Eagles should rest Westbrook

To play Brian Westbrook or not to play Brian Westbrook - that is the question. Or maybe the question should be, can the Eagles beat the Bears without Westbrook?

The answer to that question is yes, and thus the Eagles should sit their star running back this weekend.

Sure, having Westbrook on the field makes a huge difference. But risking the possibility of further injuring his ankle is just not worth it.


The Eagles defense has been outstanding this year (minus the Cowboys game). There is no reason to think the Eagles can't dominate the Kyle Orton led Bears. Chicago running back Matt Forte has been having a solid year, but the Eagles have slowed Stephen Jackson, Marion Barber, and Willie Parker, allowing an average of 47-yards rushing per game.

With Westbrook lining up in the backfield, the Eagles are much more explosive and would certainly score more against the Bears. However, I don't see them needing to score a ton of points to win.

Correll Buckhalter did a fine job filling in last week.

And with a division game against Washington on the line, the Eagles are going to need Westbrook healthy.

It's not worth the risk of further injuring his ankle, especially when they should be able to win without him.

The Eagles need to rest Westbrook this weekend and take care of getting him back to full strength.

Amazing stat comparing Mets and Phillies bullpen

Bullpens can play a difference in making or missing the playoffs. But how much they are playing a difference in the NL East this year is nothing short of astounding.

Imagine the Mets being 11 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East. If games were only six innings, they would be.

What about a 6 1/2 game lead. That's how much the Mets would be ahead if games were eight innings.

Wow.

The Phillies are 75-0 when leading after eight innings. The Mets have lost seven games they have led after eight and 14 they led in the eighth or later and blown 29 saves.

Phillies closer Brad Lidge is perfect in save opportunities. No matter who the Mets throw out there in relief, there is a good chance they will blow the game.

Talk about a difference maker.

Proof that picking NFL winners is mostly luck

I consider myself pretty knowledgable when it comes to the NFL.

My wife, on the other hand, can name a handful of Eagles players (only because I stuff the Eagles down her throat) and that's about it.

For a couple of years now I have been trying to get my wife to participate in a Pick Em league, where we pick winners of each game against the spread. After my dad won three years in a row, I won once, and my brother won once, I figured there was some type of luck involved.

So my wife finally joined this year and the experiment has begun. The results have been nothing short of my hunch so far - luck sure is a big part of it.

After two weeks my wife has picked 19 of 31 games correctly, against the spread. And she is tied for first place.

If you wondering if she has done research on each game, checked standings, past performances, looked at the all-time head-to-head records you are crazy.

It takes me to remind her she needs to pick the games. Then I sit down next to her, log her in (she does not even remember her yahoo ID), and read off game by game. She does not want to know (or even understand) the spread. She does not want to know team's records. She just wants me to read the teams.

Sometimes she will ask what the team name is (I read her the cities) like that will help her know who to pick. Sometimes she knows the team name, which I am impressed by.

Then she just picks. No research, no rhyme or reason (at least that I know of). She just picks.

And it works!

Sometimes it takes all my might for me not to tell her that her pick makes no sense. But really, do I have any room to speak? I am the one looking up at her in the standings, two games behind.

Who knows, maybe she does her research when I am not around. Maybe she really is an NFL whiz. Maybe she cloned herself and really lives in Vegas and is an oddsmaker.

Highly unlikely.

More than likely is that picking NFL requires a lot of luck. My wife has it.

Time to go, I am going to tell her to go buy a lotto ticket.

Tressel with yet another horribly coached game against USC

It probably would not have changed the final outcome of the game, but Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was again outcoached in a big game.

With the offense sputtering behind quarterback Todd Boeckman, freshman Terrell Pryor should have been in the game on every play. However, Tressel kept sending out Boeckman, a move that completely backfired in a blowout game.

Early in the game, Ohio State rotated Boeckman and Pryor in and out of the game. Announcer Brent Musberger noticed that when Pryor was in everyone on the sideline was up off the bench and watching in anticipation. The offense looked like it had life when he was in, and it kep the USC defense honest with the threat of the run.

Instead, Tressel kept going back to Boeckman, even as he commited mistake after mistake and the offense looked dead.

Tressel has been criticized before, for his coaching in two championship blowouts the past two years. And yet he continues to make bad decisions.

USC was clearly the better team tonight and most likely would have won no matter what. Having Pryor in the game would have made somewhat of a difference though.

A championship is now out of question for the Buckeyes and it's time to make Pryor the starter.

As far as this years team, the USC fans summed things up pretty good with their chant of "overrated."

Win over Dallas would go a long way for Eagles

Momentum is a huge thing in the NFL.

Look at the Giants last year. They ended the regular season with a very strong game against the undefeated New England Patriots. Despite losing that game, the Giants got on a roll all the way to a Super Bowl title.

The Monday night prime time game between the Eagles and hated Cowboys carries the potential for one team to gain the momentum and jump out as NFC East favorites.

If the Eagles lose, they very well could fall into a rut with tough games the following two weeks against the Steelers and Bears. A win by Philly would stun many with the Cowboys being picked by people all over to be a strong Super Bowl Contender, and could allow the Eagles to pick up steam heading into week three against the Steelers.

It's early, this game is not going to decide the outcome of an entire season. The point is that winning games early makes the second half of the season a lot less stressful.

The confidence the Eagles would gain beating their rivals on the road would be huge. Dallas is a tough team and deserving of high expectations. Many do not know what to think of the Eagles at this point or how the Eagles really stack up against a good team. Now is their chance to show us, as well as themselves, where we stand in the division.

I hate to say this is a must win game so early in the season. But if there is a such thing as a must win game in week two, this one is it.