Eagles are in fine shape at the bye

Heading into the bye week, the Eagles have been a Webster’s-worthy definition of the phrase “up and down,” both in terms of health and the play on the field. Despite the inconsistency, I really like where the Eagles stand after three weeks of play.

Before the season, if someone said that after three games, Donovan McNabb would have thrown for 79 yards, Brian Westbrook would not be leading the team in rushing, and the defense would have given up 48 points in one of the games, I would have guessed the Eagles were staring at an 0-3 record.

Yet, after forcing seven turnovers against the Carolina Panthers, and then seeing our backups demolish and demoralize the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles are sitting at 2-1, with the prospects of being 5-1 heading into their battle with the New York Giants on Nov. 1.

And as the Eagles take a week off, let’s have another edition of the good, the bad, and the undecided!

The Good: DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and LeSean McCoy.

This is probably the most talented trio of young players the Eagles have ever had on offense in my lifetime. As we have seen in each of the first three games, Jackson is a threat to find to the end zone whenever and wherever he gets the ball in his hands. In his first three games, he has touchdowns of 85, 71 and 64 yards, and has posted consecutive 100-yard receiving games, placing him in the top 10 in receiving yards.

As good as Jackson has been at wide receiver, Celek has been just as good at tight end, ranking third in the NFL in catches, and tenth in receiving yards this season. I would like to compare him to former Eagle Chad Lewis, because Celek plays with just as much heart as Lewis did, but Celek is far more talented. Celek never drops the ball, shows no fear going over the middle, and rarely gets tackled by one defender. At this point, Celek is on pace to catch 117 passes for more than 1,300 yards this season.

The third man in this trio might be the most talented of the bunch, as McCoy has shown that he has all of the tools to be Westbrook’s replacement after 2010. In the meantime, he can fill in as necessary, and the offense won’t miss a beat, which we saw on Sunday, when he had 93 total yards and a touchdown.McCoy leads the Eagles in rushing yards, has caught six balls out of the backfield, and can flawlessly take snaps in the Wildcat offense. His ability to spell Westbrook for 10 to 15 plays per game for the rest of the year could be one of the major keys to the Eagles playing football in January and, hopefully February.

The Bad: Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel

Despite missing McNabb and Westbrook, the offense has looked quite good, but the defensive secondary and the special teams have been suspect all season, with the exception of Jackson’s punt returns. Much of that blame can fall on Hobbs, who has done nothing with the two jobs handed to him during the preseason. Hobbs has been less than explosive when returning kickoffs, including coughing up the ball, putting New Orleans in great position to blow open the game in week two, instead of giving the Eagles a chance to drive and take the lead. He’s also been picked on defensively, as we saw against the Chiefs, who couldn’t throw at all, yet found Hobbs to pick on in the red zone. I would not be surprised to see Quintin Demps get his job back as a return man, and Joselio Hanson reclaim his role as the nickel cornerback.

While Hobbs has been bad in the limited time he has seen the field, Samuel has done almost nothing this year, except repeatedly get burned by Marques Colston. I know that Samuel is a slow starter, but this is ridiculous. I have seen Samuel make one good play all season, and that came against the Panthers, when all of the Eagles were catching passes from Jake Delhomme. He needs to quickly regain the form he showed late last season, when teams wouldn’t even throw in his direction because of how well he was blanketing receivers.

The (still) Undecided: Michael Vick

Vick showed a lot of rust against the Chiefs, but I am guessing that the Eagles merely wanted him on the field for some live action, which is why he had just one carry and two pass attempts. What Andy Reid showed us on Sunday was that he is willing to play Vick at any point in the game, and on any down and distance. Because the Chiefs are such a bad team, there was no reason for Reid to unveil some of the more creative Wildcat plays, but I would expect to see them in key games later this season.

After the bye week, the Eagles have a three-game stretch of Tampa Bay, Oakland and Washington. That means the Eagles should have a four game winning streak heading into the game against the Giants, because those three teams have combined to score just 117 points in nine total games, for an average of just 13 points per game. This trio of teams rank 28 through 30 in points scored, with only the even lowlier Browns and Rams scoring fewer points after three weeks.

I assume McNabb and Westbrook will be healthy for at least the first of these three games, and it would be nice for them to be healthy for the rest of the season, but I would bet that the Eagles are 5-1 after the Redskins’ game, regardless of who plays on offense for the Birds.

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Like the “On the Edge” blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show. This week, we will discuss the ups and downs of the Eagles, and talk about the mystery that is the Phillies’ pitching staff as the calendar turns to October.