Raise your hand if you predicted...

[shorebird]

2.  Jeff Garcia would go 3-0 on the road against the NFC East in weeks 14-16

i didn't think they could do it when they had a healthy mcnabb.

Three straight divisional wins on the road in December is a near miracle.  I thought they'd be lucky to squeak out 1 out of 3.  2 of 3 was a dream and a clean sweep was a flat-out impossibility.  Who knew?

Alright now. I thought before this run started that they would have trouble beating the taterskins. They didn't just win those game either, they went into the other division rival house and opened a jumbo can of asswhippin'!! They beat them down hard!!

I farging love it!!  A sweep of the Skins and Dallas! Life is good!! Merry Christmas!!

[PhillyGirl]

Exactly, Phreak.  Can you imagine how good McNabb could be with a commitment to the run like they've shown the last 4 weeks?  Christ, it isn't like the run offense sucked before McNabb went down.  Reid can be such a jackass.

Yep, its sad. I don't understand it. And I am a Reid fan. I think the adjustments he has made to turn this around have shown that he is a good coach. But he gets so damn throw-happy with McNabb that it has hurt this team. We can only hope that this glimpse of a real live functioning NFL balanced offense being called by Morningwood will force him to keep that status quo. Or if he ever does take back the duties when McNabb is back he needs to balance it.

Notice how much he has been smoking Westbrook's pipe these last few weeks? He's finally realized that 36 is the guy who this offense should be focused around.

Also - Westbrook's more vocal approach is something I like. He has come out of his shell so to speak.

In this crazy NFC who knows what can happen. But this team has ignited at the right time.

It hurts the team AND McNabb.

[Eaglez]

Exactly, Phreak.  Can you imagine how good McNabb could be with a commitment to the run like they've shown the last 4 weeks?  Christ, it isn't like the run offense sucked before McNabb went down.  Reid can be such a jackass.

Yep, its sad. I don't understand it. And I am a Reid fan. I think the adjustments he has made to turn this around have shown that he is a good coach. But he gets so damn throw-happy with McNabb that it has hurt this team. We can only hope that this glimpse of a real live functioning NFL balanced offense being called by Morningwood will force him to keep that status quo. Or if he ever does take back the duties when McNabb is back he needs to balance it.

Notice how much he has been smoking Westbrook's pipe these last few weeks? He's finally realized that 36 is the guy who this offense should be focused around.

Also - Westbrook's more vocal approach is something I like. He has come out of his shell so to speak.

In this crazy NFC who knows what can happen. But this team has ignited at the right time.

McNabb needs a run game. All great QBs need a run game. I hope this will carry over to next season. The attitude this team has right now is great. They are playing with an intensity we haven't seen all year. Simply awesome.

[MadMarchHare]

He doesn't NEED a run game;  he has a very good one.  The bone-headed icehole with the playcard needs to use it more often.

[ice grillin you]

so reid is a good coach now because he gave up calling plays?

[Diomedes]

That or, winning makes people stupid in the head.

Put me down for the latter.

[SunMo]

Andy has always been able to put together a pretty good gameplan for a game, it's when adjustments are needed in game where he becomes brain dead.  Their gameplans the past few weeks have worked well and not many adjustments were needed, it remains to be seen if Marty is any better at adjusting mid-game than Reid.

[phillywin2k5]

hopefully this helps Reid realize that he cant do it all himself. I think he and Marty make a good tandem for game calling. Nothing wrong with letting an O coordinator earn his paycheck.

[rjs246]

After 11 days in solitude and a whole lot of disbelief about the last two games, I can finally say this... I have never been happier to be wrong about something.

This team in general and the defense in particular looks completely different over the past few weeks. Not even remotely similar to the way they were playing for the first 11 weeks. Reid's decision to let the play-calling be done by someone else might be the best thing he's ever done as a head coach. Brian Dawkins looks like he's 26 again.

Having said that, this little run shows two very important and troubling things:
It shows without a shadow of a doubt how awful Reid is at in-game coaching. Morninweg isn't exactly regarded as an offensive or tactical genius and he has done infinitely better with this offense than Reid did.
It reflects poorly on McNabb's ability to motivate his fellow players. Garcia isn't half the QB that McNabb is, but he's getting the job done and his emotion on the field has obviously been contageous.


But jesus am I enjoying this.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

2.  Jeff Garcia would go 3-0 on the road against the NFC East in weeks 14-16

i didn't think they could do it when they had a healthy mcnabb.

I think the point is that this TEAM is playing better with Garcia.

[SunMo]

team football!

[Eaglez]

I think SunMo made a good observation about Reid being horrible at in-game adjustments. However, Reid's overall gameplans have been pretty good throughout his tenure. Reid had his fair share of blowout wins; everyone seems to forget that when Reid puts together a bad gameplan and/or fails to make adjustments.

Obviously Reid still has some input on how the gameplan on offense is handled. Morningwig doesn't have complete reign over the gameplan on offense like JJ does on D. I just think that Reid is listening more and letting Marty have more leeway than before. I just hope this type of mentality lasts into next year with McNabb having a balanced offense to run and an O-line that just absolutely mauls people. It was nice to see the O-line kick the crap out of a pretty good front 7 for the Cowboys.

But I also share the concern that rjs has about Garcia actually being able to light a fire under this team and sparking them to perform at such a high level. You know the media is going to try and get some interviews with McNabb going into the post-season on what he thinks of this transformation and someone will eventually ask the question as to why the team seems to be responding to Jeff more than they do to McNabb.

Also, the only blemish from last night is that the Eagles need to put it in the end zone more on those extremely long drives. Have 12 play 80 yard drives need to be punched in against teams that are also performing at a high level (i.e. the playoffs). Other than that, it was a great game to watch.

[Tomahawk]

It reflects poorly on McNabb's ability to motivate his fellow players. Garcia isn't half the QB that McNabb is, but he's getting the job done and his emotion on the field has obviously been contageous.

The team's playing better because:

1) They realize that Garcia isn't as good as McNabb
B) They are running the ball quite a bit more

I don't think the difference between the emotion displayed by either QB matters.

[MadMarchHare]

I don't see this as a long standing issue (although the media will pimp it) UNLESS Garcia actually manages to win the SuperBowl.  Then I think it becomes a big out of control freight train.  You can already predict the headlines - why is Reid using a WCO when McNabb clearly isn't suited for it?  Did we miss multiple SBs because McNabb can't run the offense?  Is he a choker?

Of course, I'll take all that if the win the big one.

[Butchers Bill]

Also, the only blemish from last night is that the Eagles need to put it in the end zone more on those extremely long drives. Have 12 play 80 yard drives need to be punched in against teams that are also performing at a high level (i.e. the playoffs).

Agreed.  The Cowboys were supposed to have a very good defense that the Eagles were not supposed to do anything against, so for me to nit pick at this would be premature.

That being said, this team has gotten better on both sides of the ball every single week since the Indy game, and I hope they will continue to do so until February.