A CITIZEN'S BLOG

While I'm thrilled about the discussion on Ryan Howard's future with the Phillies I'm going to be shifting gears for the rest of the week and talk a little football. As regular readers of A Citizen's Blog know, though I blog the Phillies and am a native of Chester County, I actually live north of Pittsburgh, so I'm getting playoff fever at both ends of Pennsylvania.

Here are a few random links I've seen of interest...

Ex-Eagle Cris Carter ("all he does is catch touchdowns") picks the Eagles and Patriots to win this weekend. I can't disagree. The Patriots veteran experience will be key for them. I noticed there is a lot less enthusiasm this week from die hard Stillers fans since they lucked out against the Jets. Everyone in the Steel City have gone from buying plane tickets to Jacksonville to assuming Tom Brady will win his third Super Bowl MVP.

The Inquirer's Phil Sheridan makes the bold argument that Dante Culpepper is a better QB than Michael Vick, and therefore the Eagles should have an easy time with Vick because they shut down Culpepper twice. I'm not sure comparing Vick to Culpepper is really valid. I'm not sure comparing anyone to Vick is really valid because I don't think there are any QB's in the league like Vick. I do agree that Vick is an awful passer, and I do agree with Sheridan that most of the hoopla surrounding Vick is just hot air. I faulted Culpepper for his consistency, but Vick is far worse. I think the NFL is counting on Vick to turn in a superlative performance because they want him as their new poster boy, but if he lays an egg this could really damage his endorsement career.

Oh, and if I'm a Falcons fan there is one thing that bothers me: if we are so good, then why did we give up just three fewer points than we allowed during the regular season?

A pair of nice columns this week from SI's Peter King. First, King discusses how badly Peyton Manning failed against the Pats and chimes in with a few random thoughts about Big Ben and the Eagles Greg Lewis. Amongst other things in King's column...

...I agree with King that Big Ben's flop in the Jets game is worrisome and that Steelers fans are in real denial about it. I've lived here for nine years and I've never seen Steelers fans have more unconditional love for a QB than with him. There are tens of thousands of Big Ben #7's being worn every day when I go to the Mall, the supermarket, etc. Even with Kordell or Neil O'Donnell, people didn't just trust them the way they trust Big Ben to win it, which is why so many Steelers fans seem shell-shocked by what happened with the Jets. The Steelers will rise or fall with Big Ben Sunday, so this could be the defining moment of his career.

...King likes Greg Lewis this weekend against the Falcons secondary. I hope Donovan tries to spread the field a little to slow down the Falcons pass rush. If the O-line can keep the Falcons off Donovan like they did to the Vikings (he had ridiculous amounts of time back there), this should be a great game for us.

King's second column is his weekly "Ten Things I Think I Think". Page down to read his attacks on the Vikings owner Red McCombs. I agree with him completely. McCombs is a ridiculous meddler and needs to be scolded by the league. Too many owners throw tantrums and expect to get their way. The NFL needs to watch Nanny 911 or something.

Dr. Z has a column about the stupidity of teams playing conservative football at the end of the game. That's one great thing about the Birds: even with a lead they play their base defense, always blitzing and putting pressure on the opposing QB. No prevent D in Philly ... Dr. Z's argument that Lombardi was an innovator is an interesting one, and goes against the image of him as being The Last Traditionalist.

Nice piece in the AP about Jeremiah Trotter's importance to the Eagles. Whenever my Steelers friends talk about an Eagles-Steelers Super Bowl they always scoff at the Eagles defense and claim that the Steelers would just pound the Eagles with Bettis like on November 7 and they'd have the game in the bag. They are utterly wrong: since Jeremiah was inserted into the Eagles starting lineup, the Eagles have been stout against the run. In the six games Trotter played in after November 7 the Eagles gave up a Baltimore Ravens-like 70 yards a game. You have to wonder how the 11-7 game would have turned out ith Trotter clogging the middle of the D: Bettis had 149 yards rushing on 33 carries. Without Bettis running rampant through the Eagles line I doubt the Steelers could have jumped out to their 21-0 lead and the Eagles could have had the opportunity to battle back into the game. An undefeated season might have been had...

I liked the opening line of Stephen A. Smith's profile of T.O. (mocking Atlanta for fair-weather fandom), but what I really like is how Smith's writing seems so finely tuned to capturing T.O.'s personality. I don't like arrogant, self-absorbed sports writers (they act and think too much like dim-witted talk radio hosts) but there is something entertaining about Smith that I can't dislike ... oh, and T.O.: we all appreciate the confidence in the team, we really do, but please don't give the Falcons bulletin board material.

ESPN's John Clayton likes the matchup problems that Brian Westbrook creates for the Falcons. As I said, this year feels different than 2003 and years past. Here are some reasons why:

1. Better run defense with Trotter in the middle.
2. Better pass rush with Jevon Kearse on the line.
3. More confident wideouts with T.O. watching over them.
4. Westbrook stretching the defense.

I think Westbrook could be the key to the game. The Falcons strength on defense is their pass rush, but their ability to blitz and get pressure on McNabb could be undone by their need to assign someone faster than a linebacker to keep tabs on Westbrook.

I plan to preview the Stillers & Pats tomorrow and then the Eagles & Falcons (or as I call it: the Bird Bowl) on Friday. Next week, I return to baseball. Convenient, isn't it, that spring training starts right after the Super Bowl wraps up?