NFL Wildcard Weekend Picks
Lieutenant Colonel Greg Gadson…you are the man.
You know what’s crazy about football? It seems we wait so long for the season to approach and then like whoa the playoffs are here.
13-3 last week.
1-1 yesterday
32-15 on year.
Let’s get it!
Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins 1:00 CBS
Look for the Ravens to employ multiple linebacker packages against the Wildcat. If there’s any team in the league besides the Steelers where this trickery will be ineffective it’s the Ravens. Ray Lewis will basically be roaming free while another linebacker shoots the gap and blows up the Phins blocking assignments.
Joe Flacco is another quarterback making his first start and we all know how they’ve fared. Derrick Mason has a bad shoulder but will play. Baltimore will run run run run run and punt, relying on their stellar defensive unit.
Chad Pennington better run for his life and make sure he puts enough zip on his throws to elude the ever dangerous Ed Reed.
It’s up to Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Chad Pennington and Flacco are basically offensive facilitators that will take a few chances down field just to keep the opposing defenses true.
I’m thinking Dolphins, but Baltimore’s defense is just too good.
Prediction: Baltimore 27, Miami 13
Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings 4:30 FOX
The Philadelphia Eagles led the NFL with 228 blitzes. The Minnesota Vikings were last in passer rating against the blitz. Something’s gotta give brothas.
Brad Childress better move TJ around or he will get all kinds of cold rock stuff from an assortment of Eagles. Jimmy Johnson is definitely coming after the young fella.
Since the merger, quarterbacks making their first start are 0-4 and Tarvaris Jackson looks to buck that trend tomorrow in Minny Nice.
Maxwell Player of the Year (Bert Bell), Adrian Peterson (Just so you know Randall Cunningham won it three times) is definitely the key besides an Eagles balanced offensive attack.
Brian Dawkins will be in the box a whole lot more because of Peterson. The only way Minnesota wins this game is if he finds the hot reads on blitzes. If not, it’s gonna being a long day. Pat Williams is gonna try and give that cracked shoulder a go. Asante Samuels is questionable with a hip.
Donovan will go deep to DeSean Jackson many times.
Prediction: Philadelphia 30, Minnesota 17
Picks from yesterday
Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals 4:30 NBC
Michael Turner was the best free agent pick up of the NFL season.
Simply put, he has made Matt Ryan’s job a lot easier finishing a shade behind Adrian Peterson for the rushing lead. With Ovie Mughelli strong arming would be tacklers and clearing out space, Turner straight bulled over cats all year long and set up the air game to Roddy White.
John Abraham will be in Kurt Warner’s face all game to kill the timing between the old head and his bevy of young talented receivers. Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston want to prove something and who better to do it against than the overhyped Atlanta Falcons.
The playoffs aren’t the regular season and Ryan will be nervous. I initially thought ATL would do the damn thing today, but I gotta give it to the home team for the city is charged because this is something different for their fan base. They will be loud.
Airshow.
Prediction: Arizona 38, Atlanta 28
Actual: Arizona 30, Atlanta 24
Kurt Warner 19-32, 271 1td, 1 int
Larry Fitzgerald 6 for 101, 1td. He’s officially a beast.
Cardinals first playoff win at home in 60 years.
San Diego Chargers @ Indianapolis Colts 8:00 EST NBC
LT has a strained groin and for a running back of his stature, that’s not good. NBC just reported there is
not a detached tendon contradicting what we all heard earlier. Of course he’s going to go but how effective will he really be? The Chargers only recourse is for All Pro Phillip Rivers to put the ball up to Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates in hopes of weakening the Colts secondary just enough to keep the game close late in the game.
Uh…it might be close, but Indy is not losing this game. The Colts have won 9 straight and appear to be the most fluid team heading into the NFL’s second season. Don’t know how Peyton Manning winning the MVP is going to factor in, but I expect Tony Dungy to have his team military minded. Dwight Freeney will be key.
Prediction: Indianapolis 35, San Diego 24
Actual: San Diego 23, Indianapolis 17 OT
Darren Sproles finishes with 36 touches, 328 total yards and two touchdowns–including game winner on first possession in overtime.
Chargers knock Colts out for second straight season and have won 4-5 vs. Colts
Don’t retire Tony. There’s a young coach out there who needs your inspiration.
Just something, just because…
Actually Arizona could have easily scored again, but played it safe. Your prediction was pretty close.
T3 called it…..The Chargers have the Colts’ number. Good game by Sproles.
Yeap brotha Temple did call it.
Now lets see it the NFL changes the homefield seeding now that the golden boy’s 12-4 team was knocked out by an 8-8 team.
Oh and Adrian Peterson should have been MVP.
Oh origin, the wheels are in motion as we speak…the MVP AND the ROY got a one and done on the road?? LOL….yep, expect to hear that the teams in the first round with the best records will get to play at home! LOL
Well origin, you can rest easy that it WON’T be an all-manning SuperBowl and I can skip into work tomorrow and politely ask all who said “oh its an easy win for the Falcons” if they think so still!
The Eagles won. OH BOY!!!….now I have to listen to those annoying Eagles chants all week
Ed Reed is a BEAST!!!!!!
Miranda,
lol!
Westbrook 20 carries, plus a few screen plays which are the equivalent of runs. Nice balance. As I’ve said with the Eagles, the rushing yardage is secondary to the actual carries. It’s the carries, stupid. I think Andy Reid really gets it now. He deserves some credit for that against the league’s #1 run defense (they passed Pitt at the end of the season).
Brandon Jacobs makes the Giants a totally different animal. You know he’s going to get his carries which means that regardless of what you’re doing on defense, you’ve GOT to respect Eli’s play action fakes in short yardage situations — especially late in a close game. I think that gives the Giants an advantage. Philly’s defense is better…so I’m looking at 1 thing all game: 3rd down conversion rate. I think the winner there wins the game — assuming turnovers are relatively even.
I do like what the Chargers have done. I guess they’re as good as team as any to play the Steelers. I know Pitt can beat them and vice versa. I think we’re 2-1 vs. SD over the last few years (2 of 3 games played in SD). The Steelers are uniquely qualified to play SD because Polamalu actually plays against Gates and Tomlinson for most of the game. He covers Gates in the passing game and often focuses on LT 1-on-1.
Darren Sproles gives the Steelers fits. Or maybe its just Steeler fans. Either way…he’s muy, muy peligroso (very dangerous).
Tennessee and Baltimore is such a classic game — it’s an old AFC North battle that reminds me of the early years of this decade when Tennessee, Jacksonville, Baltimore and Pittsburgh were ALL in the same division. WOW!!! Those were awesome games. I expect this game to come down to the last drive. Tennessee, though, is MUCH, MUCH better than Miami on both sides of the ball. The Titans will not abandon the run game and can definitely rely on guys like Kevin Mawae to make second level blocks on the Ravens linebackers. You won’t see as many of those uninterrupted forays into the middle next week.
Interesting note on Coach Dungy. He’s 9-10 all-time in the post-season.
Well, i’ve said it before and i’ll continue to say it….Peyton Manning is a great regular season QB. He’s a different animal during the playoffs. The lack of a running game hurt the Colts. They also missed some key conversions on 3rd down. That sack on Peyton late changed the complexion of the game. It gave SD new life and the momentum quickly swung to the Bolts.
The Steelers must get the running game going. If they do, I like our chances especially with that “D”. If it was any other team besides Pitt, I would root for the Chargers.
I think the Ravens might pull this one off. That defense is just sick and Ed Reed is “Defensive Player of the Year”. That guy is just a beast. Imagine him and Polamalu in the same secondary.
For some reason I like the Eagles against the G-Men. I think that not having Plax will benefit the Eagles. They can focus more on the run, perhaps 7 or 8 in the box to contain Jacobs and put Samuel on the next best WR they have (Toomer or Hixon). Andy Reid, however, must give Westbrook his share of carries.
Plaxico kills the Eagles. That could be the difference.
Given Flacco’s numbers and Ryan’s inability to move the ball, I’ve found that Tavaris Jackson is not getting sufficient credit for doing a decent job against Philly. When you think about how bad that same defense made Romo and Roethlisberger look, Jackson played well. He needed to make a few more plays, but with only Bernard Berrian in the passing game, what could anyone really expect?
His worse play of the (the pick to Samuel) wasn’t fatal. In fact, they came right back (mostly with his passing) to score a TD. Before the pick, the score was 9-7, Philly. After the pick and subsequent Minny drive, it was 16-14. That was the score for most of the game.
Jackson was only sacked once. As much love as has been heaped on the Vikings, its worth noting that they’re not the type of high turnover defense that the Ravens are. If Tavaris Jackson were on the Ravens and throwing to accomplished route runners like Mark Clayton and Derrick Mason, I’m sure his performance would have been good enough to win the game.
The Eagles broke the game open at a point where they didn’t even have favorable field position. Westbrook’s screen play took advantage of an overly aggressive defense that missed some tackles and was out of position. Matt Ryan wasn’t able to overcome Turner’s fumble and Jackson wasn’t able to overcome that screen. It happens.
Jackson should be benched right after Ryan and Flacco.
The traitorous Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell went behind Tarvaris’ back in an effort to get Brett Favre before the 2008 season started, and Bevell should be fired… Tarvaris has played better in recent weeks and should be the opening day starter NEXT YEAR. Vikings should try to find a way to get someone such as a Michael Crabtree or a Hakeem Nicks in the draft. And a coordinator who respects the QBs abilities and tries to devise a plan to accentuate his positives for the betterment of the offense.
Jackson played a solid game vs. Philly, and didn’t make the BIG mistake and kept the Vikings competitive. If the Vikings were able to stop Westbrook and keep the score at 16-14, Tarvaris could have duplicate last minutes heroics when he led the team downfield vs. the Giants for a game-winning FG.
A QB such as Chad Pennington who was TOTALLY RECKLESS took Miami out a relatively close game and could have been 3-3 at halftime. Instead of making good decisions, he had to do his Brett Favre impersonation and started flinging the ball around and that aggressive Ravens’ D was all over that…Most aren’t calling for Pennington’s head or questioning his on-field intelligence, but ready to push Tarvaris out of town ten minutes after the game is over..
In regards to Flacco, I believe Troy Smith can do better, but Flacco knows this is Ray Lewis’/Ed Reed’s team and Flacco’s game managing isn’t as bothersome to the mainstream sports media and nobody is calling for Flacco to be replaced ( even though he was 9-23) because he fits the profile of what a NFL QB should be…just like Peyton says in his commercial, 6’5 230.. and something else..
T3 & Patrick…..
Excellent comments. You guys are good at reading what’s on mind.
….on another note, my man James Harrison wins the Defensive Player of the Year award:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2009-01-05-harrison-dpoy_N.htm?csp=34
T3,
“Interesting note on Coach Dungy. He’s 9-10 all-time in the post-season.”
Are you sure? I just saw on NFL Network where they say he is 10-9 all-time. You’ve been on the money all year….don’t start being wrong on me now.
Patrick:
Now here’s a use of the word “reckless” that I can cosign.
Seriously, you’re absolutely right. Chad Pennington passed the Dolphins right out of that game.
Absolutely.
2-4 in Tampa. 7-6 in Indy.
Honestly, I don’t have a problem with his post-season record either. He built the Bucs almost from scratch. He drafted all of the cornerstone franchise players. Like the Eagles during the McNabb era, the Bucs had a lot of misses in drafting wide receivers. (Anyone wanna trade a Reidel Anthony playing card for a plate of grits? Didn’t think so.)
He also built up the Indy defense from scratch. The Colts had the pieces on offense, but the defense was what made them little more than a .500 marginal contender. The offense improved considerably over time, but the defense was what put them over the top. The Colts (before Dungy) squandered some critical defensive draft picks in Entman and Coryatt. They could have been great – but it didn’t work out.
During his time there, the team has always wanted for a Sapp-like DT. Corey Simon was supposed to fill the bill. Didn’t work out. They still won it all. Dungy’s schemes are so tight that guys who leave with marginal skills can get fat contracts like that corner who fled to New Orleans. E-gad.
I think the only blemishes on his record were those years struggling to get up the hill vs. New England — but they got over. These two losses in consecutive seasons to SD don’t look so good, but the Chargers have a bomb squad and tons of elite players on both sides of the ball — regardless of what the “people” say.
Finally — to put into full perspective exactly how solid the Colts have been (regular season), the only coaches with more wins OVER .500 than Dungy are:
Shula, Halas, Paul Brown, Lambeau, Landry, Schottenheimer, and John Madden.
That’s it. No one else.
The paradoxical thing about his record in the post-season is that he’s the only guy who has WON A SUPERBOWL with a sub-.500 post-season record. The coaches with sub-.500 post-season records are generally reviled in this area (Schottenheimer – .278 (dayyum!!!); Wade Phillips – .000; Chuck Knox – .389; Bud Grant – .455).
Coach Dungy occupies a strange place in the football universe. The paradox, for me, has been now that his team is perfectly suited to beat the Patriots (at home or on the road), they haven’t played them in the playoffs. As an aside, Belichick’s post-season win percentage is .789 — and that’s the highest for anyone who wasn’t coaching when Malcolm X was still alive.
UPSET PICK OF THE WEEKEND!!!!
San Diego over Pittsburgh.
Temple and GN I think ya’ll touched on this but it bears mentioning again. I don’t trust Pittsburgh. I know San Diego has underachieved but these are the playoffs; whole different ball game.
To me Pittsburgh’s running game is smoke and mirrors. They run for the sake of pseudo balance. Things just haven’t been the same since Grimm left. I really think he gave that unit a nastiness that was tangible. That line isn’t built to pound the rock 35-40 times. Funny thing is they aren’t built to pass protect for 40 passes either. Big Ben is a turnover waiting to happen because he holds on to the ball waaaaaaaaaaaay too long and more times than not the line doesn’t give him enough protection. It seems like EVERY TIME they run a 5 or 7 step drop he has to scramble and either Ward, Washington or Holmes are breaking thier routes to come back to the ball and bail Ben out. Those LB’s and Safety’s will not hesitate to take his head off should the opportunity present himself. Something tells me he’ll turn it over at least 3 times.
Sure LT is out but I think Sproles is up to the task. He’s gonna give that LB corp fits while he does his Westbrook impression. None of those cats can chase him around in coverage. That’s not their forte. They pressure the QB and stuff the run. Polamalu will have his hands full with Gates on passing downs so this match up is worth watching. Sproles should have another big games. I think Rivers is up to the task as well. He’s allowed one turnover just for the simple fact that Ben will have at least three, Turner is gonna call something ridiculous at least 2 or 3 times and Pitt’s defense is just that good.
I think special teams is a wash.
Give me San Diego 20-17
Yeah Temple and Patrick I agree with all you guys comments. Its funny how Pennington is a veteran throwing those awful picks left and right and no one and I mean no one booed him or called for his head. He should have been benched after that 3rd pick. If it was T-jac he would have been benched during the game.
And Flacco is still trash. That dude has had a few games with a 9-20 + passing game. That is ridiculous……could you imagine a black rookie QB putting up numbers like that. His @ss would be toast.
But what is new brothas. As Cube said back in the day “my sin is my sin”.
Alos Temple the thing with dungy and his records is that it seems that Mcnabb and the eagles was his nemesis in Tampa and the Pats now the chargers were/are his nemesis in Indy.
With Mcnabb/Brady often out playing his QBs….Dilfer/Brad Johnson and Peyton.
Go Terrell Pryor.
I hope you’re wrong.
They’re 2-1 vs. the Chargers over the past few years. The Chargers beat the Steelers when they were able to play over the top of the defense with their receivers — Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd. Floyd is out and I’m not sure how dangerous Jackson is without him on the field. Ike Taylor should be fine on Jackson. He’s been fine on every other elite receiver he’s faced for a few years — except for Randy Moss.
Gates doesn’t scare me. He’s never gone off on the Steelers. He’s not going to on Sunday. Polamalu knows exactly how to play between he and Rivers. Gates may score in the red zone, but he’s not going up and down the field.
Sproles is a problem, but I suspect the Steelers will ensure the groundskeepers take care of his little ass. No need for the defense to get all bent out of shape chasing him when they can simply resod the field and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Ben is a concern as is the line. The issue is turnovers. If Ben’s turn it over 3 times they will definitely lose. If he doesn’t, they’ll definitely win. That’s the only way to beat the Steelers this season — you’ve gotta turn Ben over. The Giants and Colts did it. I think if he throws picks early, Tomlin is going to have to seriously think about yanking him and putting Leftwich in the game.
Leftwich looks healthy for the first time in years. If he gets rid of the ball on time, it’ll set up SD’s over-aggressive corners for deep double moves and then it’s a wrap. If Nate Washington scores, the Steelers are probably going to win running away.
T3,
Good stuff on Dungy. I would’ve thought that Chuck Knoll or Landry would’ve been in that list of coaches but I guess not. That’s a very interesting stat.
Jerold,
I gotta co-sign w/ T3….Sproles is the only Charger that i’m concerned about but I think the defense will be ready for him. They need to put some hits his lil ass a few times and get his attention.
And, of course, i’m concerned about Ben. Like Temple said, when he doesn’t turn the ball over, the Steelers are virtually unbeatable. I think he’d going to have a good game. The running game is what i’m most concerned with. This will be a great time to get it back going again. They’re going to have to score some points to give the defense a break.
Great comments guys.
Ben is the ex factor he is so turnover prone this year.
If the chargers can stop the run and force Ben to pass they have a chance.
But they still need to put pressure on him. If they can pressure him they have a chance.
My main concern with the steelers is they have been unable to run the ball consistantly………thus forcing Ben to pass. And lord knows he must be in a balanced offense or its turnover city.
Temple I still believe that there is no way that Ben gets benched even if he throws 6 picks.
Better late than never so let me up in this piece.
I only watched the Eagles/Vikings game this weekend (big surprise there) so that’s the only one I can really comment on. The Eagles “O” was adequate in the game even with Westbrook’s run and catch and even though I was pleased Big Red at least stuck with the running game and McNabb was more a field manager, the offense still has trouble with the redzone. I think they should have more sets with Westbrook and Buckhalter down there with emphasis on Celek if he’s going to be the starting TE and fades to Baskett.
I’m very pleased with the defense especially the LB corps because despite always having good DLine and secondary play the LB’s even when Trotter was in the middle was always the weak link on the D. If the ‘backers weren’t too small like Ike Reese then they were old and shot a la Levon Kirkland. With the starters now in Bradley, Gocong, and Jordan with Gaither ready to come off the bench they can match up with any team’s LB’s outside of the Ravens and Steelers. Oh yeah, Brian Dawkins is beastin’ just below Ed Reed at his safety position and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a Lito Sheppard sighting against the Giants.
Even have to give a shoutout to the special teams especially David Akers who came back from two subpar seasons and is really booming the ball. TD’s have to be scored to win games but a big legged kicker can keep you in games too definitely when he goes 4-4 with two of the kicks from 50+. DeSean Jackson is going to break one soon too.
On the other side, the Vikings played the Eagles tough and Tavaris Jackson was very heady most of the game. He’s just not at the level of experience yet where he can win a game if he’s running game is stopped yet because his receivers other than Berrian are nothing to write home about. Tony Kornheiser really showed his ignorance on PTI today when he said Jackson should have been yanked later in the game. It was Childress’ quick trigger finger earlier this year in benching Jackson for Frerotte which slowed the kid’s growth this year. I’m certain if Jackson had started all season then yesterday’s game would have been a little tougher for the Eagles to pull out.
But they didn’t so it’s on to the Giants this week. I’m not going to out and out pick the Eagles this Sunday but I will say that anyone who watches the Eagles and Giants play know that Plax was the mutha-pluckin’ Eagle killer. He’s not going to be there this game and no one can tell me that doesn’t even the field considerably because the GMen’s wideouts are no better than the Eagles’ without Plax. The Giants have a slight advantage with the Elements of the Universe but as long as Big Red and Monrningwheg call a balance game by getting the ball to both Westbrook and Buckhalter then it’s a wash.
The Eagles are playing with house money and the best D in the NFC right now so the pressure is not on them. The Giants are right in the center of the bullseye with all the expectations now. Will the lack of Plax plus a 1-3 December sink them? We’ll see now won’t we?
Rallying cry for old school haters. Bench McNabb. Bench Tarvaris.
These QBs (McNabb, Tarvaris, etc.) aren’t exclusively the problem as some ananlysts have said over the course of the season, but its alright to see Brett Favre, Chad Pennington and Tony Romo routinely (like clockwork–playoff time) stink up the place with INTs or fumbles or just plain bad decisions, but no mention of whether they should be benched…(and I’ll add Matt Ryan in there too!) oh when Julius Jones say something about the golden boy Favre , the ESPN nation was ready to bring down the heavens and strike Julius down when he spoke that Favre should have been benched for his reckless play.
Jackson played a smarter, more effective playoff game than Pennington. HE GAVE HIS TEAM A FIGHTING CHANCE. And Tarvaris played better in the latter quarter of the season with the playoffs on the line than the over-rated Favre, Hasselback, and Romo.
On Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser said he hoped that Tarvaris would have been benched in the second half in favor of Gus Ferotte. I say to Kornheiser, GO JUMP A LAKE! ..And you too Tom Jackson on NFL Countdown being a Tarvaris hater, but falling silent when it comes to Pennington and Romo.. Shame on you!!!
The following is a statement from a fan when asked about choosing between Tarvaris and Romo…
…”Romo turns the ball over like crazy and doesn’t have any pocket awareness…he chocked last year and looked pathetic in basically a playoff game against the Eagles, not saying Jackson is the answer but Romo is possibly the most overrated QB in the league….”
The Colts had to sneak to score the few points they did last week. It is going to be tough sledding for either team to get in the end zone.
(I just have this feeling that Leftwich could turn them into a 30 ppg team for a few weeks. That’s probably ridiculous, but that’s what I’m thinking.)
Brotha Temple I have been saying the samething this whole season with regards to Big Ben and Leftwhich.
Leftwhich should have started atleast 2 games this year. Ben just isn’t the same player he was last year. Yet no one in the media (or fan base) has called for Big bens benching.
Great points Harvey and Patrick.
Patrick that was Thomas Jones that said that. He is Julius brother.
Also add Eli to that list of INT throwing QBs. He is trash without Plex……or a 150 yard plus running game. He is as turnover prone as Romo if the offense isn’t balanced.
Korn Heiser is a hack and Tom Jackson is well a Tom (no pun intended). And T-jac played a decent game until the last qtr. Even if he played a bad game he is young. What is Romo’s, Farve’s and Pennington’s excuse. These guys are vets.
Hell if it wasn’t for that super defense of the ravens Flacco would have been benched with those 9-20 + passing games.
Also Harvey it was good to see that Reid did call a balanced game. D@MN shame that it took the media calling him out to get him to call a balanced game.
Another thing Harvey you see the passes Mcnabb was throwing. How could anyone question this dudes ability to play from the pocket or read a defense.
If Reid calls a balanced game on Sunday the eagles will win.
Last what is all this talk I keep hearing about Deon saying that no matter what this is Mcnabb’s last season in Philly??
Big Ben has been taken off the field a few times this year, but if he starts the game poorly on the first two or three possessions, will Coach Tomlin make the change or wait till his team down on the scoreboard by double digits before potentially yanking Rothleisberger?
If Big Ben performs badly in the tradition of Brett Favre or Chad Pennington, will Big Ben get a ‘SuperBowl’ pass by the mainstream sports media while Tomlin gets blamed for Big Ben’s performance and not having the foresight to bench his star QB for a healthier short-term alternative (who happens to be black) in one Byron Leftwich?
When Ben had that motorcycle accident, he had a concussion then.. so when you add in the following.
…”Roethlisberger didn’t practice last week. Roethlisberger was injured in Week 17 when he was leveled by two Cleveland Browns players simultaneously after releasing a pass, causing him to strike his head on Heinz Field’s turf. The hit was similar to that in which he also received a concussion from being dropped by three Atlanta Falcons defenders in 2006. It was his third concussion in as many years….”
Tomlin can’t afford an early exit at home to a San Diego team that has a hobbled LT and a diminutive scat back that normally doesn’t get a large number of carries…
Hey guys have you seen this??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAHjhtYZpX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkugF_6kxK0&feature=related
Watch both videos to see the whole narrative.
Take what PrimeTime is saying with a grain of salt, O, because Jeff Lurie came out yesterday and said McNabb will be back next season. Anything can happen in the offseason especially when it comes to contract negotiations but 5 has the Eagles over a barrel because with a few tweaks on the offense this team is ready to win now and McNabb is the best QB on the roster or available to them than what they can find off the street. It wouldn’t make sense to waste the last few years of Westbrook’s career to bring in an inexperienced signal caller like Kolb. If the Eagles’ brain trust wants to do that they might as well punch Westbrook’s ticket out of town with McNabb’s.
After he was named the starter for the Cardinals game I didn’t doubt McNabb would be back but it’s taken a load off his shoulders because just like Tavaris Jackson, he’s playing a freer yet more discplined game. This isn’t the McNabb of the four straight championship games but if he can get a scary WR or TE next season, the sports cognoscenti will have to seriously consider this man for the HOF with or without a SB victory because he’s going to have the numbers geeks love and the leadership qualities writers say a QB is supposed to have in abundance. Win a title though and he may as well get fitted for his gold blazer after he hoists the Lombardi.
T-Jax is going to be just fine as long as Childress shows some faith in him next year and lets him make his mistakes and learn from them. I still say Childress should have let the young man play through his slump earlier this season but he’s on an upward slope now and will get better because he seems to have the want-to I like to talk about. I don’t know if he’s as talented as Vick and McNabb or as polished as P. Manning or Brady but he can be a twelve-year starter in the league. Get him a quality wideout (talking to you Ocho) and a field stretching TE (yeah, you Winslow) to team with AD and the NFC North race won’t even be close next year. I’m glad he has some kind of relationship with McNabb because T-Jax can mine his experience for keeping his head on straight when the media and coaches are sharpening their blades on his name.
Hmmm, I wonder if VY and Jason Campbell will bother to call up D’Nabb too for some advice after learning that Black QB’s truly are judged are a little differently firsthand this year? Probably not because those two probably won’t learn until they get tired of holding clipboards and wearing sun visors. (Sorry for the snark, but I’m still salty about them playing the good Negro roles last season when 5 made his HBO comments).
Amen to everything you said Harvey.
Damn, O, simply damn. Part me wants to become numb to this stuff but when the so-called protectors and servers feel they can do this in the bright lights with impunity I know I can never be truly apathetic about this. Thanks for posting it so I can spread it around to my circle on- and offline to keep our, all right-thinking people’s, light on this case. The cynic in me though says these BART cops will get the Sean Bell pass though and skate right out the courthouse door if it even goes to trial.
I wonder if Prez Obama in our post-racial country will ask us to observe the rule of law or jump in Schwarnazi’s azz to get a state and federal investigation into this?
Once Eric Holder is confirmed as Attorney General in a few weeks, I hope he looks into that horrific event that happened involving those corrupt BART cops.
I understand what you’re saying, Patrick, but we shouldn’t have to hope Holder looks into it. We should DEMAND it because that man and his family deserve that much just like those cops deserve to prosecuted and convicted.
I’m surprised this didn’t start a riot in that terminal.
No problem Harvey. This needed to get out. Sadly I don’t think Obama will even acknowledge this.
Black folks might have to realize that this may be a tough 4 years for us. Alot of so called black leaders might not even address issues like this. For the fear that it could make matters worse for Obama (in their eyes).
Origin:
That’s the paradox of powerlessness. The group tries to protect the One by keeping quiet, when the One is actually safest when the Group is most vocal, most persistent and most organized in pursuit of their common agenda.