No surprise. The Eagles offense depended too much on Brian Westbrook(yah Villanova!). Their whole season turned around when he increased his touches(rather than Staley). His punt returns usually gave Philly great field position and he could always be depended on to break a few runs/passes for long gains. He opened up the receivers due to his short threat in the west coast offense.
Once he went down in the last game of the season(triceps tear), the short threat was removed, and the receivers were less open. The only reason philly beat GB was McNabbs 100+ yards rushing which GB was totally unprepared for. When they made adjustments, they opened up the secondary(4th and 26!)
Credit to the panthers. Their aggressive pass coverage shut down the WC offense- mighta been a different story though with Westbrook in there. Once McNabb was injured(a cheap shot with no flag I might add), his long ball and rush threats were removed and carolina coulda sat on thier asses and still won
The loss didn't bother me or most of Philly that much- We knew that without Westbrook we never would have beaten NE in the Bowl anyhow
Should be a good Bowl, but I gotta give the nod to the experienced team
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For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, ...breathlessly.
-Carlos Castaneda
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