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I saw the same things that a lot of you saw last night. I saw a good football game being played by two good teams. The Saints had a slightly better plan and were able to make that plan happen. Either team could have won. The Saints did and they deserved to.

The thing I took from this game was a reinforcement of my thought that Sheldon Brown is "your guy" on defense. When Dawkins retires, this is going to be the guy that the Eagles should lock up for like a decade and turn him into a leader. He doesn't have that raw athleticism that Lito has, but he's just really consistant. You don't hear his name much, and that's about the best thing you can say about a cornerback. He rarely gets Michael-Lewis-like torched and he can make you pay if you decide to go after him. He's physical and he hits like few other people. I wasn't surprised to see that the first big hit of the game came from him. He scares QBs when he creeps up towards the line, too. I see a lot of Dawkins in him.

Trent Cole is another guy that they need to lock up for a while. The kid can play. He and Considine were everywhere last night.

If I were the Eagles GM and could only keep a couple players on defense around, those would be my guys. I'd like to see the Eagles make a concerted effort to rebuild this defense because they have the pieces in place to have a team that crushes the life out of opposing offenses. They're going to need to find a replacement for Dawkins and one for Trotter, and soon. If they can do that, they'll be able to ensure that their "Super Bowl window" doesn't shut in the near future.

With the Eagles' salary cap where it is, there's no reason why Rod Hood shouldn't be back next year. Yeah, I know he's "only" your nickel back, but that's a really important position. He's out on the field when you know they're going to pass, and that's where you want him, and he's done well when called upon.

The League gets what it wants. Peyton Manning versus his dad's home town in the SB.

The better team won. Just look at the Saints domination of the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The calls were irritating, but not as much as the Eagles' having a chance to win despite everything because of the Saints' terrible secondary.

The mystery to me is how they could run all over the Giants a week ago and be so inept against the Saints inferior run defense.

The end of the Giants game reminded me of the way the ran over Dallas in the fourth quarter of the NFC championship in '81. They need a Leroy Harris type fullback and a Stan Walters type LG, and CB is not the guy to go into the middle for four yards a pop.

As to "Puntgate", the 4th and ten conversion was a miracle. 4th and 15 with all the pressure on Garcia was too much to ask. My beef was with the defense not crowding the line on the Saints' first down, knowing there was no way Payton would throw or run wide. I suppose the D was just too tired. That's the fundamental problem with the quick strike offense.

One UGLY that hasn't been highlighted yet:

The godawful "throw it to Tapeh in the flat" play on 3rd and 1 at the end. That fucking play has only worked like ONCE in at least 10 tries this year. THAT's your high percentage play? More than anything else, that play lost the game for them. You could see that if they didn't get touchdowns every drive at that point, McAllister was going to blow right through them to extend the Saints lead.

There were a few occasions last night (that being the most glaring) where I thought to myself "it would really have helped to have McNabb on that play." I'm virtually certain that if he ran that play, it would have been either a quarterback sneak or keeper, resulting in a touchdown or 1st and goal.

I definitely agree that run defense is the biggest offseason "to do" priority. I'd love to have (1) big butt run-stuffing DT, (2) successor to Trotter who's bigger than Gaither (keep his ass at WILL) and (3) a MIKE who's thinking more about football than bowties.

Sure, the defensive holding call was kind of ridiculous, but Jones made contact with the receiver beyond five yards, opening the opportunity for the ref to throw the flag. -- Talon

It wasn't a defensive holding call if I remember correctly, it was illegal contact downfield, so the call was right, as much as it hurt. That drive was a killer, with the fumble that resulted in a first down, and that penalty on what would have been 2nd and 27.

Saints were devouring the Eagles, three bites at a time. I don't even know why they threw the ball thirty times.

Is Thomas Tapeh the guy you want with the ball on 3rd and 1 with a shortened field giving the defense time to swarm? Hells no.

It was an exciting game. The better team won, and that's that.

SZR, I think you were right on the illegal contact. That made sense.

I agree that you do not put the ball in the hands of Thomas Tapeh in a play that has rarely ever worked with a short field with the game on the line, but that's classic Andy Reid. Gotta try to out-smart the opponent instead of merely winning the game.

Trent Cole is another guy that they need to lock up for a while.

Cole signed an extension earlier this year. Juqua Thomas has been the second-best defensive lineman down the stretch, and they're almost certain to lose him to free agency. While we're on the subject of the d-line, thanks for your many contributions, Broderick Bunkley. You are a total waste.

And last night was living proof why letting Stallworth go will be a colossal mistake.

I hope everyone is excited for another "net ahead" offseason where players walk and needs are not addressed.

With the Eagles' salary cap where it is, there's no reason why Rod Hood shouldn't be back next year.

If he can be a starting CB somewhere and get a starting CB's contract he'll probably take that over being a backup. Wouldn't you?

I'm u=one who usually tends to be skeptical of authority and thus give some credence to conspiracy theories in general. But I'm not sure I think the fix was in. (that last false start was a bit of a ticky tacky call made on the slightest of flinch, but it was the rookie replacing andrews, who made a mistake in a loud stadium on a critical fourth quarter drive, you can argue both sides of that, sometimes the refs overlook it and let them play in that situation, but you can also argue a rookie doesn't get the benefit of the doubt on that call)

Reid had a brain fart. You have to go for it on 4th and 15 with less than 2 mins., and 2 timeouts lefts. If you have three timeouts you punt and hope for a 3 and out, you don't do that with two timeouts.

Trotter and Dawk both have, and continue to, look old (Trotter more than Dawk, all of a sudden). Dhani Jones actually looked okay last night, but he just isn't the real deal IMO.

I think it was MLewiskid who said Consindine, Hood, S. Brown, Cole and Gaither are keepers. I concur wholeheartedly.

This team needs some space eaters on the D-line and some LBs, PLEASE.

In a tight spot, the fat man reverted to his big play offense philosophy, that's NOT a good sign. As I said earlier, Westy topped 100 yds, but did it on 13 carries, and Stallworth had 100 yds receiving on 3 catches. That doesn't cut it.

To the fat man's credit, they have retolled on the fly so the SB window is still open, but there are still changes/improvements that MUST be made if this team is to win it all.

retolled=retooled

I was pissed at the calls last night, but today....the Eagles had there chance and didn't make the most of it. The part that really sucked, was in all the other Eagle losses in the playoffs, they played poorly. Last night, they played pretty good, and still lost.

Late post since I didn't see the game until today;

Reasons for loss.

- 4 points left on the field. Westbrook should have gotten the 1st down initially and Tapeh is NOT an Offensive option.

- Untimely penalties. Including Banjohead's 5 yard and a 1st, contact call.

- Short week vs Bye week. The rest really showed up in the run game. Both D and O.

All in all, I was happy with and proud of the Birds down the strecth.

Let's see if they resign Stallworth and if Cap'n Andy has seen the light about run/pass balance.

The glass is either half empty or half full. Personally,

1). They won the NFC East. Not many so called experts picked them to do that at the begining of the season.

2). They made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Don't recall seeing many anal-ists picking them to do that.

3). #5 went down in a "freak accident" nobody predicted that and they still managed to turn it around at the end.

4). Who would have thought one year removed from the "T.O. Debacle" the team could rebound the way they did.

Many of us who really wonder how FB "manages" the team got another glimpse this year. The gnats and cokeboyz made headlines with "lockerroom turmoil" not very many people give FB credit for the loyalty and dedication shown by the players. Watching a Andy Reid press conference is like watching grass grow. You will never hear him call out any player. Its all handled behind closed doors.

The defense started with a D-line rotation at the begining of the season that worked really well until the injury bug reared its ugly head. Andy I think woke up and realized a balanced attack can win games in the NFL and it helps the defense because you are not taking an average of 2 minutes to score on offense and putting the defense back on the field for 5 minutes as the other team methodically marches down the field. Your D will get worn down and eventually you can and will lose the game as Philly found out on a couple of occasions this year.

All in all a great year. They need to take care of the "off season" business... Perhaps a QB will be in our draft future. Should be interesting.

Go Iggs and thanks for a great season....

They always draft a QB, but I think doing so this year with a late round pick will be a lot more scrutenized. And I know I just butchered that word.

They should go ahead and sign Detmer to a coaching contract now to teach two or three guys the fine arts of holding for kicks. Really. Call it Kick Holder Coach if you need to. Anything to transfer the same level of confidence from Detmer to someone else for Akers.

As I feared openly in the middle of the season, Stallworth came back to play a huge role in the WR core. He did just enough to get himself overpaid somewhere other than here. And that sucks. The only chance of keeping him is if he decides that money isn't as important as staying on a pass-heavy team with a decent chance of making the playoffs most seasons. And in most cases, it's hard for judgement to compete with more cash.

Same thing with Hood. He can start elsewhere and he knows it. Add to that the fact that the Eagles seem somehow able to create good cornerbacks from the draft, so they seldom worry about their nickel or dime guy - despite the fact that between the two starters they usually miss half a year of games each season. I'd love to see him stay, but good luck at the bargaining table with that.

Yes, it was a tough loss. No, I don't think there is a reason for a big media frenzy. They had a miracle stretch run with Garcia, made the playoffs, won the division, then personally dropped Tiki off at the old folks home. Not a bad year to be a fan.

And hey, if they had made the NFC Conference game this year, the McNabb vs. Garcia debates would be 5-10x louder in a few months. How's that for a silver lining?

uber: Agreed on all of your "core guys" assessment.

If he can be a starting CB somewhere and get a starting CB's contract he'll probably take that over being a backup. Wouldn't you?

Maybe. What I would do is throw some of that cap money at him. Make him one of the highest paid nickelbacks out there. That takes care of the money. Then I'd call him, Lito, and Brown into my office and say "look, it's the belief of this team that the NFL is a passing league. We need to stop that pass and you're a huge part of it. We've already got two great corners and with you guys on board we have the potential to have one of the best secondaries around."

Then I'd make Hood the starter and Lito the nickel. Put Lito in when they HAVE to pass. Make teams throw at him, because if he gets near that ball he's the guy that's going to have a shot at taking it back for six.

With those guys in your secondary, if you even make a token effort at shoring up the run defense you've got a shot at the Super Bowl every year, especially with McNabb or Westbrook around to make that offense what teams focus on from week to week.

We've already got two great corners

That shouldn't be in there, by the way. I started the post with one idea and shifted it midstream and missed that.

Jerobi's right about the money Stallworth will command as a FA. Still not sure if he is worth $6-7 mill./per (injury history and all) but he does have nice speed/hands and is a good fit in the offense.

I think they need to finally close the book on Buck (the experiment failed boys, move on and get a true big back in there).

But all things told, it was a fun season.

Then I'd make Hood the starter and Lito the nickel.

That, my friend, is crazy talk.

Lito is an All-Pro corner for a reason. he needs to be on the field as often as possible.

I don't know if you are proposing Hood be the starter purely to pacify Hood's ego, but there is no way that Hood is better in coverage than Lito.

I think Lito is way too inconsistent to be considered an All Pro corner every year.

And I feel like I'm watching a different Considine than everyone. I see a guy that is at least a step slow on every play and bounces off people instead of trying to tackle them.

BTW, they don't have a lot of cap money, so I don't think that keeping a third corner for a lot of money is the best way to use it.

Considine doesn't fly to the ball like Dawkins, and he can be bowled over, but he seems to me to be a sure tackling, effort guy who is involved in a lot of plays (but then again, that's how Eagles brass always praised Simon-who, so what do I know?).

But he's at the play when the damage has been done. And he sucks at tackling, so I don't see him helping out much on the play. I think it seems like he's a ball-hawk b/c teams would rather go his way than Dawk's way. So, he's getting bowled over a lot, or bouncing off RB's.

If you believe the best team won, then I think you need to also consider the best rested team one.

If you think the Eagles running game wasn't up to snuff in this game, I think you also need to consider the impact of having Andrews injured.

But that wasn't until the second half. They couldn't run the whole first half, and their only really big running play came when Andrews was on the sideline.

I like a lot of the ideas that have been offered for improving the Eagles team this off-season, but wouldn't it be more like the Eagles to NOT make many changes and develop the players they have?

After all, both Mornhingweh and Reid have already said repeatedly that they like the team they have this year.

Regarding an upgrade of the run-defense, I don't necessarily see them doing that because it seems contrary to their philosophy of always having a defense that isn't great against the run. This year, they traded Hollis Thomas and it seems like they were going to rely on Bunkley to be that run stuffer to repace Hollis. (By the way, I think that Hollis coming back to the Saints was a reason for the improved run defense of the Saints). It seems to me that the Eagles are likely to think that Bunkley will improve next year and therefore that will be their run-stuffing strategy. Seems like that would match their strategy of previous years. It also doesn't seem likely that they would replace Trotter so much as start to work in a guy who can rest him more. (Let's not forget that their previous idea for replacing Trotter was Simoneau)

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