Sunday, September 20, 2009

Eagles Lose to New Orleans

The Eagles drop their home opener to the New Orleans Saints by a score of 48-22. While not having Donovan McNabb in the game certainly didn't help, you cannot pin this loss completely on the shoulders of his replacement Kevin Kolb. The Birds' defense hung tough in the first half against arguably the best offense in the NFL and they only trailed by four points 17-13 at halftime. Giving up 14 points in the first few minutes of the second half by handing the Saints a short field on two turnovers led to their undoing.

It has been proven time and time again in this league that you cannot give up cheap points from turnovers to good teams. Just ask the Panthers about that. Blaming Kolb, who still did commit his fair share of mistakes will be a convenient excuse for this loss, but unfortunately it will not be an accurate assessment. Both special teams and the defense had crucial breakdowns at the worse possible time in this game. Give credit to New Orleans as they capitalized on every Eagles' mistake to open up an insurmountable lead early in the second half. They never allowed them back into the game and proved at this early point in the season they are a better team.

Before you cancel your reservations to Miami remember a few things. First, this is Donovan McNabb's team and if anything this game confirms it. The good news is that he will be back either next week or after the bye week in week five. Second, the offense did shake things up a bit with the multiple wildcat formations and the addition of Michael Vick will only make this twist better. Third, it is only the second game of the season and titles and championships are not won in September. Finally, thank the Saints for exposing some weaknesses that can be addressed at this stage of the season, as there are very few coaching staffs in the NFL that are better at making the proper adjustments to eliminate them.

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