Micah’s thoughts Eagles/Chargers

Here is my column wrapping up the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers game from GCobb.com.

Well, I guess it could have been worse. This loss is not the end of the world (Chicago lost, Atlanta lost, the Cowboys lost, the Giants didn’t play), but it was certainly frustrating.

The Eagles offense moved the ball up and down the field with ease. You want 20 yards? You got it. Just don’t ask them to score in the red zone with a fresh set of downs. But anyway, let’s check out the game:

What I liked…

-Donovan was pretty darn sharp all day and threw for 450 yards to go with two TD’s and a pick that came on a desperation play.

-I give credit to the coaches for taking what the Chargers gave them. The deep play just was not happening today. Forget it, the Chargers did a phenomenal job of taking that away. Usually, the Eagles try to force it. Today? They took the intermediate stuff all day and sustained drives.

-The receivers did an excellent job. DeSean had 91 yards. Maclin had 76 yards and a TD, and he just keeps getting better and better. Jason Avant caught eight passes for a career-high 156 yards…well done. Celek got it done. Heck, even Reggie Brown had a great game.

-I’ll take Reggie Brown as a fourth receiver all day, every day and twice on Tuesday. Despite the criticism he gets, he’s is great in that role.

-I have to give Winston Justice credit. Great job today and he’s done a great job of us not having to hear his name very often. With an o-lineman, that’s a good thing. I think Justice gets a lot of credit this year because so little was expected of him.

-The Cowboys lost.

-Overall, the o-line did a good job in pass protection. Considering they are a patchwork group with guys playing out of position and next to guys they don’t even know, they did a good job on the San Diego pass rush.

-Great play by Moise Fokou to stuff Darren Sproles on the third-and-short. Anyone else wonder why the Chargers insist on running Sproles in third-and-short?

-That was some catch by Avant deep in Chargers territory. Wow.

…and not so much…

-You have to be kidding me with these red zone issues. First and goal from the one….and a FG? The offense wasn’t crapping out at the 25-yard line and forced to kick field goals. They were getting inside the 10. They were very, very close to TD’s. What a joke, and the blame goes in a million different directions.

-I was going to criticize Andy Reid for not going for it on fourth down on one of those drives that stalled inside the 10, but I don’t know if I can. Didn’t take a genius to see that they couldn’t do anything to get in the end zone. Might as well take the points.

-Once again, not enough timeouts at the end of the game. Completely frustrating.

-My frustration with all the stupid penalties is mitigated by the fact that there are so many young players. The Maclin pass interference call was a rookie issue. He hasn’t learned that you can push off without straightening your arms and making it obvious. But still, how many good plays were called back because of penalties? Moise Fokou, will you please read a rulebook? Stop with the dumb penalties. I know this is a young group, but it’s still tough to watch.

-I’m the first to admit when I’m wrong on something. But I said before that I can’t believe Chris Gocong is playing middle linebacker and that if you still can’t use Trotter and Joe Mays with all these injuries, then why are they on the team? I’m done with Gocong at middle linebacker.

-This team couldn’t cover the tight end when it was healthy. Someone explain why the Chargers stopped going to Gates for so much of the game. Whenever they wanted Gates, he was there.

-Even the blitzes weren’t getting to Rivers.

-Asante….what are you doing? Was this a result of having so many new faces in the secondary? On their fourth TD, Asante came up as though he had help over the top. Nope. Very easy TD.

-Sheldon Brown didn’t play well and then got hurt. Ugh.

-According to the sideline reporter for FOX, Westbrook has another concussion. Time to shut it down. I’m serious, this isn’t something to mess with. We love you Brian, you’ve done a wonderful job, but it’s time to shut it down – for the season and maybe longer.

-Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks. Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks. Stop having Jeremy Maclin return kicks.

The Eagles have some winnable games coming up, but what is a winnable game to a Jekyll and Hyde team like this?