As an Eagle's fan it has to be hard to believe that we have lost two games by last second field goals but we have actually hit that low point. The sad thing is that we somehow outplayed the other team in both games. The Steelers did not deserve to win that game but as usual the Eagles found a way to give it way through Vick's fumbles and Andy Reid's ability to make smart playcalls. Well the same thing happened again but Vick had a little better game.
| Unstoppable |
The Eagles' first quarter was a rough one as they had two turnovers and 3 3 and outs. Vick had another fumble but that was that was not all his fault as his center snapped him the ball when he wasn't looking not once but twice (Eagle's were lucky to have drawn an offsides call on the first one). The Eagles were however to score a touchdown in the second quarter on a surprisingly well called screen play that ended up with Lesean McCoy in the end zone. The Lions were the dominate team in the first quarter as hero of the game Jason Hanson kicked two field goals from 46 and 36 yards to give them a 6-0 lead early in the game. Calvin Johnson was the center of of the Lions' offense with 6 receptions for 135 yards including a remarkable toe dragging grab late in the 4th quarter to put the Lions in field goal range. After Johnson's catch Jason Hanson came up big with a chipshot 19 yard field goal to put the game into overtime.
| Fire Him Already |
Johnson and Hanson weren't the only contributors to the Lions as Matthew Stafford threw for 311 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. On the other side of the ball Michael Vick had an above average performance (well at least compared to how he usually plays) throwing for 311 yards as well. He didn't have the easiest time in the world as he was sacked 3 times and was constantly getting beat up by the Lions' stellar d-line led by Suh (whose first name I will not try to spell) and Nick Fairley. Jeremy Maclin did a nice job of catching the ball today reeling in 6 catches for 130 yards and a TD. On the other side of the receiving spectrum was Brent Celek who had at least two drops and committed a costly yet controversial offensive interference on what should have been an Eagles' touchdown.
The real problem for the Eagles today however was Andy Reid's inability to call a football game. He refused to rush the ball today as starting running back Lesean McCoy had more receiving yards than rushing yards. At the same time, Michael Vick was the team's leading rusher with 59 of the team's 71 total yards. Considering most of those yards came from Vick scrambling not on designed plays, it is safe to say the Eagles' need to rework their game plan. It would help if they had a running back who could run downhill instead of side to side, they could possibly draft a bigger running back this off-season and convert McCoy to a third down running back/slot receiver role where he is likely to be more successful. The Eagles also failed to capitalize on the Lions' lack of discipline as they committed 16 penalties for 132 yards.
Overall the Eagles should be embarrassed with how they played today, in overtime they were unable to get a single yards which forced them to punt from their own endzone therefore giving the Lions great field position. They also failed to shut down Calvin Johnson (even thought that is no small task a team with two of the top corners in the league should be able to do that). It is quite sad that what could be Vick's only decent performance of the year could be wasted on a loss.
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