Reggie Brown definitely showcased his ability today....he was without a doubt our most effective weapon on a day when his battery-mate Hank Baskett had a rookie mind-fart day and couldn't catch the ball with a fishing net...That's it for the kudos...
A lot of us talked about New Orleans being a let down game, or a trap game...and it was and wasn't...First here is why it wasn't a classic trap game...1) it was close! classic Eagles trap games reveal them getting shut down and toasted by double-digits; 2) the Eagles responded in the 2nd half, but couldn't seal the deal.
Now here is why is WAS a trap game: They did not deal well with the emotion in the beginning of the game, allowing the Saints to dictate early and scoot out to 10-0 lead...One could argue that they were lucky it wasn't more, or that falling behind early to an energetic team playing at home is "normal"...well it not exactly normal but it isn't that rare either...The D did a decent job settling in and shutting down the Saints in the 2nd qtr...until special teams decided to chime in with the first of several huge team mistakes...
This brings me to my first goat of the game: scatback Ryan Moats, who seemingly forgot what color uniform he was wearing because he made a nice hit...on hit OWN friggin' man...the resulting muffed punt set up the Saints for a fairly easy score right before the half; the critical thing about this idiot play, he came right after a nice defensive stop and at a time where the Eagles offense was beginning to show a spark...so instead of getting the ball before the half, with 1:54 on the clock and a chance for a drive (keep in mind, the score was 10-3 at the time, and the Eagles were set to get the ball to start the second half) that could have set up a nice double-whammy (get a score before half, get the ball right back in the 3rd)--we get to look at a 14-point hole at half time...remember those points...they'll come back to haunt us...
Second goat the game: Michael Lewis...ok, jackass, how many times are you going to bite on the double-move when you are the last line of defense....a great time to drop your shorts too, coming right on the heels of the Eagles seizing control of the game by converting a turnover for a TD and taking a 24-17 lead. But you know what, I don't place all the blame on him...Jim Johnson has to take some the blame for this...how many times are we going to get burned by playing a defense that has the CB release a teams' #1 wide receiver to our absolute WORST coverage guy??? I mean we got burned when Brown released Terry Glenn to #32 at the end of the Dallas game..today is the other side, same result...Play before Lito Sheppard runs with Joe Horn through his double move and pass incomplete, throw doesn't even go that way...next play, Lito releases his deep (the Cover 2 if I am not mistaken) and Lewis flails up the field like Timmy at a Southpark pick-up game....result: Joe Horn takes an easy score to the house and the game is tied 24-24 (remember those easy points, they will come back to haunt us)
Final goat of the game: the Entire frickin' D for allowing an unforgiveable mistake to happen on the last drive... 3rd and 10, Saints driving in Eagles territory with about 3-something on the clock...and we have 12-men on the field??? On a play in which Trent Cole should have collected a drive-killing sack (real fine step-it-up in a high pressure situation type of play)....Nope, instead of watching NO try the pooch punt, we get treated to a 3rd-and-5, little dink pass, first down, and the game is essentially over...
So those three key mistakes are why it WAS a trap game. Pure and simple, some players weren't focused, we made way too many mistakes at crucial times to beat a good team...now if we'd been playing Green Bay or Tennessee that'd be one thing, but New Orleans is 4-1 (now 5-1) for a reason, they play hard, and they showed it today...They made a few mistakes today too, and if we'd been on top of our game, we'd have made them pay for it and snatched a W...
Hats off to 'em...they smelled the opportunity to win at the end and seized it. Hard to argue with that last drive...they wanted it more and they got it.
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