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Maybe if the Chicago Bears were playing anywhere else in the nation, they would be leading their division. At 5-3 so far this season, the Chicago Bears are currently third in the NFC North behind the Super Bowl defending champions, the Green Bay Packers and their 8-0 flawless season, and the Detroit Lions who at 6-2 are having the best start in over a decade. They had a tough Monday Night Football match against the Philadelphia Eagles, and before the kickoff, the Bears were a 7-point underdog in the spread. But Jay Cuttler and the Bears knew that they had to fight till the end, and pull off another come from behind win in the fourth quarter for a 30-24 win over the Eagles and clinch it’s third consecutive wins.

Michael Vick suffered a bit on this game. Like it has been the usual case this season, his defense has failed to protect him and he has constantly been hit. For a moment there, particularly in the third quarter, it really seemed as if Vick and the Eagles were getting it done right. They came back from a 17-10 deficit before the halftime break and were ahead 24-20 by the beginning of the fourth quarter. Then, as it has usually happened this season, it all went south in the last period. For the fourth time this season, the Eagles blew up a fourth quarter lead. With a 3-5 record for the season, the Eagles, the team that during the preseason was called upon to have it’s most successful season ever, has failed to live up to its expectations. This was supposed to be a dream team: it’s been nothing but a cruel nightmare for the squad and its fans.

The Philadelphia Eagles were the defending NFC East champions but after 8 weeks of football, the Eagles are now three games behind Division leader, the New York Giants (6-2). The Philadelphia Eagles fourth quarter performance this season has been so weak they now lead the NFL with the worst fourth quarter points difference this season with a minus-36. That is including the Bear’s outscoring the Eagles 0-10 on Monday’s night game. Vick finished the night with 21 of 38 passing for 213 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. The Chicago Cubs got a smoother performance from their quarterback Jay Cutler who finished the night with 18 of 32 passing for 208 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

The thing here is that the Cubs have realized they needed to take better care of their quarterback. Since the Bear were crushed 24-13 on Monday October 10^th against the Detroit Lions, Chicago has doubled it efforts to protect Cutler and it has paid out. In Chicago’s last three games, Cutler has been sacked only three times, that is a NFL best this season. He’s also rushed an average 153 yards per game which is far better than the numbers Cuttler had given his team in the first five games of the season. Consider for starters that he was sacked 18 times and rushed 101.4 yards per game in that first span.

The Bears will now face the Detroit Lions while trying to avoid a season sweep by their division rivals. The Philadelphia Eagles on the other hand are going to face the 2-6 Arizona Cardinals. Both squads are urged to win their games. It’s possible that this would be the last chance the Eagles have to fight for a spot in the Playoffs.

LeSean McCoy took on upon himself to make the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, pay for all the trash talking he did in the preseason. Ryan had called the Eagles the “all-hype” team and predicted the Cowboys would “beat their ass.” Not quite what happened on Sunday night. The Eagles dominated right from the start and never gave the Cowboys defense a break. As a matter of fact, The Eagles compiled 495 total yards and held the ball for 42:09. McCoy had a career best 185 yards rushing and completed two touchdown scores while helping out the Philadelphia Eagles defile the Dallas Cowboys 34-7 at home.

At the beginning of the season just after the Philadelphia Eagles had signed six ex-Pro Bowl players in free agency and trades, these guys were the hottest team in the NFL. With Michael Vick at the helm, the Eagles were expected to win everything and,  in theory, they had a well-balanced team that could rely on either their passing or rushing game to dominate their division and conference. Little did we know that this Super Bowl or bust squad was going to have such an under par kickoff and that what once was called a dream team would give the Lions fans so many nightmares.

But they are starting to make up for it, and after 8 weeks of football, the Philadelphia Eagles are now 3-4 for the season and currently are tied for second place among the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. This is certainly quite an improvement considering this is the same squad that despite all the hype, had recorded a 1-4 start. The Eagles still have some ways to go before they can actually catch up with the division leaders the New York Giants and their 5-2 mark.

The Eagles quarterback Michael Vick completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions for a very decent 129-9 passer rating. Vick led the Eagles to points on their first six possessions. He also ran for 50 yards, and by the time Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys were aware of the situation, there was nothing to do to turn this game around.

After the game, Rob Ryan came out to take the blame for what had happened. It seems to me that it was the only thing left for him to do after all the trash talking he had made in the preseason. “The whole thing is I got outcoached by [Andy] Reid and their staff,” Ryan said from the locker room door. “I mean, it’s ridiculous. I never gave our guys a chance. The whole fucking thing was on me. If I gave them any extra motivation, hell, I certainly never backed it up. I gave our guys a lousy plan. We had no chance, and it’s all on me.”

Then again, if we have to find a person responsible for the Dallas Cowboys disgraceful performance, it’s probably LeSean McCoy whom we should blame. McCoy carried the ball 30 times for 185 yards. Just to put it into the right perspective, that’s the most yardage the Dallas Cowboys have allowed in 11 seasons. Kudos for the Eagles, who despite a very slow start, could actually turn some heads around and live up to their expectations if only they managed to keep on playing like this.

Can the Philadelphia Eagles get better? Is this really all they’ve got? What happened this season? For crying out loud, the Eagles were expected to be one of the strongest teams in this season. This was the year when the Eagles had the manpower to actually make it into the Playoffs and succeed. This was the Eagles dream team, but at the end, you have to wonder, if these guys are ever going to wake up from this nightmare. Let’s consider for starters that the Eagles are 36-0 on the fourth quarter this season. Just like the Dallas Cowboys, they are really having a very difficult time closing games, finishing off teams even when holding a very big winning margin at the halftime break.

It’s a mess. The Eagles are now 1-3 for the season. And quite frankly, without taking kudos away from the San Francisco 49ers, it’s just simply unacceptable that they blow up a 20-point lead to the 49ers on the second half. That’s it: Micheal Vick had a decent game, but he’s defense just couldn’t hold off the 49ers that closed up the gap and took an important win on the road 24-23. The second half was an utter disaster. Let’s get this part straight: the Eagles only managed to score 3 points but gave 21 in the second half alone. Vick was magnificent, he had a superb game and quite frankly the rest of his teammates failed him. Yes, most of the time it is the quarterback who messes up a game, and he takes responsibility for it. But on this one game, it’s his teammates who should be wondering what is really going on in Philly.

Michael Vick, despite his broken right hand, and suffering a left hand finger injury on the first half, finished the game with a career high 416 passes, in 30 of 46 passes with two touchdowns, one interception, and a very guiding the Eagles in the rushing department, 75 yards on 8 carries. It’s not the kind of motivation that anyone needs. When your quarterback gives a performance like Vick did, the least you could do is to stand behind him and pull off a victory.

The San Francisco 49ers spectacular comeback began after Eagles kicker, David Akers’ field-goal attempt was blocked. His replacement, Alex Henery soon after made a 32-yarder for a 23-3 lead, but he would miss kicks from the 39 and 33 yards in the final period that ultimately cost the Eagles their second win of the season. Let’s be fair with Henery, he did scored field goals from the 32,32, and 33 yards on this game, but the two kicks that he miss, came in the worst of times. Alex Smith, the 49ers quarterback, closed the game with 21 of 33 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles will now face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1pm E.T. As of press time the Eagles are a -2½ point favorite on the spread. The 49ers will have to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  No official line has yet been released. Just like Michael Vick said in the press conference, it is time for the Eagles to get a gut check and figure out how to get the so called dream team out of an endless nightmare.

The Philadelphia Eagles took a harsh fall on Sunday as the New York Giants finally broke the spell and won it’s first game over the Eagles since 2008. That’s an eight game skid against the conference rivals that came to an end on Sunday. The Giants not only proved that Eli Manning can actually perform when the pressure is on, and that he’s got what it takes to lead the squad in the fourth quarter. But perhaps the biggest surprise came not with the Giants taking a 29-16 win at the Lincoln Financial Field, but with Giant’s defense aggressiveness that eventually knocked the Philadelphia Eagle’s quarterback Michael Vick out of the game with a broken hand in the fourth quarter.

Eli Manning had a great game behind the offensive lines of the New York Giants. The aerial raid the Giant’s quarterback conducted brought 4 touchdown passes including two to Victor Cruz who was key to the Giants win. It was a hard blow for the Eagles. Truth be said, Manning and company managed to defile the defense of a team for whom we all had very high expectations. The Eagles are now 1-2 for the season and it is still uncertain how long their Pro-Bowler quarterback, Michael Vick, is going to be out because of the broken hand. What we can say is that the Eagles are miles away from been the Super Bowl or bust dream team the media had tried so fervently to sell in the preseason.

Now, Vick has had a very rough season. He has been taking very hard hits. Just last week he suffered a concussion in the 35-31 lost against the Atlanta Falcons. That didn’t kept him from starting on this game, but the Eagles defense failed him at the end, and it is not uncertain how many days he will be out because of the broken hand. Vick broke his right hand, and although he throws the ball with his left, this latest injury might keep him from playing this week. Vick completed a 23-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin before taking a hard shot from Chris Canty, that’s when the fracture happened.

On the press conference Vick complaint about how much he has been getting hit in the last few games and how the referees are not doing much about it. “I felt I got hit late. No flag,” Vick said. “At some point something catastrophic is gonna happen. Not to blame the refs, but more precautions should be taken. I’m on the ground all the time in the pocket.”

Manning, on the other hand, really wanted to close this game. He knew that the fans wouldn’t forgive the squad had they blown another lead like they had on December of 2010. The last time these two teams played together the Giants allowed the Eagles to rally from a 21-point deficit with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. De Sean Jackson was completed a 65-yard punt return to give the Eagles an overwhelming 38-31 win on the last play of the game.

Eli Manning, took the better part of the game. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 254 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Vick, on the other hand, completed 16 of 23 for 176 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.