It’s Super Bowl Sunday. I imagine that you and I are less excited about this fact than much of America, but the nightmare is almost over. Just a dozen more hours of nauseating coverage of two teams you can’t stand. Be strong, Eagles fans, be strong.

Last night featured the first-ever NFL Honors award show, where Aaron Rodgers received the award for being the season’s MVP from Peyton Manning, even though that fact that he was voted MVP with 48 out of 50 votes was announced hours earlier.

Alec Baldwin hosted the inaugural program, and LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson were in attendance. It didn’t take long for the jokes about the Eagles and VY’s proclamation of a Dream Team to start. In fact, this is what Mr. Baldwin, who I normally quite like, had to say:

“It was a dream – like a dream where you show up at school naked, you forget to study for the test, and you lose four of your first five,” said Baldwin, who then called Jackson “DeSean Johnson” and asked if he and McCoy were “laughing. I’m not looking.”

So you know, DeSean did not look at all amused by Baldwin’s joke. Shady smiled.

NBC10′s John Clark had a chance to ask DeSean about his contract situation on the red carpet, and not surprisingly no light was shed where D-Jacc stands with the team. – CSNPhilly

Though imagining any outcome to SB46 is painful, the game must not end with any members of the New York Giants being able anywhere near the Lombardi trophy.

Obviously, the Giants web team is hoping for the exact opposite result and, in fact, seemed to be helping the team to visualize a win. They took it a little far, though, announcing for all the world to see that the Giants had won Super Bowl 46. On Saturday. Simmer down, Giants web and marketing team. There is still, like, a game that must be played. – ProFootballTalk

Another Super Bowl Sunday, another day that Andy Reid is doing exactly what we will do this evening: Siting on the coach on our duffs. Le sigh. – philly.com

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LeSean McCoy said while in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl that he would trade in all of the individual accolades he has received this  offseason for the opportunity for his team to be in the Super Bowl.

If only things worked that way.

Shady was in Indy on Wednesday soaking in the sights and sounds of Super Bowl Week, but it wasn’t to prepare to play on Sunday, unfortunately. Instead, he was present to collect yet another honor for his amazing performance in 2011: McCoy was selected the FedEx Ground Player of the Year. He beat out Maurice Jones-Drew, the league’s leading rusher, and Baltimore’s Ray Rice for the Award.

McCoy lead the league with 17 rushing  touchdowns and now holds the Eagles franchise record for most total touchdowns in a season at 20. He was 4th in the league with   1,309 yards. Shady was nominated for the FedEx Player of the Week four times during the season and won two of those times.

A dapper looking McCoy was honored to pick up his groovy looking new trophy in Indianapolis.

“I want to thank my teammates, fans, and friends. The fans they vote each week and each year for this award. For me to achieve this award is something special to me. Over a million fans voted for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year and I just wanted to thank them. Also, I want to thank FedEx because they’re donating $25,000 in my name to Junior Achievement of Delaware Valley. Once again, I appreciate this, and thank you.”

So happy this man is an Eagle. Congratulations to LeSean for the honor and for the continued notice of his tremendous talent and success.

Drew Brees received the FedEx Air Player of the Year honors.

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Aah. Paradise.

Did you watch the Pro Bowl on Sunday night? Don’t worry, I only made it through the first half. If you’re truly dying to know how the game went, find out from someone who suffered through watched the whole thing.

Plays by Eagles on the NFC’s Pro Bowl squad included a fumble from LeSean McCoy (boo) and a deflected pass by Andy Dalton by Jason Babin (yay!).

While the “game” itself isn’t really entertaining, some of the lead up to it is.. Like when players are mic’ed up and harass some of their NFL peers.

Below is the best the Pro Bowl–LeSean McCoy mic’d up, asking the heavy questions.

http://youtu.be/HuFFtuCwr0Q

Seriously, Marshawn Lynch. What IS up with those Skittles?

If you’re itching for more video of Eagles players at the Pro Bowl, CSNPhilly caught up with Shady and Jason Babin to find out how it was all going.

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As we wait for the Super Bowl that we don’t want to watch, there is a placeholder game that we also don’t care much about. But at least the Pro Bowl features three Eagles players–RB LeSean McCoy, OT Jason Peters and DE Jason Babin.

LeSean McCoy and Jason Babin are living it up in Hawaii with their colleagues from around the league. And from their tweets they seem to be having a wonderful time.

While it’s an honor to be at the Pro Bowl, every player there realizes that the reason they are able to play on Sundy is because of one thing: Their team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. And for competitive men who excel at their positions, that’s just not okay.

But they’re trying to make the best of it. The best running backs in the league, LeSean McCoy and Maurice Jones-Drew, are both present at the Pro Bowl and took some time to speak with the Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk about their seasons on the NFL Network.

Each back was asked what they admired in the other. MJD complimented Shady’s elusiveness, his vision, speed–and his inexplicable ability to hang onto the ball even in such a precarious position. LeSean was complimentary of Jones-Drew’s ability to take over games and pounds defensive players. He also stated that, “he’s short but he’s not small. He plays like he’s 6’6.”

Here is the interview, which is part mutual admiration society between MJD and Shady, part discussion of the every down back in the NFL with Faulk, but entirely entertaining. To check it out, click here.

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There have been lots of lists highlighting the best players in various categories in the NFL as of late. Here’s a run down of how some of the Eagles have fared.

The ever-busy Pro Football Focus put together a list of the 20 best and 20 worst hands in the NFL.

The good news? Jason Avant came in as the 16th best wide receiver in the league. The bad news? DeSean Jackson was at the bottom of the list.

Per CSNPhilly,

While Avant is listed in the site’s Top 20, Jackson, unfortunately, resides in the Bottom 20. The 76th best at catching the ball — you know, the receiver’s primary responsibility — Jackson posted a “drop rate” of 13.43, failing to secure 9 of 67 balls thrown his way. By comparison, Avant dropped only 3 of 54.

You can find the full analysis here.

Next up: Football Outsiders put together an All Pro Team featuring three Birds: RB LeSean McCoy, DT Cullen Jenkins, and OT Jason Peters.

Here is what was said about the players via Bleeding Green Nation:

RB: LeSean McCoy, Eagles
McCoy led the NFL in rushing value according to DYAR, and moreover, he did it despite turmoil along most of the Philadelphia offensive line. We try to estimate how much rushing yardage can be attributed to offensive line blocking as opposed to the running backs with a stat called Adjusted Line Yards. Philadelphia was just 26th in ALY, but Philadelphia was second in Second Level Yards per carry (yards gained 5-10 yards from the line of scrimmage) and fourth in Open Field Yards per carry (yards gained 11-plus yards from the line of scrimmage).

LT: Jason Peters, Eagles
The one bright spot on the Eagles’ offensive line. FO’s J.J. Cooper tracked every sack in the NFL this year and found only one for which a Peters blown block was directly responsible. In addition, LeSean McCoy had his best rushing success running around left end.

DT: Cullen Jenkins, Eagles
Jenkins’ average tackle on a running play came after a gain of just 0.7 yards, the best figure in the league. He also added 5.5 sacks.

Last but not least, ProFootball Weekly released its all NFC list, which featured LeSean Jackson and Jason Peters. No Eagles defensive players were included.

Here is PFW’s full list.

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Photo via Ben Liebenberg/NFL.com

LeSean McCoy stopped by the NFL Network studios in Los Angeles last week to talk about his record-breaking season and why the Eagles failed to meet expectations in 2011.

Will you just look at that–young Shady cleans up nicely.

A few interesting gems from the interview:

• McCoy said that he was disappointed to not be able to play in the last game of the year, as he was trying to chase Maurice Jones-Drew for the league’s rushing title.

• McCoy said that there was never a lack of leadership in the locker room, and cited Asante Samuel and Mike Vick as being the leaders that kept the team together.

• Shady described DeSean Jackson as a “great player, excellent teammate, special talent.” He said that Jackson’s teammates always backed him 100%, and it’s difficult to tell someone that they’re dealing with something the right or wrong way when it’s their livlihood.

You can watch video of the interview here. And there is more Shady goodness via this article, also taken from his time at the NFL Network’s studios.

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Eagles players reflected on the season that was and took the opportunity to highlight the best among them.

LeSean McCoy was named as the MVP of the team’s offense for obvious reasons–breaking team records and leading the league in number of touchdowns will do that for you.  Jason Babin was named the most valuable for Philadelphia’s defense for his 18 sacks, the most for an Eagle since 1992.

And though he missed the last four games due to injury, Colt Anderson was given special team MVP honors for his importance to that unit this season.

One year later: No looking back

David Akers is one of those players who, regardless of where they go, will always be a Philadelphia Eagle. The former Eagles kicker showed Philadelphia several times this season that he is the fabulous player that he always was, earning yet another Pro Bowl berth this year.

A year after being let go by the team that was his home for a dozen years, Akers is doing just fine in San Francisco. In fact, one could argue that he got the better end of the deal, as the 49ers went 13-3 on the season (including a defeat of the Eagles) and earned a bye for the first week of the playoffs, now preparing to face the Saints in the NFC Divisional round.

More important than all of that? Akers’ young daughter Hally, who had a tumor on her ovary discovered around this time last year, is now cancer free.

Good on ya, David.

Who do you want back in 2012?

As the Birds are done for the season, fans have plenty of time to think about who they want to see back in Eagles green next season. And who they overwhelmingly do not.

Philly.com conducted a poll of Eagles fans and the results are in. A number of offensive players are overwhelmingly wanted back by fans for 2012 by overwhelming majorities: 98.1% want to see LeSean McCoy back (um–duh. Who exactly were the 1.9% who said otherwise?); 98.4% want to see Brent “tough guy” Celek return; and 97.8% are looking forward to seeing what Jeremy Maclin can do in 2012.

On defense, the players who fans said they most want to see return include Trent Cole at 98.4%; Cullen Jenkins with 98.1% of votes; and  95.5% saying they want to see Jason Babin back in an Eagles uniform.

On the other end of the spectrum, only 7.5% of fans want to see Vince Young back (again I ask, who are these people?). The next lowest scoring Bird was Victor Abiamiri, who has been extremely unlucky with regard to injury, with only 7.8 wanting to see him back next year.

The full results are featured and broken down here. The article features a comparison of, where applicable, support for a return for the 2011 season versus that for 2012.

Also featured is fan support for Philadelphia’s front office, including owner Jeffrey Lurie. Which seems a little silly to me, as he’s never going to un-own the team based on what we think, but I suppose the point of the exercise wasn’t to bog things down in reality/fact.

As I’m sure you’re wondering, 49.3% of respondents want to see Andy Reid return in 2012–which is actually almost an 8% increase over last year.

Go figure.

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A number of Eagles players are earning accolades for their work on and off the field in 2011.

RB LeSean McCoy and OT Jason Peters were honored for excellent performances in the 2011 season by being named to the Associated Press All-Pro first team.

McCoy led the league in touchdowns, with 20 total and 17 rushing TDs. He now holds the Eagles franchise record for most  touchdowns in a season. McCoy was the NFL’s 4th leading rusher, amassing 1,309 rushing yards.

Jason Peters had a stand out season, being the only veteran returning to the same position in the team’s offensive line.  Peters, along with McCoy, also earned a Pro Bowl nod for his success this season. Pro Football Focus, who included Peters in their list of 10 best offensive players in the NFL, said

Peters has surrendered just 20 total pressures (sacks, knockdowns, and hurries) on the season and has allowed Vick to hit the deck just four times.

DE Jason Babin was voted to AP’s second team for his 18 sacks in 2011, which is the third most in Eagles history.

Though they did not make the team, two other Eagles players received votes for All-Pro honors: DT Mike Patterson received one vote and OG Evan Mathis received two votes. » Continue reading “Eagles Briefs: Accolades Rolling In For Eagles Players”

Evan Mathis

You may not see eye-to-eye with Eagles LG Evan Mathis on the effectiveness of Andy Reid as the Eagles’ head coach, but regardless of your feelings his success with Howard Mudd and the Eagles offensive line in 2011 cannot be denied or overlooked.

In case you missed it, Mathis proved to be the most powerful man in Philadelphia social media on Tuesday, as a singular tweet led to almost immediate radio and TV interviews with 97.5 The Fanatic and on Daily News Live regarding this tweet, which he posted in the midst of Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference:

‘Twas the post heard around the Philadelphia Twitterverse. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and Mathis did not back away from or try to hide the controversial tweet, instead embracing opportunities presented to clarify his comments in more than 140 characters. That has to be worth something. And seriously? It was one tweet.

Evan Mathis is a unique presence on Twitter. He is witty, eloquent, irreverent, and clearly, sometimes controversial. We discuss his use of Twitter in the second part of our conversation. Today, however, we talk about what matters most to him as a player and to us as fans: Football.

Mathis, a self-described journeyman, was signed to the Eagles as a free agent this summer after two seasons in Cincinnati (prior to that he was in Miami and was drafted to Carolina in 2005). He brought important veteran experience to an offensive line that featured two rookies, center Jason Kelce and RG Danny Watkins, who were even more green than usual due to last year’s lockout. The o-line was one of the greatest areas of concern at the start of the season but found its rhythm in the latter half, being an integral part of LeSean McCoy’s record-breaking season.

Mathis’ success on the field with the Eagles in 2011 has garnered him notice. Pro Football Focus rated him as the top OG in the league for the season.

Evan Mathis spoke exclusively to Philly Sports Muse about his arrival in Philadelphia, the gelling of the Eagles offensive line, the fiercest defensive linemen in the National Football League and why working with Howard Mudd has him playing the best football of his career. » Continue reading “Evan Mathis Talks to Philly Sports Muse: “I’m A Fierce Competitor””

Brent Celek fends off Redskins safety DeJon Gomes. Photo via D Hallowell

It was a tortuously boring and messy game to watch, but the Eagles’ 34-10 win over the Redskins is the last Eagles football we’ll see until the summer so I hope you soaked it all in.

The 2011 season is over for the Philadelphia Eagles, and they finished with an 8-8 record. The team went on a 4-game winning streak to reach that record, but that is little consolation for a woefully painful and disappointing season.

“Too little, too late.” That, and not the cursed label of “Dream Team,” should be the term applied to the 2011 Eagles.

RB LeSean McCoy was not active for the game, so there went one compelling reason to watch the game. In fact, there went the one reason to watch any Eagles football all season. Jason Babin ended his season with 18 sacks, as his teammate Trent Cole had the only sack for the Birds against the Redskins.

The game was perfectly summed up by Governor Ed Rendell on Postgame Live:

“I’ve never seen a less impressive 34-10 win in all of my years of watching  football.” » Continue reading “It’s a Wrap: Eagles Finish 2011 at 8-8″