If Jeff Garcia were a candidate for political office, his opponent would be complaining today about all the favorable coverage he was getting in the local press. 

Garcia's image rehabilitation -- which began two Sundays ago against Indy and accelerated on Monday against Carolina -- really took off today with sympathetic profiles in both the Inquirer and the Daily News.  Given that Sylvester Stallone was, like, at the game Monday, it's not surprising that both stories compared Garcia to Rocky for his toughness and underdog status.

Which is pretty funny. 

Yes, Garcia is an Iverson-sized player in a league full of Shaqs.  There's no questioning the toughness of a guy who is "6-1" and "200 pounds" and has survived in the league this long.  And given the Eagles' situation right now, he's definitely the underdog.

But Rocky was a Philadelphia native who worked as a debt collector, could barely string two complete sentences together, was in love with a mousy pet store clerk and matched perfectly the town's blue-collar perception of itself.

In order, Jeff Garcia is:

1. A California boy;
2. A highly-paid NFL quarterback;
3. Articulate;
4. Dating a former Playboy model;
5. And, well, doesn't wear a blue collar. 

There's another issue too and -- sorry -- it's an issue.  There is a long-standing perception that Garcia is gay.  If you don't think that shapes some people's opinion of him, well then you've been missing the "Garthia" cracks and the "he has great experience with the tight end" jokes.  Gay men can get married in New Jersey, but evidently some fans still don't want them playing quarterback in Pennsylvania.

The good news for Garcia is that he's a spry looking 36-year-old, so if he can just hang on 80 more years he might last long enough to see that prejudice disappear.

So he's not Rocky and he'll never be local hero AJ Feeley, but I'm not sure why so many people are surprised by what he's doing here.  First of all, the fact that the Eagles won covered up a fair number of ugly plays on his part.  As another blogger pointed out, if McNabb had a game where he completed only 54 percent of his passes and threw more than a couple ducks that could have been intercepted, he'd certainly be hearing about it the rest of the week.

Yeah, Garcia fought hard and played pretty well, and his teammates seemed to respond to him, but it's worth remembering that in the NFL, nothing is ever has good (4-1) or as bad (5-6) as it appears.

Secondly, Garcia has always been a good quarterback.  He had a couple of ugly stops in Cleveland and Detroit, but those are places that good quarterbacks go to die.

You know what I remember about Garcia's post-49ers time?  It was the game he played against the Eagles in 2004 for the Browns.  It was his first chance to play against Terrell Owens, the player who had trashed him back in San Francisco.  Yes, the Eagles won the game in overtime on a David Akers field goal.  But the Browns, who won only four games all season, made the NFC's best team fight for it the whole way.  And they were led by Jeff Garcia, who didn't have great numbers, but who kept making just enough plays to keep his team in the game.

Honestly, given how much crap TO had put him through and the way he refused to give up in that game, I have to admit that I was kind of rooting for him as that day wore on.  And for non-Eagles fans, that sort of conflicted loyalty is one of the really fun parts of the Terrell Owens fan experience (coming soon to a team near you).

But the truth is, at the end of the day, how Philly fans respond to Garcia is the least of my concerns for this team.  The defense played better and made a couple of big plays, but still gave up 24 points to the Carolina Panthers and put up no more than token resistance to the run.  With Brodrick Bunkley getting only three poor-looking snaps, there are no reinforcements on the way.  Getting Shawn Barber back would help, but don't look for too many more teams to be as accommodating to the Eagles' defensive deficiencies in their play-calling as the Panthers were.

But you know what?  I honestly don't think Garcia gives a crap about how the fans here feel about him either. 

And that might be just what makes him the perfect quarterback for Philadelphia.

(Read more Eagles coverage on the Igglesblog)

There was a time when I felt bad for Terrell Owens.  No, it wasn't last week, when he again dominated sports headlines after attempting -- or not -- to commit suicide.

It was two summers ago, after it became clear the Eagles weren't giving in and Owens -- egged on by an agent whom God created just so other agents wouldn't look so bad -- wasn't going to be able to extricate himself from the rapidly disintegrating situation in which he found himself.

I read all the coverage, just like everyone else did, and as the sound bites and interviews started to pile up, I realized that TO did not then, and might not ever, "get it."  He was simultaneously too stupid, prideful, insecure and manipulative to ever understand just how badly he had screwed up with an organization, fanbase, coach and team who all desperately wanted to see him succeed.

That's the thing about Owens.  He's not a thoroughly bad guy.  This isn't some one-dimensional movie villain.  Listening to his teammates talk about him, it was clear that most of them really liked the guy, and didn't understand why he couldn't see what everyone else could see.  And as Owens' too-numerous defenders are so fond of pointing out, he's not a guy who shows up on the police blotter (before last week).

But that shouldn't obstruct the fact that Owens is a villain.  Hell, even Charles Manson has his good points.  That doesn't mean we should let him out of the hole any time soon.

(Read the rest of this post on the Iggles Blog)

Why am I so excited right now?

The Eagles won a game they should have, once again putting together only one half of solid football -- although they mixed it up this week by making the second half the good one.

The run of sand-poundingly stupid plays continued. And I'm not just talking about the two Buckhalter fumbles (the first of which looked like it might have been on McNabb).

The injury situation is disconcerting, not to say dire. Brian Westbrook's balky knee kept him on the sidelines. Cornerbacks Lito Sheppard (ankle) and Rod Hood (heel) sat this one out. Starting wide receivers Reggie Brown (shoulder) and Donte Stallworth (hamstring) both left the game with injuries that didn't exactly look minor. With Stallworth, you could tell early on he wasn't 100 percent. There was one deep ball in particular where he had a step on his man, McNabb put it out there for him to run under, Donte reached back for that next gear ... and it wasn't there.

And yet, I've got a really good feeling right now. The team may not be in any shape to play the Cowboys next Sunday, but right now our quarterback is playing better than anyone else in the league, our defense is finally showing signs of life and the Eagles are 3-1 for the first time since, well, last year, but I'm sure this year will turn out completely differently.

(2000 more words of juicy late-night "analysis" over on the IgglesBlog.)

NOW WE'RE TALKING.

Keep your TO's, Ashley's and Jerry's.  The Eagles instead got a guy who was once timed running the 40-yard dash in 4.26 seconds. 

This afternoon, the Eagles traded back-up linebacker Mark Simoneau and a conditional 4th-round draft choice to the New Orleans Saints for wide receiver Donte Stallworth.  The pick becomes a 3rd-rounder if the Iggs can sign him to a long-term extension, something you know this team will try to do.

Stallworth provides a blazing-fast deep threat for an offense that has been looking to fill that role since Todd Pinkston blew out an Achilles before last season.  The team tried -- to various extents -- to acquire Ashley Lelie and Javon Walker, before finally settling Stallworth.  In four seasons, the 25-year-old Stallworth has out up excellent numbers, despite playing for the perennially underachieving Saints:

Year Team G GS No Yards Avg Lg TD 20+ 40+ FD
2002 New Orleans Saints 13 7 42 594 14.1 57 8 11 2 26
2003 New Orleans Saints 11 3 25 485 19.4 76 3 6 3 19
2004 New Orleans Saints 16 10 58 767 13.2 45 5 13 1 35
2005 New Orleans Saints 16 13 70 945 13.5 43 7 16 1 50
TOTAL 56 33 195 2791 14.3 76 23 46 7 130

(stats courtesy NFL.com)

This is huge news for the Eagles.  The Eagles gave Pinkston a chance, but he spent most of the last preseason game limping around.  This team needed one more guy, as much as we were trying to believe they had enough to compete already. Now we got him, for a very affordable price.

For more, check out the following:

• His bio on Saints.com
• Scouting report coming out of college
• PhiladelphiaEagles.com story

E...A...G...L...E...S... EAGLES!!!

Can the Eagles just skip the final week of preseason?  Like just not show up?  What's the worst that could happen?  The last preseason game is a brutal affair, and at this point, the team looks ready.  The only important thing that can happen from here on out is some sort of major injury. 

Bring on the Texans...

Five big thoughts on the game:

1. Four games in and our secondary looks very, very shaky.  What happened to these guys?  Dawkins is still everywhere, but the rest of them continue to struggle with the trickier zone coverage schemes.  Brown and Sheppard have been on the same side of the field in the nickel a lot, and it just doesn't seem to be working.  Is Lito fully recovered from his injury? 
   
   Lewis is also still getting to his coverages too late.  On one play we had a DB who lined up over the slot receiver and then blitzed.  Lewis was supposed to slide in from his deep safety position for the coverage on what clearly is going to be the hot receiver.  He was way, way late and the Steelers completed the easy pass for a first down.  On another play, he was lined up tight to the line of scrimmage, but then had to bail backwards to cover a receiver in the middle of the field.  He saw it late and wasn't even close.  Only a bad pass kept it from being a big completion.
   
   We would have chewed out guys who made plays that bad on our flag football team.

Continue reading "Eagles / Steelers Recap"