Campbell: Eagles In Position To Control NFC East
By Bill Campbell
Stealing Home
A steal at home is probably the least seen play in baseball. In fact, most of us never have seen it. Yet last Saturday the New York Yankees' Chris Young stole home in a performance that was surprising and memorable. He helped the Yanks beat the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles 3-2 and end the Orioles' longest winning streak of their season at six. The Yankees bounced back after being swept in a double-header on Friday to stay on the fringe of the wild card race. Young was but by the New York Mets earlier this year but he has come through for the Yankees nearly every day recently with a series of extra base hits. On Saturday, Young doubled during a three-run second off Miguel Gonzalez (9-8). Antoan Richardson followed with an RBI single and then took off for second, beating the throw. Young scooted home without a return toss and a singular moment – stealing for home – was born. Pitcher David Robertson earned his 36th save for the Yankees down in Camden Yards.
Phillies on the Road
The Phillies, meanwhile, are out west on their last road trip of the season. In San Diego for a four- game stand, they lost the first two contests 1-0 and 5-4. But last night Cole Hamels (9-7) was pitching. Rather, he was dominating. Hamels struck out nine in seven innings and allowed a run, seven hits and a walk. It was his twenty-first start in which he was charged with three runs or less. Over that time span he is 8-4 with a 1.86 ERA. The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw is the only pitcher with a better ERZ, 1.26. Hamels grew up in the San Diego area and was a Padres fan as a kid. That hasn't meant a thing since he's 9-2 against San Diego. For the Phillies, Ben Revere had two RBIS and two hits. Yangervis Solarte, Tommy Medica and Cameron Maybin each had two hits for the Padres. The losing pitcher was Eric Stults (7-17), pitching 4 1/3 innings and giving up four runs, six hits. His seventeenth season loss ties him with the Phillies' A.J. Burnett, who lost on Tuesday night. The teams meet one more time tonight before the Phillies head to Oakland for three games against the Athletics, then to Miami for a trio in Miami. They will finish the season at home against Atlanta.
Eagles Notes
After two weeks of second-half comebacks, maybe despite them, I think the Eagles' chances to win their division are pretty good. Following their 30-27 win against the Colts on Monday night, they are on top of the NFC East. Dallas and Washington have won one, lost one. The New York Giants are at 0-2.
The Eagles went to the locker room at halftime in Indianapolis behind, 17-6. On their eighth drive of the second half, Shady McCoy punched it in for a short rushing touchdown. When the Colts got the ball back, Fletcher Cox caused the Colts' receiver to fumble the ball and Cox got his hands on it. That turned the tide. The Birds' Darren Sproles, who made a huge impact in this game, took it in for another TD and the game was tied, 20-20. While the Colts went on to put another 7 on the board, but the Birds' Malcolm Jenkins intercepted an Andrew Luck pass and the ball was back in the Eagles' hands. Maclin took it in for a TD not long after and it was tied at 27. The Colts knocked at the door once more but couldn't score and the ball was back in Eagle hands. They efficiently moved the ball down into field goal range and managed the clock well, getting it down to three seconds before calling time. Cody Parkey kicked an attempt from 36 yards which was good but, believe it or not, the Colts called a timeout. Back in place, Parkey kicked it again and the ball went right through the uprights. The Eagles walked away with a 30-27 win.
Head Coach Chip Kelly was asked after the Colts contest about the team's running game. He felt that there were four plays that pretty much described the way the game unfolded, especially the heroics of Darren Sproles, who had seven receptions for 152 yards to go with the touchdown run. "He is just a special player." How special? Sproles covered the ball 20 times for 70 yards and a score. His one yard up the gut midway through the third quarter was the Eagles first TD and brought them to within seven. He followed it up with one of the most impressive runs you'll ever see to tie the game in the third quarter. After Andrew Luck threw to Bradshaw to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter, said Kelly, "Sproles came right back with another play that changed the game – a pass from Foles and his 51 yard run to the 6 which set up Cody Parkey's game-winning 36-yard field goal." You can't get more than that from any player. LeSean McCoy was asked for his thoughts, after seeming to take a back seat to Sproles in Indianapolis. "To be honest, he's helping me out," McCoy told reporters after the game. "Without Sproles, we'd be in some trouble. I need to get my thing together. I feel like I'm not playing to my level where I should be playing. Tonight it was an average, above average game where he carried us again. It's good to have that because when you get that type of attention from the defense, other guys are making plays, and he's doing it. I don't mind at all, and the other thing is I don't feel as tired or as beat up. I had about 20 carries, two passes, not too many carries, just enough to be effective." McCoy had 24 touches, 20 carries for 79 yards and four receptions for 23. He had a 21-yard run on a key third-and-15 that kept the game-tying touchdown drive going as well. But it wasn't a typical performance for McCoy, 23 tries for 58 yards. You can't help but wonder what it will be like when he and Sproles are on fire in the same game.
While impressed with Sproles, we can't ignore quarterback Nick Foles' performance against the Colts' veteran QB, Andrew Luck. Foles was shaky in the first half, uneven but unrattled. In the second, he came back well, conducting the offense with confidence. Foles was 21 of 37 for 331 yards with one touchdown -- a 6-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin with 3:25 to go that tied it at 27. He threw that tying touchdown pass with 3:25 to go and set it up for Cody Parkey to get three as the clock ticked off. Last, the play-calling and time-management were notable. The team has many play options and they use them, quarter after quarter.
Chip Kelly mentioned something else after the game that's worth noting. He said, "[W]e're going to play sixty minutes and we played sixty minutes." In the last two weeks Kelly's "sixty minutes" approach to football has become even clearer. The conditioning, training, hydrating, dietary and sleep requirements he's placed on his players are bearing fruit. In these first two games, both the Jaguars and the Colts clearly came to play. The Eagles started out slowly, even erratically. But they built momentum and, even when they were down, they returned to the field more than ready to go toe-to-toe with the opponent -- and the opponents got tired. Their exhaustion led to mistakes, mistakes that the Eagles capitalized on to put two in the "W" column. The work they're doing at practice, in the weight room, at home appears to be paying off. They come to play sixty minutes and they appear to remain strong and viable for the entire time. Coach is on to something. It's fun to watch.
DeSean Jackson will be in town with the Washington Redskins at The Linc, 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Robert Griffin III injured his left ankle and Kurt Cousins will be at the helm for Washington. This should be interesting.
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