Jason Avant

[ice grillin you]

its not one player in the sense that a #1 wr would have caught two toucdowns in each of those games..but he would allow others to bust out as well...imagine curtis in the slot against the other teams #3 corner...imagine the room westbrook would have without the defense bringing their safties up in the box to check him

imagine adding westbrook and mcnabb to the cardinals offense

[reese125]

its amazing how one becomes to defend his stance on such an ongoing issue

rj, philadelphia fans have been crying for years to get a #1 receiver because its obvious what that WR can do for the passing game. and running game..especially a passing game that goes off for 70% of the time

you yourself said we had mediocre/bullshtein receivers from day 1, now if we had a stud WR the outcome of games wouldnt have a chance to change at all?

so why even cry for one?

[rjs246]

Westrook would be helpful to the Cards. McNabb would decrease their completion % and increase their overall goofiness by 78%.

[rjs246]

its amazing how one becomes to defend his stance on such an ongoing issue

rj, philadelphia fans have been crying for years to get a #1 receiver because its obvious what that WR can do for the passing game. and running game..especially a passing game that goes off for 70% of the time

you yourself said we had mediocre/bullshtein receivers from day 1, now if we had a stud WR the outcome of games wouldnt have a chance to change at all?

so why even cry for one?

Thank god you're chiming in now. I've said that a WR would help. Of course it would help. I'm just not ready to point at specific games and say 'we would have won that game if Anquan Boldin had been playing.' It's pointless.

The team has BIGGER needs than WR right now.

[Feva]

Do they 'sure as hell' not tie the Bengals or not get blown out by the Ravens? We'd all like to think that one player would have changed the outcome of those games but the fact is that Reid lost a couple of those games and the players laid down and took it up the shteinter for a couple of them. A studmuffin WR doesn't call the plays or make McNabb accurate.

It certainly helps McNabb's accuracy.  For one, there's likely less dropped balls.  Second, as Plax proved for Eli... the ball doesn't always have to be between the numbers for the pass to be completed... or like Fitzgerald did for Warner last week, go up and get a ball in double coverage... instead of having a fast, small WR trying to bring it down.

Is it simply a coincidence that McNabb's most "accurate" year was 2004?

[rjs246]

Yes.

[Feva]

Ha.  I would slap the shtein out of you if you weren't so refreshing.

[Zanshin]

The fact that you physically can't might also factor into the equation.

[rjs246]

Nonsense. Feva is sitting on my lap right now. No homo.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Slaps can be refreshing.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Jason Avant: He's Mr. Third-and-Whatever

By Ray Parrillo

Inquirer Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jason Avant isn't certain how he carved out his niche as the receiver quarterback Donovan McNabb seems to trust the most when it's third-down-and-whatever.

But after some thought, Avant smiled and said: "Well, I get in the game more on third down."

There's a reason for that. Avant has sure hands and he runs sharp routes in tight spaces. Also, he's willing to deal with the punishment that's often dealt to receivers who run crossing patterns in the middle of the field by guided missiles disguised as defensive backs.

"This is actually new to me," said Avant, who starred at Michigan as a receiver who ran most of his patterns on the outside.

"I've just been doing it for two years now. In college, I was always on the outside, so it's different. But it's receiver play. You just have to learn the intricacies of getting open in the middle. As far as me becoming the third-down receiver, I don't know about that. I just try to be as reliable as I can for Don [McNabb]."

Avant has made several key third-down catches, but the one he made in the Eagles' 23-11 playoff win over the Giants yesterday may have been the biggest. In fact, it can be argued that it was one of the game's three biggest plays.

Trailing, 11-10, in the third quarter, the Eagles faced third and 20 from their own 15-yard line in the third quarter. McNabb escaped a Giants rush and fired a 21-yard completion to Avant over the middle. It shifted field position for the Eagles. More important, it kept alive a drive that led to David Akers' 35-yard field goal that gave the Eagles a 13-11 lead they never relinquished.

"I had the basic cross route and I just kept running the cross and I saw Don scrambling and I just kept on running," Avant said. "After the catch, I just turned around and tried to get the first down."

Avant was limping through the locker room on a sprained knee, but he didn't seem concerned. "I'm all right," he said, which is about as detailed a report on an injury from a player at this time of the season.

A major reason why the Eagles cleared what many assume was their biggest hurdle to the Super Bowl was their third-down conversion rate. They were successful on 50 percent of their tries (7 for 14). To put that in perspective, the league average is 40 percent. During the regular season, the Eagles were a so-so 41.3 percent.

Another critical third-down conversion came after Avant's play. On third and 10, McNabb hit running back Correll Buckhalter for a 19-yard gain to the Giants 22.

But after Avant's conversion, the Eagles pretty much took control of the game on both sides of the ball. Avant said the Eagles felt as if they had the Giants where they wanted at halftime.

"We couldn't wait to play the second half because we felt we were in a really good position," he said. "I don't know - it seemed like the weather warmed up."

Mr Clutch

[Wingspan]

Avant can catch anything as long as he's falling down backwards.

[reese125]

no problem just be past the first down marker

[Feva]

^^^^

[Wingspan]

He's the black chad lewis...