Has L.J. already reached his ceiling?

[rjs246]

If he wouldn't have performed he would be getting bashed for playing zesty against a zesty team.  Thats a lose/lose situation...like beating up someone who is handicapped.

I'm having trouble seeing how anyone loses in that situation.

[SunMo]

If he wouldn't have performed he would be getting bashed for playing zesty against a zesty team.  Thats a lose/lose situation...like beating up someone who is handicapped.

I'm having trouble seeing how anyone loses in that situation.

you could cut your hand on their teeth?

[MadMarchHare]

Remember, this is the guy that beat a man with his prosthetic arm.

[Larry]

1 good game against a pop warner team doesn't mean he has arrived.

A Pop Warner team with perhaps the best cover OLB in the league. Peterson's known for shutting opposing TE's down the same way Emmons did for us a few years back.

I wonder if the 49ers were using Peterson to cover Westbrook.  He's the only LB they have who has the athleticism to match up with him.

Nevertheless, this game was a big step for LJ.  Now if he could put up those 100 yard games on a regular basis....

[General_Failure]

According to 9erfan Peterson is now used as a pass rusher more than he is a cover LB. Since the game wasn't even close I didn't really pay attention to him.

[Larry]

I noticed Peterson was lazily covering Westbrook on the 2-yd TD pass...luckily he took his frustrations out on that fat cameraman.

[SunMo]

i think team LJ needs to explain why he stole Larry Johnson's "LJ" fist to elbow thingy during introductions on Sunday

[rjs246]

Team Smith needs to explain nothing. All you need to do is recognize the skills. Little John tears through JV teams like nobody's business.

[SunMo]

Team Smith needs to explain nothing. All you need to do is recognize the skills. Little John tears through JV teams like nobody's business.

well that may be so, but he needs to come up with his own clever introduction thing

[rjs246]

He's dumb as a post, why else would someone like me have to speak on his behalf. I'm surprised he even saw the possible corrolation between Larry Johnson's celebration and his first name.

[Diomedes]

He is pretty thick, isn't he?

[SunMo]

He's dumb as a post, why else would someone like me have to speak on his behalf. I'm surprised he even saw the possible corrolation between Larry Johnson's celebration and his first name.

fair point sir

[Larry]

Someone's angling for an extension...

Player rankings

[Phanatic]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-eagles-smith&prov=ap&type=lgns

Good article on why LJ was able to do what he did. Andy ate the new SF coach alive!!

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- L.J. Smith is going to make defenses think twice about double-teaming Terrell Owens.

The third-year tight end had his best game for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, catching nine passes for 119 yards and one touchdown in a 42-3 rout over the San Francisco 49ers.

Owens also had outstanding game with five receptions for 143 yards and two TDs -- all in the first 19 minutes. Greg Lewis caught four passes for 39 yards and one score.

``They were rolling to T.O. and they were manning up and doubling up on the backside with Greg,'' Eagles coach Andy Reid said. ``That left L.J. in a one-on-one situation. He's pretty good at those situations.''

Smith spent the past two seasons learning from, and splitting time with, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Chad Lewis. After Lewis went down with an ankle injury in the NFC championship game, Smith started in the Super Bowl loss to New England. He became the full-time starter this season when Lewis remained unsigned.

He had only three catches for 29 yards in the season-opening loss to Atlanta, but Reid took the blame for not calling more plays for Smith.

``We are better when we spread the ball around,'' Reid said. ``We are more effective as an offense when we do that and I didn't do a good enough job during that first game mixing it up.''

Smith was involved right from the start against the 49ers. He had a 4-yard catch on the first play from scrimmage, and finished the first quarter with six catches for 78 yards. Only once before did Smith have six catches in an entire game. That came against Atlanta in his rookie season when he had six catches for 97 yards.

``We did a lot of film work. It works,'' Smith said. ``Once you know what they are going to do out of certain defensive formations, they have only so many options, so if they play zone, I know they are going to do only one or two things. I knew what to expect.''

Owens, the All-Pro wideout in his second season with the Eagles, is quarterback Donovan McNabb's main target. But McNabb has always favored throwing to his tight end. Lewis led the team in receptions (69) in 2000, and had 83 catches over the next two seasons.

Smith isn't the first option on most passing plays, but realizes there's a good chance he's getting the ball every time because defenses focus on stopping Owens.

``Tight end is such a vital part of this offense that I never feel like I'm just running out there so someone else can get open,'' Smith said. ``There are so many times that I'm the second and third read, but a lot of times, Terrell is double-covered, so I'm right there. I always feel like I'm running out there with a purpose. If I'm not running, I'm blocking. Being the tight end, I have a lot of responsibilities.''

Smith was Philadelphia's second-round selection from Rutgers in the 2002 NFL draft. He had 122 receptions for 1,458 yards and 10 TDs in four seasons at the school while playing against teams like Miami, Boston College, Syracuse and West Virginia.

``L.J. has done well,'' McNabb said. ``Being in the situation now where he is the starter, we're able to do a lot of different things now to get him in position versus linebackers or versus safeties. We feel good about that competition. He's been able to get separation. It's not going to happen like that every week, but we just take full advantage of it when it does.''