[Yakuza Rich]

- The overall theme I came away from this game was this is the most encouraged I had been by the team since the week 1 victory against the G-Men. I thought overall, the team looked somewhat disciplined and prepared. I liked how both Demarco and Felix gutted it out and we ran the ball well. I thought Tyron played great, Livings mediocre, Cook was Cook, Benardeau very well and Free was awful. But overall, I thought the O-Line was serviceable. I thought Dez played superb. We started using Dez, Miles and Witten to their strengths. I thought defensively the 3 ‘true starters’ (Spencer, Ware and Hatcher) played great. And of course, anytime you can beat the Eagles, that is a good thing.

I know this is the time of year when some fans want the team to lose because that will improve their draft position. To me, I don’t see this team making the playoffs. And I also believe that Garrett should go 8-8 AND hand the offense over to somebody else for me to want him back in 2013. But, progress and the team’s progress is ALWAYS more important to me than just about anything else. If the team progresses, the wins will come. And if they continue to progress, the Super Bowls will come.

That’s what I saw, even though it didn’t always appear that way last night. The offense looked very capable. The defense played with some fire. And we ended up winning the game. I just think we look like a better team, despite all of the injuries, than we did last year at this time.


- I’m convinced that Andy Reid must spike the media’s drinking water when it comes to his QB’s. While McNabb was a good QB, you would have thought he was the second coming of Johnny Unitas. Anybody who dared question McNabb’s ability, particularly in the clutch, was ostracized for it. Then AJ Feeley was so great and they got a 2nd round pick for him. Next up, Kevin Kolb, who had one good game against a suspect Saints defense that was up by 20 points early in the game. Then Mike Vick not only came back as this suddenly great QB, but we were told that we should forgive him since he paid his debt to society. Now it’s Nick Foles. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he’s a combination of Tom Brady meets Joe Montana. I fully expect someday there will be a mass of media writers looking like this after drinking the Andy Reid kool-aid



Of course, I can play off the old joke ‘what do you call 1,000 sports writers laying dead on the ground from drinking the Andy Reid kool aid?’

‘A good start.’


- I think from now on the Cowboys will be intent on using Dez as the X-receiver, Miles at the Z-spot. Personally, I think it’s long past time to give up on the Ogletree experiment. Forget about the fumble, he’s too limited and cannot catch anything more than 15 yards deep. It’s one of the problems we have on this team, Dez is the only player good in a jump ball situation. So that limits us moving a WR to the Z-spot and shifting Miles into the Y-spot (slot). I do think that Beasley and Harris should be on this team for the foreseeable future. Harris is serviceable in a pinch, but I do like his punt return skills.


-The problems we had on defense to me where the ILB’s and the safeties. I thought that Ware, Spencer, Hatcher and Brent all played very well. Spears is worthless. But, we have a major issue with our DB’s ability to tackle. Claiborne and Carr are sub-par, but Sensy and McCray are horrendous at tackling.


-All in all, it was encouraging. Albeit, not the most entertaining thing to see. The injuries make this team feel different than it should look. But, the team has nobody to blame but themselves for the lack of depth. Forget about ‘the process’ and instead worry about progress. If we can keep doing the latter, we’ll be fine. Otherwise, the process is just a waste of time and a built-in excuse.






YR