They have five scoring drives of fewer than four plays and 12 that have lasted less than five plays or 2:30. Overall, they have 33 plays for at least 20 yards.

Nothing was different in their big win over Dallas. However, the biggest play came from the defense.





And from a fans perspective...

Eagles, Cowboys lives up to hype

The most hyped game of the year lived up to every expectation it was given - but not for the reasons many thought it would.

In a back-and-forth battle between NFC East foes and with first place on the line, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 38-24, in a game for the ages.

Oh, and if you didn't notice (which you may not have if you live in a hole), the much hated Terrell Owens was in town. As if the Cowboys were not already hated enough.

Philadelphia's defense shut down Owens (3 catches, 45 yards) and was phenominal up front, pressuring Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe all day. He was sacked seven times and threw three interceptions. None was bigger than within the last minute of the game.

Trailing by just seven points inside of a minute left, Bledsoe was intercepted by Lito Shepperd, who ran the ball back 102-yards for a touchdown and to seal the victory.

The Eagles should not have even been in that situation, but they were called for a pass interference call on a 4th and 18 with the Cowboys at their own 37. That gave them the ball at the Eagles six-yard line.


Donovan McNabb was spectacular, finishing with touchdown passes of 40 and 87 yards. He also ran for one score.

Owens was held without a catch until the third quarter and the fans were jumping up and down when he dropped a ball thrown his way. He was clearly upset, yelling and pouting on the sidelines throughout the game.

McNabb connected with Brown on a flea-flicker pass with 9:13 left that made it 31-24. The Cowboys drove into Eagles territory on their next drive, but Bledsoe was intercepted on a pass he underthrew to Owens. An earlier interception by the Eagles was also on a ball underthrown to Owens.

It was an emotional game for both teams. With the win, the Eagles improve to 4-1 and are have two more wins than the Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins.

The Eagles won an NFC East game for the first time in seven tries.

And now, they are officialy back.

And boy did this game live up to its hype.

Focus from media and fans is in the wrong place

I'm tired of reading about T.O. this, T.O. that. All the media and fans have been talking about all week is Terrell Owens returning to Philadelphia in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. For a while, that is what my focus has been too.

I'm getting tired of it though. Yeah, the plot thickens in an already heated rivalry. But the focus is not and should not be on Owens. The main goal here is to win a ballgame and remain in first place in the NFC East.

First and foremost, this is a division game that the Eagles need to win. This would go a far way in showing that they are back in the NFC East. It would put the Cowboys at 2-2 and the Eagles at an impressive 4-1. Not to mention that either Washington will fall to 2-3 or New York will fall to 1-3. This is a big week in the NFC East.

And that is how this game should be treated - an important division game. A game the Eagles need to win.

Dallas is a good team, offensively and defensively. The Eagles will not win just by stopping Owens.

Forget the circuis. It's time to focus on football and the game at hand. I can't wait for Sunday.

It's Dallas time

It is officially time to look forward to the Dallas Cowboys and the circuis coming to town.

Not that I haven't had this date circled on my calendar for months now.

It was clear from Philly fans chanting "Dallas sucks, Dallas sucks" during the post game show after the Eagles 31-9 win over Green Bay Monday night that the fans are ready to welcome back Terrell Owens.

If you thought Santa Claus had it rough with boos raining down from Philadelphia fans, wait until Owens, who was a team cancer last year, takes the field.

This is the game of the year - no doubt. The hype is going to be amazing. First place in the NFC East will be on the line. And of coarse, the whole sotry between T.O. and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's take a quick look at the Eagles win over Green Bay - which was a tale of two different teams.

Philadelphia's offense came out very sluggish. With running back Brian Westbrook out, backup Correll Buckhalter fumbled twince inside the five yard line of Green Bay. Thanks to a fumble from Green Bay running back Vernand Morency right after one of Buckhalter's fumble, the Eagles scored the only touchdown of the first half, but trailed 9-7 at halftime.

Whatever coach Andy Reid said at halftime worked, as the Eagles came out firing in the second half. They scored 17 points in the third quarter, led by two touchdown catches by Greg Lewis, who came into tonight's game with only one career TD reception.

McNabb ran for his second TD of the game in the fourth quarter and finished with 288-yards in the air and 47-yards rushing.

The Packers have not won in Philadelphia since 1962, a span of seven games.

But now the focus shifts.

Philadelphia fans hate the Dallas Cowboys. They are now even more hated with Owens.

The media will talk about it being a distraction. But it is going to come down to one thing. Executing.

It's going to be an exciting week leading up to the game. And the game should be a good one.

So I'll leave you with this one famous comment from Philadelphia fans - Dallas sucks.