NO MCNABB, NO WESTBROOK, NO PROBLEM FOR EAGLES AGAINST THE CHIEFS!

 McNabb was out, and so was Brian Westbrook, How would the Eagles respond?  Well it didn’t take long to find out.  As in the first quarter Westbrook’s fill in Lesean McCoy ran for a TD, and shortly after McNabb’s fill in Kevin Kolb ran for one of his own..  The Eagles would end the first quarter up 14-0 and they never looked back.

The Eagles Defense rebounded after last weeks shaky performance against the Saints.  The held Larry Johnson to 38 yards on only 2 yards per attempt, and although Cassell did complete 78% of his passes he racked up only 90 yards and was sacked 3 times.

How about those replacement players.  Lesean McCoy ran for 84 yards and a TD on 20 carries and had a solid first NFL start.  Now on to Kevin Kolb.  Those of you who read my fantasy football predictions know that this week I said to sit Kevin Kolb.  Well Kevin must read the article because he made me look like an idiot.  24-34 for 327 yards and 3tds (2 passing 1 rushing).  I think over the last two weeks all Eagles fans should be more then pleased with the potential that Kolb has shown.   Over the last two weeks no NFL QB has thrown for more yards then Kolb 718 to be exact.  I don’t care if Vick and Garcia are on the bench, behind McNabb Kolb has proven he deserves to be the #1 option.

Now lets talk about the rest of the team.  Brent Celek came up big with 104 yards and a TD.  Desean Jackson had another huge game, as well as his third consecutive game with a TD, and his second consecutive 100+ yard game.  Jackson finished with 149 yards and a TD, and is developing nicely into a reliable game breaker.

Cassell threw one of his two tds on the day to start the second quarter and make is a 14-7 game.  The Eagles then went on to score 20 unanswered points making it 34-7.  Cassell would throw one more strike with 1:54 left in the 4th, but it was in vain as the Eagles came away with a 34-14 win at the end of the day.

This was a big win for the Eagles for two big reasons, first it means they start the season 2-1 instead of 1-2, and second it showed just how much depth this team has, Kolb and McCoy stepped in and the team didn’t miss a beat.  After watching the performance these two put up as well as what young players on the team like Celek and Jackson did everyone should feel very optomistic about the Eagles future.

Next week is the all important bye week.  Usually having a bye week this early in the season isn’t looked at as a positive.  However this year with McNabb still recovering from broken ribs and Westbrook and Jackson banged up it couldn’t come at a better time.

The bye week will also leave us with time to pay attention to the Phillies playoff race!

(written by Ryan Ely-Vice Maniac 9-28-09)