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Are the Philadelphia Eagles in trouble after 1-3 start?

October 6th, 2011

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The one team in the NFL that made more moves than any other in order to improve their squad on both sides of the football once the NFL lockout was over and done with was the Philadelphia Eagles. With a superstar quarterback leading the way in Michael Vick and an extremely talented roster of stars, the Eagles were considered to be instant Super Bowl title contenders and one of the best all-around team in the league.

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With all the added pressure of the Pro Bowl acquisitions like Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Vince Young and Ronnie Brown, the Eagles were put under the microscope right out of the gate when the NFL regular season began and they lived up to the hype by beating the St. Louis Rams in Week 1 in convincing fashion. The Rams were by no means stiff competition for the Eagles in Week 1, but they were thought to be a good test for this revamped squad.

Mike Vick

In Week 2, the Philadelphia Eagles were set to go head-to-head against Michael Vick’s former team in the Atlanta Falcons. This matchup was thought to be one of the Eagles toughest tests early in the season and they played well up until Vick went down with a concussion and had to sit out the fourth quarter. Even though Philly had the lead once Vick headed to the sidelines, the Eagles couldn’t hold on for the win as the Falcons pulled off the comeback and handed Philadelphia their first loss of the season.

The loss to the Atlanta Falcons was thought to be due to the fact that Michael Vick couldn’t finish the game and this didn’t worry many people in Philly since the Pro Bowler would be ready to take the field in Week 3 against the division rival New York Giants. Even though Vick was able to get back onto the field in Week 3 against the Giants, the Eagles offense was ineffective with the quarterback getting even more banged up with an injured right hand to go along with recovering from the concussion in Week 2.

Ultimately, the Philadelphia Eagles lost their second game of the season and first divisional game against a New York Giants team that was just as banged up if not more. This loss really started to turn heads in Philly as people started to question the coaching staff and the direction the team was going in, but things didn’t start to get really bad until the Eagles lost their third straight game against the San Francisco 49ers in front of their fans in Philadelphia.

Now that the Philadelphia Eagles are 1-3 and seem to be losing the confidence of quarterback Michael Vick who says that he isn’t getting any calls from the refs on late hits, this team seems to be falling apart and could be on the verge of some drastic changes. Vick did have a good game against the 49ers with 496 total yards (416 passing, 75 rushing) and two passing touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to hold off a resilient San Francisco squad, 24-23.

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From here on out, head coach Andy Reid could be on the hot seat in Philadelphia with Eagles fans calling for his head. Reid is without a doubt one of the best coaches in the NFL today, but if he can’t turn this team around the longtime head coach will almost certainly lose his job.

Could Terrell Owens return to the NFL sooner rather than later?

October 3rd, 2011 admin

Last season the Cincinnati Bengals made a drastic move to improve the franchise offensively with the acquisition of future Hall-of-Famer Terrell Owens. With T.O. playing alongside perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, the consensus was that the Bengals offense would be one of the best in the NFL and Cincinnati could be playoff bound for the second straight season.

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Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case as the Cincinnati Bengals went from being the AFC North division champions to missing the playoffs entirely. Not only did the Bengals miss the playoffs, but they were arguably one of the worst teams in the league and seemed to be ready to go back to the drawing board to see what went wrong with a team that had so much talent.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Despite the Cincinnati Bengals missing the playoffs and no longer being dominant on the offensive side of the football, Terrell Owens had a very good season with his new team and showed his doubters that he could still contribute as one of the league’s best wide receivers. Even though T.O. was impressive with the Bengals, Cincinnati neglected to re-sign him for this season and that decision might have been the result of a serious knee injury.

With a torn ACL at 37-years of age, Terrell Owens wasn’t exactly a desirable free agent after the NFL lockout ended and was given no consideration from any team around the league. With that being said, T.O. has been doing everything within his power to get healthy and ready for at least half the season.

The perennial Pro Bowler might 37-years-old and by no means a primetime player in this league anymore, but he keeps his body in excellent shape and might be able to play this game until the age of 40 if he can stay healthy after rehabbing his knee.

Cincinnati Bengals

Reportedly, Terrell Owens will be headed to London, England to take part in festivities surrounding the annual regular-season game overseas. This is an interesting move by T.O., but might ultimately be a smart move considering that it will get his face out there and remind teams around the league that he is almost ready to return to the field.

There is no question that there are plenty of teams around the league that could use a Pro Bowl caliber player at the wide receiver position like Terrell Owens, but a lot of teams will be cautious to sign the aging star as it might be a little too risky to pick up a 37-year-old coming off a torn ACL.

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Along with showing his face in London, England, Terrell Owens has a released a second video with the former Cincinnati Bengals wideout working out. This video is meant to show just how well his rehab is going and that he will be ready sooner rather than later. In my opinion, T.O. will almost certainly get signed when he is ready to return, but whether or not he can contribute at a high level remains to be seen.

Michael Vick breaks right hand in Week 3 loss to New York Giants

September 26th, 2011 admin

Last week all the Philadelphia Eagles fans in this country held their breath after seeing superstar quarterback Michael Vick go down with a concussion in the loss to his former team in the Atlanta Falcons. There was no question that Vick would suffer an injury at some point in this season as he has only completed a 16-game season once in his NFL career, but a lot of fans in Philly were hoping it wouldn’t be in Week 2 that he would already start getting banged up.

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Michael Vick - Broken Hand

Fortunately, Michael Vick was cleared to play in Week 3 against the division rival New York Giants, but it was basically the same story in the injury department after Vick went down with a broken right hand. Even though Vick is left handed, the Pro Bowl gunslinger wasn’t himself after the injury and as result the Philadelphia Eagles lost their second straight game of the season with a 29-16 loss to the Giants.

Not only does this loss hurt the Eagles’ chances of coming out on top of the always competitive NFC East division, but the offense just flat in Week 3 against the Giants. Along with the offense struggling without Vick, the defense also failed to live up to the hype as they were unable to contain Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning who threw for 254 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.

Personally, I believe the first two losses of the season for the Philadelphia Eagles are a fluke because the team wasn’t 100% healthy. Despite the fact that the Eagles are banged up, especially at the quarterback position with Michael Vick and Vince Young suffering from injuries, this team should get back to form sooner rather than later.

There is way too much talent on this football team on both sides of the ball for them to fail to be a playoff team this season. The one thing that needs to change in my opinion is the play calling from head coach Andy Reid and company. If Reid can figure out how to use Vick the right way and limit senseless injuries, the Eagles will flourish and quickly become one of the best all-around teams in the league.

Until that time, the Philadelphia Eagles are bound to struggle and are destined to suffer injuries that will keep them from reaching their potential. At this point in time, Michael Vick’s status for Week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers is uncertain, but considering the fact that his right hand is not part of his throwing arm, I believe he will be back on the gridiron next weekend.

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Even though I believe that Michael Vick has gotten the short end of the stick with his role in Philly due to the fact that he can’t get the protection or the calls from the refs for late hits, the Pro Bowler needs to learn how to adjust his game by throwing it away when in trouble and sliding when on the run. If Vick can master this like he did with his passing when arriving in Philly, the rest of the league will have no answer for him.

NFL Week 3 – Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears

September 23rd, 2011 admin

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears Sun. Sept. 25, 2011 4:15 p.m. EST

After winning the Super Bowl in convincing fashion last year, the Green Bay Packers showed that they were without a doubt the best all-around football team in the NFL and could potentially have many promising years ahead with a young core of talented players on both sides of the football. A great test for the defending Super Bowl champions came right out of the gate against the New Orleans Saints in the NFL season opener and the Packers didn’t disappoint as they were able to dominate offensively and come away with their first win of the season.

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Green Bay Packers

Despite getting their first win of the season with a virtually unstoppable offense led by reigning Super Bowl MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers weren’t as good as many people expected them to be on the defensive side of the football. With defensive superstars Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews leading the way, the Packers defense was considered to be one of the best in the NFL for the second straight season, but they have struggled against the Saints and most recently against rookie quarterback Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

In Week 3, the defending champs will have their work cut out for them for the third week in a row as they will head to the Windy City to take on the arch rival Chicago Bears. Even though the Bears showed some flaws in their game last week in the loss to the New Orleans Saints, Jay Cutler and company have are a very good football team on both sides of the field and should prove that point against their arch rivals at Soldier Field this Sunday.

Jay Cutler

There is no question that the Green Bay Packers are still considered to be the best team in the NFL right now as they top the NFL power rankings and are undefeated at 2-0 coming into this showdown with the Chicago Bears, but last season the Bears were one of the teams in the league that were able to get the best of Aaron Rodgers and company in the NFL regular season.

Even though the Chicago Bears were able to top the Green Bay Packers in the regular season last year, they fell hard to their division rivals in the NFC Championship game and were exposed for their weak offensive line once again. In this Week 3 showdown, the Packers will try to have a repeat performance and put a tremendous amount of pressure on quarterback Jay Cutler.

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As of right now, the Green Bay Packers are favored to win this NFC North battle with a -4 point spread. This is solid spread in my opinion as I can’t see the Bears giving the Packers much of a challenge in Week 3, but Green Bay did struggle last week against Carolina and might have given Chicago some game film to use to their advantage.

Take the Packers at -4.

Cam Newton throws for over 400 yards for the second straight game

September 22nd, 2011 admin

Perhaps the biggest surprise in Week 1 of the current NFL regular season was the record-breaking performance of the Carolina Panthers’ rookie quarterback Cam Newton. There is no question that taking Newton with the number one overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft was a no-brainer as he was without a doubt the most talented athlete available, but there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the rookie gunslinger heading into Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals.

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Against the Cardinals, Newton put on a show with an NFL record 422 passing yards and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). This performance turned a lot of heads as many people believed that he would be a quarterback that would hurt opposing defenses more with his legs rather than his arm much like Michael Vick when he was playing with the Atlanta Falcons. Ironically enough, it has been the complete opposite thus far and as a result Cam Newton looks like the league’s newest superstar quarterback.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Panthers selected Newton because he was the best available player and the new kind of hybrid quarterback that seems to flourish on the NFL level. Despite having a big upside with a potentially bright future in the NFL, no one expected much from the rookie in his first NFL start or even in his first full NFL season under center, but he has majorly exceeded expectations thus far with two brilliant performances in consecutive weeks to start his NFL career.

In Week 2, Cam Newton and company had to square off against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and the consensus was that the rookie quarterback would be put in his place against one of the best defenses in the league. That didn’t turn out to be the case as Newton threw for over 400+ passing yards for the second straight week and made people believe that last week was no fluke.

The Carolina Panthers still lost to the Green Bay Packers (30-23), but it was a show from start to finish with Cam Newton throwing for 485 total yards (432 passing, 53 rushing) and two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing). The rookie did get picked off three times in this one, but he single-handedly made this a competitive game and showed some promise for the future.

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Not only does it look like Cam Newton has won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in just his first two games in the NFL, but he also looks like he might be able to turn around the struggling NFL franchise and make the Carolina Panthers legitimate playoff contenders in the near future.

It would be safe to say that the Carolina Panthers are the best 0-2 team in the league, but the reality remains the same that this team will miss the playoffs and needs more pieces to the puzzle in order to compete in the NFC Conference.

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