Not crazy Reed. Personally I don't think we're there. Vick is maddening, but they're still in 1st place. If he doesn't correct it, they're not going to remain there. You only get so many nailbiting wins before your luck runs out. He has to play sound football for them to win in the future- the D's not going to hold a 1 or 2 point lead every time.

I don't think we're at that point yet, either. The backup QB is often the most popular guy in town. I get that. But putting in Foles is an admission that the season is over. He's not Luck. He's not RGIII. He's not even Tannehill. Might he be a productive NFL QB down the road? Sure. Absolutely. As much as I don't like him as a head coach, Andy Reid can find QBs and make them better. I just don't see the Eagles losing to Detroit at home this week. So assuming the Eagles win, they're sitting at 4-2. If you'd told me in preseason they'd be 4-2 going into the bye, with games against NYG, Baltimore and Pitt on the schedule, I'd have been OK with it. It puts them on course for a playoff spot. Once there, who knows? Maybe Vick returns to '10 form for a nice 4-week run to a title. Crazier things have happened.

I understand your exasperation Jack. But you can't do that with a 1st place team. I think putting a rookie in there right now would be wasting a good defense, but it is tempting. They beat the Lions this week, we're good.

I agree with most of what you said Bo. Teams are using max protect to prevent sacks. That means fewer receivers running routes and fewer plays being made but the offense. The sack totals go down, but so do the point totals by opposing offenses. By my calculations, the Eagles D has given up 85 pts in 5 games- 17/game. That's what you want and should win most games. You'd like to see more turnovers and they have to get off the field in that 4th quarter situation, but they've done it 3 out of 4 times and can't continue to clean up for Vick's miscues every week.

Thanks Phil. I agree with you, but I find myself saying during games that his fumbles make it so they're not even giving themselves a chance. He's very frustrating. He gets it done when the game's on the line, but the game's always on the line because of his early turnovers. Very confounding.

Welcome back Porter. The stats belie what you're saying. They've been very good on 3rd down. Only that final Steelers drive was poor. Naamdi pretty much stinks- he can't seem to cover anyone. It was Boykin who was described as a candy bar- I think he's been a pleasant surprise for a young player.

I guess I mean the critical "must-stop" at a pivotal moment. That long conversion that gave up was just devastating. And they got bailed out by the refs against the Ravens.

But all in all they aren't the issue. Vick's turnovers are. But that's who he is, we just have to live with it I suppose.

2nd that, along with Mike D's point about the Birds still being a 1st place team. It's too soon to actually pull the trigger on a QB change and the odds are Vick will make the decision easy for Andy when he inevitably gets injured again. I hope he doesn't, but the odds are in that favor. Pass the milkbones for now...

Agreed. His 4th quarter play is VERY refreshing given the recent past. But those turnovers are always gonna catch up with him in the long run as they did Sunday- check the stats on that. The panic in the streets in unustified. Gotta beat the Lions and all's well

Well hey, at least the Birds will be off their own bye against the Falcons, and Reid's record is pretty stellar with the extra week to rest and prepare.

I'd say the edges and the middle of the field are where you could get production, that said and with our shaky O-line we'll end up using a healthy dose of short passes to Shady. The Rams used Sjax as such when they played the Lions. Just as we haven't given up much on the ground, they haven't either. I am pretty sure they haven't given up 100 yds on the ground to anyone yet, but any wideout from SF or Tennessee who played against the Lions had a good amount of production. TE's Vernon Davis and Jared Cook produced good numbers against Detroit. So I think how Shady was used in the Giants game to neutralize their defensive front, same goes for this game, but it has to be established early and Herremans and Bell have to do a good job on the edges with Avril and Vandenbosh so this can happen. That whole line is bound to have a bust out game but none of them have any numbers that say much of anything just yet, but like I said as a group they've been stout at stopping the run. With Vick and how he handles pressure and our shaky line, I'd say its safe to say that DC Gunther Cunningham chooses this game to release the dogs so to speak.

Vick is a fundamentally flawed positional player, in every regard. He fails to go through reads, has little to no pocket awareness, has trouble picking up blitzes ergo no following up with corrective audibles. Ball handling is just one of the many maddening behaviors he exhibits.

...he should have never been on this roster,,,nor Atlanta's for that matter .....but this league is obsessed with flash and gimmicks first and foremost.

Bo it's no wonder you are constantly mocked or ostracized on this forum.

Can't go a single blog of Mike's without attacking someone lol...or the fact that YOU bring up Chunky.

Be well, and get help ASAP.

Bo, Vick is a flawed player. He also is a guy with a lot of heart- you can be both. He was also blessed with otherwordly athleticism- not sure if he still has it, but that's why he was the first pick in the draft. To say he shouldn't be in the NFL is foolish, but his play is oftentimes maddening.

This describes ESPN perfectly- see Stuart Scott!

Stu became a parody of himself in the last five years—if not earlier than that.

Aww man, I love Stu Scott...

What's your 40 time?

It isn't good, but I am certain I'll beat Mikey if we lined up now, that said Mikey was an impressive poormans Charles Barkley on the basketball court, who could dominate on the inside using his body and had a soft touch on the outside. Let's have a race, you, me, Gary B and Mike, a 100 yard dash. You pick the high school track Porter, and we'll all put down a 10 spot.

Remember Clarence Weatherspoon - if you are 6'0" you retain the right to claim that you're 6'7" in sneakers.

I hear Mr Skoufalos here knows my younger brother Adam, who was a grade behind him, and he's just a touch taller and some pounds heavier than I, but we both have the same build.

I'm sure I may, but that still doesn't make me suitable for handicapping purposes.

Wow, I went to a fight and a blog broke out.

No problem Matt, I just love football and especially talking football, thankfully I'm not sick, high or a racist, so I promise to keep it along those lines from here on and I'll even steer clear of Gary B.

I second that Mr. Skoufalos. Let's talk some football. The Eagles have the Lions coming up. They are a dangerous team, but are 1-3 so they lack something. Their RB situation is unsettled with a hodge-podge of the unproven Mikel Leshoure, one-legged Kevin Smith and J. Best still on the PUP. This is an EXTREMELY important game. World of difference between 4-2 and 3-3.
What are the thoughts on this game?

Hear, hear. Thanks for respecting the space guys. We love having a place to have these discussions, and of course, we like reading Mike's thoughts on the Birds each week. Hell, we've even managed to go through weeks and weeks of this without my favorite WIP-style comments about "the definition of insanity." This is a football-savvy bunch. Let's stick to armchair quarterbacking.

On that note: the Lions are getting more and more production from guys like Pettigrew and Burleson (the cries for Titus Young to emerge as a fantasy sleeper haven't reached him yet). I would look for them to try to match Megatron up in the slot against Boykin again—or they might even take shots at Nnamdi, the way he's been playing.

What I would say is critical to the game is getting the pass rush going. Stafford has a bad shoulder and has shown that he can be hurried into bad decisions. The Detroit running game is so far nonexistent, which makes them pretty one-dimensional. The Lions D-line will still be looking to get at Vick, and they haven't forgotten how to pressure. But they are allowing a ton of points per game, even if they're not allowing that many yards.

Intangibles? Will the death today of Alex Karras fire the squad up? Probably not as much as if the game were in Michigan. But maybe enough to give them a little extra juice.

Agree Larry, with your prescription for offensive success. Megatron won't be in the slot, but Nnamdi will be covering him so... gotta score some point on offense and PRESSURE STAFFORD!

No doubt Larry, and I love the kid, but if the Lions can place Megatron anywhere near Boykin, we may be in trouble.

Not our "only hope", as a I wrote, but a "big" one. I think the Eagles can make plays on the Lions defense so we can survive a strong showing by the Lions offense.

Was about to jump all over your "only hope" line! I feel VERY good about this one. I did against the Steelers too and if Vick played a clean game, probably would have won.

Bo was clocked at 5 even in the 40 with a pocket full of rocks.

It is ashame that Karas isn't in the hall of fame, considering four defensive backfield mates who played behind him are all Hall of Famers. Dick LeBeau, Yale Lary, Lem Barney and Night-Train Lane all rack up some amazing numbers and accomplishments with the help of the pressure that all started with Karas on the defensive line. I know the gambling issue that he and Hourning got suspended for and he never apologized but gee wiz, hasn't that expired yet. The hall should do the right thing in February when voting takes place at the Super Bowl location,

He's a national treasure!

no I really do think the EAgles blow them out. Also was shocked at the 4.5 spread I saw. I thought it'd be higher. especially at home

Exactly that, Hornung apologized and Karas refused to apologize, yet both were suspended for a year. So fine he wouldn't apologize, even if he did admit and it was proven that he placed six bets of either $50 or $100 on NFL games over a whatever year period, but he served his time per say. I always assumed if he had simply wrote a letter to the commissioner, at whatever time, he then would have been forgiven by the voters/writers, Hornung had bet on many, many games and at much larger dollar amounts than Karas. They both were scolded for associating with known gamblers, and that was also part of their suspension. The guy never had another issue, and I am sure his business dealings were being watched past this point by whoever within the NFL. Surely he was wrong, but I feel it wasn't that which we're really talking about, it was more how he felt his family, himself and anyone close to him were treated during Rozelle's investigation. This whole incident is where Rozelle first established his strength as commissioner, but many think it was a bit of a witch hunt, and Pete went to ridiculous lengths, and after he got more than suffice information on both.

There is no question that he is a Hall of Famer. There are three DTs on the NFL's all decade team of the 1960s, Alex Karras, Merlin Olsen and Mr Cowboy Bob Lilly, all three have been in the Hall for quite some time. LB Joe Schmidt, also a Hall of Famer, played behind Karras in Detroit. Yes gambling and any sniff of it was how Rozelle reasoned his witch hunt, but Paul had far more guilt here in the amount of money he gambled and frequency he did such in. Karras had business associates who were know to be bookmakers, but he claims he never knew.

I meant two and Karras isn't enshrined in Canton yet, wherein Rozelle was at the time pretty adamant about black-balling him. I hope that his now passing will give some HOF voters, who will soon gather at the Super Bowl location, the proper perspective, that sadly seems to only come with death, to now do the right thing and vote him in. Ron Santo, in a different way, had to arrive at his enshrinement moment, but only in his passing 10 months before. Neither Santo or Karras should have waited this long. Karras, who suffered from dementia, was also one of the leading voices and part of the class action suit by former NFL players who feel strongly that their head injuries directly resulted from their playing days in the NFL. With that consideration, I'd say that Karras gave a lot to the league in his 11 years of sterling service on the field, with one hiccup off the field. Heck even as Mongo in Blazing Saddles, or in Plimpton's book turned movie, and even in Webster, he more than protected and represented that NFL shield correctly.