My LeSean McCoy Blog

The Eagles had a real nice opportunity last night to put themselves in a great position in the NFC East but failed to do so. They were inconsistent on both sides of the ball and really struggled to get much going offensively. Our short yardage game was down right embarrassing and it was a completely frustrating game to watch. Let's take a look at some of the positives and negatives from last night.

Positives:
LeSean McCoy - He still needs some work on the "other" things but he did have 115 total yards on 18 touches last night. His big highlight of the night came on a 45 yard screen play where he got behind a line of blockers and was able to make a big play. I think he dances around a little too much and still scares me to death by the way he carries the ball, but he's coming around.

First half defense - I was pretty happy with the way the defense played in the first half of this game. They were able to make a stand at the end of the half and force Dallas to kick a field goal rather than take a lot of momentum into the locker room. Tony Romo was running all over the place because the defensive line was getting good pressure.

Brent Celek - This guy just impresses me every game. He is a monster and a guy that I enjoy watching every game.

Ellis Hobbs - Although it got called back, it was nice to see a little flash from Hobbs last night. He hasn't done a whole lot in terms of returns this year but that return makes you think he's due soon. Could have been a whole different ball game if that counted. The Eagles scored anyway, but giving up big plays like that hurts the ego.

Negatives:
Donovan McNabb - The guy established no rhythm and his passes were not hitting their targets. His play looked very sloppy and this was a time where he couldn't afford to play like that. I think he held the ball a bit too long on a few plays as well.

Penalties - Yes there were some bad calls, but overall it felt like there was a flag down on every other play. There were 19 total penalties in the game including eight penalties for 82 yards on the Eagles. Moise Fokou had two penalties that really put a damper on big plays by the Eagles.

Play calling - Absolutely horrible. It took multiple series before the Eagles started to actually try to run the ball although they averaged about four yards per rush on the night. Also, they waited way too long to try and set up a screen play. The first one, the big play to McCoy, came in the third quarter.

Short yardage - This has got to be one of the most frustrating things you can have. The inability to pick up a yard on third and fourth down is just horrific. You have a huge quarterback and a big ole fullback and just can't get a yard. It's terrible.

Game management - To go hand in hand with the terrible play calling, terrible game management by Andy Reid. Of course he gives the same old BS in his press conference about how he'd do it different if he could do it over again. Too bad there are no do-overs in the NFL Andy. Get it together.

Second half defense - Sheldon Brown on Miles Austin's touchdown. Are you kidding me? You had a man underneath and he was a good 5-7 yards short of the first down when you bit on it. He only had one catch all game but that was all he needed. Then at the end of the game they just feed Marion Barber and we fail to stop him. Sure it would have been nice to have some timeouts left but we didn't. Have to step up when the game is on the line.

Akeem Jordan - I'm happy with how he played, but the negative is him getting injured. If you saw a slow motion replay of when he got injured it was sickening. He was the only remaining starting linebacker from the beginning of the season and now may miss time. Our linebacker rotation was messed up enough how it is, this isn't going to help.

Losing - This is always a negative but this loss really hurts. It seems every time the Eagles have a game later in the day and the Giants lose beforehand, the Eagles can never gain any ground. They had a real good opportunity here but failed to get a win. They head out west this weekend to take on a San Diego who is coming off a big come from behind win against the Giants. Eagles really need to tighten it up.

BirdsFan.com - A Philadelphia Eagles blog