Dappa Dan

I thought it was cos he took possession while on the ground and still touching the WR he snatched it from?

Actually I lied. He was on perfect til the last few passes in junk time. Ended on 141. Still pretty amazing for a player like him. At one point 8/10 on third down against the best 3rd down team in history. Remarkable. Mate I'm pumped. What a day.

Perfect passer rating. Some of his passes were exactly that. About 4-5 times he threw guys open.

I can't believe what I'm seeing. Doug Petersen for coach of the year.

We love Big Cox in Philly. And he's certainly turned up already.

Annoyed. Picked Eagles and Pats but forgot to enter them in til now so missed Pats.

That's sort of what I'm doing. A couple of days before Falcons game I gave up analysing. It was too depressing. I think that's the theory when it comes to fandom in the USA. No-one knows what the hell is going on behind closed doors, and there's no such thing as a footy predictions expert. Just sit back and enjoy.

That's what the homers are saying on Philly radio. I think midway through the third Philly types had all turned white watching Brees and imagining him doing it again vs Foles. As discussed before, totally agree. Looking at the forecast at the moment, it's going to be 12 C, no rain. Only the wind would help.

@Macca I dunno what I'm supposed to do. I'm nervous and feel sick but excited at the same time. Any advice from the Pack? Same goes for you @JV7

That was my thought. Then... Brees... Also, once you crack the Eagles vaunted run D, you REALLY crack it. Those wide run schemes were hurting the Eagles a lot... and if there's one thing Kamara does well, it's that. (There isn't just one thing he does well) Vikings D > Saints D Brees > Keenum So in the end. Who the hell knows. I don't think it has as much to do with the opposition as it does the Eagles staying focused on their home ground.

The media narrative is pretty accurate I reckon. Eagles fans were pretty down in the dumps going into Falcons game. They were begging for more run game, super D and Foles not to turn it over. Got all their wishes and scraped over the line... so there's renewed hope now. I think the pundits will be friendlier this time. Pop quiz for everyone... if you're an Eagles fan who would you rather play. Vikes or Saints?

Things just got veeeeery interesting.

I reckon Diggs would have managed to dive over the line, seeing as he did land on his feet. But yes. Either way... It's the right move. What I mean was I think he was going glorytown. Hit him hard down the middle and shake him up... making the ball drop incomplete. It wasn't the right move, but I can sort of see how the blood would have rushed to his head. What's stunning is that these are some of the most high pressure athletes in the world today. That poor kid will be replaying that the rest of his life.

Had he just slowed up and put his arms out he'd have at least stopped him where he caught it. I sort of get why he tried to barrel him... to cause a drop and incomplete pass instead of what looked like a gettable field goal... But man it looked bad. he didn't touch him at all.

Have you ever. Seen. Anything. Like. That.

Feels to me like Vikings will get a FG... And it'll be Brees with about 30 seconds or something... Lots of Eagles fans want Vikings to win.

I love the conference system, but you have to remember it's a 32 team comp with a 16 game season. Noone minds that you don't play a certain team every year because it's not possible. AFL is different. 22 games, 18 teams currently. I think personally, the conference system should come in if there's double the amount of teams. And you'd think it would through necessity and sensibleness. Right now though I don't hate the system. I do hate the bias though. Pies get so many MCG games and big time Friday night games based on their size as a club. It's daft. We have a long way to go in areas like that, but I'm not sure a conference system is the right tool there. One last thing they get in divisions and conferences is the massive and historical rivalries between teams you have to play twice. They're like two games worth of intrigue rolled into one. The fans inevitably jump on board... and there really isn't any such thing as a crap inter-division rivalry. They're all important every time. And they can make a lost season fun... If you hate the Cowboys for example, and you play them in week 17 (Eagles usually do)... Cowboys playing for the 1st seed... your team, if it wins, denies them the opportunity to host home playoffs... suddenly a dead rubber has context and meaning. The NFL has handled that part beautifully. Ridiculous. Took everyone by surprise too.

Not too many teams know that better than Eagles. Interesting on the list rebuild. Going into last season I really thought we were 10/10 on our list. Loved it. Thought it was chock full of good young talent and exactly the kind of list you want to get in on the ground floor. This year, I'm closer to a 6-7/10. I'm not as confident despite the generally good off season we had. You? I was suspicious of it at first with the USA style changes. And still am with guys like Hutchy who do really want it to become Americanised. But there are definitely some things the Yanks have learned through bitter experience we can simply slide in and nick. There was a ripping article a few weeks ago on AFL.com going through all the elements we could possibly bring in. One was something like "4 week contracts." Where you can take a VFL guy for four weeks, then drop them again. As well as going in line with the NFL injury designations. Even that is coming in a little already with the use of probable, doubtful and out. I say why not bring them in straight away. If they don't work, fine, turf them. Man. I'm pumped for tomorrow. And for this time next week. I didn't think it would be as fun as this winning playoffs. Keep in mind I follow demons AND Eagles. Not one playoff/finals win in a decade among them. Is this what it's like to follow Packers?

Future picks trading and draft day trading coming in either this year or next!!! That's gotta count for something. And the wild card thing I've gone on record on the main boards with. I loved when 50% of teams were rewarded with post season action. Never saw the sense in only making it a small portion of clubs that could enjoy it. But I understand that's not for everyone. Yeah. Footy and Tests really are even. NFL a respectable but somewhat distant third. Basically no interest in other sports, including Olympics... I have gotten into the horses rescently. If you know a little something, don't be shy...

Yes another way we could learn in the AFL.

Yeah. Brady probably, at least early on, was more coachable because he was a backup who hadn't discovered himself yet. More malleable. Having said that. With colossal ego comes colossal confidence. Rodgers' confidence leads to some pretty special things.

Good post. And I think you'll find, exactly what Dougie went for in the first half. You can always tell when they want to use the vertical game cos Wentz of Foles, they'll drop back and sling it as hard as they can without really even waiting to see what's happening downfield. Foles was exactly what Philly begged for, and what Petersen promised. I was surprised to hear him say it, but when pressed, he said "he knows what Nick Foles is" or words to that effect. Seems daft to me to place limits on a player. That said, I think what he meant was that he had to do a better job of coaching to Foles' skill set and not stubbornly keep coaching like it's Carson in there. I'll say this though. Foles DOES have a long ball. It's not like he's completely useless at it. It's just you'd say it's not as good as, well, anyone left in playoffs. Maybe Keenum's long ball is similar I'm no expert on him. What he needs though is a DJax style deep threat, which Eagles really don't have. Really interesting stuff on the Brady comments. Just do the smaller stuff. Make sure you have a Gronk-type somewhere on your list... And use your long ball on your terms, not when you're desperate. I see what you mean, but as you say... I feel like in a dome, Brady will get more out of his arm than Foles would. Same is true of Brees. Ben. etc etc... That's why I reckon with bad weather... It's game on in a week. I might even pick the Eagles... you never know... I'm off to Hats and Tatts in South Melbourne wearing my Mike Vick jersey. Lovely american style dive bar with American sports paraphernalia everywhere.

It's not a question of what he can do, of course. It's a question of what he can't. No question in my mind that's a comfortable win with Wentz under centre. Not just because he's a great player, but because he's the ideal type of player in a windy game where you need a guy to move well with his legs and pick defenses apart before the snap. Foles aint great at either of those things. He has got starter-level attributes of course... But you saw that first ball he threw into the wind... Horrible. Same thing for Ryan... so if it's the same next week, you'll see it all over again. I think you'll see the pundits get around the Eagles a little more this week since the weather took away Ryan's main strength over Foles... the same will be true with Brees and Keenum. The Falcons linebackers gave Eagles enough space on the RPOs to get a couple of good drives going... and basically the D did what it needed to do. I feel like, maybe, if it's New Orleans... they set up similarly to Falcons... and we might just see a replica game. I already feel better about this coming week than I did 24 hours ago. That win, I have to say, is massive for the organisation. First playoff win in almost ten years... But the key is all those new kids and new recruits. Confidence is a big thing... Knowing they can do it missing an all pro LT, their starting Middle LB and an MVP QB... And not only that but they can do it clutch. Next year they'll fear nothing. Imagine being Cowboys... They didn't have any injuries when they went 13-3... Still couldn't win.

Oh yeah. I was done. 1st and goal at the 7 with those guys? Even with a super performance by Eagles D, odds were Falcons would go in. JVs right, the shovel pass was the first point I felt like just maaaayyybe we could eke it out. Totally agree. With all due respect to Dougie P who was best on... The Linc and the city of Philadelphia won that game. Cheers Carson Wentz for getting the Eagles to where they got. Agree. Now that we've seen what Philly offers up, if we have another dome team coming in and it's below freezing again and windy, then all bets are off. With Wentz, you'd pick us, without... there's just no solid favourite. Pats? I've been on them to win the lot all year. But, if you're asking my second pick behind them in the AFC? Steelers with a bullet. If you go back and see when they met earlier in the year... there was nothing in that game either. It could be historic if it's those two playing in the AFC championship game, and for the right money, I'd bet on Steelers happily... assuming Brown is fit and playing... which apparently isn't a certainty at all. What do you think?

And yet, he got there, and in position for a very catchable ball that Ryan threw to the perfect spot. Watched it over and over and still can't believe it happened. And yeah no blame. After all he did catch about three balls in that drive that got them the opportunity.