Midterm Season Review

The 2010 Philadelphia Eagles Season is at it's halfway mark following the Eagles' impressive win over Indianapolis on Sunday night. It's suddenly November, the month when things in the NFL begin to really become lucid, and a lot of our questions about the season can be answered. Who are the contenders, and who are the pretenders? Which rookies are panning out, and which ones are floundering? November is a very important month. The Eagles started it off with a convincing win over Indianapolis, 26-24.
Here are some of my thoughts and reactions to the Eagles' season so far:
- The team's extremely weak at cornerback. Samuel isn't a lockdown corner and is getting older, Hobbs is most definitely nothing more than a nickel corner, and Patterson is ok as a third, though he looked pretty good against the Colts replacing Hobbs. I'd like to see more out of Lindley, as I really liked him coming out of the draft.
- Nate Allen looks like he'll be the starting free safety for years. Good instincts, very high football iq, not afraid to make a big tackle (unlike Samuel), and is still only going to get better.
- Graham isn't playing like the preseason favorite to win DROY. He has looked great at times, but I think we all expected too much out of a rookie in a tough defense to learn. I still think he and Cole will be a top d-end duo next year.
- It can be argued that our receiving corps is one of the best in the league. DeSean and Maclin are one of the most explosive duos I've seen in a long time, Avant is the most sure-handed third WR in the game, and Cooper has shown flashes of being a great vertical threat. Celek is having a down year statistically, but I think that's more because Vick doesn't look to him very much than poor play on his part.
- This team's inevitably going to have to make a huge decision come 2011. Vick or Kolb? They're going to trade one of them, though I'd like to see them both stay, with Kolb serving as the backup to #7.
Now, here are my Vegas picks for the week (home team in caps):
Baltimore (+1) over ATLANTAHouston (+1) over JACKSONVILLEMIAMI (+1) over TennesseeMinnesota (-1) over CHICAGOKansas City (-1) over DENVERSt. Louis (+6) over SAN FRANCISCODallas (+14) over NEW YORK GIANTSCLEVELAND (+3) over New York JetsPhilly (-3) over WASHINGTON
I know those aren't all of the games, but for some reason some of the lines weren't up on Bodog.
Lock of the week: St Louis +6 over San Fran. San Francisco shouldn't be giving six points to anyone.