State of the Union: Philadelphia Eagles

Philly fans love to hammer people. And get hammered. Really hammered.

Being an Eagles fan must be like having to fight in the Civil War every day. You're technically part of the same organization but there's always bickering and arguing. Half the Eagle fans out there seem to be in love with Kevin Kolb, but the other half hates him already for not being McNabb. Half of them still appreciate that Andy Reid is a good coach at everything other than challenges and big games, the other half want to use him to feed Guam. The post-McNabb era has dawned in Philadelphia and it'll be an interesting year.

The Philadelphia defense isn't great but isn't bad either. It's a solid unit that can hold it's own against everybody but the top offenses in the league. Seeing as how they have to play the Cowboys twice though (assuming Dallas gets themselves together) this won't be good enough to be better than a wild card team. They brought in Kolb to help win the big game not continue their trend of wild card berths and disappointing finishes, but because he's young it'll be up to the defense to pick up the slack. They brought in former first round pick Ernie Simms to help bring their linebacking corps together and drafted Michigan Man Brandon Graham to give them a better pass rush. The newcomers should be an improvement especially if Simms plays up to his potential, but they'll need to hurry the quarterback if they want to make any marked improvement. Have faith in Graham. Michigan almost always pulls through.

To be clear I think Kevin Kolb has all of the tools to succeed in a normal situation. Philadelphia isn't a normal situation though so I don't know if he's mentally prepared to go from the most loved position in town to the most loathed with his move up the depth chart. He has the weapons and the system to be a playmaker. DeSean Jackson is a self absorbed jerkoff but he's an incredibly talented self absorbed jerkoff who can get separation, stretch the field, and open things up for their version of a run game (swing passes and dump offs to their backs). Smurf receivers who depend on the big play tend to have boom and bust years but Reid is certainly going to get the ball in his hands in open space. Jeremy Maclin is a player and Riley Cooper looks to continue the trend of Florida players who look better away from Tebow so Kolb will have no shortage of receivers to go to. The one positive of parting with Brian Westbrook is that they don't have to wonder which week their number one offensive player will go down with injury. LeSean McCoy already lead the team in carries last season and has proven that he's ready for the starting job on Sundays. Like McNabb though, it will be Kolb who is asked to shoulder the load each weekend and put up numbers while limiting mistakes in their pass heavy offense. If he isn't up to the task prepare for a backlash of epic proportions and possible riots in Philly. They do have tasty riot punch though so if they start flipping cars I'll be down there in a heartbeat.