Your 2010 Eagles Season Breakdown

A new era of Eagles football is upon us. Having jettisoned nearly all of the cast of players that led them to multiple NFC Championships, the Eagles are in a rebuilding phase, turning to young players at every position with the hopes of building a Super Bowl contender. Of course, labeling the Eagles a rebuilding team isn't quite accurate, not when you have a number of stars already in place and ready to win right now. Instead, the Eagles will try to re-tool on the fly, hoping to stay in contention while the youth gets some experience under their belts.

On the offensive side of the ball, everything is new. With Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook, the two focal points of the offense for the last few years, put out to pasture, the Eagles are handing over the reigns to Kevin Kolb and a set of dynamic playmakers. With DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy, Kolb has burners all around him that can strike for a big play at any moment. Add in dependable contributors like Leonard Weaver, Brent Celek and Jason Avant, and Kolb might arguably have a better supporting cast than McNabb ever had. Whether that puts pressure on Kolb or makes him more comfortable, only time will tell. If Kolb can stay upright behind a shaky offensive line and distribute the ball efficiently, there's no reason why the Eagles offense can't put up solid numbers all year long.

The defense is also undergoing a youth movement, though they seem to be about a year behind the development of the offense. With rookies Brandon Graham and Nate Allen stepping into starting roles, expect the defense to have their share of big plays but also to make a few mistakes along the way. Of course, don't underestimate the impact that the return of Stewart Bradley can have on the defense; his leadership in the middle should help smooth out any bumps in the road.

So, while a slight downturn should be expected, this isn't going to be a lost season for the Eagles. Sure, they will have their growing pains, but there is still enough talent to keep them competitive. While winning the division is probably not in the cards, I could easily see the Eagles earning a Wild Card.

Here is my week by week projection of how I think the Eagles season will play out:

Week 1: Packers L (0-1)
This one doesn't look promising. The Packers, who many are predicting to win the Super Bowl, look like they are going to score 35 points every week. While I think the Eagles offense will be good, I don't see them keeping up in this one.

Week 2: @ Lions W (1-1)
On paper, this looks like an easy win. Put a little pressure on Matthew Stafford, bottle up rookie running back Jahvid Best and the Eagles should win this one handily. Of course, there is a reason they play the games. I like Kolb to have a big day here.

Week 3: @ Jaguars W (2-1)
If the Eagles slow down Maurice Jones-Drew, this should be another easy win. Besides MJD, who on the Jaguars scares you? And who on their defense can make a stop?

Week 4: Redskins W (3-1)
This one should be fun. Expect the Eagles to be fired up and the crowd to really be into the McNabb homecoming, leading to a close win. With any luck, the Redskins will be down by 6 and have the ball with about 2 minutes left and McNabb can show everyone that the Eagles were right to ship him out of town. Of course, knowing our luck, McNabb will be incredibly efficient and lead the Redskins to victory.

Week 5: @ Niners L (3-2)
This one has all the makings of a chokejob against a West Coast team that really isn't that good, much like the Raiders game last year. While I do expect the Niners to win the NFC West, that doesn't make them very good.

Week 6: Falcons W (4-2)
It's hard to get a good read on the Falcons, who really didn't do anything to improve their roster in the offseason. Perhaps they are just hoping that healthy seasons from Matt Ryan and Michael Turner will get them into the playoffs? I like the Eagles to bounce back with a close win in this one.

Week 7: @ Titans L (4-3)
The Eagles better hope they can stop the run this season or Chris Johnson will go off. I can really go either way in this one but I'll give the win to the home team.

Week 8: BYE

Week 9: Colts L (4-4)
The Eagles always win after the bye week but they've never had to play a team like the Colts in this situation. This might be the most important game on the schedule; if the Eagles win, they gain a ton of confidence and could ride that into a playoff berth; if they lose, they could slide right out of contention. I'm betting on Peyton Manning, unfortunately.

Week 10: @ Redskins L (4-5)
They always seem to split with the Skins, so McNabb gets some revenge here, if he's healthy.

Week 11: Giants W (5-5)
Things have been very quiet on the Giants front this season which probably means they are in for a big season. While I'm not impressed with any of the moves they made this offseason, I'm still betting they will right in the mix for the division. While the Eagles won both games last year, I think they split this season, with each team winning their home game.

Week 12: @ Bears W (6-5)
Despite their supposedly new and improved offense, I don't think the Bears are very good. Expect Jay Cutler to get hit early and often in this one.

Week 13: Texans W (7-5)
Barring the Texans actually becoming the team they've been hyped up to be for the last few years, I like the Eagles to win a close one here. Frankly, the Birds better win this one because the next four weeks are going to be rough.

Week 14: @ Cowboys L (7-6)
The Eagles really don't see the Cowboys until Week 14?? So much could be different at this point of the season but I do think the Cowboys will win the East this year. As much as I hate them, there is no denying that Dallas was way better than the Eagles last year and they didn't get any worse in the offseason.

Week 15: @ Giants L (7-7)
As I said earlier, the Eagles will split the season with the Giants.

Week 16: Vikings W (8-7)
I just can't see the Eagles losing three in a row, so I like them to pull off the upset at home against the Vikings. If Brett Favre is even upright at this point of the season, I expect the Birds defense to give him fits. If they can find a way to slow down Adrian Peterson, I like the Eagles to win here.

Week 17: Cowboys W (9-7)
The Eagles always win the season finale with the Cowboys, right? Well, except for last year...

So, there you have it. Your Eagles will finish 9-7 and end up tied for second place in the NFC East with the Giants and just ahead of the Redskins. They will be in the mix for the last playoff spot but I think they will miss out on the Wild Card due to a tiebreaker. Of course, picking each game before the season starts when you really don't know how good each team rarely ends up being right.

Those are my picks for the Eagles this season. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments! Enjoy the first weekend of football!

The Phillies are finally back where they belong

After months of trying to catch Atlanta, the Phillies have finally done it.

With a 8-7 win over the Marlins and a Braves loss to the Pirates, the Phillies are back atop the National League East for the first time since May 3oth. Sure, it's only a half game lead, but how huge is it to check the standings and see the Phillies back where they belong?

In even better news, the Phillies also now have the most wins of any team in the National League as they became the first team to reach 80 wins. For a team that has struggled with injuries all season long, this is a remarkable position to be in.

Finally, the Phillies have gone from the chaser to the one being chased. As we all know, that's a position they are pretty familiar with, so we should feel pretty good about their chances of holding on. Yep, I think we're in for another fun October.

Eagles finalize practice squad with a safety

The Eagles have finalized their practice squad, signing safety Chip Vaughn. Vaughn, a former 4th round pick by the Saints, spent all of last season with New Orleans on their injured reserve before failing to make the team this year. With the Eagles very light at safety after cutting Quintin Demps and Macho Harris, Vaughn steps into a good opportunity to get a shot at some playing time.

The Eagles will start the season with the following 8 players on the practice squad:

WR Chad Hall
RB Martell Mallett
TE Garrett Mills
DT Jeff Owens
OL Dallas Reynolds
OL A.Q. Shipley
S Chip Vaughn
WR Jeremy Williams

Eagles add 2 more to practice squad

The Eagles are continuing to round out their practice squad today, adding TE Garrett Mills and WR Jeremy Williams. The signing of these two players leaves them with one remaining spot on the practice squad.

Unlike the other 5 players on the practice squad, neither Mills nor Williams spent any time with the Eagles in training camp. Mills, who has spent parts of the last four seasons with the Patriots and Vikings, immediately becomes the Eagles third tight end behind Brent Celek and Clay Harbor. While he is a bit small at 6 foot 1 and 235 pounds, Mills is known as a solid blocker and will be a nice compliment to Celek and Harbor should he join the active roster at some point. While Mills only has 9 career catches in 9 games, he is thought to have good hands.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the signing of Mills is the fact that the Eagles have clearly given up on Cornelius Ingram. It's highly unlikely that a team would keep two tight ends on the practice squad, so the Eagles are willing to let Ingram find a home elsewhere. Given all the talent that Ingram has, it's a shame he was never healthy enough to do anything with the Birds. Look for him to latch on to a practice squad somewhere else.

As for Williams, he is a rookie receiver from Tulane who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers. San Diego kept him around until the final cutdown day on Saturday, so clearly he has some talent. It's hard to get a read on his strengths but he did have a 93 yard punt return touchdown in the preseason which helped him make a strong push to make the Chargers roster.

Eagles sign 5 to practice squad

The Eagles have signed five recently cut players to the practice squad:

WR Chad Hall
RB Martell Mallett
DT Jeff Owens
OL Dallas Reynolds
OL A.Q. Shipley

All of the players spent time in the Eagles training camp. The player with the most potential to see time on the team is probably Jeff Owens, who just missed making the team behind Antonio Dixon at defensive tackle. Chad Hall could also be called upon at some point should a receiver go down to injury. It's also nice to see the Eagles bring back Mallett after a strong showing in the preseason.

Teams are allowed to keep 8 players on their practice squad so the Eagles still have three more players to sign. My guess is that they will add Pannel Egboh, Cornelius Ingram and a safety cut from another team.

In other Eagles news, as expected, the team re-signed Max-Jean Gilles after he was temporarily cut yesterday.

Eagles trade Andrews and White and cut 11 to finalize 2010 roster

The Eagles made their final cuts today, reducing their roster from 66 players down to the mandated 53. To get there, the Eagles cut 11 players and made a pair of trades, dealing guard Stacy Andrews to the Seahawks and linebacker Tracy White to the Patriots. Andrews, who was likely going to lose his starting spot to either Nick Cole or the newly acquired Reggie Wells, was dealt to Seattle for a late round pick in 2011. The Eagles were probably happy to get anything for Andrews, who has been a huge disappointment since being signed as a free agent before last season. As for White, the Eagles reportedly received a conditional 2012 draft pick from New England.

The Eagles also released the following 11 players:

S Quintin Demps
WR Chad Hall
S Macho Harris
TE Cornelius Ingram
DE Eric Moncur
WR Jordan Norwood
DT Jeff Owens
OL Dallas Reynolds
C A.Q. Shipley
OL Fenuki Tupou
WR Kelley Washington

Because the Stacy Andrews trade was not completed on time, the Eagles also cut Max-Jean Gilles but they expect to re-sign him again tomorrow.

The most surprising move was that the Eagles cut both Quintin Demps and Macho Harris, leaving them with only 3 safeties on the roster. I assumed that Demps was gone, given the move of Harris back to safety and the announcement that Ellis Hobbs was going to return kicks, but dropping Harris as well leaves them awfully thin. Perhaps the Eagles will scour the waiver wire for a safety that has been let go by another team.

None of the rest of the cuts are all that surprising, though WR Kelley Washington made a strong case to be kept around for his special teams play. Apparently the Eagles feel like Hank Baskett gives them enough on special teams to go with his strong knowledge of the offense.

The Eagles also cut the oft-injured Cornelius Ingram and chose to go with only 2 tight ends. Chances are the team will add a veteran blocking tight end sometime in the coming days to complement pass-catching tight ends Brent Celek and Clay Harbor. As for Ingram, look for the Eagles to stash him on the practice squad where he can try get healthy.

Rookie defensive tackle Jeff Owens was likely a tough cut for the Eagles to make. He played well all preseason but couldn't push Antonio Dixon off the roster. Owens is almost a lock to be added to the Eagles practice squad.

Also expected to be an option for the practice squad is Chad Hall, who both could be called upon should the Eagles return game need a spark at some point in the season.

The most surprising player to make the team was CB Jorrick Calvin, who was added in the last week in a trade from the Cardinals. Clearly, the Eagles see something they like in Calvin, who could be useful in the return game. Of course, he could also just be cut if the Eagles go out and sign a safety or a tight end.

Over the last few weeks, I have been making my own projections of the Eagles roster. Here is the Eagles actual roster, with changes from my final version in bold:

Offense:
QB(3): Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Mike Kafka

RB(3): LeSean McCoy, Mike Bell, Eldra Buckley

FB (1): Leonard Weaver

WR(5): DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, Hank Baskett, Riley Cooper

TE(2): Brent Celek, Clay Harbor

LT(2): Jason Peters, Austin Howard

LG(2): Todd Herremans, Max Jean-Gilles

C(2): Jamaal Jackson, Mike McGlynn

RG(2): Nick Cole, Reggie Wells

RT(2): Winston Justice, King Dunlap

Defense:
DE(6): Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, Juqua Parker, Darryl Tapp, Antwan Barnes, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim

DT(4): Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws, Antonio Dixon

LB(7): Stewart Bradley, Ernie Sims, Akeem Jordan, Omar Gaither, Keenan Clayton, Moise Fokou, Jamar Chaney

CB(6): Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Joselio Hanson, Trevard Lindley, Dimitri Patterson, Jorrick Calvin

FS(1): Nate Allen

SS(2): Quintin Mikell, Kurt Coleman

Special Teams:
K(1): David Akers

P(1): Sav Rocca

LS(1): Jon Dorenbos

Players on PUP list: DE Victor Abiamiri

Players on IR: DE Ricky Sapp, S Marlin Jackson, S Antoine Harris