after the games recap

Well boy was I wrong about this year's Penn State team. I guess my blind hope for a national championship allowed be look past their unproductive running game and slew of mistakes by the offensive line over the first few games. But Iowa should made everyone recognize that the offensive line is by far the biggest weakness on this PSU team. They have weapons and an excellent defense as usual, but without consistent play on the o-line they are going to lose three more games this year. The could not protect Clark, couldn't open any holes for Royster AND committed several costly penalties. Throw in a blocked punt and that is no recipe for a win. Thank God I decided not to go up for the game because if I had there would have been a chance I would never have been seen ever again after the game. Is was brutal to watch on TV, and if I had trekked all the way up there I might have run away and moved to Northern Alaska to live as a hermit where I would never be forced to see another agonizing loss by a football team I root for ever again. Book your tickets for early January in Orlando now. Penn State is Outback Bowl bound.

On a brighter note, the Eagles destroyed the Chiefs this weekend. Kevin Kolb was excellent throwing the ball to Desean Jackson and Brent Celek (who is now officially the most underrated tight end in the league), giving the Eagles a solid win heading into the bye week. This victory was huge considering McNabb, Westbrook and Kevin Curtis all did not dress. In the NFL any game where you go out and take care of business, no matter who you are playing, is a good victory, especially when you are missing your two best offensive players.

The other big news is the return of Micheal Vick. Although he only threw two passes and had one run for 7 yards, it was good to see him on the field. My bet is that each week you will see more and more from Vick, as Andy Reid works him into the offense. I also think Vick had a more limited role because Kolb was cruising and Reid didn't want to get him out of rhythm. Also, there is no reason to pull out the stops against the Chiefs, let's save the crazy "Wild Eagle" plays for the Giants and Cowboys.

It's going to be a tough football weekend this week, as the Eagles have a bye and the PSU loss has left me so devastated I am no longer excited about this team at all. I'm sure I'm being overdramatic and I will watch the Illinois game saturday, but man did that Iowa loss hurt. Not only did they beat us last year, but this loss ends any chance we had at a national championship and its not even October. Penn State just doesn't have a tough enough schedule to win it even if they somehow win out (which they won't).

I'm thinking about going to ACL instead of watching the NFL on Sunday where I would at least get to see Pearl Jam. Even though I have a ticket I probably will just stay home though since I will see Pearl Jam in a month anyway at the last ever performance in the Spectrum on October 31st. Gonna be sick. Not to mention I will be going to the Eagles-Giants game at the Linc the next day. Should be one hell of a weekend in Philly.

So anyone interested in buying my Sunday ACL ticket? Asking $200, but mention this blog and it's yours for $150.

college gameday, the pigeons and bros

First, sorry about the long break. I have no excuse other than laziness. I would like to promise that I am going to pick up the pace of theblogging front, but no promises. First and foremost, college gameday (Presnted by the Home Depot) is coming to state college, pa this weekend for PSU's big revenge matchup with Iowa. Let me assure you that Happy Valley is going to be a very rowdy valley this weekend. Although I still think this Penn State team needs to improve quite a bit in order to compete for a national title, I think they will take care of business this weekend against an overmatched Ioaw team. After last year's tough loss, the nittany lions should be coming in with a chip on their shoulder and it is going to be LOUD in Beaver Stadium. Penn State also got the run game going last week, even if it was against Temple, and I think that Daryll Clark will be very effective passing the ball against a defense which can't matchup with PSU's skill players on offense. My prediction is that Clark opens up ther passing game early, which in turn opens up Royster in the second half. Final score: Penn State 31, Iowa 13.

Man did the eagles look terrible or what? Way too many mistakes in all aspects of the game. Hobbes had a fumble onb a kickoff return, the defense couldn't get consistent pressure on Drew Brees, and Kevin Kolb, although he played relatively well, had a very costly turnover to open up the second half and couldn't get into much of a rhythm after halftime. Basically, the Eagles played as poorly as they possibly could against a Saints team I believe should have no trouble winning the NFC South. Regardless, it is only one game, and the good news is the Eagles get Kansas City next week. The even better news is they also get Michael Vick. One of the few bright spots for the Eagles last week is how well they ran wildcat formations. With Vick in there that shold only improve. As far as quarterback, I think we should give McNabb one more week off (effectively two weeks because the birds have a bye in week 4), and give Kolb one more start. As I said, he didn't play too poorly and if he had made a couple of throws he missed (like when he thrdew behind Westbrook on third down after he burnt Jonathon Vilma) the Eagles could have actually won that game. They were only down by six at halftime before the two turnovers that basically sealed the loss. If those breaks had gone the Eagles way, it could have been a very different second half. I still think this is a playoff team, and they will show why once McNabb is able to play again in Week 5. Additionally, the next four games are all very winnable, so this is probably as good a time as ever to rest McNabb.

Lastly, check out this site: http://www.broslikethissite.com/. It is a great rundown of what life is like for all the bros out there. Man life is tough.