Welcome to PhilaPhans’ weekly game review column, the Stock Report. Every week, we take a look at how each unit on the Eagles’ team fared relative to both the previous week’s performance as well as to expectations going into the game. The 2011 season has officially come to an end and a campaign that started with Super Bowl visions for many Eagles fans instead ended in bitter disappointment. Yes, they managed to avoid a losing record and actually finished in second place in the NFC East, but that fell far short of expectations. Where do they go from here? Let’s take a closer look at where the Eagles stand following their season-ending victory over the Washington Redskins. (Note: The Season Stock grade represents a cumulative grade of each particular unit’s performance relative to the type of year they were expected to have when the 2011 season began.)

Quarterback – Up (Last Week: Slightly Up)
Season Stock – Down

Vick finished the day with a very impressive 335 yards passing to accompany three touchdown passes. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Yet another nice game from Michael Vick that would have been even better had his receivers managed to get open on a more consistent basis. Vick finished the day with a very impressive 335 yards passing to accompany three touchdown passes. He also only rushed once on the day for three yards, which has to be close to (if not actually being) a career low. This isn’t to say that Vick was perfect, because he wasn’t. He overthrew receivers on multiple occasions (he missed wide receiver DeSean Jackson at least twice that I saw), underthrew wide receiver Jeremy Maclin badly enough in the third quarter that he threw the ball into Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall’s back, and threw an awful ball intended for tight end Brent Celek into double coverage in the fourth quarter that was picked off by Washington safety OJ Atogwe. Vick also took a blindside sack from Washington linebacker Brian Orakpo late in the second quarter and lost the ball on the play. However, he again coaxed nice games out of his best receivers (Jackson, Maclin, and Celek were all over 85 yards receiving on the day), hitting a 62-yard bomb for a score to Jackson in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game, and then finding Celek on a tight end screen later that quarter for his third touchdown pass of the day. What was encouraging was that on a day when he was off target at times, the offensive line was much more porous than it’s been, and when he himself was off target on too many occasions, he was still able to put up 300+ yards passing, three scores, and come away with a win. He also showed nice patience in waiting in the pocket and not taking off scrambling on a first-quarter throw to Maclin in the back of the end zone that Maclin really should have come down with. The Eagles have to go into this offseason feeling much better about Vick than they did at this time last year when he finished the season reeling. The biggest keys for Vick next season are going to be cleaning up the turnovers (14 INTs and 10 fumbles this year – unacceptable) and staying healthy enough to play as much of a 16-game schedule as possible. The turnovers were not only plentiful, but often seemed to come at the worst possible times this year. And having to start Vince Young three times (1-2 record) and have Mike Kafka finish one game (a loss to the Atlanta Falcons) most definitely hurt the Eagles this year. If he’s able to accomplish those two things – drastically reduce the turnovers and play AT LEAST 14 games next year – the sky really is the limit to what he can do in this offense.

Running Backs – Down (LW: Slightly Down)
Season Stock – Up

Dion Lewis picked it up in the fourth quarter to finish with 58 yards on 12 carries. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

The Eagles did the wise thing in resting LeSean McCoy on Sunday. If you read last week’s Stock Report or this week’s game preview, you saw that I advocated for McCoy’s deactivation because it made no sense to risk your most important offensive piece (he and Vick are like 1 and 1A, and you could easily make a case for either being the most important) in a relatively meaningless game, particularly after seeing Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson completely wreck his knee in a similar situation in Week 16. So the news that McCoy was a surprise deactivation was welcome, if only because of McCoy’s importance to this team. It also gave the Eagles a chance to get a (seemingly) final look at Ronnie Brown and give more extensive time to fifth-round rookie Dion Lewis. Brown predictably looked awful in gaining just 14 yards on six carries and surely played his last game as an Eagle. Lewis didn’t fare much better early on, but picked it up in the fourth quarter to finish with 58 yards on 12 carries (good for a 4.8 yards/carry average) and tallied his first NFL touchdown on a nine-yard run late in the fourth. One thing was certain – this game proved that the Eagles are in major trouble if anything ever happens to McCoy so getting a strong backup in the offseason needs to be a priority. We had every reason to believe that Brown was going to be that, but he flopped in every way imaginable. His lasting legacy with the Eagles will be the bungled run/pass option in the San Francisco game and getting traded to the Detroit Lions only to be returned due to Jerome Harrison’s scary brain tumor situation. Were Lewis farther along in his development, you might think he’d be suited to be the #2 back behind McCoy but he’s just not there yet. In time, I could see Lewis playing a poor man’s Darren Sproles, but he needs some work before he’s at that point. For example, he almost got Vick killed in missing a blitz pickup in the second quarter. Looking at the list of available free agents, perhaps someone like New England’s BenJarvus Green-Ellis or the New York Jets’ LaDanian Tomlinson would be a fit behind McCoy. One thing’s certain though – the Eagles have themselves one of the league’s very best at the position in McCoy and with Peterson likely to miss much of 2012, McCoy will probably be entering next season in the conversation as the league’s best at the position along with Houston’s Arian Foster.

Receivers/Tight Ends – No Change (LW: Up)
Season Stock – No Change

It’s very possible that Jackson could have played his final game as an Eagle on Sunday. (Image-Eagles)

Kind of a weird game out of the receivers. It seemed, at least to my eyes, that they were having trouble with Washington’s coverages all day and that there were multiple occasions where guys like DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin were having difficulty getting open but, when you look at the statistics, everyone who played extensively had decent numbers. Jackson finished with four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, much of that coming on a 62-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter which the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane noted was the first Jackson touchdown of more than 40 yards this season. It’s very possible that Jackson could have played his final game as an Eagle on Sunday, though to Jackson’s credit he was contrite and conciliatory about some of the mistakes he’s made this season following the game. Perhaps getting a jump on next season, Vick targeted Maclin twice as much as he did Jackson, with Maclin hauling in eight of his 13 targets for 105 yards. He should have had more and a touchdown had he not dropped a sure score in the first quarter. Vick put the ball right into Maclin’s hands in the back of the end zone but Maclin couldn’t hold on. Maclin also struggled with DeAngelo Hall in coverage on more than one occasion and had a big gainer from Vick in the second quarter wiped out by a Ronnie Brown penalty. He did, however, have a crazy fourth quarter catch where the ball popped up into in the air off of his hands but he somehow came back down with it. You have to hope that some of the problems that Maclin’s had with his hands this season are just an anomaly and don’t signify a growing trend.

Celek was playing with a sports hernia and a torn labrum. (Image-Eagles)

Celek had another in a string of nice games (six catches for 86 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown on a four-yard tight end screen), and wide receiver Jason Avant came up with a couple of big third-down catches in the third quarter. Going into next season, Jackson is the biggest question mark. Do the Eagles re-sign him for a more reasonable deal (as in NOT top-five wide receiver money) or do they let him walk and take an unlikely shot at someone like Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace (don’t laugh – no one saw Asante Samuel or Nnamdi Asomugha ending up here until they actually did) or spend a high draft pick on someone like Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery or North Carolina’s Dwight Jones? The re-emergence of Brent Celek was one of the biggest positives to come out of the season so the Eagles know that they have another viable weapon in the passing game via their tight end. Maclin also bounced back from his offseason health scare to turn in yet another solid season but, again, if Jackson isn’t here that’s going to be a big hole that the Eagles are going to need to fill. Ultimately, I think getting things done with Jackson makes too much sense not to happen and I see him coming back on a deal more in line with his skillset. I’d also expect them to take a receiver at some point in the draft to develop but, assuming Jackson is back, probably not until the later rounds.

Offensive Line – Down (LW: Slightly Up)
Season Stock – Up

Jason Peters has established himself as the best LT in the NFL. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

That wasn’t necessarily the type of game you want to see out of an offensive line that’s generally played very well all year. While Washington’s defense ended the day with just two sacks, they were disruptive and seemingly in Vick’s face for a good part of the day. Brian Orakpo beat right tackle Todd Herremans in the first quarter, going right around him to sack Vick. Herremans would later be the one beaten on the Orakpo sack that ended in a Vick fumble late in the second quarter. Later on that first-quarter drive where Orakpo beat Herremans for the first time, it looked like right guard Danny Watkins missed an assignment on a Washington defender that allowed pressure on Vick and almost forced him into an interception. Watkins would atone somewhat, however, with a nice block on a 20-yard Dion Lewis run in the fourth quarter. While the returns for the line on the field on Sunday left something to be desired, the best news of the day for the offensive line came after the game when offensive line coach Howard Mudd announced that he was planning to return for the 2012 season. Mudd’s influence on the line has been obvious as he took a line populated with two rookies, an unheralded free agent, and a veteran playing tackle extensively for the first time since college and molded them into arguably one of the best offensive lines in the league. Going into next season, the Eagles need to re-sign left guard Evan Mathis first and foremost. Mathis may have been the Eagles’ most underrated signing of the truncated 2011 offseason and formed a formidable left side of the line with Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters. They’ll also need to see some progression from first-year players Jason Kelce and particularly Watkins, but I’d expect them to return with the same five starters next season. And with a year of experience playing together, there’s every reason to believe that the offensive line will be even better next year.

Defensive Line – Down (LW: Up)
Season Stock – Up

How did this man get cut in the 1st place? (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Quiet day from the defensive front. I should say, quiet day from everyone on the defensive front not named Derek Landri. Landri had, for my money, the most disruptive and impressive day by any Eagles defensive tackle this year. The guy was everywhere from bottling up Redskins running back Evan Royster at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, to abusing his blocker and popping Redskins running back Roy Helu for a loss of three in the second quarter, to blocking a second-quarter field goal attempt by Redskins placekicker Graham Gano, to sticking Grossman late in the same quarter to force an incompletion. Landri was everywhere and has shown that he’s a must re-sign when the Eagles sit down to plan their offseason. He’s shown that he’s capable of at least being the #3 defensive tackle in the rotation next year, if not worthy of pushing Mike Patterson for his starting job. All Landri does is make plays. Back to the relative silence of the unit, though. The Eagles’ lone sack came courtesy of defensive end Trent Cole in the fourth quarter when he got Grossman from the back side on a 3rd-and-20 play. He also pressured Grossman into a short throw in the second quarter after coming through the line unblocked. But other positives were few and far between. Royster rushed for an impressive 113 yards on the day, 28 coming on a third quarter play where he ran through the entire defense. And the line was nowhere to be found when a clearly hampered Helu ran 47 yards into the end zone on a screen to put the Redskins within three points in the third quarter. And I’m pretty sure defensive end Jason Babin was thinking more about the 80s party he was throwing on Sunday night than he was about playing the Redskins, ending the day with a scant two tackles and generally avoiding Grossman like Grossman had cooties. Still, on the year you’d have to say that the defensive line (and Babin in particular) were a success. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn’s much-talked-about Wide Nine scheme made for a much more disruptive front four than we’ve seen from the Eagles in years. The question now is, with the expected upheaval of the defensive coaching staff, will Washburn get another shot in 2012. I think it would be a mistake if he didn’t. Also, a sleeper contributor for next season on the defensive line? A finally healthy Brandon Graham, who could begin living up to the potential that caused the Eagles to spend a first round pick on him in 2010.

Linebackers – Slightly Up (LW: Slightly Down)
Season Stock – Down

Once again, Casey Matthews struggled when asked to play MLB. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

The linebackers were behind the eight-ball almost from the jump when starting middle linebacker Jamar Chaney was forced from the game in the early in the first quarter after suffering a concussion on a tackle of Evan Royster. He’d be replaced by Casey Matthews who showed, once again, that he’s not a starting middle linebacker in the NFL. Matthews has played very well in recent weeks as a nickel linebacker and I think, for now, that’s where his niche lies. He was just invisible in run support and was a big reason why Royster ended the day with 113 yards on the ground. He had trouble shedding blocks all day and on a Royster run for a first down on third-and-short, it looked like he ran right to the spot where Matthews was supposed to be. Still Matthews was around the ball enough to finish the day tied with safety Nate Allen for second on the team in tackles. Weakside linebacker Brian Rolle had a quieter game than normal and in fact was in on a couple of negative plays. When Rex Grossman went to the second level to Washington fullback Darrel Young for a 23-yard gain in the first quarter, Rolle was the one beaten on a play-action fake. He was also a part of the cadre of defenders unable to take Royster down on his 28-yard second-quarter run. To his credit, he would later ride Royster down hard on an intended dump off in the fourth and also delivered a crushing blow on Grossman on the play that resulted in Grossman’s second-quarter interception.

Clayton ended the day as the Eagles’ leading tackler with six. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

The linebacker who stood out the most was reserve ‘backer Keenan Clayton. Clayton ended the day as the Eagles’ leading tackler with six, including two monster shots – one on special teams where he planted Redskins returner Brandon Banks for a three-yard loss, and another when he stuck Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss after a 20-yard gain in the second quarter. Going into next year, I don’t think there’s any question that linebacker is the Eagles’ biggest need. Rolle has one spot locked down after flashing playmaker ability on multiple occasions this year. Yes, he’s undersized, but the guy makes plays and if you do that, it doesn’t matter how small you are. Matthews may have found his niche in the nickel package but this game showed he’s not ready to play in the base defense. I like Chaney and there’s no question that he helped improve the run defense after being installed as the starting middle linebacker, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s better suited to a fourth linebacker/jack-of-all trades position. Think a better Omar Gaither. For me, my number one target in the draft is Boston College middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. Kuechly won the Lombardi award as the nation’s top linebacker and is a tackling machine. He’d likely start from day one and would have the most potential of any Eagles linebacker in years. The question is whether he’ll still be there at #15 when the Eagles make their selection. As for the other position, Akeem Jordan was passable enough but I’d like to see more of Clayton at SAM. He flashed ability in this game and has acquitted himself well in nickel situations as well this season. Maybe a look at someone like Carolina’s Dan Connor in free agency? The crop of free-agent linebackers isn’t particularly strong this year but you can certainly expect the Eagles to fortify this position one way or another this offseason.

Defensive Backs – Up (LW: No Change)
Season Stock – Down

Rodgers-Cromartie has really cemented himself as the starter at LCB for 2012. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Asante who? When it was announced that cornerback Asante Samuel would sit out his second straight game with a hamstring injury, it was pretty apparent that #22 had played his last game as an Eagle and after seeing how cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played in his place (after already turning in an impressive Christmas Eve performance in Dallas) I’ll volunteer to drive Samuel to the airport myself. Rodgers-Cromartie was the clear defensive standout in this game (with Derek Landri running a close second). He was all over the place. He had a nice pop of Washington wide receiver Jabar Gaffney in the second quarter, broke up a touchdown pass for the second time in two weeks when he recovered from being beaten by Santana Moss in the first quarter to knock away the ball at the last second, and deflected a Grossman pass intended for Washington wide receiver Anthony Armstrong up in the air where it was later brought in by safety Nate Allen for his second interception of the season. Rodgers-Cromartie and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha have looked every bit the shutdown tandem that we thought they could be when it became apparent that Samuel was likely the odd man out. The Eagles can head into 2012 (assuming that Asomugha’s atypically down 2011 season was just an anomaly) knowing that they have two legitimate Pro Bowl-caliber cornerbacks patrolling their secondary, particularly after shutting down both the Dallas and Washington receiving corps the past two weeks.

Nate Allen has locked down the FS position, as he seems fully recovered from knee surgery. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

There are still questions at safety although I think we can safely assume that Allen will be manning one spot as he’s gotten better as the season has gone along and has bounced back nicely from his abysmal showing against the Patriots in late November. Allen’s interception in this game was the fifth of his career – three of those coming against these Redskins. The other safety spot is up for grabs. Kurt Coleman was placed on injured reserve earlier in the week after suffering a biceps injury in Dallas, leaving second-rounder Jaiquawn Jarrett to get his second career start and providing him with a chance to put his name into consideration for a starting job going into next season. About that? Not so much. Jarrett didn’t do much of note, other than be one of the four defenders that Evan Royster ran through on his 28-yard second quarter run. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be many options either via the draft or free agency for the Eagles. Other than maybe Alabama’s Mark Barron, there are a dearth of safety prospects available through the draft and after spending second round picks on Allen and Jarrett the past two seasons, it’s unlikely that the Eagles will use another high pick on a safety in this year’s draft. The only real free agent of note is Washington’s own LaRon Landry, but Landry himself has only played in 17 games over the last two seasons. Perhaps the Eagles will be of the mind to take a run at Landry, but more likely they’ll be left to hope that either Coleman or Jarrett develop over the offseason and training camp into someone that they can get by with next season.

Special Teams – Up (LW: No Change)
Season Stock – No Change

The rookie kickers held their own, but punter Chas Henry has work to do. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

You’d have to say that placekicker Alex Henery’s first NFL season was a success. He only missed three of his 27 kicks on the season, and ended the year nailing his last sixteen in a row. It’s hard not to notice that the man he replaced, San Francisco’s David Akers, just had one of the best seasons for a kicker in recent memory, but Henery came as advertised and looks to be a piece for the Eagles to rely on for years to come. Punter Chas Henry, a rookie himself, on the other hand? The jury’s still out. I haven’t noticed Henry stand out in a bad way too much this season so I was surprised to look at punting statistics and see that he finished in the bottom quarter of the league in both gross and net punting average. I’d expect him back next year but he’ll surely have competition come training camp from somewhere. Wide receiver Chad Hall got some looks as a returner and ripped off a nice runback on a punt in the fourth quarter but he’s a fringe player at best. If Jackson isn’t back next season, I’d say it’s likely that the 2012 punt returner isn’t currently on the roster. And, for that matter, Dion Lewis will need to show more than he did for much of this season if he’s to hold onto his kickoff returner job.

Coaching – No Change (LW: No Change)
Season Stock – Down

Eagles' owner Jeff Lurie said Tuesday that Andy Reid will return for 2012. (Image-Eagles)

There’s no use speculating whether head coach Andy Reid will return next season. Owner Jeffrey Lurie announced in a press conference Tuesday that Reid will be back for the 2012 season. However, Lurie seemed to officially put Reid on notice, using words like “unacceptable,” “biggest disappointment since I’ve owned the team,” and “fool’s gold” to describe the 2011 season. While the Eagles did end the season on a four-game winning streak that featured improved coaching – including Sunday’s game, which saw the Eagles actually put a team away with late scores, an all-too infrequent occurance – it was heartening to see Lurie not put too much stock in the last month of the season, saying that the team playing that way came much later than it should have. He pointed to Reid’s long-term track record, his record over the past two seasons, and his intangibles as reasons for retaining him although if you thought for a while that Lurie was making a case for why Reid should be fired you wouldn’t have necessarily been wrong. One thing is clear, though – Lurie has never before used the type of language that he used to describe his feelings toward Reid on Tuesday and it really seems that anything less than a deep, deep playoff run next season will cost Reid his job.

The jury is still out on Juan Castillo remaining DC in 2012.

As for embattled defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, the future seems a little more dim. Lurie refused to answer any questions about Castillo’s future employment prospects, deferring to Reid on the subject, but also essentially admitted that Castillo was a fall-back option when he was shifted into the defensive coordinator spot last February. As the Daily News’ Les Bowen and the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane pointed out on Wednesday, the longer Reid waits to speak to the press for his end-of-season post-mortem, the less likely it is that Castillo is in his same position next season. And with the St. Louis Rams firing their head coach, Steve Spagnuolo, on Monday the Eagles are presented with an enticing option to replace Castillo if they so choose. In my opinion, the best case for all involved would be to bring Spagnuolo under the assistant head coach/defense title which would allow Castillo to continue in his current position (thus recognizing the strides that the defense has made late in the season) while giving him another experienced defensive assistant at his disposal. It allows Spagnuolo to come in and work more closely with Reid than he did in his first stint with the Eagles as a way of rehabilitating his image and preparing himself for another shot at a head coaching position. And it allows Reid to provide himself with a security blanket in the form of Spagnuolo in the event that the final month of Castillo’s defense was a mirage. I’d expect much of the rest of the coaching staff to stay intact. The biggest variables were (and are) offensive line coach Howard Mudd – who announced Sunday his intention to return next year – and defensive line coach Jim Washburn. Some feel that Washburn’s system would not be a fit with Spagnuolo were he to come to Philadelphia, but the New York Giants boasted a very strong defensive line and for all of Spagnuolo’s blitzing reputation, the Rams actually blitzed less than the Eagles did in 2011. It can work and there’s no question that Washburn deserves another year after the defensive line’s strong performance this season. Ultimately, it all comes down to what the Eagles do with regard to the Spagnuolo/Castillo situation and we should have a better idea on which way things are headed in the next few days.

Team As A Whole – No Change (LW: Down)
Season Stock: Down

The Eagles, top to bottom, have some soul-searching to do this off-season. They need to come together as the OL did in 2011 for 2012 to be a success.

Ultimately, they won a meaningless game to avoid a losing season and finish in second place in the NFC East thanks to Dallas’s loss to the Giants so I suppose that’s something. But in the grand scheme of things, no one can look at this season as anything other than a disappointment. After an exciting offseason that saw talent like Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins (among others) added to the roster, an eight-win season isn’t what people had in mind and, indeed, Jeffrey Lurie himself used the word “unacceptable” in his Tuesday press conference. I’ve outlined what I think the Eagles should do at each position for the most part and, should they do something along those lines, they should be one of the NFC’s better teams next year. Eliminate the turnovers. Re-sign DeSean Jackson, Evan Mathis, and Derek Landri. Draft Luke Kuechly. Find a better SAM linebacker. Dig up another safety somewhere. Bring Steve Spagnuolo in as an assistant head coach/defense and leave Juan Castillo at defensive coordinator. Retain Jim Washburn. Do those things, and the Eagles could in 2012 begin living up to the expectations we had for them in 2011.

For the first time since 2007, the Philadelphia Eagles enter a game knowing that they have no shot at postseason play. Like I’m sure it is for members of the Eagles’ roster, for us as fans it’s a strange feeling. In some ways, it feels almost like a pre-preseason game in that the outcome means different things to different people. Ordinarily, we’re all rooting for wins. However, today, while many would like to see the Eagles win in order to avoid a losing season, some others would rather the Eagles not win so as to not damage their draft position. Both viewpoints have some validity but the one thing everyone can agree on is that this game just feels different. Because of that, I thought we’d take a different approach to previewing today’s game. Instead of breaking down both teams as we usually do, I’m going to highlight some interesting storylines to watch for during the game that way no matter which viewpoint you subscribe to – win to avoid a losing season or lose to protect draft position – we’ll all be watching the same thing. With that, here are some things to keep in mind during today’s game:

Will Juan Castillo still be the Eagles’ defensive coordinator on Monday? This might be the biggest question of the offseason. While it’s true that Castillo’s defensive unit has looked pretty strong during the team’s recent three-game winning streak, it’s hard to argue that the NFL isn’t a “what have you done for me lately” league. What happens if the Eagles come out flat this afternoon and the Redskins drop 30+ on the Birds? Do Castillo’s prospects for retaining his job take a hit, particularly when the Steve Spagnuolo talk was ratcheted up to eleven this week? And does head coach Andy Reid’s own precarious position factor into the decision at all? If Reid feels that 2012 is a do-or-die season for him, does he stick with a green (but improving) Castillo as his defensive boss or does he bring someone with the pedigree of a Spagnuolo in as more of a safety blanket? There are no easy answers here but the Eagles’ defensive performance against the Redskins could actually provide a clue as to whether Castillo needs to begin preparing his resume – if he hasn’t already.

Is this the last time we see DeSean Jackson in an Eagles uniform? The contract squabble between the Eagles and Jackson has been ongoing since training camp. Jackson’s regular season would go on to feature countless dropped passes, a deactivation for the Arizona Cardinals game as a result of missing a team meeting, numerous “no comments” from Jackson to the press, and a pedestrian 54 catches and 875 receiving yards through fifteen games. The one thing that it didn’t include was a new contract. For someone who asks to be paid as one of the league’s top wide receivers, going into free agency coming off of a season where you rank 26th in receiving yards and 48th in catches probably isn’t the way to do it. Still, absent a pie-in-the-sky scenario where the Eagles are able to pry someone like Mike Wallace away from the Pittsburgh Steelers, re-signing Jackson to a reasonable (as in NOT top-5 wide receiver money) is probably the way to go. I’m of the belief that many of Jackson’s problems this year had to do with not getting his deal. Even though he was a distraction in some ways, he’s still a reasonably good citizen who’s done nice work within the community and has clearly provided the Eagles with more value than he received on his current contract. He also resurfaced with his best game in over two months against the Cowboys last week and seemed more willing to go over the middle. I’m convinced that his avoidance of the middle of the field this season had everything to do with not having long term security via a new contract, especially coming off of the scary concussion situation against the Atlanta Falcons in 2010. While some are surely hoping that this is Jackson’s swan song with the Birds, I think it’s better for both parties if it’s not.

Are we looking at the 2012 secondary? With it being a virtual certainty that cornerback Asante Samuel has played his last game with the Eagles – Samuel is missing his second game with a hamstring injury so his Eagles’ career has likely ended with a whimper – cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will start his second consecutive game on the outside with cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha flanking him on the other side of the field. Both Rodgers-Cromartie and Asomugha are more suited to play the press-man coverages that the Eagles’ defense prefers and the early returns from last week in Dallas were favorable. Cowboys’ wide receivers Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, as well as tight end Jason Witten, were held very much in check by the Rodgers-Cromartie/Asomugha combo. And with safety Kurt Coleman being placed on injured reserve this week for a biceps injury, second-round pick Jaiquawn Jarrett will get his second start of the season beside second-year safety Nate Allen. While Allen turned in perhaps his best game of 2011 against the Cowboys last week, Jarrett has had trouble getting on the field this season after being taken in the second round, instead losing time to Coleman (a seventh-rounder in 2010). Clearly, linebacker and safety are the two positions requiring major upgrades in the offseason. Allen would seem to be in the driver’s seat for one spot and this afternoon Jarrett could make his case for being in consideration for another with a strong showing against Washington.

Can Michael Vick sustain his newfound momentum? After tallying just two 100+ quarterback rating games in the first three months of the season, quarterback Michael Vick has reached that plateau in each of the last two weeks. He’s looked much more comfortable in the pocket than he has in a long while and has gotten almost every Eagles pass catcher involved in the offense since returning from his rib injury back on December 11 against Miami. It’ll give the Eagles that much more of a good feeling going into 2012 knowing that their signal-caller ended the season playing among the league’s best at the position instead of the turnover machine he was for much of 2011.

Can Jason Babin break Reggie White’s franchise record or Michael Strahan’s NFL record for sacks in a single season? Babin enters today stuck at 18 sacks after being stymied last week in Dallas. Babin had notched eight sacks in his previous three games and seemed on his way to possibly breaking both the Eagles’ franchise and NFL single-season sack records. After racking up three sacks in each of the two games prior to last week, it’s entirely within reason that Babin could be joining White atop the Eagles’ record books by the end of Sunday. However, asking for Babin to crank out four and a half in order to tie (or five to break) Strahan’s record is likely asking too much. Still, Babin may have been the NFL’s best free agent bargain with his 18-and-counting sacks costing the Eagles just a scant $5MM this year. Babin is example number one for keeping defensive line coach Jim Washburn around regardless of who’s running the defense next year.

Can LeSean McCoy win the NFL’s rushing title? Probably not, but there’s a slim chance that McCoy can end the day as the league’s leading ground gainer. Going into today, Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew (member of my league-championship fantasy football team, but that’s neither here nor there) sits with a healthy 128 yard lead over Shady in the race for the title. Jones-Drew faces an Indianapolis defense that’s giving up over 140 yards a game on the ground and dropped 114 on them in the teams’ first meeting. Meanwhile, McCoy enters today’s game against the Redskins’ 19th ranked run defense hampered by an ankle injury after racking up 126 yards on the ground against the Redskins back in October. While it seems to be the longest of longshots, McCoy and his offensive line have already made known their desire to get McCoy to the top of the league’s table. Personally, I question the wisdom of playing a less-than-100% McCoy at all in game that means nothing in the grand scheme of things – particularly coming a week after Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson tore up his knee and likely cost himself most of the 2012 season in a meaningless game for a 2-12 team – but you have to at least admire McCoy and the offensive line’s ambition. Either way, McCoy will be wrapping up possibly the best season by a running back in franchise history. It’s somewhat fitting that he should end it on the field, not on the sideline in street clothes.

The Pick: Rex Grossman’s still at quarterback for the Redskins, yes? Eagles 27-13

- JM

Welcome to PhilaPhans’ weekly game review column, the Stock Report. Every week, we take a look at how each unit on the Eagles’ team fared relative to both the previous week’s performance as well as to expectations going into the game. Now it’s over. No Christmas miracle as the bumbling New York Jets’ loss to the New York Giants officially eliminated the Eagles midway through the first quarter of their tilt with the Cowboys. No playoffs for the first time since 2007. With that, let’s take a closer look at the Eagles’ second win this season over the Dallas Cowboys.

Quarterback – Slightly Up (Last Week: Up)

Vick finished the day with almost a carbon copy of his performance against the Jets last week. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Another impressive (and heartening) game out of Michael Vick. His late season resurgence continues and has to give the Eagles a sense of optimism with regard to the quarterback position heading into the season finale and into the 2012 season, for that matter. Vick finished the day with almost a carbon copy of his performance against the Jets last week in going for 293 yards through the air (albeit with a lower completion percentage than last week) to go along with two touchdown passes. More importantly, though? ZERO turnovers, only the second time this season (oddly enough the only other time was against Dallas as well) that Vick’s managed to escape a game without throwing an interception or losing a fumble. He also looked much more confident standing in the pocket than he has in a while, hitting receivers like DeSean Jackson (19-yard first quarter pickup and 17-yard fourth quarter catch), Jeremy Maclin (20-yard gain in the second quarter), and Jason Avant (in the second quarter for 25 yards to the Dallas five-yard line) over the middle with regularity. He engineered a marvelous 50 second drive late in the first half, taking the Birds from their own 13-yard line and marching down the field in six plays, capping it with a five-yard score to Maclin to put the Eagles ahead by two touchdowns. He also displayed his great escapability yet again, eluding the grasp (and sure sack) of Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware on a second-and-goal play to throw the ball out of the end zone instead of taking the sack. That wasn’t the only time that Vick added to his career highlight reel either – in the first quarter, he had a free play thanks to Dallas linebacker Anthony Spencer yanking on his facemask. Vick responded by lobbing the ball up to wide receiver Riley Cooper who brought it down for a 28-yard gain. He also continued using tight end Brent Celek, hooking up with him on a 39-yard play in the third quarter and on a nine-yard pass for the Eagles’ first touchdown in the first quarter. This is back-to-back 100+ quarterback rating games for Vick and represents some of the best play that Vick’s shown this season.

Running Backs – Slightly Down (LW: Up)

McCoy finished with just 35 yards on 13 carries. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

LeSean McCoy’s first game against the Dallas Cowboys (where he racked up a career high 185 rushing yards) will be one that he remembers much more fondly than this one. McCoy finished with just 35 yards on 13 carries, although if you take out his long of 11 yards it’s a very forgettable 24 yards on 13 carries (2.0 yards/carry). Granted, those 11 yards came on a now Shady trademark insane bouncing cutback move so he at least provided fodder for highlight packages but this is two out of the last three games where McCoy has had trouble getting untracked. You wonder if he’s maybe wearing down just a little after a career high 273 carries on the season (and the irony of the fact that I’ve been bellyaching for more carries for McCoy all year is not lost on me), but it does nothing to take away from the outstanding season that McCoy has had. He limped off with an ankle injury in the third quarter, eventually being carted back to the locker room and causing no small measure of concern amongst Eagles fans but thankfully he would return to the game in the fourth quarter. Considering that the Eagles are out of the race and that McCoy is banged up and possibly worn down, it doesn’t make much sense to risk playing McCoy on Sunday against Washington. Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew has a commanding lead in the race for the NFL rushing title and one look at what happened to Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson should give any fan/coach pause about risking a top-flight running back in a meaningless game. If this is the last time that we see McCoy play in the 2011 season, it’ll go down as one of the all-time best seasons for an Eagles running back. Kudos to McCoy on a stellar season. Backup Ronnie Brown got into the game due to McCoy’s injury in the fourth quarter and had a nice 10-yard pickup on one run.

Receivers/Tight Ends – Up (LW: Up)

Clay Harbor had a key reception on the 1st drive of the game. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

This was the first dual standout performance out of wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin since… I can’t remember when. It’s been that long. Jackson finished with five catches for 90 yards, his best output since October 2. Really. Prior to Sunday, Jackson had not had 90 or more yards receiving since the beginning of October. Perhaps more impressively, at least half of his catches seemed to come from Jackson going across the middle of the field, something he’s been absolutely loathe to do of late. He also gained 18 and nine yards, respectively, on back-to-back end-arounds in the second quarter, the former to the right side of the field and the latter to the left. Are we about to see Jackson’s last game as an Eagle on Sunday against the Redskins? Before the season started, I would have thought that scenario was as unlikely as the San Francisco 49ers being the NFC’s second-seed in the playoffs. (Yanks collar). Jeremy Maclin was just as impressive against the Cowboys, gaining 72 yards on five catches which was his own best day since the middle of October. He also caught the touchdown that capped the 87-yard second quarter drive. Turnovers have killed the offense this season but second on the list of offenders? The inconsistent and sometimes invisible performance of the Eagles’ two most talented receivers so, with that in mind, it was nice to see both Jackson and Maclin make an impact. Tight end Brent Celek wasn’t quite as productive as he’s been lately, although he had a big 39-yard reception on a tight end screen in the second quarter and caught the Eagles’ first touchdown of the day. Wide receiver Jason Avant ended the day with just two catches for 35 yards but made a nice individual effort to stretch for the pylon in the second quarter although the ball slipped from his hands into the end zone at the last minute for a Dallas touchback. Wide receiver Riley Cooper also made a nice play on the aforementioned 28-yard pass from Vick. Very nice game out of the receivers this week.

Offensive Line – Slightly Up (LW: Slightly Up)

RT Todd Herremans has been rock solid at right tackle all season. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Another good game from the guys up front. It seemed that Dallas’s entire pass rush came from DeMarcus Ware. Ware’s a special player and it’s not often that teams are able to keep him at bay. He finished the day with two sacks and three quarterback hits, but no other Cowboys defender had a single sack or more than one quarterback hit. Sure, the line was helped on more than one occasion by Vick’s Houdini-esque escape act but they again showed why the switch to Howard Mudd’s zone-blocking scheme has been a successful one. Left tackle Jason Peters, already one of the league’s best tackles, has flourished in the system and has proven that he’s the league’s best at the position. I tend to believe that LeSean McCoy has been the Eagles’ best player this season but if you want to make a case for Peters in that spot, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Left guard Evan Mathis (other than Jason Babin) may have given the most to the Eagles for the money that they paid him this past offseason, while rookies Jason Kelce at center and Danny Watkins at right guard have had their times where they’ve looked like rookies but seem to have the potential to be long-term pieces on the line. And right tackle Todd Herremans has been rock solid at right tackle all season as he was on Sunday, throwing a key block on the 39-yard screen to Brent Celek in the third quarter. They weren’t without their miscues – Kelce was called for a fourth-quarter holding penalty and someone missed their assignment and let Anthony Spencer come through untouched to get a free hit on Vick in the fourth quarter, but in all a very effective day for this unit.

Defensive Line – Up (LW: Up)

DT Derek Landri continued to make their cases to be regular parts of the 2012 rotation. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

Just as the move to Howard Mudd’s schemes have helped the offensive line, the installation of the Wide Nine has done wonders for the defensive front. They were disruptive all game long as they have been for the better part of the season. Defensive end Trent Cole was a monster, recording five tackles (including his tenth sack, two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits) and just generally gave the Cowboys fits all day. Defensive end Jason Babin was held without a sack for the first time in a month – his pursuit of the single-season sack record would seem to have gone by the wayside – but he did manage to get decent pressure on the day, recording two quarterback hits and had a part in knocking Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo from the game. Babin got in Romo’s face on one of the effective twist blitzes that the Eagles have been running the last few weeks on the last play of Dallas’s first offensive series. Romo injured his hand on the play on Babin’s helmet as Babin laid a hit on him and his day would end after that. He also forced Cowboys backup quarterback Stephen McGee to dump off a ball to running back Sammy Morris on a second-quarter third down play after getting pressure on McGee and had a hand in bottling up running back Felix Jones at the line of scrimmage (along with defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson) in the first quarter. Both of the starting tackles had an impact on their own as well. Patterson dropped running back Chauncey Washington for a loss of a yard on a second-quarter carry and was in on a third-quarter sack of McGee, while Jenkins (along with linebacker Casey Matthews) forced McGee from the pocket into a low-percentage throw from the sideline that he did ultimately complete in the second quarter. Defensive end Philip Hunt and defensive tackle Derek Landri continued to make their cases to be regular parts of the 2012 rotation (Hunt had pressures on at least three occasions; Landri added his second sack of the season), while defensive end Juqua Parker is likely finishing his Eagles career in strong fashion (picking up a third quarter sack of McGee and dumping McGee on a pressure in the second quarter).

Linebackers – Slightly Down (LW: Slightly Up)

Rolle almost had a pick-six in the fourth quarter when McGee threw the ball right into his hands. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

One of the more unexpected results to come out of the last few weeks: nickel linebacker Casey Matthews is starting to look like a viable NFL player. Not only that, but he looks like he’s capable of making an impact from time to time and, after the awful start to his season that saw him benched after the season’s first three games, that qualifies as one of the bigger surprises of the season. He still has problems against the run but has proven to be a very effective nickel linebacker. Matthews was second on the team in tackles against the Cowboys (six in total to go along with a quarterback hit) and was noticeable in a positive way on more than one occasion. He put good pressure on McGee (along with Cullen Jenkins) to force him to the outside in the second quarter. He also had good coverage on Cowboys tight end Jason Witten in the fourth quarter and dropped him after a pickup of a yard. The other linebacker who stood out on Sunday was Matthews’ fellow rookie, Brian Rolle. Rolle almost had a pick-six in the fourth quarter when McGee threw the ball right into his hands, but Rolle was unable to hold on. He also dropped Morris for a loss of five yards in the second quarter after McGee dumped the ball off to Morris under pressure from Philip Hunt. Middle linebacker Jamar Chaney was not nearly as visible, registering just three tackles on the day. It’s clear that the linebacker position will be upgraded in the offseason and Chaney is one of the players who will likely lose playing time after the Birds are finished making their upgrades. Outside of the handful of plays made by Matthews and Rolle, it was a relatively quiet day for the linebackers but still an improvement from where they were after the season’s first two months.

Defensive Backs – No Change (LW: Up)

Safety Nate Allen had a strong game in his own right (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)

As I mentioned in our game preview on Saturday, the Eagles got a glimpse at what’s likely to be their starting cornerback tandem in 2012 – Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie – and the results were very favorable. Asomugha lead the team in tackles with eight and in matching up with Witten for most of the day held him in check to the tune of four catches for 24 yards. Both Dez Bryant (6 catches for 62 yards) and Miles Austin (4 for 40 and a meaningless late touchdown) were quiet as well and that’s a testament to how the defensive backfield played. Rodgers-Cromartie in particular broke up a sure touchdown play to Bryant and although the play was called back for a holding penalty on Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith, the effort was there. Yes, the Eagles have had the Cowboys’ number in both meetings this season but the fact that Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie have played well in both games bears well for 2012. Safety Nate Allen had a strong game in his own right, dropping Jones on a dump off from McGee in the first quarter to cause an incompletion and then stopping Morris behind the line on a second-quarter pass play. Allen was also credited with two passes defended as well and it’s possible that he’s starting to rebound from his 2010 knee injury. If so, that’s one less safety that the Eagles need to worry about in the offseason.

Special Teams – (LW: Down)

The rookie kickers have more than held their own. (Image-Eagles)

Rookie placekicker Alex Henery hit two field goals on the day – both from beyond 40 yards, including a career high 51-yarder in the fourth quarter – and has now hit 13 consecutive field goals which stands as the longest non-David Akers streak in Eagles history. Not bad for the kid. So imagine my surprise when generally reviled Fox play-by-play man Joe Buck placed the blame for the Eagles’ loss to San Francisco earlier in the year at Henery’s feet. Yes, Henery missed two kicks in that game that could have made the difference. But if I’m making a list of who’s at fault for that loss, Henery is pretty far down said list and piling on a guy who’s been absolutely as advertised in his first NFL season left me with a bad taste in my mouth. But that’s why almost everyone rips Joe Buck – because he doesn’t pay attention. He’s the Jay Leno of announcers. Both are inexplicably at the top of their professions but both are incredibly lazy and uninspired. Sorry for the rant. Getting back to business, punter Chas Henry averaged 42.7 yards on his six kicks, one of which was a 56-yard bomb. Kind of interesting that Andy Hall – not DeSean Jackson – was back returning punts. Rookie Curtis Marsh also made his third mistake in three weeks on special teams, although this time it may not have actually been his fault. Marsh was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a phantom helmet-to-helmet hit after getting great coverage on a Dwayne Harris return.

Coaching – No Change (LW: Up)

Marty flat out owned the Ryan Brothers this season. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

Kind of a weird game from a coaching standpoint as almost every positive could be met with a caveat. They held Dallas scoreless until a meaningless Miles Austin touchdown in the game’s final minute. The defensive line was again a disruptive force that set the tone for the entire defensive unit and the defensive backs were much more steady than they’ve been of late. However, how much of that was because of a good defensive gameplan and how much of it was because Dallas – with little to play for once the Giants’ win was announced – played the majority of the game with their backup quarterback (McGee) and third-string running back (Morris) and looked generally toothless all day? The offense once again proved that a Ryan-constructed defense is no match for it, putting up another 20 points to total 92 points this season in three games against Rob or Rex Ryan-led defenses. However, once again the Eagles took their foot off of the gas pedal in the second half, scoring just six points and keeping the game closer than it really needed to be (or should have been, for that matter). Still, the coaches did a good job of bringing the entire team back from what seemed like a bit of a lull once they’d realized they’d been eliminated by virtue of the Giants/Jets game to dominate a Dallas Cowboys team that has a chance to win the division this Sunday. And they completed a season sweep over the hated Cowboys. Regardless of how it was done, this team did not lose to the Cowboys this season. And in a year with no playoffs? That’s at least a small comfort.

Team As A Whole – Down (LW: Up)

They're done. Next week, we’ll take a look at where the Eagles go from here. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

This might be the easiest (and at the same time, hardest) week to write this section of the Stock Report. They’re done. Eliminated. Dallas and New York will play for the division title next week while the Eagles will face a hapless Washington Redskins team in an attempt to finish the season at .500. Simple (and sad) as that. Next week, we’ll take a look at where the Eagles go from here.

- JM

Simply put, for the second straight week, the New York Giants and New York Jets will have just as much of a say as the Eagles do in whether the Birds will have a chance at the postseason by the end of the day. Just like last week the Eagles will need a Giants loss prior to their taking the field (and this week they need the team that they themselves defeated last week, the Jets, to knock off the Giants), and then will need to go out and collect a win themselves against the Dallas Cowboys in order to make Week 17 a meaningful one. Can they do it? Looking at the evidence… yeah, it appears that they can.

The first time these two teams met, the Eagles completely dominated the Cowboys and put together maybe their most complete performance of the season although if you wanted to make a case for the Jets game, you’d probably have one. Quarterback Michael Vick recorded his highest quarterback rating of the season (129.9) in throwing for 279 yards to go along with two touchdown passes. He also avoided turning the ball over and added 50 yards on the ground. Coming off of a week in which he was scarily efficient against the Jets (along with the Dallas game, one of his three 100+ quarterback rating games in 2011), Vick will look to continue his success against Ryan-constructed defenses. In two previous meetings this year featuring defenses built by either Rex or Rob Ryan, the Eagles’ offensive unit has scored a combined 72 points, which bodes well for another strong output in Dallas this afternoon. A big part of the Eagles’ passing attack over the past six games or so has been the resurgent play of tight end Brent Celek. Celek currently leads the Eagles with 54 catches on the season and torched the Cowboys for seven catches for 94 yards and a score back in October. Dallas has had trouble with opposing tight ends this season, allowing an average of five catches for 64 yards per game to go along with five touchdowns on the season. Expect another big day from Celek as he’s being featured as a much bigger part of the passing game of late and, according to Philly.com’s Sheil Kapadia, was used to block on just four of 35 pass plays in the teams’ October meeting. In the event that the Cowboys are successful in containing the Eagles’ through the air, the Birds should feel comfortable leaning on their running game, and after looking at the numbers, should make running the ball a large part of their gameplan. Dallas entered the teams’ previous meeting in Philadelphia boasting the league’s best run defense and were promptly shredded by running back LeSean McCoy to the tune of 185 yards and two touchdowns while averaging a staggering 6.2 yards/carry, and as a team the Eagles racked up 239 rushing yards. The Eagles’ offensive line was dominant in run support and, while they’ve been up and down lately, they bounced back nicely last week against the Jets after a dismal performance the week prior in Miami.

Defensively, the loss of cornerback Asante Samuel – out with a hamstring injury suffered against the Jets – will loom large although it will give the Eagles a look at their likely 2012 cornerback tandem as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will move from the slot into Samuel’s left cornerback spot and will play opposite Nnamdi Asomugha. Joselio Hanson will take over nickel duties although he’s been playing there much more lately anyway. Containing the Cowboys’ three-headed wide receiver attack of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Laurent Robinson won’t be easy although the Eagles held both Bryant and Austin in check back in October, allowing the duo just six combined catches for 55 combined yards. Romo did find success throwing to Robinson, however, as he collected five catches for 103 yards and a score in that game. Missing Samuel is big, though, and will prove a stiff test for the remaining defensive backs. Eagles’ defenders will also need to be wary of quarterback Tony Romo’s favorite target and BFF (yes, I hated typing that term as much as you hated reading it), Jason Witten, although the Eagles’ linebackers are covering much better lately and Witten delivered a quiet four catches for 28 yards in the teams’ previous meeting. Oftentimes, as Witten goes so goes Romo so stifling Witten again is a key for the Eagles this afternoon. Dallas’s run game is hurting with electrifying rookie DeMarco Murray suffering a season-ending ankle injury two weeks ago against the Giants and backup running back Felix Jones officially listed as questionable for today’s game. If Jones can’t go, Sammy Morris will be the primary ball carrier for the Cowboys and Morris himself was signed off the street less than two weeks ago. The potential toothlessness of the Dallas run game places even more importance on holding Witten in check. Part of that begins with the defensive line’s ability to be disruptive. Defensive end Jason Babin will look to continue his hot streak (eight sacks in his last three games) as he now stands as the NFL leader in sacks with 18 and is just three away from Reggie White’s franchise record. Babin had two sacks and two quarterback hits in the October game, so he’s had success against this Dallas front. Romo has historically done well against the blitz and indeed, according again to Kapadia, the Eagles blitzed just four times in 40 pass plays in the teams’ first meeting. Although the Eagles have been blitzing more of late, defensive line coach Jim Washburn has his crew operating on another level right now. If the defensive line can get in Romo’s face with regularity and make him make mistakes by forcing the ball to his wide receivers, Dallas’s offense could be rendered impotent.

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that the Eagles will be attempting to win their third game in a row for the first time this season. Too many times they’ve followed up an impressive performance – similar to the one against the Jets last week – with an absolute stinkbomb. However, some manner of switch does seemed to have been flipped of late and there are some interesting numbers that seem to play into the Eagles’ favor here. Dallas has given up an average of 18 points in their seven games at Cowboys Stadium this year. However, if you take out the seven points they allowed to an absolutely pathetic St. Louis Rams offense, that number jumps to 20 points a game. Seeing as the Eagles have scored a combined 71 points the last two weeks and dropped 34 on Dallas in October, it would stand to reason that the Eagles should be able to put some points on the board this afternoon. Also, The 700 Level’s Andrew Kulp noted this week that the Eagles are 6-0 when they allow 19 points or less this season and are 0-8 when they allow 21 or more. A key to this game, to boil this down to simplistic terms, is do you think that the Eagles can hold Dallas to less than 19 points today? Facing a makeshift run game and possessing a defense that’s displayed the ability this season to shut down Dallas’s most dangerous receivers, I think they can. The call? The Jets handle their part of the bargain in taking out the Giants (did Hakeem Nicks really say that Darrelle Revis was just a ‘decent corner?’), and the Eagles get a convincing win over the Cowboys to set up a very, very interesting Week 17.

The Pick: Eagles 28-17

- JM

Welcome to PhilaPhans’ weekly game review column, the Stock Report. Every week, we take a look at how each unit on the Eagles’ team fared relative to both the previous week’s performance as well as to expectations going into the game. It’s not over yet, folks. Thanks to their complete domination of the New York Jets (and to the New York Giants’ ability to continue being the New York Giants in December, dropping their fifth game in their last six), the Eagles are still alive in the NFC East race. It took another dominant performance from the defense, coupled this time with an equally impressive showing from the offense, but the Eagles go into Dallas on Christmas Eve with momentum and a chance to go into the final week of the season with the games still meaning something. With that, let’s take a closer look at the Eagles’ whipping of the New York Jets.

Quarterback – Up (Last Week: Up)

Vick was only needed to play three quarters but they were three very effective periods. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

This is the third straight week with upward momentum from the quarterback position. Michael Vick looked much more comfortable in picking apart the Jets’ defense than he did last week in his return against the Miami Dolphins. While last week he looked rusty and tentative, this week Vick looked much more sure of himself (and of his ribs’ ability to take some punishment) and the Eagles’ offense clicked almost the entire day as a result. By virtue of a 25-point fourth quarter lead, Vick was only needed to play three quarters but they were three very effective periods. Vick would finish the day completing just under 70% of his passes for 274 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once but as it was on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half that he just chucked downfield, it hardly counts. He was on the same page with his receivers all day, particularly tight end Brent Celek. He hit Celek for a big gain of 38 yards on a pattern that saw Celek moving across the middle to the left side of the field on the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage. He’d also hook up with a wide open Celek for a 73-yard gain to the one-yard line in the third quarter, and on a 26-yard strike that Celek somehow bobbled with one hand and then hauled in for a touchdown to put the Eagles ahead 14-0 midway through the first quarter. Vick also absorbed a big hit from Jets linebacker Calvin Pace on the play. Pace would be flagged for a late hit and it wouldn’t be the last time that the Jets would go after Vick illegally as Jets defensive tackle Marcus Dixon would later be penalized for hitting Vick too high. Each time, Vick picked himself back up and went right after the Jets on the next play which, after watching Vick for the last season and a half is not surprising. He also used all of his receivers with Celek and wide receivers Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper, and tight end Clay Harbor all hauling in 15+ yard pass plays on the day. The play to Harbor was another vintage Vick highlight reel play with Vick somehow using his superhuman abilities to elude a sure sack and then complete the pass to Harbor for a nice gain. Vick also found more success on the ground against the Jets than he did against Miami, picking up a big first-quarter first down with his legs and also running in an 11-yard score himself in the second quarter to put the Eagles up three touchdowns. It was Vick’s most effective game since the win over the Dallas Cowboys in early October and, frankly, it was nice to see. Vince Young got into the game in garbage time and my reaction to seeing him come into the game (pulling Vick to preserve his health with the game well in hand was absolutely the right move) was something like, “Ugh.” I’d hoped to never have to watch Young in an Eagles uniform again and he lived down to expectations, accumulating no stats other than absorbing three sacks. Yeah… that’s about right.

Running Backs – Up (LW: Down)

McCoy has been a revelation this year and has taken his place among the league’s very best at the position. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Even in a season that still seems likely to end in disappointment, the one shining positive to come out of the mire is that it’s very likely that we’re watching the best season ever put together by an Eagles running back. LeSean McCoy has been a revelation this year and has taken his place among the league’s very best at the position and he now has two franchise records to show for it. With three scores on the day, McCoy overtook Eagles legend Steve Van Buren in the record books as the Eagle with the most rushing touchdowns (17 and counting) and overall touchdowns (20 and counting) in a single season. He also found much more rushing room this week than he did in his season-worst game against the Dolphins last week, finishing with 18 carries for 102 yards to go along with three touchdowns. McCoy gashed the Jets on run after run, beginning in the second quarter. He shifted into his insane second gear to pick up a first down on an eight-yard carry in the first quarter, running behind big holes created by left tackle Jason Peters and left guard Evan Mathis. He would later run to the left side again later in the quarter for a gain of six. He displayed that remarkable second gear again early in the fourth quarter after cutting back on his 33-yard touchdown run. Once McCoy gets into the second level of a defense, you can forget about it. Lights out. Even McCoy’s first lost fumble couldn’t detract from his day. It was yet another stellar day in a season filled with them and, like Vick, he even got to take a seat early after the Eagles pushed the lead to 45-13 early in the fourth. Ronnie Brown came into the game in his stead and looked OK, but rookie Dion Lewis showed again in the first quarter why he’s more than capable of being the backup next year with some nice moves on an eight-yard pickup to the left side.

Receivers/Tight Ends – Up (LW: Slightly Up)

Celek looked like one of the league’s best tight ends on this day. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

If McCoy cementing himself as one of the league’s best running backs is the one of the biggest positives to come out of the 2011 season, the re-emergence of Brent Celek as a receiving threat belongs on that list as well. Celek had a career day on Sunday, catching five balls for 156 yards and a touchdown and in the process took over as the Eagles’ leading receiver in 2011. Whatever blip there was between Vick and Celek last year that caused Celek to become an afterthought in the passing game has long since passed as Celek was Vick’s big play receiver on the day, picking up gains of 38 and 73 yards on two separate plays and then making an insane one-handed bobbling catch in the first quarter for a 26-yard score. The Eagles also moved to 13-4 in games where Celek gets into the end zone. Celek looked like one of the league’s best tight ends on this day so hopefully the momentum he’s found of late can be carried into the season’s remaining games and into 2012. The Eagles’ passing attack is so much more dangerous with Celek as a viable weapon. Vick was also treated to a full game from Jeremy Maclin, who finished the game as the Birds’ second-leading receiver with three catches for 57 yards. His partner, DeSean Jackson, however, went back into hibernation with a scant two catches for just 28 yards. Might be time for Jackson to severely re-evaluate what he’s asking for in his contract demands although I suppose there is a case to be made for Jackson’s presence as a decoy contributing to Celek’s big day. You don’t get paid top-five WR money to be a decoy, though. Couple of plays from some of the younger receivers, too. Clay Harbor was on the receiving end of Vick’s highlight reel sack-eluding play, picking up 16 yards while Riley Cooper nicely wormed his way out of an ankle tackle to pick up 18 yards on a third quarter reception.

Offensive Line – Slightly Up (LW: Down)

The Eagles' offensive line destroyed the Jets' defensive line. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

Better game out of the offensive line this week as they dropped their sack number by one (from four to three) and their quarterback hits number by four (from six to two) from last week’s abysmal performance in Miami. The left side of the line, left tackle Jason Peters and left guard Evan Mathis, continued their impressive run support as McCoy found much of his running room and big gainers to that side, as per usual. Mathis was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the fourth quarter after pushing a Jets defender in a pileup, however. There was also some miscommunication between Vick and center Jason Kelce on a third quarter snap that almost lead to a fumble. Maybe not the greatest showing from the line as  we’ve seen them be much better this season, but it was also a nice rebound from last week’s season-worst performance against the Dolphins.

Defensive Line – Up (LW: Up)

Jason. Babin. That is all. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

Defensive line coach Jim Washburn has these guys playing on another level right now, no player more so than defensive end Jason Babin. After notching three more sacks in this game, Babin has taken over the league’s lead with 18 on the season. He has an outside chance at former New York Giant Michael Strahan’s NFL record for sacks in a season, needing just 4.5 more in the season’s final two games. Seeing as Babin has six in his last two games and eight in his last three, that’s definitely possible and it would be quite the feat for a player derided as a one-season wonder by some after signing with the Eagles in July. Two of his sacks in this game came on an interesting look where Babin and fellow defensive end Trent Cole each lined up almost in a linebacker’s stance with just two down lineman. With the success the Eagles found in that formation, I’d definitely expect to see it again. Babin also became the first Eagle to have back-to-back three-sack games in franchise history and had three quarterback hits to go along with his sack numbers. While it’s true that Babin has some deficiencies as a run defender, it’s equally as true that he’s become one of the elite pass rushers in the league and at a cap figure just north of $5MM this season he’s one of the league’s better bargains at the position considering what guys like Jared Allen ($11.5MM) and Julius Peppers ($13.8MM) are making this year. Any criticism of Babin is more than a little silly at this point. After initially giving up chunks of yardage to Jets running back Shonn Greene on New York’s first possession, the defense (and the line in particular) held him to just 40 yards rushing the rest of the way. Some of that was dictated by the Eagles’ sizable lead but Greene was also stymied when given the opportunity. Ancient defensive end Juqua Parker also had a nice game, recovering a fumble forced by linebacker Casey Matthews and returning it for a touchdown becoming the first Eagles defensive player to score two touchdowns on fumble recoveries in a single season since Seth Joyner in 1991. Parker also got good pressure on Sanchez in the third quarter, forcing an errant throw and was in on a Philip Hunt sack (his second in two games), getting pressure along with defensive tackle Derek Landri and defensive end Brandon Graham. Hunt also lead the team in tackles with six. Second consecutive strong showing by Washburn’s group, and it’s pretty fun to watch.

Linebackers – Up (LW: Slightly Up)

Matthews absolutely changed the game for the Eagles. (Image-H. Martin)

Is it possible that the Eagles have finally hit on the right linebacking combinations? The insertion of Casey Matthews into their nickel package worked well last week in Miami and paid immediate dividends against the Jets as on back-to-back first-quarter plays Matthews read a screen to Jets running back LaDanian Tomlinson absolutely perfectly, dropping him for a four yard loss. Matthews then followed that play with one that likely shifted the momentum of the game in the Eagles’ favor, popping (along with safety Kurt Coleman) Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes hard enough to knock the ball loose. The fumble was then recovered by Juqua Parker and returned for a touchdown. The Eagles wouldn’t look back after that but, on a drive that saw Shonn Greene pushing the Eagles’ defense around and the Jets moving the ball at will, Matthews absolutely changed the game for the Eagles. He would also be in on a stop of Greene later in the quarter for a short gain. The kid may have found his niche as a nickel linebacker. Each member of the starting unit made some nice plays as well. Akeem Jordan bottled up Greene nicely on the Jets’ first play from scrimmage, Brian Rolle rode Tomlinson out of bounds keeping him away from the first-down marker on a second-and-short play in the second quarter and had tight coverage on Greene on a third quarter play, and Jamar Chaney tallied his third interception of the season after a Sanchez pass was popped up in the air by cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. In the process, Chaney became the first Eagles’ linebacker to record three interceptions in a season since William Thomas did it in 1996. Even Matthews’ nickel counterpart, Keenan Clayton, got in on the action with a pass-breakup on Greene in the second quarter. To be fair, the linebackers (in particular Chaney) were blocked off on a big Greene run in the first quarter but overall, they were very impressive. It’s amazing how much better the Eagles’ defense looks when they get competent – and in this case very good – play out of their linebackers.

Defensive Backs – Up (LW: No Change)

The defensive backs totally shut down the Jets' passing game. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

The defensive backs were the least visible unit on the defense on Sunday but, considering how they’ve played of late, that’s probably actually a good thing. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha avoided the seemingly weekly touchdown thrown past his man, instead doing a good job of shutting down Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress who was held to a lone catch, a garbage time touchdown in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand. Asomugha was flagged for a pass interference call on Burress in the second quarter. One writer this past week (I’d give credit where credit is due if I could remember exactly where I saw it – could have been Iggles Blitz’s Tommy Lawlor but I can’t be positive) posited an interesting theory about Asomugha’s struggles this year. He asked, could it be that Asomugha’s legend is so great that quarterbacks have avoided his side of the field for so long that he’s simply not used to being thrown at anymore? Having a ball hawk like Asante Samuel on the other side makes quarterbacks a little more willing to throw Asomugha’s way and he’s having trouble adjusting to the attention is the line of thinking. Not sure I completely buy it, but it’s food for thought nonetheless. Speaking of his counterpart, Samuel had a fine game in his own right. After being called for a pass interference infraction of his own in the first quarter, Samuel would record a very timely interception, coming one possession after yet another special teams mistake by rookie cornerback Curtis Marsh. Samuel picked off a Sanchez pass deep in the red zone as the Jets were on their way to tying the game. Instead, Vick hit Celek on the Eagles’ ensuing possession to put the Eagles ahead by two touchdowns so Samuel’s INT was essentially a 14-point swing in the game. Big, big play out of #22. Samuel would later be forced from the game in the second quarter due to a hamstring injury and was replaced by cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Rodgers-Cromartie would make a play of his own in the third quarter, tipping a Sanchez pass in the air that Jamar Chaney would haul in for an interception. Nickel cornerback Joselio Hanson also recovered a second-quarter Sanchez fumble. Safety Kurt Coleman also saw frequent action as a blitzer.

Special Teams – Down (LW: No Change)

Alex Henery nailed his lone field goal attempt. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

This is the one unit that needs some significant work coming out of this game. Curtis Marsh made his second boneheaded mistake on punt coverage in two weeks, this time inexplicably touching a ball that Jackson had motioned for a fair catch on, allowing the Jets to recover the ball deep in Eagles’ territory. Luckily, Asante Samuel bailed him out with an interception on the Jets’ ensuing possession. Marsh needs to be pulled off of special teams immediately. Dion Lewis also fumbled a kickoff return following a Jets field goal. New York would score on that possession and it briefly looked like another collapse was in order. Special teams coach Bobby April was hailed as a special teams guru when he was hired prior to the 2010 season but his guys have looked bad lately and he needs to start pulling the reins tighter on his this unit. Placekicker Alex Henery nailed his lone field goal attempt of the day while punter Chas Henry again looked shaky, averaging just 34 yards on his four kicks of the day.

Coaching – Up (LW: Up)
There it was. Second straight strong game from defensive coordinator Juan Castillo’s defense. The defensive line was as disruptive as it was in Miami, putting Mark Sanchez on the ground eight times. Castillo also threw in a new wrinkle with the formation that saw just two down linemen and Jason Babin and Trent Cole lined up almost as linebackers. It worked as Babin collected two of this three sacks on the formation. The linebackers were also impressive with Casey Matthews beginning to look like he’s on his way to playing like an NFL linebacker. The adjustments that Castillo made prior to the Miami game – installing five different linebackers in his base and nickel sets – continued to pay dividends as Matthews and Keenan Clayton were both a factor in stopping the Jets’ passing game while Akeem Jordan and Brian Rolle both made plays in run support. Not only that but what seemed like the biggest mismatch going into the game – the Eagles’ 30th ranked red-zone defense going against the league’s best red-zone offense – was anything but. Other than a garbage time touchdown, the Jets moved into the Eagles’ red zone four other times and came away with just a single touchdown with the Asante Samuel interception coming at the Eagles’ own four-yard line. Is it possible that Castillo is growing into his role as coordinator? It’s definitely possible, although more disruptive play from the defensive line and more competent play from the linebackers is helping. It’s probably too early to say that Castillo has earned himself another year because, although both of the last two quarterbacks that the Eagles have faced have come into the game on a hot streak, neither the Dolphins or the Jets can count themselves among the league’s best offenses. If someone like a Steve Spagnuolo or someone with a similar track record becomes available in the offseason, the Eagles will have a tough decision to make. However, if Castillo’s defense continues its strong play through the final two games AND the Eagles somehow sneak into the playoffs and make some noise, Castillo will go a long way towards cementing his position. Another encouraging sign coming out of this game was that even after a loud first half, the Eagles didn’t let up after halftime like they often do, scoring twice in the third quarter to take a 38-13 lead into the final frame that also allowed them to give guys like Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy an early rest. Head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg did a good job of mixing the run and the pass all day and it showed in the Eagles’ final total of 45 points. There were also reports coming out of the game from the Jets’ end that Eagles receivers were calling out the Jets’ defensive plays prior to the snap and that shows me that they were very well-prepared by the coaching staff this week. Turnovers continue to bedevil this team, however, and perhaps the coaching staff needs to take a stronger hand in disciplining players when lazy plays (like Marsh’s special teams mistake or Dion Lewis’s sloppy fumble on a kickoff) occur. Reid’s comments about turnovers in his Monday press conference seem to suggest this could be the case. All told, this could have been the best performance by the coaches this season.

Team As A Whole – Up (LW: Slightly Up)

Eagles seem to be coming together. (Image-B. Garfinkel)

They live to fight another week. The Lions’ win over the Raiders eliminated the Eagles from wild-card contention but that was the longest of longshots to begin with, but winning the NFC East is still within reach. The Eagles still need to win their final two games (at Dallas and at home against Washington) and have the Giants lose to the Jets this week and then beat Dallas in the season’s final week in order to win the division via tiebreakers over both New York and Dallas. I’m not quite sure that I’m ready to believe yet but after watching some of the strange things that have happened over the past few NFL seasons (the insane confluence of events that lead to the Eagles’ playoff appearance in 2008; the Green Bay Packers getting into the playoffs on the season’s final day in 2010 after the Tampa Bay Buccanneers blew a sure win and then going on to win the Super Bowl) should give Eagles’ fans some hope but really, it’s just nice that the game with the Cowboys on Christmas Eve will actually mean something provided that the Jets can play Santa and rebound from this beating to put one of their own on the Giants. Actually, watching this game made this year’s missteps all the more frustrating because this seems like what this team COULD have been, if not for shooting itself in the foot on a constant basis. If they’d pulled out even one of the more inexplicable losses (think San Francisco, Buffalo, or Arizona) they’d be sitting much more comfortably right now. Still, despite all of the frustration, they still have a fighting chance at the postseason and that’s probably more than we could have asked for two weeks ago. Now go out and beat Dallas.

- JM

It’s entirely possible that today’s matchup with the New York Jets at the Linc will be the first official “playing out the string” game for the Eagles in 2011 because they’ll know by the time they take the field at 4:15 PM whether they still have the slimmest of chances at the postseason. After the Dallas Cowboys easily handled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night, if the New York Giants are able to get past the Washington Redskins in their 1:00 PM contest the Eagles will be officially eliminated from postseason contention and will be playing for nothing other than pride and/or their futures. (Note: I realize that there’s still a scenario where they can grab a wildcard slot, but that’s even less likely than winning the NFC East and a Detroit Lions win over the reeling Oakland Raiders or a loss to the Jets eliminates the Eagles from wild-card contention as well.)

Should the Eagles still be alive in the postseason hunt by the time the action kicks off, they’ll be tasked with defeating a schizophrenic Jets team to keep their playoff dreams alive. Other than perhaps a season opening nailbiter over the Cowboys, the 8-5 Jets don’t seem to own anything you could reasonably describe as a quality win (victories over league dregs like Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Buffalo abound) and they seem to spit the bit when facing legitimate playoff contenders (getting Tebow’d four weeks ago and receiving stompings from New England – twice – Baltimore, and Oakland). Fortunately for the Jets (and their own playoff aspirations) the Eagles are much closer to the former than the latter. Add in the fact that the Eagles may not have anything to play for by gametime and this could prove to be a weirdly very odd matchup.

If the Eagles are to have any hope of playing spoiler to the Jets’ playoff hopes, they’re going to need more than the one good quarter they got from quarterback Michael Vick last week in Miami. The second quarter was really the only period of note for Vick with the other three varying from “ineffective” to outright “bad.” Understandably, Vick’s injured ribs were reportedly giving him problems but he’ll be facing a stiffer test this week in the Jets’ top-six pass defense. New York only allows a tick over 200 yards/game through the air, largely due to their top-flight pairing of Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie at cornerback. Wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin (assuming he plays) could find some tough sledding going against those two. Tight end Brent Celek could again emerge as Vick’s favored option. The Jets’ defense is also opportunistic, ranking fifth in the league with 24 takeaways (15 interceptions and 9 fumble recoveries) so ball security will be key for the Eagles. The stats also show that you have a better chance of moving the ball on the ground against the Jets (109 yards/game allowed on the ground), so coming off of a week where running back LeSean McCoy received 27 carries on a day where he was fairly ineffective, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg would be wise to stick with a heavy load for their best player and pick and choose the right opportunities to attack the Jets’ stout pass defense. On an individual note, with one more rushing touchdown, McCoy will break Steve Van Buren’s single-season franchise records for both rushing TDs (14) and overall TDs (17). New York also has a middling pass rush (sitting at 18th in the league in sacks) so perhaps the offensive line that struggled badly in last week’s victory over the Dolphins is in for a bounce-back game today.

The Eagles’ defense managed one of their few and far between strong showings last week against the Dolphins, racking up nine sacks and knocking Miami quarterback Matt Moore from the game in perhaps their best performance of the season. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is a big step up from Moore, however, and has been very good of late. In the past four weeks, the notoriously turnover-prone Sanchez has taken good care of the ball in throwing just two interceptions against seven touchdowns. The Jets don’t usually ask Sanchez to do too much, preferring to employ him as more of a game-managing quarterback but when given the opportunity Sanchez can do some damage. The Eagles will have to be especially wary if the Jets enter the red zone as New York have the league’s best red-zone offense (thanks to weapons like wide receiver Plaxico Burress and tight end Dustin Keller) and the Eagles’ own red-zone defense is one of the league’s worst. As CSN Philly’s Ray Didinger notes, the Jets have scored touchdowns on 30 of their 42 red-zone possessions, good for a success rate of 71.4% which is better than either the Green Bay Packers (61.4%) or the New England Patriots (63.2%). Simply put, this is a giant disadvantage for the Eagles and one that the Jets could exploit on their way to a victory. One way to avoid that mismatch would be for the Eagles to be as effective in rushing Sanchez as they were in getting past Miami’s offensive line last week. Their defense sacked Miami quarterbacks Moore and JP Losman a combined nine times and put them on the ground nine more. The Jets’ offensive line has been better than Miami’s but if the Eagles can get to Sanchez as often as they got to Miami’s quarterbacks last week, they could be in decent shape although Jets running back Shonn Greene has been effective lately and could find open space if the Eagles over-commit to the pass rush.

You’d have to think that much of how this game plays out is going to be dependent on the outcome of the Giants/Redskins contest at 1:00 PM. If the Eagles are officially eliminated before this game begins, you’d expect there to be some deflated attitudes that could play right into the hands of a Jets team needing a victory to stay afloat in the AFC playoff picture. However, if the Eagles are still technically alive I’d expect a more spirited fight out of the Birds but ultimately, I just don’t see much of a chance of them winning this game despite their (inexplicable) status as three-point favorites. Their mind-boggling 1-5 home record and inability to string two consecutive strong performances this year works against them as does the potential of having nothing to play for come kickoff time. One way or another, I think their slight chance at a playoff berth comes to an end today. Then, we can begin the process of wondering what comes next because this roster and/or coaching staff as currently constructed will officially be a non-playoff team. And missing the playoffs is not what we do in Philadelphia.

The Pick: Jets 24-20

- JM

Welcome to PhilaPhans’ weekly game review column, the Stock Report. Every week, we take a look at how each unit on the Eagles’ team fared relative to both the previous week’s performance as well as to expectations going into the game. So, it turns out that the 2011 Eagles do have a little fight left in them after all. Still, as is the story of this team’s season, their ability to finally show some passion comes too little, too late. If the inspired defense that was on the field in Miami had been around for more of this season, they’d probably be well positioned for a playoff spot right now. But, it wasn’t so they aren’t. So, with that, let’s take a closer look at the Eagles’ defensive domination of the Miami Dolphins.

Quarterback – Up (Last Week: Down)

Still dealing with sore ribs, Vick struggled with consistency.

This grade is up from last week just for the sheer fact that Michael Vick was back under center instead of the turnover machine that is Vince Young. Truthfully, even though he didn’t play particularly well, he had the benefit of following last week’s four-interception performance by Young in Seattle so almost anything would have been an improvement. As mentioned, this game isn’t one that Vick’s going to want to remember when his career is over but, after a three-week layoff thanks to the broken ribs sustained in the Arizona game, Vick was understandably a bit rusty. He completed just 50% of his passes and did throw yet another interception (his 12th on the season), but he did finish the game and manage to do enough to get the “W.” Vick (and the entire offense, for that matter) started very slowly. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Vick put the ball right into Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby’s hands, only to have Dansby inexplicably drop an easy interception. Chalk up a break for Vick right there. Later on that same possession, Vick would take off on a scramble that would net the Eagles five yards, but one in which Vick again refused to slide, instead landing awkwardly after talking rather forcefully during the week about how he realized the need for him to stay healthy would require that he begin to slide. There’s actually a popular idiom here that I could use but, seeing as we’re talking about Vick, it would probably be in poor taste. I’m sure you know what it is, though. Vick would later be sacked twice (one of which was negated by a defensive holding call) on the possession before the Eagles were forced to punt. It was a very inauspicious start. Vick would begin finding a groove later in the quarter, fitting the ball into a tight space for wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and a pickup of 13 and later completing a nice pass to running back LeSean McCoy on a wheel route after rolling to his left, a play that would later set up McCoy’s first touchdown. He made yet another athletic, highlight reel play in the third quarter in hitting wide receiver Riley Cooper for a 29-yard pickup after somehow evading the grasp of Miami defensive end Randy Starks. He also hit wide receiver DeSean Jackson on a beautiful deep ball for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter to put the Eagles ahead by a 24-7 score. On the downside, Vick was done no favors by his offensive line as Miami’s defense sacked him four times and were credited with six quarterback hits. Vick was under pressure all afternoon which resulted in dropped throws and numerous balls batted down at the line. He also had Maclin wide open ahead of a defensive back for a sure touchdown in the second quarter, but overthrew him. His interception was also an awful decision that saw him roll to the left and then throw back across his body right to Miami cornerback Sean Smith. All in all, a pretty pedestrian performance by Vick but, again, anything would be an improvement from last week. Considering that Vick’s ribs likely aren’t entirely healed and he was facing a defense that has been playing some strong football of late, it was probably all that the Eagles could have asked of Vick on Sunday.

Running Backs – Down (LW: Up)

Despite limited yardage, McCoy did manage to find the end zone twice. (Image-H. Martin)

It was bound to happen at some point. LeSean McCoy had his worst game of the season, managing just 38 yards on 27 carries for a whopping 1.4 yards/carry. He did manage to find the end zone twice so he definitely still contributed and seeing as McCoy’s easily been the best thing about this team this season and that he was facing the league’s fifth ranked rush defense, I’m not going to kill him for this game. Miami’s defense did seem to have an answer on him seemingly every time he had the ball in his hands, with an alarming number of his carries ending with him being dropped behind the line of scrimmage. Simply put, they played him better than any defense has this season. He did have a big gainer on the aforementioned wheel route from Vick late in the first quarter that set up his first touchdown, and he moved nicely through traffic to score his second TD of the day but, other than that, highlights from McCoy were few and far between on this day. Not a big deal – regroup and get back to the McCoy we know and love next week. What was encouraging, at least, was that the coaching staff stuck with him in giving him 27 carries despite McCoy having trouble getting started. Now, if they’d just do that on days when he IS productive…

Receivers/Tight Ends – Slightly Up (LW: Down)

We had a DeSean Jackson sighting. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a DeSean Jackson sighting. Jackson finished the day with an admittedly ordinary four catches for 59 yards, but one of those four catches was a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter to put the Eagles ahead by 17 and all but seal the game. It was just his third touchdown catch of the year and first in over two months (October 9 against the Buffalo Bills was his last). After the firestorm that erupted after his performance in last week’s debacle in Seattle, the Eagles and Vick did try to get Jackson involved early as he picked up 13 yards on a first down play on the Eagles’ first offensive possession. He also weaved his way through traffic nicely on a screen play in the second quarter, picking up eight yards on the play and getting the Eagles to the Miami one-yard line. McCoy would score the Eagles’ first touchdown on the very next play. On the downside, he was invisible in the second half (much like the rest of the Eagles offense) and made the boneheaded decision to throw the ball across the field to cornerback Curtis Marsh on a punt return, which resulted in Marsh getting hit and fumbling the ball, giving Miami possession inside the Eagles’ 25-yard line. As for the rest of the unit, Jackson’s running mate Jeremy Maclin returned to play for the first time since the Arizona game in mid-November and was quiet, catching one ball for 13 yards. His day could have been more productive if not for Vick overshooting him on a sure touchdown after Maclin had beaten Smith. Maclin wouldn’t play in the second half after his hamstring tightened up. No other receiver broke 40 yards receiving on the day, but wide receiver Jason Avant did make a nice adjustment on a wobbly Vick ball in the second quarter, turning it into a 28-yard gain. And tight end Brent Celek continued the rapport he found with Vick prior to Vick’s injury in acting as a nice safety valve underneath for Vick.

Offensive Line – Down (LW: No Change)

The offensive line turned in its worst performance of the year. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Much like McCoy, the offensive line turned in its worst performance of the year. In a game where protecting an already injured Vick was paramount, they allowed him to officially be hit ten times (allowing four sacks and surrendering six quarterback hits). Their poor protection also forced Vick to rush his throws, contributing to the batted balls and Vick’s below-par 50% completion percentage. Really, point to any of the five starters and they probably made multiple mistakes in this game. Vick took pressure from the backside as a Miami defender beat right tackle Todd Herremans forcing an incompletion. The Eagles were also called for holding on that play and, on the ensuing play, Miami defensive end Jason Taylor beat left tackle Jason Peters for a sack. Bad sequence of plays there. Center Jason Kelce had lots of trouble with Starks. The line also gave up sacks at inopportune times. Taylor would notch another third-down sack to force a punt on the Eagles next possession and later in the second quarter, Miami safety Reshad Jones would get to Vick on another third-down play, knocking the Eagles out of the red zone and forcing a field goal attempt. As bad as they were in pass protection, they were just as problematic in run support. Look no further than McCoy’s 1.4 yards/carry as evidence, but much like McCoy, the line has been much better than this more often than not this year. Chalk it up to a bad day against a good defense and regroup for the Jets on Sunday.

Defensive Line – Up (LW: Down)

The standout, again, was backup DT Derek Landri. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Now this… THIS is the kind of disruptive game that we were expecting from this group going into the season. Seven sacks and seven quarterback hits from the defensive line in this game. Just outstanding. Defensive end Trent Cole was a monster – seven tackles, three sacks, three quarterback hits, and a total of 20 yards subtracted from Miami due to Cole’s sacks, creating general mayhem all day. Equally as good was the man on the other side of the line, defensive end Jason Babin. Babin notched three sacks of his own, including a strip-sack of Miami quarterback Matt More in the second quarter that was recovered by defensive tackle Mike Patterson and lead to the Jackson touchdown catch on their ensuing possession. Babin’s three sacks gave him 15 on the year, good for second in the league behind Minnesota’s Jared Allen. (Interesting sidenote: Many have called Babin out for the fact that his sacks seem hollow and don’t come at opportune times but Geoff Mosher, Eagles beat writer for The News Journal Of Wilmington, noted on Tuesday in a blog post that the timing of Babin’s sacks may surprise those critics. It’s worth a read.) Backup defensive ends Darryl Tapp and Philip Hunt also made an impact, with Tapp athletically knocking down a pass from Miami backup quarterback JP Losman (Moore was eventually forced from the game with a head injury), while Hunt collected his first career sack on a safety late in the fourth quarter. From the tackle position, Cullen Jenkins had yet another quiet game but did stack up Miami running back Daniel Thomas on a third and one play in the second quarter. Patterson collected the fumble on the Babin strip-sack but the standout again was backup Derek Landri. Someone remind me again why he was cut in the preseason? Landri was only credited with one tackle (for a loss) but was a big part of the Eagles’ stellar showing in short yardage situations, popping into the Miami backfield on multiple occasions, including another third down stop of Thomas in the third quarter. This is one day that the impact of defensive line coach Jim Washburn’s Wide Nine was obviously evident.

Linebackers – Slightly Up (LW: Down)

Brian Rolle and Casey Matthews became the first pair of rookie Eagles linebackers to record a sack in the same game. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

After former Eagles linebacker Chris Gocong’s strong showing for the Cleveland Browns against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday night, I started a thread on the boards bemoaning the fact that the Eagles let a guy like Gocong – who seems to have found a home in Cleveland – go while finding themselves at the point where they’re using five different linebackers in their base and nickel defenses. So imagine my surprise when, for the most part, the linebackers made me look stupid by turning in a nice little performance against Miami. Brian Rolle and Casey Matthews became the first pair of rookie Eagles linebackers to record a sack in the same game. Rolle’s came in the first quarter when he read a sprint rollout by Moore well to catch him for a six-yard loss. Matthews’ sack came in the second quarter when he blitzed from the middle and dropped Moore for a loss of seven yards. Matthews, overall, didn’t look that out of place as a nickel linebacker in playing extensive snaps, although the nickel defense did get gashed enough by the Dolphins’ run attack – in particular running back Reggie Bush, who seemed to be running the same play over and over with continued success – after Moore was forced from the game to make you wonder why defensive coordinator Juan Castillo didn’t run more base sets at that stage of the game. Rolle was also the one who delivered the hit that knocked Moore out of the game on a blitz, but he also had trouble when Bush ran through both him and safety Kurt Coleman on a 17-yard screen pass in the first quarter. He also missed a tackle on a 7-yard Thomas run in the third quarter. Much like Rolle has played all season, he was the Eagles’ most noticeable linebacker – for both good and bad. Akeem Jordan (along with Jenkins) stopped Thomas for no gain on a second-down first-quarter run. Jamar Chaney, ceding his nickel duties to Matthews didn’t play much. More progression from the rookies, Rolle and Matthews, makes this unit trend upward.

Defensive Backs – No Change (LW: Down)

Not a horrible performance from the defensive backs but not really a great one either. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

Meh. Not a horrible performance from the defensive backs but not really a great one either, mainly because of cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Two of the Eagles’ more heralded offseason acquisitions, both Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie have been disappointments. Asomugha seems to get beaten at an alarming rate (Miami wide receiver Brandon Marshall got the best of him on Miami’s opening touchdown) for someone who was advertised as one of the league’s best at the position, while Rodgers-Cromartie has struggled in his transition to the slot. Only help coming from safety Nate Allen stopped Rodgers-Cromartie from being on the wrong end of a deep ball to Marshall as Marshall had Rodgers-Cromartie easily beaten on the play. Asomugha was also later beaten by Miami wide receiver Brian Hartline in the fourth quarter on a play where backup corner Joselio Hanson was in Losman’s face. Thankfully for the Eagles, as the rest of the defense picked up the pace in the second quarter, the other defensive backs followed suit. Moore floated a pass over the middle on the Dolphins’ first second quarter possession, overthrowing it right to a waiting Coleman. Coleman would also have a nice stop on a Bush run in the third quarter. Cornerback Asante Samuel made his presence felt later in the second, punching a ball out of Miami wide receiver Davone Bess’s hands and recovering the ball at Miami’s 34-yard line. Other than tight end Anthony Fasano (who finished with three catches for 56 yards) no Miami pass catcher finished with more than 27 yards receiving. While most of that was likely due to the pressure generated by the front seven, it’s still a decent acquittal of the defensive backs as well. But Asomugha’s subpar play is becoming increasingly concerning.

Special Teams – No Change (LW: Down)

Placekicker Alex Henery nailed his only field goal attempt of the day. (Image-Drew Hallowell)

I already mentioned the head-scratching DeSean Jackson punt return where he threw across field to Curtis Marsh, resulting in a fumble recovery by Miami. Obviously, that can’t happen. As for the kicking game, placekicker Alex Henery nailed his only field goal attempt of the day and continued his quietly effective rookie campaign, while punter Chas Henry wasn’t quite as good. He had a punt blocked that continued the comedy of errors that was the Eagles’ first offensive and defensive drives and averaged a poor net of 34.7 yards on his 10 kicks of the day. Clearly, the coverage units missed Colt Anderson.

Coaching – Up (LW: Down)

Castillo had his best game of the season, Mornhinweg, not so much. (Image-Marc Serota/Getty)

This “Up” grade is based almost entirely on Juan Castillo. No need to rub your eyes – I actually said that this grade is based on Castillo’s performance. The man called a great game, likely his best since the Dallas annihilation in October. While it looked like the defense was in for another long day following Miami’s opening score, Castillo and the Eagles’ defense held the Dolphins to just a field goal the rest of the way. It was a great performance and the man deserves his due. With that said, Miami has been playing well but that’s largely because of their defense. Their offense is really nothing special and Miami, at the end of the day, is a 4-9 team so shutting them down isn’t as impressive as shutting down Dallas and it doesn’t excuse making Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (arguably a worse quarterback than Miami’s Moore) look like an All-Pro last week. I still believe that a new defensive coordinator should be at the top of the Eagles’ offseason priority list, but it was still nice to see the defense step up like this and play like many thought they could at the season’s outset. On the day, as CSN Philly’s Reuben Frank pointed out, they stopped Miami on two 4th-and-1’s, two 3rd-and-1’s, two 3rd-and-2’s, a 2-and-goal from the two-yard line, and a 3-and-goal from the two-yard line. That’s exceptional short-yardage defense. The defense was also able to create turnovers, with three first half takeaways leading to 17 Eagles’ points. Unfortunately, for the most part, the offense wasn’t able to match the defense’s effort. Yes, they took a 24-7 lead into halftime but that was mostly due to the defense’s ability to create turnovers and provide the offense with good field position. The Eagles essentially went into hibernation offensively in the second half, a scenario we’ve seen all too often during the Andy Reid era. Instead of piling on points, the Eagles were intercepted on their first second-half possession and then were forced to punt on each of their ensuing six possessions. That’s awful and is indicative of poor playcalling by Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. While fingers are being pointed at Castillo (and rightfully so), Mornhingweg’s offense is just as culpable in the Eagles’ downfall this year. And ultimately, both of those men are Reid’s responsibility. This win was a nice diversion, but it does nothing to change my belief that a coaching change is necessary as soon as the season ends.

Team As A Whole – Slightly Up (LW: Down)

Cole and the Eagles have one more week to breath.

By virtue of this victory (and by the New York Giants beating the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night), the Eagles kept their razor-thin chance at a postseason berth alive. They still need to sweep their final three games, have Dallas go no better than 1-2, and have the Giants finish no better than 1-2 in order to grab the division title.

That scenario’s looking just as unlikely this week as it did at this time last week. Again, while the fight that the Eagles showed in Miami was nice to see for a change, it does nothing to suggest that changes still aren’t needed.

- JM

Coming off of a completely embarrassing deconstruction at the hands of the lowly Seattle Seahawks last Thursday night in Seattle, the Eagles have had the last nine days to lick their wounds and to try to regroup in order to show something – anything – in the season’s final four games. They’ve also had the pleasure of spending the week listening to the white-hot intensity of the calls for head coach Andy Reid’s job from an angry fanbase and a media contingent that’s seemingly discussed Reid’s job status on a daily basis. With a playoff berth now literally the longest of longshots, if Reid is to keep his job beyond this month the Eagles are going to need to start giving people reasons for why he should stay, and that begins today on the field against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium.

While this looked like a laugher six weeks or so ago after the Dolphins got off to an 0-7 start and shared co-favorite status with the Indianapolis Colts in the Suck For Luck movement, Miami has played arguably some of the best football in the league since the end of October. While their record since October 23 stands at just 4-3, their three losses were by a combined seven points. During that stretch, they’ve lost by three (in overtime) to Denver, by three to the New York Giants, and by one to Dallas on Thanksgiving. All of those teams are in contention for division titles. And their wins include holding Kansas City, Washington, and Buffalo to single digits in scoring and, in their most impressive victory, they systematically took apart the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders by twenty last week. This, in no way, should be looked at by the Eagles or their fans as a trap game. That label does not apply because, frankly, the Dolphins are just simply a better football team than the Eagles are.

The Eagles should receive a modicum of offensive spark from the return of quarterback Michael Vick for the first time since injuring his ribs against the Arizona Cardinals on November 13. After suffering through watching Vince Young uh… “guide” the Eagles’ offense over the past three weeks, Vick being under center when the action kicks off this afternoon will be a welcome sight. However, he has no easy task in getting re-acquainted as he’ll be facing a Dolphins defense that’s given up an average of just over ten points a game in their last five contests. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan has his defensive unit playing very, very well (ahh… must be nice to have an actual NFL defensive coordinator) although they are more susceptible to the pass (ranking 24th in the league in giving up close to 249 yards/game through the air) than they are to the run (ranking fifth in the league at just over 93 yards per game). Still to be determined is whether wide receiver Jeremy Maclin will be returning along with Vick as he started out the week listed as probable coming off of shoulder and hamstring injuries, but he was downgraded to questionable yesterday. Should Maclin be unable to go, it’ll be more of DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper at wideout and, after seeing how the two have played of late, that should be a concern. After the passionate defense of Jackson’s seemingly disinterested play against the Seahawks by both Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg this past week, I’d expect them to try early and often to get Jackson involved in the offense. However, he’ll likely be matched up with one of the league’s better corners in Miami cornerback Vontae Davis so I wouldn’t be holding my breath for a great game out of Jackson. And Cooper can be OK if he can actually hold onto the ball – but that’s a big “if.” Miami’s defense has struggled against the tight end and, prior to Vick’s injury, he seemed to be developing a nice rapport with tight end Brent Celek so Celek could see some looks today. Running back LeSean McCoy has developed into a matchup-proof running back so even facing the stout Miami run defense, the Eagles would be wise to use him in order to control the ball as much as possible to keep their own porous defense off of the field.

Watching that porous defense over the past month has been painful. It helped Arizona Cardinals quarterback John Skelton to a plus-80 quarterback rating in a 21-17 home loss to the Cardinals. Skelton went onto quarterback ratings of 10.5 and 30.0 the next two weeks (obviously both losses) against San Francisco (understandable) and St. Louis (not so understandable) and was benched for something called a Richard Bartel in the San Francisco game. New England quarterback Tom Brady then dissected the Eagles in a 38-20 home slaughter two weeks later, though that was to be expected. What wasn’t so expected was making Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (he of the frequent, “How does Tarvaris Jackson have a starting NFL job?” comments) look like an All-Pro as he completed over 80% of his passes and threw for a score on his way to one of his best nights as a pro last Thursday night in the utterly embarrassing 31-14 loss to the Seahawks. Why is this relevant? Because this week the Eagles’ much-maligned defense faces Miami quarterback Matt Moore. Moore’s career resume is no more impressive than that of Skelton or Jackson, really, but he’s been very hot of late. As ESPN.com’s James Walker points out, in his four victories this year Moore has thrown seven touchdowns against one interception, while compiling a 110.1 quarterback rating. That spells trouble for a defense that’s had trouble shutting down any quarterback, let alone one that’s on a roll like Moore has been of late. The good (?) news for the Eagles is that they may have a full contingent of cornerbacks to combat Moore for the first time in a month as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is officially listed as questionable but has made the trip to Miami coming off of an ankle injury, while Nnamdi Asomugha is expected to play and is listed as probable after sustaining a nasty looking concussion/stinger in last Thursday night’s game. However, considering how the Eagles’ corners have played this year that’s not nearly as much of a positive as it should be. The Eagles may also have a hard time keeping up with Miami running back Reggie Bush. Bush, for the first time in his career, really, has begun to live up to the promise that made him one of the NCAA’s most electrifying players at USC in the mid-00s. Given the chance to be a true feature back for the first time in his career, Bush has averaged close to 100 yards/game from scrimmage in his last six while scoring five times in those games. He’s a weapon both as a runner and in the passing game and creates matchup problems for an Eagles’ linebacking corps that already features five (FIVE!) different linebackers in its base and nickel defensive units. If Moore and Bush are both on this afternoon, the Eagles are likely in big trouble.

Last week’s game is the type of game that makes you gun-shy about picking the Eagles to win against almost any team in the NFL. Yes, I feel that – from what we’ve seen over the past month or so – the Eagles would likely have their hands full even against the likes of the Indianapolis Colts. With that in mind, picking them on the road against a resurgent Miami Dolphins team that features a tough defense, all the while trying to break Vick back in after a month on the shelf and scrambling to scheme a bad defense against a red-hot quarterback doesn’t seem to line up in the Eagles’ favor. You’d also like to think that, for a team that professes admiration and respect for its coach, the Eagles would step up to the challenge after hearing the rampant criticism of Reid this past week and play well for their coach but what, if anything, has this team shown you this year to give you any expectation that they’re capable of doing that? Mark down loss number nine and bear down for a week of even louder calls for Reid’s job.

The Pick: Dolphins 31-17

-JM

Welcome to PhilaPhans’ weekly game review column, the Stock Report. Every week, we take a look at how each unit on the Eagles’ team fared relative to both the previous week’s performance as well as to expectations going into the game. If we end up looking back at any game on the Eagles’ schedule as a perfect representation for this lost 2011 season, it might be this one. With that, let’s take a closer look at the Eagles’ most embarrassing loss of the season last Thursday night in Seattle.

Quarterback – Down (Last Week: Down)
Up front, no BS – I truly hope that this was the last time that we ever have to watch Vince Young play quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. And with the news that Michael Vick’s ribs shouldbe healed enough to allow him to play on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, there’s a very good chance that this was Young’s final appearance in midnight green. From the moment he arrived at Lehigh and uttered the now infamous “Dream Team” comment that’s been like an albatross around the Eagles’ necks all season, Young has not come as advertised. When the Eagles made the decision to sign him, it seemed like a shrewd move. Have a proven winner come in as an insurance policy in the (likely) event of a Vick injury so that the team barely misses a beat, while allowing Young to showcase himself for teams looking for a starter in 2012. How wrong that was. Young has done little (outside of the fourth quarter comeback against the Giants two weeks ago) to show any NFL team why he should be considered for a starting job next season. He was that awful in this game. He threw four INTs, two of which would have been inexcusable for a rookie to make, let alone a six-year veteran like Young. The first one came on the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage. Just an awful, awful throw that Young literally put directly into the hands of Seattle safety Kam Chancellor. The replay showed that it appeared that he had plenty of room to run as well yet instead he forced one of the most awful throws you’ll ever see. The pick-six that the threw in the fourth quarter as the Eagles were driving in an attempt to cut Seattle’s lead to four essentially put the final nail in the Eagles’ season as Seattle linebacker David Hawthorne jumped in front of a pass intended for running back LeSean McCoy and raced 77 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown. 31-14 Seattle. Ballgame. Young had two other passes picked off on the night, one that wide receiver Riley Cooper Steve Smith-ed when the ball went right through his fingers into the waiting hands of Seattle cornerback Brandon Browner, and another that Young essentially just chucked up on the drive following the Hawthorne TD that really meant nothing. The four interceptions gave Young a whopping seven picks in 12 quarters since Vick’s injury. Young had more interceptions (four) than Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson had INCOMPLETIONS (three) on the night. When Young’s lone highlight on the night is a block on a McCoy cutback run, you know it’s been a rough night. Later, Vince. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. On second thought… let it hit you.

Running Backs – Up (LW: Down)
McCoy got a whopping seven more carries this week than he did in the loss to New England so… there’s that. And, predictably, McCoy keeps managing to make the best of an embarrassingly small workload, gaining 84 yards on those 17 carries. Yes, the Eagles were down for much of the game so that likely dictated the usage (or lack thereof) of McCoy but you’d still like to see McCoy’s touches closer to 25 than the 21 that he got in this game. Still, McCoy (special talent that he is) turned those touches into 133 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, one coming on a second-quarter goal-line run (they actually used McCoy on the goal line! on back-to-back plays!) and the second on a shovel pass from Young in the fourth quarter that temporarily gave the Eagles life. He also ripped off a pretty 20-yard run in the first quarter to the left side and showed nice burst on a 15-yard screen play to the right side in the third quarter. Oh, and NFL Network’s side-by-side video footage of McCoy and NFL legend Barry Sanders confirmed what we’ve all thought – McCoy’s got moves like Sanders. McCoy was the lone highlight in an otherwise brutal performance.

Receivers/Tight Ends – Down (LW: Down)
Bad night for this unit. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson continued his campaign to get out of Philadelphia with yet another apathetic performance. Four catches for 34 yards and yet another game where the self-professed top-five wide receiver was a non-factor. The maelstrom coming out of this one was the second quarter play where Young was looking for Jackson on a deep ball but Jackson had completely checked out, forcing Young to go elsewhere. Shortly after, NFL Network showed Young and Jackson on the sideline with Young animatedly talking to Jackson while Jackson seemingly ignored him and stared blankly forward. In his post-mortem press conference on Friday, Reid vehemently defended Jackson by saying that Jackson was supposed to clear out the cornerback on that play and that NFL Network’s framing of the sideline conversation was unfair and far from the truth. Now, Reid’s passionate defense of his player is admirable in some respects but remember – we’ve been trained over the years to not buy anything that Reid says in his press conferences (“Kevin Kolb is still our starting quarterback.”) so why, exactly, should we be expected to start now? Jackson is clearly playing his way out of town but it begs the question – with performances and drama like this, will any NFL team actually pay him what he thinks he’s worth? Because other teams are seeing this petulant act and it cannot possibly be endearing Jackson to prospective employers. Starting for the third straight game in place of the injured Jeremy Maclin, Cooper was the team’s leading receiver with five catches for 94 yards, including a 47-yard bomb (courtesy of some Seattle blown coverage). However, Cooper’s night was not as productive as those numbers would appear. He was completely at fault on Young’s second interception as the ball went completely through his fingers and into Browner’s. And he also bobbled another deep shot from Young all over the place before eventually dropping it. If Jackson does walk and Maclin and Cooper are the starters next season, the Eagles are going to be in some trouble from a receiving standpoint. You’d almost have to think that the position would be addressed via either free agency or early in the draft. No other receiver did much of note, although tight end Brent Celek’s streak of productive games ended at five as he finished with just three catches for a scant 21 yards.

Offensive Line – No Change (LW: No Change)
Other than McCoy, the play of the offensive line continued to be perhaps the most positive aspect to come out of this lost season. NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock seemed to be as taken with left tackle Jason Peters as NBC’s Cris Collinsworth was during the Giants game two weeks ago and with good reason. Peters again showed that he’s the game’s best at the position, tossing Seahawks defenders around at will, particularly on McCoy’s second quarter touchdown run. Running McCoy to the left side behind Peters and left guard Evan Mathis continues to be the biggest money play that the Eagles’ offense has in its arsenal right now. Center Jason Kelce and right guard Danny Watkins showed nice athleticism on a 15-yard screen pass to McCoy, getting well out in front of McCoy and clearing the way for a nice gain. Kelce also blocked very well in the run game, but Watkins did seem to have more trouble against the Seahawks’ front than he’s had of late, however. Right tackle Todd Herremans did have some issues as well, but overall a decent game from the line as they allowed just two sacks on the night.

Defensive Line – Down (LW: Down)
Very quiet game from the defensive line. Yes, defensive end Jason Babin did have two sacks to bring his season total to 12, good for third in the league. But they were hollow sacks that didn’t do anything in the grand scheme of things. Babin also continues to have an allergy to playing the run. The line got next to no pressure on Tarvaris Jackson and that showed in his 137.0 quarterback rating on the night, his best game via that metric since 2009. While they did clean up the penalties for the most part (oh, hi Juqua Parker offsides penalty), the line as a whole had little impact. Defensive end Trent Cole finished with just three tackles and one quarterback hit on the night and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, who has often been a force from the middle of the line, had such a quiet night that he didn’t even register on the scoresheet at all. As in, no stats. At all. His partner in the middle, defensive tackle Mike Patterson, registered just three tackles and no quarterback hits so he wasn’t really much better than Jenkins. On the bright side, defensive tackle Derek Landri made his weekly standout play, getting good penetration and dropping Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch for a four-yard loss in the first quarter. Going in, the Seahawks had one of the worst offensive lines in the league so the fact that they were able to hold the Eagles’ pass rush at bay has to be pretty embarrassing for the Birds. They also played a big part in the party of missed tackles held by the Eagles’ defense, particularly when trying to bring down Lynch. Again… embarrassing. It was the word of the night.

Linebackers – Down (LW: Down)
Tire. Freaking. Fire. As much at fault as anyone for the inability to bring down Lynch, the linebackers smelled like rotting garbage in Seattle. Middle linebacker Jamar Chaney was just awful in this one, seemingly worse than even last week against New England, heretofore his season’s nadir. From pushing Seattle fullback Michael Robinson ahead an extra couple of yards on a 19-yard screen pass in the first quarter instead of, you know, tackling him to completely blowing coverage on Seattle wide receiver Ben Obomanu later in the quarter that resulted in a 26-yard gain for the Seahawks to being right in the middle of the Lynch TD run where literally everyone on the defense had a crack at him (Chaney and Cole seemed most at fault, along with cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha but we’ll get to him later), Chaney was as bad as Casey Matthews ever was in this game. Chaney would later miss another tackle on a big Lynch run in the second quarter, and would get flagged for a holding call that would negate a nice third-down stop by safety Kurt Coleman in the third quarter. Chaney was awful. Plain and simple. His partners in the linebacking corps weren’t much better as Brian Rolle got blown up on a block and Akeem Jordan missed a tackle on that same second quarter Lynch run and, in the third quarter, the Eagles stacked the box with ten men in an attempt to stop Lynch on a third and one and he still picked up the third down, going over 100 yards rushing in the process. Rolle also got annihilated by Robinson on a first-quarter Lynch carry and Jordan was a big part of the Eagles’ failure to bring down Lynch on his 40-yard TD run in the second quarter. Really, I can’t think of any positives that came from this unit on Thursday night. Their play was just putrid.

Defensive Backs – Down (LW: Down)
And the sad decline of the Eagles’ defensive backfield continues. If safety Nate Allen is trying to get pulled off of the field and erase any of the promise that he showed in winning a Defensive Rookie Of The Month award in 2010, he’s doing a great job. Second-round rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett replaced him in the second quarter after Allen was badly beaten on a 25-yard pass play to Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate though Allen would return later. Still, the Eagles need to look at other options in the offseason to at least provide Allen with some strong competition because he’s just not playing like a starting NFL safety needs to play. Allen was hardly alone in pathetic play as nickel corner Joselio Hanson was at fault on the touchdown catch by Tate that put Seattle up by a 24-7 score in the third quarter, though admittedly it was a great individual effort by Tate to come down in bounds. Cornerback Asante Samuel did another strong job of shutting down his side of the field but continued to be a liability in run support, not that that’s a surprise. What was surprising, though, was Asomugha giving less than maximum effort away from the play on the first quarter touchdown by Lynch. While seemingly all ten other Eagles defenders were in the pileup around Lynch that he somehow slipped through, Asomugha was well away from the play and then made a very lackadaisical attempt to bring Lynch down which obviously proved unsuccessful. Combine this lack of effort with Asomugha’s generally poor tackling and propensity to get beaten more often than he should and… a lot of people are quick to apply the “bust” label in unfair fashion (Brandon Graham haters, I’m looking at you) but it’s hard to argue that, for this season at least, the Asomugha signing has been a flat bust. To add injury to insult in a very literal fashion, Asomugha came down hard on his head on a pass breakup in the second quarter and ended up with both a stinger and concussion for his efforts.

Special Teams – Down (LW: Up)
While placekicker Alex Henery wasn’t called on to do anything more than kick a couple of extra points and punter Chas Henry had a very respectable 46.3 yards/punt average, this grade is a down for the sheer misfortune that was the Colt Anderson torn ACL. Anderson has been a stud in kick coverage and his tearing up his knee late in the second quarter in front of a large number of friends and family (who were in from nearby Montana) is a shame. Anderson was likely in line for a Pro Bowl appearance that’s now off the table due to the injury. Here’s hoping that he heals in time to be back next year because, in all honesty, he’s been one of the few Eagles giving maximum effort this season. Anderson tearing his ACL was a cruel twist of fate.

Coaching – Down (LW: Down)
It’s time. This game convinced me to 99.9% certainty that Reid has to – and likely will – go. January 3, 2012, there needs to be a press conference announcing Reid’s departure. I recognize and acknowledge that Reid is the best coach in franchise history and casting him aside isn’t an easy decision for owner Jeffrey Lurie and president Joe Banner. But it’s a necessary one. After getting shellacked at home against the New England Patriots, the Eagles needed to take advantage of a matchup that trended in their favor and, instead, came out and were taken apart by a bad football team on national television. All things considered, this may have been the most embarrassing loss of the season and, in a season littered with far too many such games, that’s saying a lot. It was an ugly, ugly game. The Eagles’ defense was, again, toilet-paper soft. Think about this – in two of the past four weeks the Eagles have made John Skelton and Tarvaris Jackson look like competent NFL quarterbacks. John Skelton. And Tarvaris Jackson. Looked like competent quarterbacks. Because of the Eagles. The ridiculous clock management issues that have marred Reid’s tenure were, of course, present in this game. With two timeouts left with 1:07 remaining in the first half and the Seahawks setting up for a field goal, Reid somehow decided, “Nah… I don’t need to call a timeout here,” and let the Seahawks run almost a full minute off of the clock before they ultimately kicked the field goal instead of giving his team a minute-plus to try to put some much-needed points on the board. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles were forced to call a timeout on a Seattle punt because they somehow had 12 men on the field and it would have resulted in a first down for Seattle. This team makes the same stupid undisciplined penalties week after week after week and it seems that Reid is either unwilling or incapable of fixing it. No exaggeration – this game, much like the New England game – had 1998 Ray Rhodes death watch stink all over it. There’s just no joy in watching this team anymore. CSN Philly’s Reuben Frank hit the nail on the head in an article this week. While Lurie may hold special affection for Reid because of what he’s meant to the franchise and because of what he’s done over the past 12 years, he sees what everyone else is seeing. He sees the bad free agency moves (Stacy Andrews, Vince Young, Ronnie Brown) that bear Reid’s fingerprints. He sees the defense bereft of young talent due to poor drafting that bear Reid’s fingerprints. He sees the decision to elevate an offensive line coach to defensive coordinator, a move that was questioned by almost everyone when it was made and one that even Juan Castillo’s most ardent supporters (Side note: Are there ardent Juan Castillo supporters anymore? Beyond Reid and Castillo’s own family, I mean) can no longer support that bears Reid’s fingerprints. He sees a team that, as National Football Post’s Matt Bowen suggests, may be quitting on its coaching staff. He sees a fanbase growing increasingly hostile and, worse, apathetic towards a franchise that he brought to national prominence since purchasing the team in 1994. And while he may be loyal to Reid, he’s even more loyal to the brand that he’s built in the last 17 years and in the end, parting ways with Reid may be the only option to escape the quagmire that this franchise currently finds itself in.

Team As A Whole – Down (LW: Down)
Yes, thanks to the ineptitude of the rest of the NFC East, the Eagles are still technically (read: barely) alive in the playoff race. In order to secure a postseason berth, they would need Dallas to go 1-3 or worse in their final four games (certainly possible), the Giants to go 2-2 or worse in their final four games (certainly probable), and for themselves to run the table (not bloody likely). For all intents and purposes, they’re done. As I mentioned, it’s just not fun to watch this team right now. That’s partly why you’re reading a review of a game from almost a week ago. I had no desire to revisit it until the last possible moment. That’s what this team has become and, ultimately, that’s why a coaching change needs to be made at the end of the season. A team can’t allow its fanbase to lose its passion and, that passion? It’s barely flickering right now. Do the right thing on January 3, Mr. Lurie. Or else face an Eagles fanbase unlike any you’ve seen in your 17 years as owner.

-JM

The NFL’s schedule-makers did the Eagles no favors, that much is clear. Coming off of a late Sunday undressing courtesy of the Patriots at the Linc, the Eagles are tasked with flying across the country to play a Seattle Seahawks team that is notoriously tough to handle at Qwest Field on a short week. Oh… and they’re still without the services of starting quarterback Michael Vick, starting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, nickel corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and possibly starting running back LeSean McCoy who’s a game-time decision thanks to a toe injury. And the past week has seen some of the strongest scrutiny of head coach Andy Reid in his 12-year tenure in Philadelphia. Other than that… things are great.

Think NFL Network is glad that they have the privilege of airing this titanic matchup of two 4-7 teams as part of their Thursday Night Football package? One thing is virtually certain – neither of these teams are going anywhere as far as the postseason is concerned. From ESPN’s Adam Schefter: Of the 92 teams to have a 4-7 record through 11 games from 1990-2010, only three have gone on to make the playoffs. Historically, the NFC West has been one of the weakest (if not the absolute weakest) divisions in the league, while the NFC East has often been seen as one of the strongest but this year those divisions mirror each other somewhat. While the San Francisco 49ers have a commanding five-game lead on Seattle in the NFC West with five games to go, the Dallas Cowboys sit with just a one-game lead on the New York Giants in the NFC East although, with the way the Giants have played lately, that single-game lead seems more like five. On the other end of the spectrum, the Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, and Washington Redskins all rank amongst the worst teams in the league. In the NFC West, Seattle has disappointed coming off of a division championship (albeit one that they earned after finishing with a 7-9 record, although they did upset the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs) and stumbling to their current 4-7 mark, while the Eagles, coming off of their own division title in 2010 have been perhaps the league’s biggest disappointment with an identical 4-7 record. What it adds up to is two teams playing out the string and just trying to get their nightmare seasons over with. But, above all, we still have an Eagles game to watch tonight to so let’s take a closer look at what to expect in tonight’s game.

Quarterback Vince Young will start his third consecutive game for the Eagles and, even though he’s really only put two good quarters together in the eight that he’s played in the past two games, he could be in for a nice night thanks to the Seahawks’ inviting defense. Seattle sits in the middle of the pack in total defense and mirror the Eagles’ own weaknesses in a lot of ways. They’re capable of giving up yardage evento bad teams, as evidenced by the huge days by Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman and running back Roy Helu in last week’s loss to the Redskins. And, all of the Eagles’ deficiencies aside, Young and McCoy are much better players than Grossman and Helu so they could be in for big nights assuming that McCoy is able to go (and most indications are that he’ll likely play). If McCoy is inactive, I’d guess that we’d be looking at a split between running backs Ronnie Brown and Dion Lewis meaning that Reid would probably end up throwing the ball 97% of the time. It will also be interesting to see how wide receiver DeSean Jackson rebounds from his fourth-quarter benching in the New England debacle. He’s been largely invisible of late and actually actively hurt the team in each of the team’s last two losses: by missing a meeting and being deactivated for the Arizona game and then shying from contact and dropping two separate touchdown catches against the Patriots. I think any chance of getting a long-term contract from the Eagles is out the window but he’s going to need to start showing something – anything, really – if he’s to entice another team to consider giving him a big payday. Seattle cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman are just guys, so if Jackson’s head’s on right he could put up numbers in this game. Seattle’s defense has also only notched 20 sacks on the season, good for sixth-worst in the league. The Eagles’ offensive line has handled much better pass rushes in the past two weeks with relative ease so Young should, at the very least, be afforded a lot of time to complete his passes.

To be completely honest, when it comes to watching the Seattle Seahawks offensive unit you’re probably going to want to just cover your eyes because it’s not pretty. They’re relying almost entirely on running back Marshawn Lynch lately and as he goes, so goes the Seattle offensive attack. He’s scored in each of their last seven contests and has been getting a TON of work, tallying 23, 32, 27, and 24 carries in Seattle’s last four games. With wide receiver Sidney Rice being placed on IR this past week due to concussion issues, Seattle’s best option in the passing game is undrafted rookie Doug Baldwin so it’s not out of the question that the Seahawks could go full-on Denver Broncos and give Lynch 35 carries in tonight’s game. Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo should strongly consider stacking the box and overplaying the run to shut down Lynch and force quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to beat the Eagles’ defense. As Jackson has yet to go over 100.0 in quarterback rating in any game he’s played this year, that’s a rather unlikely proposition. Their offensive line has also given up the second-most sacks in the league this year and has allowed the most quarterback hits of any line this season, so defensive ends Trent Cole and Jason Babin along with defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (toughing out a nasty thumb injury) could have a field day. If the defense can neutralize Lynch (and they’ve actually been fairly effective against the run as of late) they’ll position themselves to return from the Pacific Northwest with a win.

After getting embarrassed at home by the Patriots, I really don’t feel comfortable displaying any kind of confidence in this team and kind of hate picking the Eagles to win, but the Seahawks are a really bad football team and are banged up to boot. Yes, the Eagles are flying across three time zones to play a game four days after getting shellacked and are without some key contributors… but Seattle is just really, really BAD. This isn’t to say that the Eagles aren’t a horrible football team in their own right, but what it comes down to is that, to my mind, they’re just less bad than the Seahawks. Qwest Field is historically a very tough place for visiting teams to play but, even taking that into account, I still think that the Eagles are in line for their fifth victory of the season. But make no mistake – there’s gonna be some ugly football on display tonight. Like, cover your eyes and have a trash can handy for puking ugly. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

The Pick: Eagles 17-9

-JM