Weapon - X

Brian Dawkins is to be named the NFL Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dawkins told everyone that he wasn't done, and then he went out and proved it.

Here are some links to read:

NFC East is getting noticed. [Bleeding Green Nation]

Lane Kiffin has his own job status website. [Deadspin]
Playoffs? Nobody's talking about the playoffs. We're just trying to win a game here. [Shutdown Croner]

Chris Cooley is getting ready for his showdown with the Cowboys. [Chris Cooley 47]

I'll be back later today with some substantial content.

Brian Dawkins a liability?

It's the question on quite a few Eagles fan's minds since our Monday night loss to the Cowboys. Is Brian Dawkins a liability? I asked this very question back in August. My answer was "No", and it still is, but not as emphatically. The biggest concerns that I have are his mental mistakes, and his speed.

In the preseason game at Pittsburgh Santono Holmes caught a pass at the line of scrimmage, and took it 20 yards for the touchdown. Brian Dawkins took a bad angle, and got burned. 3 or 4 years ago, he could have taken that same angle, but he would have been able to catch Holmes and tackle him. At the time, I thought that it was an isolated incident, and there was no body of work to substantiate the notion that he was done. Although, there isn't a huge body of work to support the claim, it grew during the game in Dallas.

Jason Witten got behind the defense twice against us, once in the 2nd quarter (42 yard completion), and again in the in the 4th (32 yard completion), setting the Cowboys up for the game winning score. Here's what he had to say about getting beat over the top.

"I don't like the fact that I gave up a couple of big balls down the field. I took a couple of bad angles on the football today. I went for the interception on one and the other one, I wasn't quite in position. That wasn't good enough. I hold myself to high standards and it wasn't good enough.'' -Brian Dawkins

It's a long season, and don't believe that Weapon-X should hang up his cleats right now. He can still produce. He was strong against the run, and he can still lay the smack down on unsuspecting receivers, but he can't rely on his speed to compensate for mental mistakes anymore. I wanted the Eagles to go after Miami's Kenny Phillips in the draft as Dawks eventual replacement. Do the Eagles look to next years draft? Maybe use Carolina's pick to do it?

For the record, I love Brian Dawkins, he will forever be an Eagle. I don't think that he's done, but maybe it's time to re-evaluate his role. I got quite a few responses about this. There are a lot of Quintin Demps supporters out there. Maybe he can get some more experience as a situational player?

GO BIRDS!!!!

Weapon X

Take a long look at this picture..... Then ask yourself the following:
1. Can Dawkins return to "Weapon X," form?
2. Is Brian Dawkins done?

There are some who feel that Brian Dawkins has passed his prime, and cannot return to form. Then there are those that are paying tribute to him as if he was already gone. Indulge me for a momment as I romanticize the notion that Brian Dawkins isn't done just yet!

At age 34 (35 by midseason) Weapon X has 13 years of NFL experience. In NFL years (which are like dog years) 30 is old. Which means that Dawkins is, "over the hill." In 2006 he was 33 going on 34, and played in all 16 games, 93 tackles (77 solo, 22 assisted), 1 sack, 4 interceptions, and made the Pro Bowl. That seems pretty good for someone who's, "Over the hill." Donovan McNabb is 31, and people believe that it's possible for him to play for another 6 0r 7 more years, barring injury.

Injury shouldn't be a huge concern for him Dawkins either. In 2007 he lost a significant amount of time normally used for training to attend family issues, but all the reports have been that he has been working harder than ever this off season. He's highly tuned machine. In his 13 NFL seasons Dawkins has missed only 29 games. Of those 29 games missed 16 of them were from the '03 and '07 seasons. During the seasons between Weapon X played in all but one game.

Brian Dawkins has hinted that this may be his final season, but that doesn't mean that he is done. He's going to return to his form from 2 years ago. That's my prediction. When he decides to hang it up he will be greatly missed, and hard to replace.

Note: I went through the Historical Players at DB on NFL.com, and found that were quite a few guys that played, who's careers spanned more than a decade.