Monday Morning Mehta 10/9/06

Edition # 179
October 9, 2006

EAGLES

Eagles beat the Cowboys 38-24 in one of the most enjoyable games of the year, even though there wasn't much hype for the game...Anyway, let's break down the action:

Game Positives:

- Darren Howard, Trent Cole, Darwin Walker & the defensive line. Howard was all over the field, lining up at various positions and creating havoc for the Cowboys offensive line. Javon Kearse's injury may be a blessing in disguise because Trent Cole is 344 times better than Kearse against the run, and he ain't too bad against the pass either. 7 sacks by the Eagles. Great stat: Cowboys offensive line had given up 3 sacks prior to yesterday. The Eagles defense dominated the Cowboys line.

- Joselio Hanson! This is a historic day for Hanson, not only in that he gets his first MMM Game Positive, but he finally got his name in this article. Previously, he wasn't allowed to even have his real name printed. You've come a long way # 22.

- The video camera guy & the big screen TV at the Linc. Wha wha wha?? Did you notice that Lito Sheppard held the ball out and waved it in the air like a balloon? I have two words for him...GET DOWN!!! My heart was in my throat as he's running down the sidelines being chased by Marion Barber and flaunting the ball in the air. Apparently, he looked at the big screen TV at the Linc and saw Barber was a few yards behind him. At first I thought he saw a security guard pointing, but apparently this was case.

- The after 5 games League MVP Donovan McNabb. Sure he bounces a few balls to the intended receiver. But with very little running game and injuries to Donte Stallworth and Brian Westbrook, this has been a phenomenal 5 game stretch by McNabb. The TD passes to Reggie Brown & Hank Baskett were sick.

Game Negatives:

- The "Game Negatives" column is going to be renamed The Michael Lewis section. That was almost two blown games by Lewis. Don't wait around for that FedEx package with your contract extension, cause it isn't coming. Have fun playing for the Detroit Lions next year. Sean Considine may not be the hitter you are, but he's rarely out of position. Are you EVER in position??

- Running the ball. This team will not win a Super Bowl until it establishes a running game. This isn't a suprise as I've said that in this column a billion times and fans all over have been screaming for it forever. Again, solving this problem is one phone call to the Steelers away. Conditional pick for Duce Staley. Well, that and Reid actually wanting to run the ball. I think Ryan Moats would make a perfect 4th quarter running back against a tired defense. Imagine having to tackle that little dude when you're tired?

- 3rd down conversions. Eagles only being 2 of 12 on third downs is a concern. Luckily they won the turnover battle which generally wins you the game.

Dishonorable mention: The final "drive" of the 3rd quarter where the Eagles held the ball about 20 seconds.

All in all a good win for the Eagles. Notice I didn't say great win? It was a playoff crowd, the fans were awesome. It was a playoff hyped game, apparently the media requests rivaled the NFC Championship games. The intensity on the field was obvious. Everything about it felt like a playoff game. Reality: IT WASN'T!! It was week 5 and the Eagles could blow it all with a loss next week against the Saints.

Let's not get out of hand. It's looking more and more like the Eagles (who have been favored in the first 5 games) will be favored in their first 10 games of the season.

Yes I am still bitter over the Giants loss.

Did I mention I hate Michael Lewis?

Shawn Barber sighting. Barber who got some more playing time for an injured Matt McCoy played very well.

I think the game next week versus the Saints will tell us a lot to where the Eagles are this year. Hopefully Donte Stallworth will be healthy because I get the feeling he'll want to prove something.

Brian Westbrook's injury remains a concern. After the game the Eagles were perplexed at how [mis]information about a microfracture had leaked. Maybe if they wouldn't be so secretive about everything this wouldn't have happened. It's like pulling teeth talking to Reid.

I love that Drew Bledsoe is on the Cowboys. I hope they don't bench him.

Around the League

Best Non Eagle/Dallas game: Tampa/Saints. Are the Saints actually good? Their big test is next week also. Reggie Bush finally finds pay dirt on a game winning 4th quarter punt return. You couldn't have scripted this any more exciting than Bush's 65 yard TD jaunt.

Worst Game: Dolphins again! The Dolphins/Patriots game was like watching a Temple football game. The Jets should get some ink in this section too. The game was much worse than the score indicated (41-0)!

Panic time: For the Steelers. The defending champs don't look like they have it this year. If the Eagles won a Super Bowl I'd be fine if they stunk it up for a few years too.

Minutes away from a bloodbath: Colts/Titans. Survivor pools all over the country were watching this score with great interest. A 19 point underdog, Vince Young played decent.

Rookie QB review: I thought Matt Leinart played well, even though he lost his key WR Larry Fitzgerald early in the game. As I mentioned above, V Young looked good too, although he was more like Michael Vick. Leinart deserved better, as normally sure footed Neil Rackers missed a 51 yarder wide right as time expired.

I don't know where the win for the Raiders is on their schedule at this point. They have Arizona, the Jets and Texans on their schedule left but all those teams look way better.

Best team in the NFC? The Bears have been impressive any way you slice it. I've been reluctant to give them credit, and beating the Bills isn't exactly news. But damn.

The other NFC East showdown wasn't exactly a battle. It was a yawner. The Giants controlled the weak Redskins offense and bounced back nicely after a lot of turmoil. I expect the Giants to be there in December.

Baseball Playoffs

The fall of the Yankees is the biggest news out of the baseball playoffs (hopefully overshadowing my record in the LDS). What will happen to A-Rod? I think he stays. My sources say he's got about 4 years and $65 million left not being paid by Texas on his contract. While that's a lot less than the $25 mill per, that's still a lot of money for a lot of teams. I wouldn't expect the Yanks to be able to get much in return unless they ate a lot of his salary (a definite possibility). But with his no trade clause, and him wanting to prove something next year, I think he stays. Joe Torre? Rumors are he's gone, but I won't believe it until it's official. I'll say this, if Torre's back, I don't think A-Rod is back. If it's Pinella, A-Rod gets along with Pinella, that could be a good fit.

Detroit just proved once again, pitching wins. Did I think Kenny Rogers would suddenly find Jack Morris type intensity? Heck no.

As far as the NLCS, it's the Cards vs. Mets. Since I hate the Mets, and I picked the Cards in my preseason picks, I'll stick with them.

As far as the ALCS, same deal. I picked the A's in April, so why not stick with em at this point. I have no reasoning for these picks besides that.

NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser

- Reason number 8,675,309 why TSN, Canada's version of ESPN, is far superior to ESPN. Brace yourself because this will sound Phil Mushnick-esque. On opening day of the season the Leafs retired the number 4 (for Hap Day and Red Kelly) and number 21 (for Borje Salming). Were ESPN would have had Tony Kornheiser or Chris Berman cackling over the proceedings the TSN announcers kept totally quiet. I could just imagine Hap Day's son on the ice talking about his dead father and Tony Kornheiser making an ass out of himself and Chris Berman screaming because nobody told him he has a microphone on him. But more then that, Borje Salming is from Sweden and was the first ever European player for the Leafs, the first ever European NHL Hall of Famer, and the first ever European to have his number retired by the Leafs. In short he's a trailblazer. So as they were raising his banner, to the sounds of bag pipes by the way and not that obnoxious "Simply the Best" Tina Turner song, the camera caught a moving glimpse of Swede and Leaf captain Mats Sundin with tears in his eyes. 20 years ago the thought of a European being the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs would have been as foreign as a midget playing in the NBA. But I'm sure if the worldwide leader was covering the event they would have had a promo for the World Series of Poker at that point.

- So the idea the NHL had were teams wear their away sweaters at home and home sweaters on the road was kind of cool and I liked the idea for a season or two but come on now, enough's enough. This is like 4 seasons running now. Go back to normal please!!

- I was able to get a ticket to the Eagles vs. Cowboys game from MMM subscriber John Miller. While in the eye of the sports world storm I saw and heard some pretty wild stuff. I'm thinking that from here on out sporting events should be rated like movies. Yesterday's game was definitely rated R, for mature audiences only, due to exxessive foul language and slight nudity (after the game every strip club in town hands out free passes with pictures of half naked chicks on them). Your standard Phillies game would be rated G if you have great seats, rated PG if you're on the second level, and PG-13 if you're standing by the opponents bullpen (the fans yell at the opposing players...and they're not yelling encouragement). Flyers games would be rated G, once you put a roof on a sporting event people calm down for some reason. Sixers games would be rated G for box seats but rated R if you sit close because I've sat really close at an NBA game and the language by the players can get really, really saucy.

- The cool thing about being a sport that few people really care about is that the NHL can sweep bad news under the rug and it gets virtually no play in the press. Remember the "Thank You Fans!!" on the ice last year, teams lowering ticket prices to get the fans back, and teams pretty much kissing the collective keisters of the people that pay their bills? Well it's over. More then half the teams in the league raised this years ticket prices to pre-lockout levels and some have surpassed those numbers. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

- Good God almighty do the Flyers look bad!! The got shelled by the Penguins 4 - 0 and then lost their home opener to the Rangers 5 - 4 after a 13 round end of overtime shootout. The Flyer defense looks awful, they're allowing opponents to waltz into their offense zone like they're a hostess at Applebees. Fortunately for the Flyers defenseman/statue Mike Rathje is injured and out for the foreseeable future. Literally ANYONE they put in there as Rathje's replacement would be better and that includes a spare tire and a piece of wood.