Ravens sign CB

The Baltimore Ravens have signed cornerback Domonique Foxworth to a 4-year $27.2-million deal. The Ravens seem to be doing a good job of revamping their aging cornerback spot. Foxworth has talent, youth and speed and should do a solid job replacing veteran Chris Mccalister and/or Samari Rolle.

Potential Free Agents the Eagles Might Target

The Eagles have a lot of cap room and a few holes that need to be addressed to improve on a squad that reached the NFC championship for the fifth time this decade. Let's take a look at some of the free agents the Eagles might target:

1. Baltimore Ravens center Jason Brown: Brown is a big, strong lineman and the Ravens would love to bring him back, but they're not very close to a deal and Brown will almost certainly get a much larger offer from another team. Brown has a lot of experience playing against 3-4 schemes (4 games per year against Pittsburgh and Cleveland) and he could be a good weapon against division rival Dallas.

The other benefit of Jason Brown is that it would add another strong piece to the interior line in the event that Shawn Andrews is moved from right guard to tackle. Right now Jamal Jackson is the starter in the middle, but he hasn't been lighting things up. Nick Cole is the reserve center, but he could be moved to guard full-time and compete with Max Jean-Gilles for the starting right guard spot. Andrews can then move outside and replace John Runyan at right tackle. Runyan is scheduled to be a free agent, but his age and recent microfracture surgery makes it very unlikely he's going to be coveted by anyone (let alone the Eagles.)

2. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison: It seems very likely that the Colts will release Marvin Harrison to clear up some cap room heading into free agency. Harrison is a hall-of-fame player. His skills have certainly diminished, but he's a HOFer none-the-less. The Eagles seem like a good fit because:

A) McNabb asked for more playmakers and Harrison is one of the best to ever play the game.
B) Harrison and McNabb have a history, playing together at Syracuse.
C) Harrison lives in Philly, so they might be able to get a hometown discount.
D) Harrison can help develop DeSean Jackson into an even better receiver.

The Eagles do not have a history of targeting over-the-hill players. In fact Andy Reid avoids them like the plague, but if I had to choose between Houshmandzadeh and Harrison, I'd choose Harrison.

3. New England Patriots fullback Heath Evans: Evans is a hard-nosed, versatile player. The Eagles suffered not having a true fullback on the roster last year and they can solve it without breaking the bank here. Evans is a good lead blocker and could help the Eagles pick up some of those 3rd-and-1's that they missed last season. He also has the ability to run and catch the ball if necessary. There's also the possibility of Philly looking for a FB in the draft. Tony Fiametta out of Syracuse is a possibility, but why not just spring for the known commodity?

4. Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins: I think this one is a long shot, but I have completely lost confidence in Kevin Kolb and would like to see the Eagles improve at the backup position. Collins is looking for a hefty starting QB contract from Tennessee, but it doesn't appear as though he's going to get it. My prediction is that he tests the water, no one is desperate enough to pay him the salary he wants and he ends up back in Tennessee at a price that satisfies both parties.

5. New York Giants running back Derrick Ward: This is another long shot. It appears as though Buckhalter is not going to be resigned, so the Eagles are in need of a quality backup. Ward, however is looking for (and likely to get) a starting position or at least starting salary somewhere. Not to mention the fact that there are much better prospects in the draft. It would be interesting to steal a player away from New York, especially if he contributes meaningfully to a victory against them.

These are all players that would immediately solidify their respective units. The Eagles would be smart to at least investigate these players and see what happens. In addition, I think the Eagles should investigate a possible trade for Anquan Boldin and should re-sign Tra Thomas and Brian Dawkins. That would go a long way towards strengthening questionable areas on the Offense and Deffense.

Thoughts on the Conference Championship Round

Eagles/Cardinals:

- The Cardinals shocked everyone by beating three solid competitors on their way to the Super Bowl. Everyone is getting down on the Cards because they made the postseason with a 9-7 record after winning the hands-down worst division in football, but they brought it in the playoffs and have not just beaten, but utterly outplayed every team on their way through. Arizona has been playing on borrowed time all month long, there's no reason to think they're going to stop now.

- The Eagles were demolished in the first half, but somehow managed to turn the game into a real nail-biter in the fourth quarter, but in the end the Cardinals early lead was just too much to overcome.

- Eagles D-coordinator Jim Johnson called another game from the booth due to a back injury. Johnson likes to coach from the field so that he can have close contact with his players to give and receive feedback and make adjustments. You have to wonder if that had an impact on the defensive play in the first half.

- Brent Celek played an outstanding game on the NFL's second-biggest stage. There are some solid Tight Ends in the NFC East (Witten, Cooley, Boss) but the fact is only one of them was playing on Sunday. Does that make him the best of the bunch? That's your call. (Answer=yes)

- L.J. Smith is definitely not going to be in Philly next year. Even if the Eagles offer him a contract someone else will pay him more to be the number one on their depth chart.

- Did anyone catch that block by Hank Baskett? He leveled 2 defenders with one hit. That was the best block of the season, by any player, on any team, at any position. (Except maybe that Clemons block on Tarvaris Jackson during Asante Samuel's INT return in round 1.)

This is the best photo I can find. The problem with delivering a devastating block on a TD play is that every photographer is going to take a pic of the Touchdown.

- This is the one game of the season where I wish Andy Reid had passed more. I applaud him and Morningwheg for their renewed commitment to the run game and I hope it continues, but I really felt like the Cardinals were vulnerable (and they did give up some huge plays downfield to Jackson and Curtis.)

- I think Ref's call on the disputed kickoff was correct. The call wasn't that the kickoff illegally went out-of-bounds, but rather that Abiamiri touched it when he was out-of-bounds which would end the play. If you watch the replay closely the ball hits near the sideline and bounces up, and then appears to hit Abiamiri in the left forearm and starts spinning in a different direction. At least that's the way it appeared to me. Either way, once the whistle was blown the point was moot.

- There were 2 uncalled pass-interference penalties against the Cardinals that could have changed the game. Jason Avant was mugged on a third down catch in the first half and the Eagles were forced to kick a field goal and Kevin Curtis was absolutely interfered with on the fourth down play that sealed the game. I'm pretty sure it's never been legal for a defender to grab the legs of a receiver after getting beat. You have to wonder what might have been.

- This was really a down season for Brian Westbrook. Was it because he was banged-up all season long? Let's hope so, because the other option is far worse. Running Backs have a certain amount of carries they can handle in a carreer and when they hit that mark they decline very quickly. That number is different for each back, but all you have to do is look at Shaun Alexander and L.T. to see what I mean. Alexander set an NFL TD record only a few seasons ago and now he's out of football. L.T. broke that record a year later and the Chargers are seriously considering dumping him this offseason.

Ravens/Steelers:

- Defense wins championships and I don't think it's a coincidence that the league's top 3 defenses were all playing this weekend. I'm surprised there were so many points scored in a game between the first and second-ranked defensive units. I was half expecting a 3-0 victory in quintuple overtime.

- The Steelers' Offensive Line has turned things around pretty well. They were demolished by Philly early in the season, but now they're doing a better job at protecting Roethlisberger and they're getting things done with tough, physical run blocking.

- Excellent challenge by Harbaugh on the Santonio Holmes reception. Holmes clearly did not control the ball all the way to the ground. I heard someone complain that "The ground can't cause a fumble," but that was never the call. A receiver has to have complete control of the ball the entire time on a diving catch.

- Mike Tomlin is an excellent coach. I can't believe there were so many people out there who didn't believe he was experienced enough when he took the job.

- Harbaugh too.

- Joe Flacco played well for a rookie going up against the league's best defense in a conference championship game. This kid'll be back here real soon.

- My thoughts go out to Willis McGahee. All indications are that he'll be alright. He has movement in his arms and legs and is "neurologically intact." That's great news to hear. People get wrapped up in the sport sometimes and forget that it's just a game. It's not worth getting maimed for. Let's hope for a speedy recovery.

Steelers/Ravens: Was it a Touchdown?

Each week the NFL sees at least one highly contested call that decides the outcome of the game. This week it was a late Santonio Holmes touchdown that helped the Steelers stun the Ravens in Baltimore.

Late in the fourth quarter Holmes caught a pass right at the goal line and was tackled. He was ruled down at the one-yard line, the referees claiming that the ball never broke the plane of the end zone. The booth called for a replay and after taking a look at it Walt Coleman ruled that the ball had broken the plane and the play was overturned: Touchdown.

Needless to say, this was a highly contested call as it handed the Steelers the win. I’m going to have to say that there was no clear evidence that the ball crossed the goal line. The replays showed the ball near the area, but there was no definitive angle that showed the ball touch the end of the white line, that’s why I’m so shocked that the play was overturned. I’m not arguing that the play wasn’t a touchdown; I’m arguing that there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

Which leads directly into my next point: I’ve been saying for years – pretty much since I started watching the NFL – that they should put computer chips in the footballs and sensors in the field, that way it would take the guesswork out of touchdowns. Finally someone in the realm of legitimate sports media agrees with me.

Here’s my proposal:

Put a microchip in each nose of the football and eight chips in a ring around the fattest part of the football. The sensor technology might be a little trickier to figure out. It might be possible to put some sort of proximity sensor under the turf, or maybe place beams on the sidelines. I’m not sure how that would work – I’m no engineer – but if they have sensors to stop you from shoplifting at Sears the NFL should be able to figure something out.

The replay system would remain intact, but it would not be relied upon to determine something as inexact as whether the ball reached the end zone or not.

The system wouldn’t be foolproof. There are plenty of instances where the ball crosses the goal line and it doesn’t result in a touchdown, like incomplete passes or situations where a player’s knee goes down before the ball breaks the plane, but it would take the guesswork out of the was-he-in-or-not situations like a running back leaping and extending over the pile.

If the ball breaks the plane the sensor will be tripped and a red light or a siren or something like that will be activated, like in hockey. It’s then up to the referees to determine if the player was down before the ball crossed the plane, or if they retained possession, etc.

This isn’t a cure-all plan that would end reffing mistakes, all it would do is prove definitively whether the ball crossed the goal line or not.


Update:
There are plenty of other people out there proposing solutions to this problem.

This person proposes that you use GPS to track the football on the field for scoring and first-down purposes, although I don't think that would be exact enough. I'm pretty sure GPS is accurate to about 10 feet, not the 10 millimeters we'd need.

This person brings up an interesting point. We can make invisible fences and shock collars for dogs, why can't we just adapt that technology and give the refs buzzing pagers that would activate if the ball crosses the line. And on an interesting note, one of the commentors recommends putting light-up sensors in player's shoes, to determine if their feet are inbounds for catches, etc.

Flacco is a legit NFL QB

Joe Flacco is primed for greatness as an NFL Quarterback.

You can tell as you watch him play against the Giants. He is making some big time throws. He had a beautiful pass to Derek Mason down the seam, threading three (maybe even four) Giants' defenders and hitting Mason on the hands in the end zone. Unfortunately Mason couldn't hold on to the pass, but it was a beautiful throw.

Flacco might be playing well, but the Giants are dominating. Brandon Jacobs ran for more yards in the first quarter than the Ravens allow on average this season.

These Giants look more and more dangerous every week.

Update: Flacco's going to be a good QB in this league. He's still a rookie, and he proved it with a late 1st half interception.

Although, Ben Roethlisberger has as many interceptions in his last 3 games (8) as Flacco has on the season now. If Roethlisberger can still be considered a solid QB you can make an argument for Flacco too.

Updated Update: Manning throws a late 1st half INT too. When you take into account all factors of the game. Strength of the run game, offensive line, defenses and receiving corps I'm going to say that Flacco is having a better game than Manning so far. They're at least tied.

How Will the Eagles Fair Down the Stretch?

The Eagles lost a big game at home to the New York Giants last night, sending them into a tie with Dallas for last place in the NFC East. New York, meanwhile, extended their lead and seems to be running away with the division.

Preseason prognisticators were claiming that both NFC wildcard teams would come from the NFC East, but with the resurgence of the NFC South, with Carolina at 7-2 and Tampa Bay and Atlanta both tied at 6-3 the chances of two wildcard teams coming from the East are slim.

What are the Eagles' chances of making the Playoffs?

With a 5-4 record there are five other NFC teams with a better record.

Let's get down to the likely division winners:
New York Giants: 13-3
Carolina Panthers: 11-5
Chicago Bears: 10-6
Arizona Cardinals: 10-6

Teams in the wildcard hunt:
Washington Redskins: 10-6
Tampa Bay: 10-6
Atlanta: 9-7

And the Eagles:
Eagles at Bengals: W - The Bengals are in turmoil and the Eagles should cruise to a win.
Eagles at Ravens: W - This was a tough one to call, because the Ravens have a second ranked defense, but the Eagles managed to put 15 points on the Steelers' first ranked defense and 31 on the Giants' third ranked defense, so I think they'll be okay.
Cardinals at Eagles: W - Arizona is tough, but they're not going to catch the Eagles napping. Jim Johnson's blitzes are going to obliterate Kurt Warner.
Eagles at Giants: L - The Eagles couldn't prevail at home. They're probably not going to fare any better on the road.
Browns at Eagles: W - Cleveland did manage to beat the Giants, but it was a fluke. The Eagles win without too much trouble.
Eagles at Redskins: L - Washington is a tough team. This is certainly a winnable game for the Eagles, but again, if they couldn't get it done at home against this team they probably won't be able to do it on the road.
Cowboys at Eagles: W - Dallas is spiraling, even with a healthy Romo they just don't have enough chemistry to put it together. The Eagles give the fans a late Christmas present by winning at home against the 'Boys.

So the Eagles end up with a 10-6 record too. The Redskins win out because of head-to-head play. The Buccaneers get the nod over the Eagles because of division record. So, by my not-at-all official calculations the Eagles are going to end the season 10-6 and miss the playoffs.

What do you think?