Observations from the Broncos' Game

• Adventures in officiating - Seriously, that was terrible. How did that initial Eagles TD get reversed? What camera angle did you see that definitively showed the ball moving forward? I didn't see one. And the penalty calls? They sucked both ways. Horrendous illegal contact/PI calls on both teams, along with multiple instances of blatant offensive holding that were ignored. And what's with the 15-yard penalty on Macho? It's a perfectly clean block post-interception. That penalty changed the game; instead of having the ball on the 50, the Eagles get it on their own 1, and a shanked punt ends up starting the Broncos' comeback. I wish the competition committee would simplify the rules, because the game is so difficult to referee right now...but even within the current, complex web of judgement calls, the officials did a terrible job. Here's a tip: if you aren't sure, just shut your mouth. We didn't need 18 penalty calls...I'd much rather see a few missed penalties than the choppy pace enforced on the Eagles and Broncos by that overzealous crew.
  
• Phil Simms, Broadcasting Genius - "The Eagles have a middling defense when they don't blitz." Huh? Blitzing is a key component playing defense, and the Eagles blitz more than most teams in the league. There isn't any blitzing in the Pro Bowl, and it's reflected in the final score. If my car was "middling" with only three wheels, I'd say I had a pretty good car. Overall, the Eagles held the Broncos to 241 yards, 33% third-down conversion, and a measly 3.9 yards-per-pass-attempt. Considering the bad punts, three turnovers, and five straight 3-and-outs by the 'offense', the Eagles defense played great. I wish I remembered more of his banalities and outright falsehoods, it would have made great fodder. His commentary was nearly as bad as the officiating.
  
• McConsistentcy - Donovan went three consecutive series without throwing a single catchable pass. Total number of called runs during that series: two. Andy Reid needs to come up with another solution to McNabb's weekly funks other than dialing up more and more passes.
  
• B-Dawk - Didn't have an impact on this game, but I still love him. Wish he was still an Eagle instead of Macho.
  
• Where has Chris Gocong gone? - I killed the Eagles when they drafted him, and then I recanted when he became a solid starter. Now he can't even get on the field. I can't say whether it's justified, but it sure seems the coaching staff has decided where the blame lay for that inability to stop opposing TEs...on a thinly related note, I'm excited to think the Eagles might draft an athletic, play-making LB in the first round this April...it's their only glaring need, and someone like Navarro Bowman could be staring them in the face at the end of round 1...if you pair him with a recovered Stewart Bradley and Witherspoon, LB could be a strength instead of a weakness...
  

Go Bears! If the awful Bears somehow pull out a win tonight, the Eagles will be playing for the #2 seed in Dallas next week.