Ralph Wiggum lost his shin guard! Hack the bone! Far be it from me to suggest anything untoward, but it’d be nice if the Eagles could get some pressure on Big Ben early in the game and maybe even hit him a little bit. Let’s see how that shoulder’s doing. The Steelers gave up a ton of sacks last year (only two fewer than the Birds) and it’d be nice if the defensive front could rebound from a pretty dull performance on Monday. A sack from the defensive tackles would have me extra giddy here.
My least favorite NFL Player? There’s just something in the physical manner of that Hines Ward gentleman that really ruffles my feathers. There’s always an extra bit of taunting from Ward, though for some reason the blathermonkeys freakin love the guy (mostly this means John Madden). Expect some exceptionally creative and loud swearing from me if Ward gets in the end zone.
Another test for the linebackers. I’m going to be anxious all afternoon about how the Eagles’ linebackers will handle runs to the outside and the short passing game. I’m feeling bullish on the Birds’ ability to stop the interior running game, but I’m more worried about the fast parts of Fast Willie Parker on the outside.
Absolute terror in re: the offensive line. Not only is Shawn Andrews out this week, but Jamaal Jackson dealt with some horrific family stuff and the entire left side of the line headed to Miami to support Jackson at the end of the week. This either leads to an “inspirational performance” or “high levels of disorganization against a clever defensive scheme.” Hmmm.
More vertical passing. I cannot get enough of the way that the Eagles are throwing the ball right now. No dink-and-dunk crap — they’re running 15-20-yard patterns and the ball is flying down the field. This is definitely the big-boy passing game, available only to those teams with Howitzer-armed quarterbacks. And I think that the return of Reggie Brown only makes that passing game more dangerous. Certainly the success throwing the ball has silenced the Run-The-Ball-Andy meme in Philly.
I know this sounds crazy, but. Doesn’t it seem like the 36 Chambers of Brian Westbrook hasn’t really blown up on someone yet? We haven’t seen enough magic tricks from Westbrook quite yet (though he’s obviously been quite excellent).
Checking in on B-Dawk. Remember the awkward play against Santonio Holmes in the preseason game that started the “Dawkins is done” whisper campaign? Right. It’s week 3, and the volume of chitchat is only increasing. It’d be nice to see Dawkins make a play or two this afternoon.
I’m planning to head to the Town Tavern for the game this afternoon — looking forward to a great day of football.