The Village Challenge rises again in Philadelphia!

[CubsFan915]

Okay, just a reason on why I chose Philadelphia. For both of the VC's, we've been in the AFC, and I just wanted a change - rather than battling Seattle, or Pittsburgh, like we've always done, I wanted to battle against the NFC teams. I chose Philly because I think it's got the best interface in the NFC.

Just as with the Jacksonville VC, we will start with an allocation draft, with all sliders left exactly in the middle.

First, the front office:
Scout Robert Heath Age 55
QB: G
RB: VG
REC: EXC
OL: F
K: G
DL: G
LB: F
SEC: G
YOUNG: F

Coach Billy Joe McDaniel
QB: EXC K: VG
RB: G YT: EXC
REC: G MOT: F
OL: F DIS: G
DL: F OFF: G
LB: G DEF: F
SEC: G INJ: VG

I just want to know that really, guys, I DID leave all the sliders at the middle, as you review the roster:

QB Kurt Warner, 3rd yr, $4.5M cap, through 2002
QB Tony Graziani, 4th yr, $440K cap, through 2000
QB Erik Kramer, 11th yr, $440K cap, through 2002
RB Stephen Davis, 5th yr, $3M cap, through 2004
RB Thurman Thomas, 13th yr, $440k cap, through 2003
RB Edgar Bennett, 8th yr, $440k cap, through 2001
RB Travis Prentice, rookie, $440k, 2001
FB Joel Mackovica, 2nd yr, $440k, 2001
FB Lorenzo Neal, 8th yr, $440k, 2001
TE Freddie Jones, 4th yr, $550k, 2001
TE Eric Green, 11th yr, $440k, 2002
TE Ricky Turman, rookie, $440k, 2001
WR Jeff Graham, 10th yr, $1.2M, 2003
WR Sean Dawkins, 8th yr, $1.2M, 2002
WR Marty Booker, 2nd yr, $440k, 2001
WR Joe Jurevicius, 3rd yr, $440k, 2002
WR Emanuel Smith, rookie, $440k, 2001
C Robbie Tobeck, 8th yr, $700k, 2001
C Adam Treu, 4th yr, $440k, 2002
G Zach Weigart, 6th yr, $2.3M, 2002
G Brendan Stai, 6th yr, $1.75M, 2003
G Wilbert Brown, 2nd yr, $440k, 2001
G Jorge Diaz, 2nd yr, $440k, 2001
T Jason Odom, 5th yr, $2.75M, 2002
T Todd Steussie, 7th yr, $1.9M, 2002
T Marcus Spriggs, 4th yr, $440k, 2002
T Tony Hutson, 5th yr, $440k, 2000
P Mike Horan, 17th yr, $440k, 2000
K Mike Vanderjagt, 3rd yr, $440k, 2000
DE Jevon Kearse, 2nd yr, $5M, 2002
DE Phillip Daniels, 5th yr, $4M, 2002
DE Al Fontenot, 8th yr, $700k, 2001
DE Travis Kirschke, 4th yr, $440k, 2000
DT Bryant young, 7th yr, $7M, 2003
DT Brad Culpeper, 9th yr, $3.3M, 2003
DT Kimo Von Oelhoffen, 7th yr, $440k, 2002
DT Alvin McKinley, rookie, $440k, 2000
LB Mike A. Jones, 10th yr, $1M, 2002
LB Robert Jones, 9th yr, $800k, 2001
LB Shawn Barber, 3rd yr, $800k, 2001
LB Jamie Sharper, 4th yr, $550k, 2002
LB Anthony Davis, 8th yr, $440k, 2002
LB Corey Moore, rookie, $440k, 2001
LB Isiah Kacyvenski, rookie, $440k, 2000
CB Walt Harris, 5th yr, $1.5M, 2002
CB Marcus Coleman, 5th yr, $1.4M, 2001
CB Chris Rogers, 2nd yr, $440k, 2002
CB Craig Newsome, 6th yr, $440k, 2002
CB Wasswa Serwanga, 2nd yr, $440k, 2000
S Kwamie Lassiter, 6th yr, $1.4M, 2001
S Tommy Bennett, 6th yr, $1M, 2002
S Michael Booker, 4th yr, $440k, 2001
S Travis Davis, 6th yr, $440k, 2001

Our scout says we are excellent at QB (Duh!), VG at RB, G at FB, G at TE, VG at WR, G at C, VG at G, G at T, Poor at P, EXC at K, G at DE, EXC at DT, G at LB, G at CB, and VG at S. I think we'll have a decnet time moving the ball, and a good time stopping the run, but struggle against the pass.

I haven't done a whole lot of drafts to start my careers in FOF2001, but this is by far the best team I've seen come out of it. Even when I've messed with the sliders some to get a team more to my liking, I haven't come out this strong.

[CubsFan915]

2000 Preseason

Cleveland 28, Philadelphia 10
Baltimore 23, Philadelphia 13
Philadelphia 17, Tennessee 10
Philadelphia 28, Buffalo 0

We went 2-2, using our backups all preseason. Our coach is supposed to be very good avoiding injuries, right? DE Al Fontenot (broken fibula) and S Michael Booker (bruised sternum) are out for at least the first 2-3 months of the season.

2000 Regular Season- First half

Philadelphia 30, Dallas 17

Opening the season with a win is always nice; doing so with a division win is nicer; doing it against Dallas is just too sweet. Kurt Warner was 25 of 35 with 286 yards and 2 TD; Stephen Davis carried 16 times for 85 yards and a TD. Sean Dawkins was Warner's favorite target: 8-116, and both TD. 3 interceptions of Troy Aikman, two by Marcus Coleman, made the difference.

NY Giants 17, Philadelphia 12
So much for moving the ball, and being strong against the run. Richard Huntley ran for 106 yards against us, and we only had 216 yards total offense. We also lose 5th WR Marty Booker to broken ribs, for 2-3 months.

Green Bay 30, Philadelphia 27
Green Bay, led by QB Jim Harbaugh, gets a game winning field goal with 58 seconds. We have a great day offensively: Warner completes 22-36 for 299 yards and a TD; Sean Dawkins comes up big with 6 catches for 125 yards, and Stephen Davis carries only 15 times, but has 151 yards. Harbaugh, though, completes 23-28, for 279 yards, and has 2 TD. A tough loss, especially since we also lose WR Joe Jurevicius (broken jaw) and S Tommy Bennett (broken jaw) for most of the rest of the season. Needing room to sign replacements, I release RB Edgar Bennett and (as much as it kills me) LB Corey Moore. I hate to do that to a fellow Hokie, but he's our 7th LB.

Philadelphia 52, New Orleans 22
A breakout game. We have strings of 21 and 17 unanswered points, and just dominate this game. Kurt Warner is named game MVP, and offensive player of the week, completing 28 of 38 for 357 yards and 3 TD. I would have given it to RB Stephen Davis, though: 19-89, and 4 TD. Both Jeff Graham (9-135,2 TD) and Sean Dawkins (7-103) were over 100 yards receiving. 3 sacks, and an INT, kept ancient Saints QB Warren Moon off balance all day.

Philadelphia 45, Atlanta 14
One game is an aberration, two games is a streak. We score the last 35 points of the game, yet Atlanta CB Darren Sharper is named MVP for a 53-yard interception return. Whatever. Stephen Davis picks up 115 yards and a TD on 25 carries; Warner throws for 223 yards and 3 TD (and 3 INT); Jeff Graham catches 7-120, with 2 TD; Bryant Young gets 1.5 sacks, and we get 2 picks. A very solid effort; however, we're tied with New York and Washington for 2nd, 1 game behind Dallas.

Philadelphia 27, Washington 24
With 9:43 to play in the second, Washington leads, 24-7. Then, Stephen Davis lumbers for a 62 yard TD, Kurt Warner finds Sean Dawkins for a 35 yard TD, and we get 3 Mike Vanderjagt field goals to win int. (That's in addition to Dawkins' 85 yards TD catch earlier in the game.) Dawkins earns MVP honors, rightly so: 5-182, and 2 TD. Davis added 124 yards, while Redskins QB Bubby Brister got abused, being sacked 7 times. The Freak got to him 2.5, and Brad Culpepper 2. Dallas had the bye, so we are tied with the Giants a half-game back.

Philadelphia 23, Arizona 22
A second week in a row for a close, tough win. The game looks lost when Ebenezer Ekuban scoops up a fumble on our 8 and runs it in, putting the Cards up 5 with 6:41 to play. Kurt Warner leads a masterful drive, culminating in Dawkins' 2nd 12 yard TD catch of the game, and we pull out a close onw in the Valley of the Sun. The Giants win, but Dallas loses, leaving us tied for 1st. Warner earns MVP honors on the strength of 27-36, 313, 3 TD, and 0 INT. Dawkins (8-105, 2 TD), and WR Emanuel Smith (8-101) both go over the 100 yard mark, while The Freak picks up another 2 sacks.

Philadelphia 23, Chicago 13
A tough win against a tough team. Chiacgo has had a lot of close losses, and could easliy be better than 3-5. As it stands, they play us very tough. Ultimately, though, what's important is tha the giants lost, leaving us in sole possession of first place!

At the halfway point, we've gone 6-2. Kurt Warner is the 3rd highest rated QB in the league at 100.9, with 2183 yards (#2), 15 TD (T-#3), and only 6 INT.
Stephen Davis is second in the league in rushing with 711 yards, trailing only Richard Huntley's 769 (?). He also leads the league in TD with 11; no one else has more than 6.
Jeff Graham leads the league in catches with 50, and is 3rd in yards with 702; Sean Dawkins leads in yards with 756, and is 5th in catches with 43.
Jevon Kearse has 8 sacks, good for a tie for 3rd in the league. Walt Harris' team-leading 4 INT is good enough for 6th in the league.

[CubsFan915]

2000 Regular Season-Second Half

Philadelphia 28, Giants 17
And the runaway is officially on, I think. We open up a two-game lead on the division, and hold the tiebreaker over the Giants. 21 unanswered points to open the game, followed by 17 in a row for the G-Men. No real exceptional offensive performances, unless you count getting 60 yards from our fullback Lorenzo Neal (and a 58 yard TD run from Neal). Bryant Young picks up 2 sacks as well. On another note, Dorsey Levens of Kansas City had 4 rushing TD, and 1 receiving TD, breaking Stephen Davis' record of 4 TD scored in one game.

Dallas 37, Philadelphia 3
And our winning streak comes to an end. We have a 1 1/2 game lead over Arizona, the Giants, and Dallas, and a 2 game lead over Washington. Neither team played very well, despite the fact that Dallas put up 37 points: a 69 yard fumble return, 3 field goals, 2 2-yard runs, and a 3 yard pass.

Philadelphia 23, Pittsburgh 17
This one goes to overtime, as Cade McNown finds Kevin Johnson for a 26 yards TD pass with only 31 seconds left on the clock, and the ensuign extra point ties the game. Philly wins the toss, and starts on their own 11 yard line. The first two plays take us to our 24 yard line, and then Warner finds Stephen Davis all alone on a fly pattern for his only catch; 76 yards later, the game is over. Davis also had 81 yards and 1 TD rushing, and earned MVP honors. Arizona keeps pace 1 1/2 games back, while the rest of the division falls to 5-5, 2 1/2 games back.

Philadelphia 35, Arizona 13
We virtually lock up the division with this one. Warner throws 3 TD passes, while completing 27-34 for 374 yards, to earn MVP honors as we win this one going away. St. Louis, at 10-1, has already locked up the West, with Billy Joe Tolliver as their starting QB?

Washington 43, Philadelphia 25
We're still 2 1/2 games in front of literally the rest of the division; the other 4 teams are all 6-6. Kurt Warner's 3 interceptions are the difference.

Philadelphia 23, Tennessee 17
We still have yet to technically lock up the division, but we will have to lose our remaining 2 games, while Washington wins out. We're tied going into the 4th quarter, when two Mike Vanderjagt field goals seal the win. Game ball goes to Kwamie Lassiter, with 10 tackles, 1 assist, and an interception. Kearse added 2.5 sacks. The offense played just well enough to win.

Cleveland 42, Philadelphia 11
Washington wins as well, so this isn't over yet. Runs of 14 and 21 unanswered points for Cleveland end the game early.

We have the bye next week, and Washingotn loses, so we go into the final week of teh season as NFC East champs!

Cincinnati 18, Philadelphia 17
The worst part of this loss is that it costs us a bye, as Detroit finishes at 11-5, while we end up 10-6.

Statistics

Kurt Warner ends the season as the 4th-rated QB in the league, with a rating of 91.0. He is tied for 2nd in the league in completion percentage (62.2%); he is 2nd in the league with 4240 yards (a mere 33 yards behind leader Brett Favre of Cleveland); 5th in the league with 26 TD; and finished with only 15 INT.
Stephen Davis finished 4th in the league with 1204 yards (Priest Holmes led the league with 1539). His 19 TD are 5 better than anyone else in the league, as he averages 4.5 yards per carry.
Sean Dawkins led the league in receiving yards with 1358; the closest was Rob Moore of Carolina with 1251. Dawkins' 10 TD catches are good enough for a tie for third (Joey Galloway of San Diego has 15), and his 82 catches are good enough for 5th (Ed McCaffery has 91).
Kwamie Lassiter leads the team in interceptions with 5, and is 6th in the league in tackles with 101 (Mo Lewis of New Orleans has 137). The Freak, Jevon Kearse, finishes a half-sack off the lead, with 14.5.

[CubsFan915]

2000 Postseason- Wild Cards Round

Cincinnati (9-7) 43, Baltimore (11-5) 28
Denver (9-7) 27, New England (9-7) 3
Washington (9-7) 42, Tampa Bay (9-7) 28

We open with a home game against the Green Bay Packers. They beat us 30-27 in Week 3, and finished the season 9-7, two games behind Detroit. They feature "Captain Comeback" Jim Harbaugh at QB, and Rickey "Running" Watters at RB. Their front line of Duane Clemons, Brady Smith, Santana Dotson, and Jeff Zgoniga is formidable, and their secondary of Ty Law, Shawn Springs, Lawyer Milloy, and Lethon Flowers is no slouch, either. They had the lowest scoring defense in the league, while we had the second-highest scoring offense.

The Vet is rocking as we kick off to Green Bay to open the game. It gets even louder as our defense hold the Pack to three and out on their first drive, and positively exploded when Travis Prentice returns the punt 77 yards for a touchdown. Add the extra point, and we're up 7-0 after only 1:56, and the offense hasn't set foot on the field. On the next series, Green Bay drives from their 33 to our 46, but loses 3 yards on 3rd and short. Their punt pins us at the 3. On the first two plays, we lose two yards, but on 3rd and 12 from our own 1, Stephen Davis breaks off a 27 yard run, getting us out of danger. We get down to the Packer 24, before a holding penalty moves us back 10 yards. Thurman Thomas takes the ball over the right side, cuts off a great block by C Robbie Tobeck, and sprints 34 yards for the touchdown! 14-0, Eagles, 5:34 left in the 1st. We must have already knocked Harbaugh out, as Stoney Case can't get the ball moving, and we take over after the punt on our 24. This time, the Packers defense holds, as we go 3 and out. The quarter ends as the Packers are facing 3rd and 12, on their own 43.

The Packers convert, but stall out at our 40. After the holding penalty on the punt return, we are pinned down on our 1. We manage to escape the safety, but the PAck takes over on our 36. The defense holds again, as the Pack loses 14 yards on three plays, and punts the ball down to our 7. We get a few yards, and have to punt it back, and Green Bay finally breaks through as Stoney Case finds Watters on a 6 yard TD pass. 14-7 Philadelphia, 2:20 left in the half. We narrowly avoid another safety, as Warner gets sacked on the 1, and Green Bay gets the ball on their 32 with 35 seconds left. They zip downfield and add a 39 yard field goal, sending us halftime with a 14-10 lead.

Somewhere along the way Erik Kramer entered the game, and he leads the offense to the Packers 15 as the thrid quarter begins. The offense stall, and we add a 32 yard field goal from Mike Vanderjagt to stretch the margin back to 7 points, 17-10. Case answers, leading the Packers 89 yards, tying the score with a 16 yard TD pass with 6:55 left. We go three and out, and the next thing you know, the Pack is on our 14 yard line. They get down to the 7, but have to settle for another field goal; 20-17 Green Bay, with 13 seconds left in the third.

The fourth quarter begins with the Eagles on their own 29. With fourth and one on our 38, coach Robinson goes for it, only to have Stephen Davis stopped, and the ball go over on downs. Three plays later, Case throws another TD pas, and The Vet falls quiet: 27-17 Packers, with 11:48 remaining. We are forced to punt, and Case leads the Pack on a long, time-consuming drive. Our defense finally stiffens, forcing an 18 yard field goal, but the score is 30-17, with only 2:23 to play, and no time outs. A desperation drive results in an interception in the end zone, and the Packers run out the clock. Green Bay 30, Philadelphia 17.

2000 Post-Season - Divisional Round

Cleveland (11-5) 40, Cincinnati (10-7) 28
San Diego (12-4) 28, Denver (10-7) 7
Washington (10-7) 37, Detroit (11-5) 31
St. Louis (13-3) 20, Green Bay (10-7) 17

2000 Post-Season - Conference Finals

San Diego (13-4) 33, Cleveland (12-5) 22
St. Louis (14-3) 42, Washington (11-7) 12

2000 Super Bowl

San Diego (14-4) 17, St. Louis (15-3) 13

Sean Dawkins' numbers were good enough for 1st Team All Pro. Kurt Warner earned 2nd team All-Pro.

[CubsFan915]

We get a 75 for our year-end score: 77 Performance, 75 value, 75 profit, 73 difficulty.

Following our long-standing rule for staff, we would not attemt to sign a new coach or scout, since we made the playoffs. However, scout Heath Roberts' contract has expired. In keeping with the spirit of this rule, I will attempt to re-sign him first. He resigns, and we move along.

Eric Green retired at the end of the season. The 11 year veteran had been hoping to play a larger part in the Eagles' offense, but was a backup to Freddie Jones. Rather than contiue as a backup, Green has decided to retire, but has accepted the job of tight ends' coach.

Hoping to take advantage of our playoff run, we request a new stadium, due to the decrepit condition of Veterans' Stadium. We ask for a natural grass facility, with 70,000 seats, 15000 club seats, and 150 luxury boxes. We offer to contribute $50M of the expected $237M construction cost, since we made about $40M in profit last season.

There is no one worth using the franchise tag on, so we progress to free agency, merely looking to retain or replace 18-year veteran kicker Mike Horan. But first the trade offers: reject the 6th round offer for our starting center Robbie Tobeck; reject the 6th rounder for likely starting FB Joel Mackovica; reject the 2nd round pick for starting CB Walt Harris. We do get an interesting trade offer from tennessee: TE Kyle Brady and the 4th pick of the 4th round for CB Marcus Coleman. Brady is Jones' equal as a receiver, and a much better blocker; Coleman led the team in interceptions. I decide to turn this trade into a TE for TE swap, and but don't want to include our 4th rounder in the deal, so we stand pat.

We lose backup DE Travis Kirschke to Kansas City, where he signs a 2 year deal worth $9.67 million. That's a lot more money than I felt comfortable offering to a 3rd DE, so I let him walk. Backup QB Tony Graziani signs with Detroit for $3.65 million over 2 years. We get our punter in week 4, as Craig Hentrich signs for 3 years at a total of $2.06 million.

Going into the draft, I'd like to pick up a CB, and a LB. Our scout also says we could use an offensive tackle.

Sorry, guys, but I guess I never saved the game after the draft, because I just loaded up my game after 3 long days of non-FOF stuff and I'm back at the amateur draft. Guess I'll have to redo the draft, and pick up from there. Sorry about the delay; lots of unpleasant real-life stuff to deal with...

[This message has been edited by CubsFan915 (edited 12-19-2000).]

[CubsFan915]

2001 Draft

27. CB Tom Condon, Tennessee-Martin
An outstanding kick returner, a quality punt returner, and he'll grow into a fine defender. He'll be a great cover guy, but not much of a ballhawk.

58. FB Xavier Buckley, Arizona State
Best athlete available accordin to our scout, and he could start from day 1. As good a ballcarrier and receiver as we've got now by the time he develops, and he can block better than any fullback on the roster.

89. LB Bernard Dunlap, NC State
Not exactly a starter; he'll come in handy defending the tight end, but man to man coverage is really his only strong suit.

120. G Bubba Tanner, San Diego State
Concerns about his stamina have dropped him this far; he'll grow into a solid lineman.

151. QB Myron Dunne, Wingate
Best athlete available. That says more about the draft pool than it does about Dunne. He may be better than Kramer, but he won't come close to pushing Warner.

182. DT Sam Hanks, Arizona State
Could be a steal this late. He won't be a star, but he'll grow to be solid.

213. LB Alfred Hartzell, Wyoming
Best athlete available.

Post-draft we get offered a 3rd round draft pick for Todd Steussie. Since we only have 3 tackles under contract, we decline. In other news, after several recounts, a huge debate about hanging chands, and something called pregnant chads, our stadium issue failed by a mere 0.5%, less than 10,000 of over 2 million votes. Feel free to try again, or to see about moving - I hear Las Vegas is a great city for a football team.

2001 Exhibition Season
Baltimore 45, Philadelphia 17
San Diego 17, Philadelphia 9
Philadelphia 21, Denver 10
Philadelphia 19, Cleveland 14

No major injuries.

2001 Regular Season - First Half

Philadelphia 33, Green Bay 7
What a way to start off the season. Stephen Davis runs for 138 yards and a TD to earn game MVP honors. Warner completes 22 of 39 for 253 and finds Jeff Graham for 99 yards and 2 TD. We get a sack from Jamie Sharper, and 2 INT, as we cruise.

NY Giants 9, Philadelphia 6
What a horrible way to follow up an impressive first game. On th ebright side, we held the giants without a TD, and allowed only 245 total yards; on the dark side, we only got 163 total yards ourselves. Warner was as bad as he was good last week: 15-35, 131 yards, 2 INT.

Philadelphia 31, Oakland 20
Warner is back on track, throwing for 303 yards and 3 TD. It's a good thing, as Davis nets a total of 5 yards, and we rush for 12 yards total as a team. Sean Dawkins again shows why Warner likes to get him the damn ball so much, with 109 yards and a TD. We get 2 picks, and The Freak gets 2 sacks.

Philadelphia 34, Washington 21
We put up the first 24 points of the game, and never look back. Warner throws for 3 TD passes, but only 183 yards, and S Tommy Bennett provides an early spark with a 67 yard interception return for TD. We get to Redskins QB Bubby Brister 4 times.

We're currently 3-1, one game behing undefeated New York, and tied with Washington for second.

Carolina 27, Philadelphia 24
We upset Washington last week, and turn around and get upset this week. We turn the ball over twice, and fail to convert a 4th and short on the Carolina 3 on the opening drive. We outplayed Carolina everywhere except where it mattered-the scoreboard.

We have the bye in week 6. We've got a couple minor injuries, that the week off will do wonders for.

Denver 26, Philadelphia 3
The Broncos were 1-5 coming in. We just flat-out got outplayed; every drive in the second half ended in a punt. We also lose starting RG Brendan Stai to a broken wrist, and expect him to miss the rest of the regular season.

Arizona 20, Philadelphia 17
This is the second week in a row we've been the second win for a team. Arizona gets a 33 yard field goal as time expires to win. Again, we got flat-out outplayed, and I don't know what we can do about it.

Philadelphia 37, NY Giants 17
Well, after tweaking the game plan to throw the ball a bit more, especially on 1st down, things looked much better, at least this game. Erik Kramer filled in for Kurt Warner after Warner hyperextended his elbow, and threw for 318 yards and 3 TD. Dawkins found the ball for 9 catches, and 114 yards. Warner is doubtful for next week, though; Kramer will start.

We hit the halway point at 4-4, a half game behind the Giants for 3rd place, and the wild card. Washington leads the division at 6-2, 2 games ahead of us.

To this point, Kurt Warner has struggled this year. His rating is only 76.5, he's thrown for less than 200 yards a game, and has thrown 10 TD versus 7 INT. Kramer looked good, and will get a chance to play the next couple of weeks.
Stephen Davis is perhaps the biggest offensive diappointment, as he has only rushed for 496 yards and 2 TD after having 1204 yards and 19 TD last year.
Sean Dawkins continues to be our QB's favorite target. He has caught 41 passes thus far, for 576 yards, and 2 TD. Jeff Graham has caught 5 TD passes already this year!
Tom Condon has been everything advertised on kick returns; he is 4th in the league, averaging 27 yards per kickoff return.
Jevon Kearse only has 5 sacks, and Bryant Young has 4. Marcus Coleman, leads the team with 4 interceptions.

[CubsFan915]

2001 Regular Season - Second Half

Kansas City 16, Philadelphia 10
Kramer failed his test miserably, and Warner is expected to start week as his elbow has healed very well. Once again, we just got whooped - KC outgained us 306 to 173. Very frustrating.

Philadelphia 23, San Diego 13
San Diego came in 7-2; this inconsistency is just maddening. Warner threw the ball 39 times, completing 24 for 340 yards and 2 TD. Both Jeff Graham (7-114) and Shawn Dawkins (6-109) caught a TD pass. 4 sacks, and 2 INT, make the margin hold up. Walt Harris breaks his wrist, and is out until the playoffs, if not next year. (To hell with firing the coach - let's fire the trainer, and get a guy who knows how to tape wrists! )

Philadelphia 31, Dallas 14
Davis picks it up again, rushing for 135 yards. He's been awfully inconsistent this year, too. Kwame Lassiter gets 2 picks, including a 29 yard return for TD, to earn game MVP honors.

Philadelphia 14, Washington 7
Don't look now, but we're not only back in the playoff picture, but currently hold the lead with the tiebreakers! Kurt Warner finds Freddie Jones for 2 TD passes to provide the margin of victory, but Marcus Coleman comes up with 2 big interceptions, and earns MVP honors.

Philadelphia 26, Arizona 17
No real outstanding performances, but we play good enough to win. Jamie Sharper earns MVP honors with one interception, not even a TD. (Told you that nobody played terribly well!) We currently hold a one game lead on the rest of the divison at 7-6, except for 4-10 Arizona.

Detroit 28, Philadelphia 7
We're tied with Washington, but hold the tiebreaker. We also lose T Todd Steussie for the year with a torn calf muscle.

St. Louis 17, Philadelphia 16
A heartbreaker, that could have propelled us to home field all the way thorugh the playoffs. We still hold the division lead due to tiebreakers, but are tied with both Washington and New York. Most likely, we're in only if we win, though we would still have a shot at the 3rd wildcard.

Philadelphia 21, Dallas 17
The win gives us the division title for the second straight year; we fail to earn the bye, and will host Washington. We beat them twice, and certainly hope that the third time is not the charm for the Redskins!

Kurt Warner continued to struggle, ending up with a final QB rating of 78.8. In 15 starts, he threw for 3119 yards and 20 TD, versus only 11 interceptions. His success at not throwing interceptions the second half of the year may have been the difference.
Stephen Davis fell just shy of 1000 yards, finishing with 970, and 5 TD. Backup Thurman Thomas had as many TD in less than half the carries (108, versus Davis' 262).
Sean Dawkins had his second consecutive season over 1000 yards, finishing with 1097 and 5 TD on 78 catches. Both the yardage and number of catches led the team. Jeff Graham snagged 7 TDs to go along with his 69 catches and 949 yards, falling just shy of going over 1000 for the second time himself.
The Freak ended up with 10 sacks, while phillip Daniels had 6. Kwamie Lassiter led the team with 88 tackles, while Marcus Coleman's 8 interceptions were second in the league behind Percy Ellsworth, with 11. Lassiter also returned 2 interceptions for touchdown.

[CubsFan915]

2001 Playoffs- Wild Card Round

San Francisco (10-6) 17, Carolina (10-6) 7
Jacksonville (9-7) 20, Cleveland (10-6) 7
NY Jets (9-7) 34, Pittsburgh (9-7) 3
Philadelphia (9-7) 31, Washington (9-7) 7

Marcus Coleman continues his fantastic season, picking off another 2 passes to seal the game. Davis ran for 90 yards and a TD, while Warner threw for 290 yards and 2 TD (1 each to Graham and Dawkins, of course!). Graham ended up with 8 catches for 110 yards, while Dawkins had 6 for 89.

2001 Post Season - Divisional Playoffs

Cincinnati (10-6) 23, NY Jets (10-7) 20
San Diego (11-5) 34, Jacksonville (10-7) 10
St. Louis (11-5) 34, San Francisco (11-6) 0
Minnesota (11-5) 33, Philadelphia (10-7) 3

2001 Post Season - Conference Finals

San Diego (12-5) 45, Cincinnati (11-6) 20
St. Louis (12-5) 45, Minnesota (11-6) 14

2001 Super Bowl

St. Louis (13-5) 17, San Diego (13-5) 10

Only Marcus Coleman earned any postseason honors, being named to the second team all-pro.

File is on its way, Josh!

[SackAttack]

Received.
I'll get to it in the next day or so.
Keepers?

Josh

[CubsFan915]

Thanks for the reminder...

Keeper is WR Sean Dawkins. He's performed much too well, and while I think Condon is going to be worth holding on to, I'm drawn to Dawkins in a Tom Waddle kind of way...

------------------
Bear down, Chicago Bears!
Let every play lead the way to Victory!

BEAT DETROIT!!

[SackAttack]

Alrighty. Dawkins it is. Sorry for the delay, folks, but between my brother's birthday on the 20th and getting the Ridge Racer V review up at Planet PS2 last night, its been a busy last couple of days. Never fear, however - I shall begin my season momentarily, and will be done no later than tomorrow afternoon with my entire turn.

Josh

[SackAttack]

2002 Preseason

Our trip to the Division Final netted us an evaluation score of 70.

Our scout and coach are both still under contract, and will stay that way.

With Dawkins still under contract, our franchise tag is unspoken for. With 8 interceptions last year and 13 for his Philly career so far, Marcus Coleman is the obvious choice.

Before I set the protection list and move on to the expansion draft (The, uh, Iowa City Lone Stars are the new team. Anybody got a better nickname suggestion?), I think I'll see about getting us a new stadium. In Vegas.
If they don't accept us this year, though, I'm making a play for Columbia next year

2002 Expansion Draft

We expose the fallowing players:

C Adam Treu
T Steve Ingram
DE Vonnie Vonnegut
LB Alfred Hartzell
CB Craig Newsome

Newsome is selected 14th overall; nobody else is taken.

[SackAttack]

2002 Free Agency Period

$16 mil to spend, 35 men under contract. Why do I have a feeling that won't be enough?

Offers

K Olindo Mare - 3 years, $2.74 mil.

S Marquez Pope - 3 years, $5.71 mil

C Mark Stepnoski - 3 years, $7.55 mil

I have company, so I'll type more later.

Josh

[CubsFan915]

Iowa City Cyclones?

[SackAttack]

Yeah, that works. I'll plug that in. Time to continue with FA now.

2002 Free Agency cont.

With our limited resources available, I've decided to limit my FA expenditures to the offers already made. We'll see who takes the bait.

Olindo Mare signs in week 3, giving us an honest to God kicker again.

Mark Stepnoski decides a $2.24 mil/1 year contract is more attractive, and heads to the wasteland known as Arizona
We offer Dave Wohlabaugh $8 mil over 3 years instead. Gotta have a center.

A minor bidding war ensues, and he signs with Dallas for 12 mil over 4 years.

Marquez Pope takes $6 mil/3 years from the Titans, which means we effectively waltzed outta FA with a kicker and $16 mil to play with. Still gotta sign our franchise player, but I'll do that at the very end of FA, unless he's reasonable *now*.

Coleman winds up signing for $17 mil/4 years.

9 guys left to sign, and about $12.5 mil to do it with. One of those is Emanuel Smith, whom I'd like to keep, though not at his current asking price. We'll see what he says after the draft.

2002 Amateur Draft

We have the #27 pick in the first round, and right off I see this *amazing* WR out of Alabama. His combine ratings aren't anything special; 3.6/5.5, but he's still the 9th best WR on the board according to them, and I don't see him dropping to the 2nd round, so I snatch him up while he's available.

Please welcome Kennedy Garth to Philadelphia.

In the second round, its a difficult decision between another good looking WR, Allen Gist, and the best remaining safety, Jonathan Wilkerson. I decide that the safety is higher priority, and so the man from Air Force continues to soar - this time with the Eagles.

Gist is taken three selections later by the Bengals, so I concentrate on beefing up the offensive line in the third round, selecting C Cary Marsh out of Minnesota.

In the fourth round, a decent-looking WR is still available, but since we've got an RFA WR of our own that we can still sign, I pass on him, selecting instead RB Terance Meadows out of [b]Texas A&M.

WR Kerska is still available in the 5th round, but I figure if he's fallen this far, we can take the risk that he'll drop one more. Where we really need the help is in the secondary, so we take S Sammie Perez, a fella who looks almost as good as Wilkerson. He's comin' out of Kansas, but I forgive him anyways.

Kerska goes to Carolina with the 25th pick of the 6th round, 2 selections before us. I'll see if they'll deal him for our 6th rounder, but I don't think its likely to happen. I was right.

With Kerska gone, I take TE Harry Thomsen with our 6th rounder. He's nothing special, but he'll be a decent blocker.

Our final pick is used to select LB Benjamin Ford, out of Florida. He's not very good, according to our scout, but maybe we'll get lucky and he'll blossom in training camp.

Our final draft card looks like this:


Rnd 1 - Kennedy Garth, WR, Alabama
Rnd 2 - Jonathan Wilkerson, S, Air Force
Rnd 3 - Cary Marsh, C, Minnesota
Rnd 4 - Terrance Meadows, RB, Texas A&M
Rnd 5 - Sammie Perez, S, Kansas
Rnd 6 - Harry Thomsen, TE, South Carolina
Rnd 7 - Benjamin Ford, LB, Florida

In other news, the Packers successfully petition to move to Des Moines. I suppose they're jealous of the Cyclones' market. Oh, yeah - and Vegas rejected us. Columbia, MO, anybody?

[This message has been edited by SackAttack (edited 12-23-2000).]

[SackAttack]

2002 Preseason

After signing our draft picks, we then turn our attention to a 5th WR, some TEs, and a FB. Smith is re-signed at WR, and Fred McCrary, formerly of N'Awlins, is brought in to help share the duties at fullback.

Freddie Jones is re-signed at TE, and Jackie Harris joins the team after a two year stint in New England.

Onwards, onwards to training camp!

2002 Training Camp

No major movement occurs here, which is both good and bad. Good, because Kennedy Garth stayed studly. Bad, because we had a couple of marginal and flat out piss-poor guys that I would have liked to see improvement in.
Still, for a thin draft, I'll take what we got. Ford will be cut, however.

I notice a bevy of post-camp cut gems on the free agent market - notably, Torry Holt and Olandis Gary. We've still got some bones in the cupboard, so I sign Gary to a three year deal. I have notoriously bad luck at keeping RBs healthy lately, so I figure a 4th man there can't hurt us.

[SackAttack]

2002 Preseason Games

New York Jets 24, PHILLY 11

Rookie Sammie Perez broke his arm and will be out for two months. Not a real happy situation. We sign Marcus Ray to a one year deal to replace him.

PHILLY 62, Kansas City 7

Six interceptions sealed the Chiefs' fate in this one. Lassiter had two, including one returned 69 yards for a touchdown. Rookie Wilkerson had a 58 yard pick for a score of his own. The thought of a secondary like that frightens me. It truly does.

Buffalo 22, PHILLY 17

We got torched for 142 on the ground, including an early 54 yarder from Trung Canidate for a score, and Warner never really got the passing game going.

PHILLY 31, New Orleans 0

Stephen Davis had three TD runs, and Bryant Young blocked a punt in the endzone for our other touchdown. Our defense, you might be interested to know, had a boggling 11 INTs in 4 preseason games. 3 vs the Jets, 6 vs the Chiefs, and one apiece against the Bills and Saints. I'd love to see these kind of numbers continue in the regular season. Perez has healed quickly and is expected back within 2 weeks.

[SackAttack]

2002 Regular Season

Week One

PHILLY 47, New York Giants 13

Three more picks for the Eagle defense. Warner has a nice little day, going 18-31-352-3. Jeff Graham had a 6-199-1 day of his own. Lassiter had his second two-pick day in about 6 weeks.

Week Two

PHILLY 28, San Fran 17

Our home opener goes nicely, as Olandis Gary puts up 147 yards on 33 carries, and Olindo Mare kicks 5 FGs. Warner was 25-37-272, but had trouble finding the open man in the end zone. The reason Gary had such a big day is simple - Davis stretched a knee ligament and is out a month. I'm kinda glad I signed him after all, eh?

Week Three

PHILLY 24, Miami 23

A squeaker. Warner hit Dawkins late for the winning score, but I suspect Mare may be hurt - why else go for two conversions in the second half of a close game? Looking at the injury log, it was either just a one-game thing, or our coach decided it was worth risking the PAT to try and widen the margin. Fortunately he converted one of the two - otherwise it would have gone to OT.

Week Four

PHILLY 37, Washington 6

Rookie Kennedy Garth had his first career 100 yard receiving game, Warnerhit Graham in the endzone twice, and Condon ran a punt back 64 yards as time expired in the first half as we rolled to an easy victory in D.C. At the one-quarter mark, we're one of only three undefeated teams, along with Atlanta and Denver. Denver, incidentally, has a 98 power rating to our 87. It could be that 44 under "PA" - I dunno.
A statistical oddity before I move on - the last place team in the AFC East, Miami, has scored 66 points, given up 88 points and holds a 1-3 record. The Jets have scored 76, given up 92, and hold a 3-1 record. Who said life was fair?

[SackAttack]

Week Five

PHILLY 38, Arizona 10

Warner passed for three touchdowns, and Thurman Thomas rushed for two more, taking some of the workload off Gary, who was suffering from the dreaded Turf Toe. He evidently aggravated it in the game, as he's now listed as out 3-5 weeks. We're the only team over .500 in our division, however, at 5-0. Next up is 2-3 (and second place) Dallas.

Week Six

PHILLY 41, Dallas 31

Thomas rushed for 126 yards and a score, and Warner hit Garth for 99 yards and 2 TDs, and Graham for 102 and a score. We picked off Aikman three times, and even returned another blocked punt for a score. In other news, Washington cut the field of undefeateds to two with a 10-6 win over Atlanta. They face the 2-3 Vikings next week, while we take on the Giants.

Week Seven

Giants 21, PHILLY 3

Warner had a horrible game, and it cost us the win, plain and simple. 43 attempts, 14 completions. I think that stat speaks for itself.

Week Eight

The blessed bye week.

[SackAttack]

Week Nine

The Jets come to town at what's probably the worst possible time for them. Not only are we still seething at the loss to their cross-town rivals, but we're coming off the bye week. All things considered, that spells trouble for the Jets...

Jets 27, PHILLY 24

...or so you would think. Nedney kicked the game winner with 12 seconds left. What we really seem to be missing is the presence of Gary in the backfield. He is, fortunately, finally healthy, so we'll throw him in there next week.

Week Ten

PHILLY 44, Arizona 37

Four seconds on the clock, and guess who scores the game winner from 8 yards out? Gary it is. Clutch, baby, clutch. Warner had 313 yards and 3 TDs, as we withstood a 27 point 4th quarter onslaught to win. We do, however, lose Young for the next three months. We'll see about getting a replacement PDQ. With only $50k in the bank, we get the money we need by signing Daniels to a two year extension, allowing us to bring in Jeremy Staat. Oh yeah - Denver finally lost, 24-7 to the Chargers, of all teams.

Week Eleven

Detroit 14, PHILLY 7

Warner got picked 4 times. That doesn't tend to help the offense much.

Week Twelve

PHILLY 21, New England 13

I think Warner's been contacted by a fan threatening Brenda's life or something - 7 picks in two games is 3.5x as many as he had in his previous nine. Needless to say, the FBI is on the case. Still, we won. We need to keep winning, as the Giants are only a game out of first, and our season series with them is finito.

[SackAttack]

Week Thirteen

Going into the game, we got help from the unlikeliest of sources - the Cowboys pulled out a 34-12 win over the Giants. A win here gives us some breathing space going into the final 4 weeks.

St. Louis 30, PHILLY 13

Well, we're determined not to do this the easy way, at least. Warner threw two more interceptions - both returned for scores - before being lifted, and Kramer chimed in with 4 of his own. So we maintain a one-game lead. What bugs me is that every potential contender in the division lost, and we still couldn't pick up any ground. Warner, as it turns out, has a bruised shoulder. Not the greatest of news, but at least its only a 0-2 thing.

Week Fourteen

There will be no divine intervention this week - the Giants PUNISHED the Cardinals, 67-14. We gotta beat 6-6 Washington to remain in sole control of first.

PHILLY 26, Washington 20

Whew. Warner to Garth in OT. Two more picks for Warner, which is really starting to concern me (what is that, 11 in 4 games?), but at least we get the Dubya. I'd love to rest some of my dinged up starters, but with all three division leaders sharing a 9-4 record, we're jockeying for more than just our own division - we're trying to get a leg up on one of the other division leaders for the playoff bye.

Week Fifteen

Neither San Fran nor Chicago oblige us with a loss, so we need to defeat Dallas to remain tied for that playoff bye.

PHILLY 20, Dallas 17

Another OT'er, this one won by the iron leg of Mare. It doesn't clinch the division, but we've got a two game lead with two to play. All three teams are STILL deadlocked at 10-4 for that cursed bye.

Week Sixteen

San Diego nips Chicago by 7, giving us an opening for that bye. San Francisco wins, so we still need to win our final two to have a shot at home field throughout the playoffs.

PHILLY 38, Minnesota 13

This INT-free day is brought to you by Kurt Warner. Remember - you can't spell Warner without "W". Oh, yeah - Gary and Davis combined for over 150 yards on the ground. An all around feel-good win.
Well...not for the Vikes. They now need a Lion loss, a Falcon loss, and a Cardinal loss to make the playoffs. They close against the Lions, so they control that part of their own destiny. The Cardinals play the 4-11 Colts, and the Falcons play the 6-9 Bucs, so I don't really see that happening. San Fran is still fighting to lock up the division at 11-4, as they face the 10-5 Panthers to close it out.

Week Seventeen

Dallas sweeps the Giants, giving us the division free and clear. Amazingly, the 49ers and Panthers tied at 27, meaning we must win to lock down home field. There'll be no tiebreakers here (unless, of course, we tie as well, which would be damn funny).

PHILLY 14, Buffalo 3

Our vaunted defense steps up yet again with 3 picks, and Stephen Davis gives us all the offense we needed with an 8 yard TD run early in the first quarter. We're going to the playoffs, but more importantly, we'll be at home until the Super Bowl, should we make it that far.

[SackAttack]

2022 Playoffs

After seeing the numbers Lance Schulters put up, and after Warner's INT problems of late, I'm kinda glad Oakland went 6-10 to miss the playoffs. I'd hate to see what a Warner/Schulters matchup would be like.

Wild Card Playoffs

Carolina (11-5-1) 15, Atlanta (9-8) 9
Pittsburgh (11-6) 45, Baltimore (10-7) 30
[b]Buffalo (11-6) 24, Jacksonville (9-8) 17
New York Giants (10-7) 23, Chicago (11-6) 20

Divisional Finals

We come into the Divisional Finals having rested a week, and hopefully, having exorcised Kurt's demons. We face the Giants, who have been a thorn in our sides all season long. It would be nice to bump them off here.

PHILLY 21, New York Giants 20

Not a bump so much as a gentle nudge, but we'll take it. Davis had 97 yards and a score on 18 carries, and Garth greeted his first taste of the playoffs with 90 yards on 6 catches. Graham hauled in 98 and a score on 4 catches of his own. We're headed to the conference finals. Who we'll face is yet to be determined.

Cleveland (12-5) 15, Buffalo (11-7) 14
San Francisco (11-4-1) 16, Carolina (11-6-1) 10
Denver (15-2) 27, Pittsburgh (11-7) 16

Conference Finals

Since it'd be nice to know what waits for us should we win this game, I'm gonna go ahead and sim the AFC Conference Championship Game.

[b]Denver (16-2) 35, Cleveland (12-6) 21

So the winner of our game is presumptive meat for the Broncos to feast on. Odds? Who gives a damn? Bring on the 9ers!

PHILLY (14-4) 24, San Fran (12-5-1) 7

Pack the warm clothing and ski poles, baby. We're goin' to Denver!

[This message has been edited by SackAttack (edited 12-23-2000).]

[SackAttack]

2022 Super Bowl

Denver receives the opening kickoff, but fails to score on their first possession, as do we. They miss a 50 yard kick short of the crossbar on their second try, and we go 4-and-out on ours, only to recover the ball when Rolle fumbles the ball on the punt return. We fail to capitalize, going 4-and-out yet again.

We finally start to break through about halfway through the second quarter, as Warner directs a march to the Denver 13. It stalls, however, when Warner throws three straight incompletes, including one on 4th and goal.

The halftime whistle sounds with the two teams still deadlocked at 0-0.

The second half starts badly, as we receive the opening kickoff, but fumble the ball away to Denver on our own 25. Our defense holds them, pushing them back 3 yards, in fact, but we still give up the field goal, and first blood. Denver 3, Philadelphia 0

On the following possession, Warner threatens to go 4-and-out again, saved only by a roughing the kicker call on 4th and long. Given second life, he directs the team into the redzone once more, but a 7 yard sack on 2nd and goal forces us to settle for the field goal. Denver 3, Philadelphia 3.

Apparently enraged that we scored, Denver marches 80 yards in 6 minutes, capping the drive with a pass from Bledsoe to Aiello with 13:19 left. Denver 10, Philadelphia 3.

Warner sputters yet again, and we go 4-and-out. Bledsoe responds with another clock-eating touchdown drive. At this point, our offense's inability to hold the ball and MOVE anywhere is wearing out our defense, and our title aspirations are growing dim. Denver 17, Philadelphia 3

Warner, evidently energized by Condon's 40 yard kickoff return, needs just two plays to find the endzone this time, hitting Graham for a score. With 4:14 left on the clock, our defense will be called upon to make one last stop and get us the ball back. Denver 17, Philadelphia 10

An [i]unnecessary roughness call kills Denver's ability to eat up the clock, and we get the ball back on our own 28 with 2:09 remaining and all 3 of our timeouts.

Warner gets sacked on 3rd and 10 after a couple quick first downs, leaving us at 4th-and-18. He goes for it, and hits Jackie Harris for 27 yards and the first down, putting us on the Denver 31 with 38 seconds remaining on the clock. We STILL have all three of our timeouts left.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Warner hits Graham for 38 yards and a TOUCHDOWWWWWWN, PHILLY! Mare kicks the extra point, and with 30 seconds remaining, the Denver crowd is stunned silent. Denver 17, Philadelphia 17

The kickoff is returned to the 22, and Bledsoe gets to our 36 with a couple quick passes, calling timeout with 7 seconds left. Conway is called out to attempt a 51 yard field goal for alllll the marbles.

The snap...the kick is up....NO GOOD! Short of the crossbar! We're GOING TO OVERTIME!

We win the coin toss in OT, and elect to receive. Condon runs it back out to the 18, giving us 82 yards of open field to march for a score, ANY score.

Warner hits the rookie Garth for two quick passes and 24 yards to open the drive, and Stephen Davis runs left for 11 yards, courtesy of a key run block from the rookie Marsh. That's where the drive stalls, however, and we're forced to punt. Denver fumbles on the return, allowing us to pin them on the 12. We could use a pick from Lassiter about now.

We get the next best thing: Denver moves only 22 yards before being forced to punt, and we get the ball back on our own 20.
On the first play from scrimmage, Denver is whistled for Unnecessary Roughness, moving us to the 35, automatic first down.
Warner follows that by hitting Graham for 10, pushing us to the 45. Davis runs around left end for 7, but a holding call pushes us to 2nd and 13, and Garth gets us back to 3rd and 7 with a short reception. Once again, we're forced to punt, with a touchback on the play and 7:56 left in overtime.

Denver stalls out on their own 48, and we get the ball back courtesy of a punt. We're starting from our own 8 yard line with 3:52 left in the period.
We're forced to punt after just 1:30, and from our own 12 yard line, no less. Things aren't looking good as Hentrich lets fly, but Dunn nails Buckley seconds after the catch, causing a fumble! The stadium is silent as a tomb as the officials peel players off the pile...BALL, PHILADELPHIA ON THE DENVER 47!
Davis runs off left tackle for 5, but Warner is sacked and coughs it back up to Denver, giving them the ball on their own 48.

Denver quickly marches to our 28 before a vicious hit to Bledsoe knocks him out of the game, and moves them back to the 33. Still within field goal range, though a false start call moves them back to our 38. They now face a choice - give us the ball back, or pray that they can hit a what would be a 55 yard field goal.

They opt to attempt the field goal in early double OT, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Conway comes out and gets set. The ball is snapped, the kick is up...and...ITS GOOD! Conway nails a 55 yarder to give Denver the ring, and the crowd goes crazy! The final score in double OT:

Denver 20, Philadelphia 17

Bledsoe was given the MVP award for his 400 yards passing. Our defense did a heck of a job, though - our offense's inability to get things going, especially after those two late TDs, cost us the game and put undue pressure on the defense. 480 yards allowed in 6 quarters really isn't all that bad.

Denver was penalized 11 times for 100 yards, fumbled 5 times, and still pulled it out, due largely to the fact that our offense was a miniscule 3/16 on third down. That we even made it into OT is irrelevant; had we converted a few more of those third down ops, or even taken that early 3 points that Warner, and we would have had the ring. A disappointing finish to a year full of promise.

[SackAttack]

2003 Preseason

After coming so close last year, we're obviously determined to taste the sweet nectar of victory this year. We'd also like to improve upon our year-end rating of 78. It won't be easy, though: Kwamie Lassiter, he whose 10 INTs were overshadowed by Lance Schulters' 20 picks, decided to hang 'em up. Following him to the great gridiron in the sky were Thurman Thomas, Brenden Stai, and Jackie Harris.

Its going to be an interesting preseason; 23 fellas under contract, $40 mil in cap room, and both Dawkins and Warner meeting the wonderful world of Free Agency. Our profits dropped by a third last year, so ticket prices are going to get a little bump - and yes, I'm going to try to get a new stadium again. They're payin' for every dime if they expect to keep us, though.

We retain coach Billy Joe McDaniel for 5 more years; he's getting up there, but he led us within an unattempted field goal of winning it all last year; he deserves another chance.

I decide to use the franchise tag on Warner. I realize Dawkins is a keeper, but we have plenty of options at wideout if he decides to bail. A QB, OTOH, is more difficult to replace (especially from the #31 spot in the draft).

The first thing I do is snoop through our roster to see who's wanting an extension at cap-friendly terms. The first thing I see is that Young wants a new four year deal that will cut his salary by about $600k this year, but will put him in the low $3 mil range over the next three - roughly half of what he currently makes. That's too good to pass up. Culpepper is also willing to take about a $400k pay cut this year, as well as accept a salary nearly 50% lower for the next two years in exchange for job security. The two moves clear about a mil in cap room, and ensure that two stalwarts on defense will hang around for a while longer.
We get a sweetheart of a two-year deal out of McCrary; he only wants $660k per year plus the bonus cash he has comin' to him this year.

We now have $41.8 mil to throw around, and 23 guys to sign. This isn't gonna be pretty, but here goes:

Offers

G Zach Wiegert - $13.41 mil/3 years
WR Sean Dawkins - $9.65 mil/2 years
S Tommy Bennett - $10.36 mil/3 years
CB Walt Harris - $17.48 mil/3 years
LB Mike A. Jones - $7.12 mil/2 years
LB Jamie Sharper - $8.85 mil/2 years

Other than Warner, there's not really anybody else up for FA on this squad who can't be replaced with post-draft FAs, so we'll let them walk, if they think they can get a better offer.

[Blade6119]

Sack....sorry bout the overtime loss but about the free agency don't you have to keep dawkins because he was chosen as cub's keeper?....just a little question.....good luck and good job

[RPI-Fan]

As long as he keeps him on the team it's Ok...actually, the exact rule is All keepers must have any and all efforts made to keep them on the roster.

------------------
Secant, Tangent, Cosin, Sin, 3.14159!

[SackAttack]

Yeah, I do have to make any and all efforts to keep him. However, I also need to do what's best for the team as a whole. Dawkins' performance slumped greatly in 2002; his first non-1000 yard season. He's still worth keeping, but not at the price of losing our only decent QB just cuz he wants $10 mil per year. That would set us back probably a decade in terms of trying to turn the team into a member of the league's elite.

[SackAttack]

2003 Free Agency

As it turns out, the mini-debate Blade brought up is academic - Dawkins jumped on our offer in Week Two, so he's gonna be an Eagle for a few more years, at the least.

LB Jamie Sharper accepted our offer in Week Three, leaving just Bennett, Harris, Jones, and Wiegert holding out.

Week Five saw Wiegert sign, despite being offered more cash by division rival Washington. And this is with low loyalty (35). That 61 in Play for Winner musta kicked in overtime.

S Tommy Bennett took our cash in Week Seven, meaning that Harris and Jones are the only guys we tendered offers to who haven't decided to accept our offers yet.

Week Eight sees Jones accept our offer, meaning that Walt Harris is the only outstanding FA we had targeted that we haven't signed yet. Miami's pursuing him pretty aggressively though, so I wouldn't expect to keep him. He may surprise me yet. Wiegert did.

Surprise, surprise. Harris remains the lead Eagle Scout in the secondary, and we're a perfect 6 outta 6 in our preseason acquisition wish list. $18 mil left in the bank and 17 guys to sign with it. Fortunately, most of those will be draft picks and post-draft FAs.

[SackAttack]

2003 Amateur Draft

Warner signs a 3 year deal worth about $16 mil just prior to the draft, leaving us with about $14 mil for 16 guys. Not too bad at all.

In the draft itself, I notice a couple of VERY good looking linemen, including a phenomenal center, as well as a quarterback who looks as though he'll be a worthy heir to Warner when the time comes. The QB is fairly low-rated, so I may hold off and see if he drops a round; we're more in need of good linemen anyways.
There also looks to be some good talent on the defensive front; basically, no matter what need we try to fill, we can't lose.

1st Round

G Andrew Tuggle - The word on this guy? He's adequate at best at opening up holes for the tailback, but you won't get past him to the quarterback. Perhaps Warner just needed some better protection 2nd half of last year.

2nd Round

T Larry Hayes - That whole 'improve the offensive line' thing.

3rd Round

QB Thomas Chatterley - AKA Lady Chatterley's Lover. Just kidding. Seriously, this is the QB I coveted and I didn't dare let him drop any further.

4th Round

TE Archie Crawford - The LB I wanted was evidently taken ahead of Chatterley and the Colts won't part with him. Just as well; we needed a good TE.

5th Round

S Juan McElroy - We needed a 4th safety. I wish there were some decent linebackers left.

6th Round

LB Warren Chapman - Even when the guy I wanted was available, my scout swore this was the 3rd best guy. Somehow, I doubt his sincerity, but I'm not in a position to argue right now.

7th Round

QB Steven Gillespie - We needed a 3rd QB. What can I say?

[SackAttack]

Bad news for those of you hopin' for a Vegas move in the near future - Philly was enamored enough with our double OT loss that they threw nearly $400 million at us to build us a verrry nice stadium that'll keep us here for the next two decades. Perhaps I should have waited a year to be successful.

Moving on...

After signing our rookies, we have $9.3 mil to throw at 9 players to fill our roster out.

T Kendall Wynn and T Darrin Collins are promptly signed to 3 year minsal deals. Both are 2nd year FAs, and neither is particularly impressive, but its better than what we've got (which is nothing).

C Harris Sullivan gets a 1 year, $310k deal. I don't expect him to be around long, obviously.

TE Preston Crane rounds out our needs at that position; not much of a run blocker, but he's got endurance.

LB Dat Nguyen accepts a 4 year contract worth about $15 mil. A little more than I wanted to pay, but he's worth it.

WR Joe Horn also takes a 4 year deal. This one's a bit heavy on the bonus money (around $5 mil), but he'll make an ideal return man, and can even give us a 1000 yard season. I'll wait 'til after training camp to sign the rest.

[SackAttack]

The best CB we can find after camp (that we can also afford) is Doug Petzold. Nothing special. Just a warm body, but he'll only cost us $420 big ones.

DE Morris Lattimore takes a 4 year deal that, fortunately, is low on bonus. That leaves us needing just one more body to fill out our roster.

Glancing over the FA list, I notice a fella by the name of Peter Warrick. Yes, that Warrick.

I'm going to try to make some moves under the cap to sign him, but no promises.

[SackAttack]

The Warrick thing doesn't look like it'll work out. Nobody's got enough cap room for a trade, so I renegotiated Davis' contract to add two more years and give us a wee bit more room this year. We can now sign Tom Nalen to a one year deal worth about $650 large.

Not an ideal situation, but better than nothing.

2002 Preseason Games

PHILLY 48, Iowa City 10

Wiegert is a little woozy after a concussion, but he'll be OK. IAC's only TD came on an interception off the rookie Chatterley. He'll learn.

PHILLY 16, Buffalo 10

Wilkerson hyperextended his knee and will be gimpy for about 3 months. We'll keep a close eye on him. Kurt Warner broke his pinky, so Chatterley will get the call for a couple weeks.

PHILLY 45, Oakland 7

Once again, the interception of Chatterley provided the opposition's only touchdown. I will say this for the kid - he doesn't do anything halfassed. The encouraging thing, however, is that of his 12 passes, 10 were caught, 1 was picked and run back, and the 12th was dropped. Talk about accuracy!

Jacksonville 28, PHILLY 23

Two more picks for Chatterley, though neither was run back for a score. He was sacked 3 times however, so it seems kinda evident that he wasn't getting as much time to check off his reads as he did last week. Still, 3-1 preseason ain't bad.

[SackAttack]

2003 Regular Season

Week One

PHILLY 44, Cleveland 38

An...interesting day in the Dawg Pound. Favre and Warner used the scoreboard as their own personal pinball tables, racking up 4 TD passes each, but it was Chatterley who won it, nailing Horn in early OT for the winning score. Randy Moss humiliated our secondary, hauling in 9 passes for 207 yards, and 2 TDs on the day. That's the 7th best yardage day in league history for those of you playing at home.

Week Two

Dallas 24, PHILLY 19

Warner wasn't himself this week. 9-26 passing for 86 yards and 3 INTs. Chatterley did his best to try and lead us to a come-from-behind win, and our defense was fairly dominant, registering a safety, two sacks, and holding the 'Boys under 180 total yards on the day, but it was the two picks run back for scores that did us in. Funny; I wanted Chatterley to learn from Warner. Not the other way around.

Week Three

Washington 23, PHILLY 20

A week after a dominant performance by the defense, we were full of holes. An 88 yard run by Garner with 7 seconds left in the 3rd quarter put the 'Skins on top 20-6, and even Chatterley's 4th quarter heroics to bring us back into the tie couldn't stop Daluiso from hitting a 42 yarder as time expired to give Washington the win. Our rushing attack was abysmal, registering a scant 41 yards on 21 carries; they shoulder much of the blame for the loss as well.

Week Four

New York Giants 20, PHILLY 16

Richard Huntley carried the ball 24 times for 119 yards and a touchdown, but that touchdown came with 32 seconds left; our defense simply couldn't hold them out of the endzone. Chatterley had a tough game against the Giant secondary, completing only 13 of 36 passes on the day. Warner is still suffering from the broken pinky, which may be a reason why we're not doing so well.

[SackAttack]

Week Five

PHILLY 38, Minnesota 13

Warner's back. But then, the 4 TD passes and 507 yards in the air probably clued you in, huh? Our rushing attack is still sputtering, but for the first time to my knowledge, we have two 100+ yard receivers in the same game:


Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
83 Horn 9 124 13.7 96 29 0
84 Garth 7 144 20.5 57 80 2

That Garth fella is shapin' up pretty decent for a 3rd round pick.

Week Six

The bye week - and not a moment too soon, as the infirmary has had its hands full with various dings and bruises.
The most interesting matchup of the week: the 4-0 Chargers face the 5-0 Chiefs. 30-12 KC the final in that one.

Week Seven

Arizona 35, PHILLY 13

We, uh, got schooled. Badly. By a winless team. Garth broke his nose, to add injury to insult.

Week Eight

PHILLY 41, Pittsburgh 21

Warner got sacked 4 times and still had enough in the tank to complete 32 of 55 passes for 379 yards and 2 scores. Gary and [/b] Davis combined 103 yards and 3 scores between them.

[SackAttack]

Week Nine

PHILLY 24, New York Giants 3

The win gets us back to .500, and puts us a game behind Chicago for the final playoff spot. Dallas is running away with the East at 7-1.

Week Ten

Speaking of 7-1 teams, we ran into the Panthers this week. Or, more appropriately, ran OVER them.

PHILLY 31, Carolina 14

Dallas lost as well, so we picked up a game in the East.

Week Eleven

PHILLY 38, Dallas 20

Chicago lost, so we picked up a game both in the wild card race AND in the divisional race. We split the season series with Dallas and we visit Soldier Field in two weeks, so we still very much control our own destiny.

Week Twelve

PHILLY 42, Arizona 10

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Davis rushed 12 times for 138 yards and a score, and Warner passed for 3 scores and rushed for a 4th. We're now locked with the 'Boys at 7-4, but their better divisional record gives them the tiebreak for now. We're also tied with the Bears heading into next week's showdown in the Windy City.

[SackAttack]

Week Thirteen

Chicago 28, PHILLY 6

Obviously, not the result we had hoped for. Culpepper suffered a Torn Calf Muscle and is done until Late 2004 - and probably his career as well. Right now, our best hope to make the playoffs is to run the table and hope Dallas stumbles.

Week Fourteen

PHILLY 31, Jacksonville 3

[b}Dallas[/b] stumbled, though against that Browns team we edged in a shootout back in Week One. However, they close against 3 patsies; we need to run the table still and hope they trip one more time.

Week Fifteen

PHILLY 29, San Francisco 10

[b}Dallas[/b] edged the Cardinals, but both Chicago and Green Bay lost; the net result is that we can now make the playoffs regardless of what the 'Boys do, as long as we take care of business.

Week Sixteen

Tampa Bay clinched the #1 seed, and a loss from us this week gives Atlanta the other playoff bye. However, Dallas lost again, meaning that a win here clinches a trip to the playoffs.

Baltimore 23, PHILLY 20

We lost this one on a 27 yard field goal in OT. What's more, we recovered both of Baltimore's fumbles, and either couldn't capitalize, or couldn't get the offense going aside from their turnovers. Its a bitter pill to swallow, but the consolation is that a win next week coupled with a loss by either Green Bay, Chicago, or Dallas sends us to the playoffs. Improbable? Yeah. However, Chicago and Green Bay are playing .500 (or near .500) teams in the final week; the Cowboys are playing a pitiful Rams team; is that an upset I smell?

Week Seventeen

It was indeed! St. Louis upset the Cowboys 23-20 (sound familiar?). The road to the playoffs, and the NFC East championship, is ours for the taking, if we can just beat Washington. Indy also shut out Green Bay.

PHILLY 43, Washington 10

We're going to the playoffs! Dallas misses out after losing 6 of their final 8 (that also sounds eerily familiar), and we get to face the Pack in the first round. Warner tied a single-game record with 5 TD passes. He also set a league record for QB Rating (101.9) and fell 2 TD passes and 140 yards passing shy of setting league records in those categories as well.

[SackAttack]

2003 Playoffs

Wild Card Round

Our reward for winning the East? A first round matchup with the Packers. The injuries kinda piled up a bit in the final weeks of the season; hopefully they're not serious (other than Culpepper's).

Baltimore (12-5) 24, Oakland (10-7) 7
Carolina (11-6) 24, Chicago (10-7) 20
New York Jets (9-8) 25, Denver (10-7) 21

PHILLY 17, Green Bay 13

Trailing 10-9 late, Davis broke a 24 yard run and Chatterley hit Smith for the conversion, giving us the 7 point lead and, ultimately, the win. LB Mike Jones had 7 tackles and a pick in leading us to victory. Warner sprained a knee early, meaning that we may be relying on the rookie Chatterley to take us the distance.

Divisional Finals

Cleveland (13-4) 30, Baltimore (12-6) 13
Tampa Bay (14-3) 25, Carolina (11-7) 28
Kansas City (12-5) 16, New York Jets (9-9) 10

Atlanta 23, PHILLY 6

Our rushing game picked up 19 yards on 18 carries, we fumbled twice and didn't recover either one, and we gave up 23 unanswered points after getting two early field goals. That about sums this one up. Tampa Bay goes on to thrash Cleveland 36-22 in the Super Bowl.

I'll be passing the file along momentarily.

The keeper list:

CubsFan915: WR Sean Dawkins
SackAttack: WR Kennedy Garth

I know it seems strange to have two WRs on the list, but I think Dawkins is nearing retirement, and it probably goes without saying that we do everything we can to hang onto Kearse and Warner, just cuz they're so studly.

FWIW, Kearse is in the final year of his contract. Andy - I'd tag him. Jeff Graham is the only other FA we have who'd be worth it, and somehow I don't think we'll be lacking for WRs.

Josh

[This message has been edited by SackAttack (edited 12-24-2000).]

[andy m]

got the file, but don't expect anything till at least the 27th. merry xmas every body!

[CubsFan915]

Originally posted by SackAttack:
Yeah, I do have to make any and all efforts to keep him. However, I also need to do what's best for the team as a whole. Dawkins' performance slumped greatly in 2002; his first non-1000 yard season. He's still worth keeping, but not at the price of losing our only decent QB just cuz he wants $10 mil per year. That would set us back probably a decade in terms of trying to turn the team into a member of the league's elite.

And for the record, I've done exactly as Sack has done in the past, especially as regards the QB. (If it helps, I almost made Warner the keeper instead! ) Glad we got him back!

------------------
Bear down, Chicago Bears!
Let every play lead the way to Victory!

BEAT DETROIT!!

[CubsFan915]

Originally posted by SackAttack:
... but for the first time to my knowledge, we have two 100+ yard receivers in the same game:

Not the first time, but I don't recall doing it often: see Game 4, Season 1:

Kurt Warner is named game MVP, and offensive player of the week, completing 28 of 38 for 357 yards and 3 TD. I would have given it to RB Stephen Davis, though: 19-89, and 4 TD. Both Jeff Graham (9-135,2 TD) and Sean Dawkins (7-103) were over 100 yards receiving.

Also, game 7 against Arizona (Dawkins 105/Emmanuel Smith 101), game 10 in season 2 versus San Diego (Graham 114/Dawkins 109). We haven't done it very often, but we've made it happen more than I'm used to seeing; of course, I don't normally run careers with Kurt Warner at QB either!

Nice run; too bad we fell short in the Bowl last year. I think we're still in good shape for andy to take us all the way!

[andy m]

don't worry, i haven't forgotten, but we'll probably be waiting a couple more days yet to get this under way. i'm guessing this'd be the same for anyone else in the VC what with the time of year, but apologies anyway...

[RPI-Fan]

No, it's just you andy.

------------------
Secant, Tangent, Cosin, Sin, 3.14159!

[andy m]

heh. well, lets just say that i don't think anyone would appreciate me attempting to play the VC whilst drunk. i would probably trade keepers for former QB busts on mammoth contracts.

[andy m]

resurrecting this tonight! "at last" i hear you cry!

[This message has been edited by andy m (edited 01-02-2001).]