VS 
Atlanta Falcons/Philadelphia Eagles
Posted on 01/23/2005 8:59:45 AM PST by CounterCounterCulture
VS
VS 
ATL at PHI, Sat, 3:00 p.m. EST
NE at PIT, Sat, 6:30 p.m. EST
adding to the atmosphere was that the birds, needing a loss to secure the top draft pick (our resident redskin fan should empathize with this), were somehow managing to lead their opponent at the half.
I fully expect the usual idiots (like the one who thinks the rams won two superbowls) to continue propagating the story of how the philadelphia fans "threw bricks with rusty nails in them at the frail, pregnant crying female santa with a heart condition" or whatever suits their need at the time.
and yeah, SOME people were happy to see irvin get hurt - but if you watch the game (half these posts leave me wondering if FReepers even HAVE television), you'll notice that the bulk of the derision is directed at deion sanders (who did some faux-voodoo dance around the fallen irvin).
unlike half the idiots who post here, this idiot was actually AT the game. ;)
1/25/1981 - Superbowl - Eagles lost.
1/7/2001 - Divisional Playoffs - Eagles lost.
1/27/2002 - NFC Championship - Eagles lost.
1/19/2003 - NFC Championship - Eagles lost
1/18/2004 - NFC Championship - Eagles lost
2/6/2005 - Superbowl - Eagles ????
I think Libertarian4Bush's point is that the Eagles have a history of losing the big one.
personally, I would use him in the red zone (and possibly some other special circumstances).
when you begin to get discouraged, just think of how dramatically your fortunes have taken an upturn since you got rid of "the champagne's not" kordell. there were times I wanted to personally hit him in the face with a shovel, and I'm not even a Steelers fan!
*****
Another poster:cowher did the smart thing. with that much time left, you can count on at least 2 more possessions. if you're down by 10, your opopenent needs a TD to salt the game away that early.
My reply --- The Steelers could COUNT ON ONLY 2 possessions at that point against a team as good as the Patriots, NOT "at least 2 possessions". That means the Steelers would have to score every time they got the ball (how often does that happen?), and at the same time pray that they could stop the great Patriots' offense.
No, the Steelers should have gone for it right then and there. Cowher (and his staff) did the wrong, cowardly, safe-coach thing. It was too safe, chicken-sh*t coaching, and it ensured the loss. Cowher did the same gutless thing most conservative pro coaches do, and he was wrong once again.
It is no surprise that Cowher came up under Marty Schottenheimer years ago -- Schottenheimer, the epitome of that lame type of game day conservative coaching! Look at Schottenheimer's playoff (big game record). Even worse then Cowher's. (By the way, the Steelers were behind by 11 even after the field goal, not "10" as you wrote above.)
I like Bill Cowher as a coach and as a man, I've met him a few times and don't want him to leave Pittsburgh, he's a pretty decent coach, he just does this kind of thing way too often. And it's a slight to all the players who worked so hard.
Bill Cowher did the wrong thing, not the right thing, as you proclaim. I really feel that if you did the numbers on that particular game situation and that particular game, the intelligent (mathematical) and emotional thing to do was to try to jam it in there.
Remember the guy's words from the Post Gazette in post # 1819: "Yes, we all know that Bill doesn't throw or run, but really, to call for a field goal from the 2, when trailing the defending world champions by 14 at the start of the fourth quarter, with the team having its best momentum of the game, was absurd."
Even if the Steelers failed, leaving the Patriots at the 1 or 2, both the crowd and the defense would have still been going crazy, not to mention that the Steelers might actually have scored. Instead, Cowher brilliantly managed to simultaneously take the crowd and the defense out of the game."
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Here's another:
Indeed, Cowher stuck a pin in the Steeler's playoff balloon. Bummer.
But the Patriots are great. Even more reason to go for the TD, knowing how damn great the Patriots are! It really honks me off as days go by the more I think about it, how much Cowher took from the players with that lame decision!
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LOL! Very similar here. When they opted for that lame field goal I looked at my overweight, somewhat lazy male cat and said, "chances of us winning this game now is about as good as you catching that mouse down under the kitchen sink. Slim to none!
Well, there's always next year. I keep trying to be philosophic about this, but it drives me a little crazy when a coach doesn't let the players WIN or LOSE the game THEMSELVES.
I feel for the players, and you know what they all must be thinking as the days go by............ what if we had tried to jam it in there on the 2 yard line. I guarantee you that they would have a much more settled off season, fewer regrets, if they would have had the chance to go for it. It's a shame for the players.
I know we've talked about this ad nauseum but it still galls me and can still hear those moron announcers on TV complimenting him on a great, correct call.
One thing's for sure, it cinched the game.
Oh well, next year.
LOL!
I thought about this same thing - Andy Reid, since he got here, has fallen on grenade after grenade to keep negative attention and embarassment from his players, be it McNabb's rookie mistakes in '99, Pinkston's shying away from contact this year, or Mark Simoneau's inability to play the middle.
it's as if he makes a pact with them to keep everything in the family". in fact, the quickest way OUT of here is to outwardly critical of your teammates - John Welbourn being a good example.
however, when things really kick into high gear next week, I suspect it's going to be very hard to shield them in this manner.
right - I mean, why take points and change the dynamic of the game when you could just save it to disk and try over and over again until you score? 'cause after all, it's a video game we're talking about, right?
/tired of hearing how everyone is smarter than the coach
/knows they'd be killing cowher if he'd gone for it and failed
uh oh; what did I do NOW? ;)
Well he won't be able to sheild them fully, there's a certain level of media attention the players MUST allow or the NFL will fine them heavily. But this'll still help.
If the Boston Red Soxs follow thier history, they would not be World Champs today.
I believe this will be a close game and could go either way although I am pulling for the Birds.
I suspect the Pats will put either a safety or a linebacker right on him to see if he can get off the line of scrimmage.
I think the target of the Patriots defense will be Westbrook.
No I mean making people pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
I don't believe they're going to win with smoke and mirrors, I'm pretty sure they're going to lose. I'm just saying don't let all this TO talk fool you into thinking they're a 1 guy team. They've still got McNabb and Westbrook, and Kearse and a solid defensive line.
You never see much about the Pats, they're players are very well schooled into not giving the kind of juicy sound bites the sports media craves, this makes them "boring" to cover (actually it makes them difficult to cover and the sports media are lazy, but they excuse it by saying the team is boring).
The Eagles are a team. And a pretty darn good team at that, just probably not good enough to beat the Pats for all the marbles.
What's with this Eagles wide-out mouthing off now that he's going to "have" something for Rodney Harrison? Are you sure you want to give Rodney something like that to be pissed off about????
indicates the Eagles aren't "a team".
it shows you haven't watched much football. or at least haven't learned from it. this team has won without westbrook, without owens, even without mcnabb (2 yrs ago). every year, they let go of popular players, and every year, they win the same number of games or more.
they may not necessarily beat the patriots, but to say they aren't a team is simply idiotic on its face.
Actually I think TO was flirting with Harrison ;)
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