Sunday, October 24, 2010

Eagles collapse in 4th quarter, lose ugly to Titans

That one sure turned ugly in a hurry. Through three quarters, despite some errant throws by Kevin Kolb, the Eagles seemed headed for a win, leading the Titans 16-10 as they controlled both sides of the ball. Things quickly changed in the 4th quarter, however, as the Eagles somehow forgot to cover Kenny Britt and the Titans exploded for 27 points, winning the game 37-19.

The Eagles seemed to have the right game plan for the first three quarters as they slowed Chris Johnson down and forced Kerry Collins to try to beat them. Collins didn't seem up to the task as the Eagles put a ton of pressure on him and forced him into three turnovers. Something changed along the way, though, as the Eagles suddenly weren't getting any pressure on Collins in the second half and he was given time to find the open receivers. The receiver he found most often was Britt, who went off to the tune of 7 catches for 225 yards, an impressive total considering he didn't get any snaps in the first half. While Britt isn't an elite wideout, he made Ellis Hobbs look ridiculous play after play, burning him for huge chunks of yards at a time.

Kevin Kolb made Andy Reid's decision about who the starting quarterback should be easier by putting together a miserable performance, completing 26 of 48 passes for 231 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Kolb didn't look comfortable all game long, overthrowing receivers and making a number of poor decisions. While the offensive line didn't do him any favors, Kolb simply looked like a shell of the quarterback that dominated the Falcons last week.

Following the game, Reid announced that Michael Vick will be the starting quarterback for the Eagles after they return from the bye. Given that the game is against the Colts, Reid is certainly going to have to get right to work trying to prepare this team to bounce back from an ugly loss. Hopefully this loss motivates them for the next two weeks and gets them looking much more like the team that dominated Atlanta just one week ago.

It was a rough weekend for Philly sports fans, what with the Phillies losing on Saturday and the Eagles 4th quarter collapse. I certainly feel like I just took two punches to the gut and it's going to take a while to recover. With no Eagles for two weeks and the Phillies done until March, hopefully the Flyers and the start of the Sixers season will be enough to distract us from the lingering pain. Such is the life of a sports fan, where only one fanbase is truly happy at the end of every season. Keep the faith, Philly fans.

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