Woah.

Woah! The Seahawks knocked out the defending champs?

The 7-9 Seattle Seahawks knocked out the defending champion New Orleans Saints, Mark Sanchez out-dueled Peyton Manning in the 2-minute drill to lead the New York Jets over the Indianapolis Colts, and Michael Vick threw an ill-advised late pick as the Eagles booted away a playoff win to the Green Bay Packers. (In other news, Matt Cassell reverted to college backup as the Baltimore Ravens took the ball and ran with it over the Kansas City Chiefs.)

Now that’s what I call a wild and crazy start to the NFL playoffs. If the Eagles had won, well it would have been just about the perfect Wildcard Weekend. Since they did not, this morning after pill is going to go down a bit rough starting with…

1. What the hell, Akers?

Seriously. He is the best placekicker in Eagles franchise history and has more playoff experience than any other player on the roster. How did he miss two very make-able field goals to cost the team a win? Now I heard that he’s been having some family troubles — which, if true, sorry to hear — but still. Akers and his two pulled misses are the main reasons that I’m feeling cranky this week.

The other reason…

2. Jim Johnson’s defense is now a thing of the past.

The defense that Sean McDermott and Andy Reid have built in the last two offseasons no longer deserves to be compared to the defenses that Jim Johnson built. If you follow me on Twitter, you would know that I’m not the biggest McDermott fan. (Wow, what a shock?!) I am, however, going to shift some of the blame on the caliber of players left on the field at the end of the season. Brandon Graham and Nate Allen (our top two draft picks) each ended the season with something torn in their knees, Broderick Bunkley couldn’t get off a block to save his life after (and maybe before) he dislocated his elbow earlier in the season, Ernie Sims turned into a smaller Mark Simoneau, and Dimitri Patterson was not the answer at right corner back. Oh, and two seventh round draft picks were starting the last few weeks of the season.

Still all of this could have been avoided…

3. The Michael Vick Experience still leaves you wanting.

He dazzled us from the moment he stepped onto the field for Kevin Kolb in the second half of Week 1, but lately, Michael Vick has been just ordinary. From the ugly Minnesota game until the NFL Wildcard Weekend came to a screeching halt when he was intercepted by Tramon Williams, Vick turned back into the pumpkin that was his Atlanta Falcon self. The calm, cool pocket-passer Vick from the Detroit/Jacksonville/Washington games was replaced by a hurried and scrambling decoy. In 2011, Vick needs to make sure that he kills his Atlanta Falcons self once and for all.

Of course, he could have used some help from his friends if not for…

4. Jason Avant’s key dropped passes.

Avant may be one of the easiest players on the Eagles to like. Once a drug dealer as a juvenile, Avant completely turned his life around and eventually became the best set of hands on the roster. Marty Mornhinweg sang his praises all during training camp for allegedly never dropping a ball. Well, he made up for it big time during passes that actually count. He dropped Kolb’s hail mary ball at the end of the first Redskins game, a wide-open ball in the endzone in the first Giants game, and then a few key ones in the third quarter of the Wildcard Game. Get it together, man!

OK that’s enough angry Eagles fan talk. Time to move on to the rest of the NFL playoffs.

5. Time to reseed the playoffs based upon wins and losses.

The thrilling Seahawks victory over New Orleans was really a great moment for NFL fans everywhere. Nothing compares to a huge underdog knocking off the defending champs in front of a raucous home crowd. That Marshawn Lynch 67-yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty and had me going nuts when he truck-sticked that poor Saints defensive back.

Except… Seattle had no business hosting that game. How do you reward an 11-5 team with a road playoff game in a hostile environment against a 7-9 team? Because they just so happen to play in different divisions? C’mon! The same thing happened two years ago when the 12-4 Colts lost on the road to the 8-8 Chargers in overtime, during which they never even touched the ball. Why should the Seahawks be rewarded for winning the worst division in the history of the NFL? Let’s fix this problem by simply reseeded the playoffs based on wins/losses and not award division winners home playoff games just cause, OK?

Anyway, let’s get back to the task at hand. About that Lynch run…

6. Marshawn Lynch made this year’s Alpha Male Play of the Year.

If you haven’t seen it, then just watch it. Other than DeSean Jackson’s punt return against New York, this is probably the NFL play of the year so far. Lynch took an innocent hand-off up the middle, broke eight tackles, and turned a middling four-yard gain into a 67-yard game-changer. No way the Seahawks win without that play right there. Buffalo Bills fans everywhere wondered in unison, “WTF Marshaw?”

(BTW: belated congrats to Brandon Marshall, the winner of last year’s Alpha Male Play of the Year.)

7. Matt Cassell sure looked like a college backup in his first playoff game.

College backup meets Baltimore defense. Moving on…

8. The Sanchize just wins playoff games, baby!

As Al Davis once said, “Just win, baby!” That’s exactly what Mark Sanchez does in the playoffs. Unlike his fellow USC alum, he led his team to a game-winning drive and extended his career playoff record to 3-1. Not too bad for a guy that many believe to be a fraud. He’s the type of fraud that I want to have on my team.

OK, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Knowing me, I would probably be all over him if he were an Eagle. I’m just giving props to the man for playing well consistently in the playoffs. We will find out just how good he is in next week’s showdown in Foxboro.

9. Get ready for Rematch Weekend in the Divisional Round!

Each game is a grudge match:

• Baltimore at Pittsburgh
• New York at New England
• Green Bay at Atlanta
• Seattle at Chicago

Baltimore and Pittsburgh each split their two games, although the Ravens win came during Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension; the Patriots and Jets each split as well, although New England clearly got more of the pie thanks to their 45-3 dismantling of New York on Monday Night Football; Atlanta snuck by Green Bay in a tightly contested affair; and finally, the Bears will look to avenge their early loss to the Seahawks.

All in all, not much more an NFL fan can ask for this coming weekend.

10. Tweets of the Wildcard Weekend

My fellow Take Back writers (Adio Royster and Jason Branch) and I decided to have an Eagles tweetfest this week. You can follow us on Twitter @DrSportsFan, @AdioBRoyster, and @TheJackOfSports. Relive the action (or agony) with some of my best tweets from this weekend’s action:

DrSportsFan
So go the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. It was clearly not their year. New blood in 2011!

DrSportsFan
Cosign. RT @AdioBRoyster: Jamaal Charles.. he’s fast, and he wears red.. that’s it.. his nickname in 2011 will be ‘The Flash’

DrSportsFan
It’s been decided that the Eagles-Cowboys week 17 game in the ‘08 season will henceforth be known as “The Orgasm”

DrSportsFan
My reasoning behind “The Orgasm”: hours of foreplay (Tampa Bay and Chicago losing) followed by an explosion (points/turnover by Dallas)

DrSportsFan
4.5 RT @TheJackOfSports: Over/ under on Sean McDermott bald jokes today? #mcdermottbaldjokes

DrSportsFan
I’m an hour early to the Eagles bar in SD but its already getting busy. Is there a big game today or something?

DrSportsFan
And we’ve got the Eye of the Tiger on at the bar!!

DrSportsFan
Nice closeup of Vick’s package there by FOX

DrSportsFan
@AdioBRoyster I bet you Andy and McCarthy petitioned the league to not allow run plays in this game

DrSportsFan
F-minus on the 1st play

DrSportsFan
Special teams!!!!! The bizarro world retelling of the ‘07 Greg Lewis game in Lambeau

DrSportsFan
That sucks. Akers just pulled one at a bad time

DrSportsFan
Jerome Harrison sighting!

DrSportsFan
Death, taxes, and the Eagles wasting an early time out

DrSportsFan
Of course Keenan Clayton is in on a 3rd down play. You know because he played so much all season. #mcdermott

DrSportsFan
And of course Ernie Sims overran a play.

DrSportsFan
Where is Trent Cole? Could use some 3rd down pressure from him this game. He can’t let Chad Clifton push him around like that

DrSportsFan
Oh yeah. That TD occurred right after we called that timeout, as @TheJackOfSports just told me. #McDermottFail

DrSportsFan
@TheJackOfSports McDermott is the president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Hair Club #mcdermottbaldjokes

DrSportsFan
Mikell wtf are u doing, grab the ball, and complain AFTER the play. I’m getting pissed

DrSportsFan
I am so mad at Mikell. Why was he bitching with a fumbled ball in his lap?

DrSportsFan
Our defense sucks so much

DrSportsFan
I’m starting to get less mad as this game goes on. Somehow, someway, McDermott and his defense has made me apathetic

DrSportsFan
Has Juqua Parker taken one good angle to the quarterback once in the last several weeks?

DrSportsFan
Sean McDermott, it’s time to turn in your parking permit for the NovaCare Complex. Sincerely, every Eagles fan.

DrSportsFan
Thank you, James Jones!

DrSportsFan
Booooooooooo

DrSportsFan
The bar just chanted “asshole” to the raffle winner

DrSportsFan
This looks like a job for Superman, @mikevick

DrSportsFan
Parker took a good angle!!!

DrSportsFan
I will not miss Ernie Sims

DrSportsFan
I also don’t like Winston Justice

DrSportsFan
Big ups to whoever decided to give out complimentary cheesesteaks at Plum Crazy today. Real big ups!

DrSportsFan
Fuckin Akers

DrSportsFan
Thank you, Andy Reid, for pulling Winston Justice. Thank you very much

DrSportsFan
Of course Celek stepped out of bounds. That makes 7 points left off the scoreboard. Argh

DrSportsFan
Shit make that 8 pts. Fuck

DrSportsFan
Fuck. Ass. Bitch.

DrSportsFan
Epic is how we do RT @lakerscore: i just put the game on mute and read @DrSportsFan game tweets . #epic

DrSportsFan
James “who?” Starks is the player of the game. Other than Akers, he’s been the Packer’s best player

DrSportsFan
Clayton just totally redeemed himself. The bar just went nuts because DESEAN JACKSON is back to return the punt!!!

DrSportsFan
This is it. 2010 season right here

DrSportsFan
Poor Celek. Been that kind of year for him

DrSportsFan
Poor throw. Good luck, Green Bay. I’m out

DrSportsFan
From Sr: “This is the hell that we exist in as an eagles fans.”

And finally, a guest post in the last spot:

Howard Bryant (hbryant42)
I wonder how good the Eagles would be if they had a coach who believed running the ball helps you win.

Now while I definitely want to talk some Cliff Lee today, I’d first like to say a few words about the late Jim Johnson.

While most of us never knew him personally, the former Eagles defensive coordinator was a source of pride for Birds fans this past decade. We love our players and coaches to attack you (see Ryan, Buddy), and we also like a guy that tells it like it is. Johnson gave us both in spades.

With Jeremiah Trotter up the middle and Brian Dawkins, the Eagles made their bones in the early Andy Reid era with a dominant defense. While Donovan McNabb struggled to find his early career consistency with a mediocre receiving corps, Johnson’s crew — led by Dawkins, Trotter, defensive end Hugh Douglass, and defensive tackle Corey Simon — was the heart of the teams that made those first trips deep in the NFC playoffs.

When age and free agency ate away at the talent on the defensive side of the ball the Eagles fell from their high ground in the NFC East. While Dallas and New York gained on us in recent years, last season’s turnaround was keyed by a defensive renaissance.  Johnson’s defense finished third overall in yards allowed and fourth in points allowed (one of the stats that Johnson cared the most about), and once again the Birds had a date with in the NFC Title Game. (I’m just going to pretend that’s the end of the story for the ‘08 team. Please don’t mention anything about Larry Fitzgerald, I’m begging you.)

My dad would always point out how Johnson would wag his tongue between plays. (I used to do the same thing when I colored as a little kid.)

While it made us laugh, we knew it was because Jimmy J. was concentrating hard on what he was going to throw next at the opposing quarterback. Most of the time, the other QB didn’t know what player or what position was about to hit him. I’ll miss that.

Rest in piece, Mad Scientist.

Anyway, on to the good news: the Phillies just sent notice to the rest of baseball that the defending champions are not satisfied with just one title.

The Phils sent three Triple-A prospects (catcher Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald, and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco) and one Single-A prospect (fireball pitcher Jason Knapp) to the Cleveland Indians for Cliff Lee and bench player Ben Francisco. In other words, we sent four guys there weren’t not good enough to play in the majors for the best pitcher in the AL last year. (Remember, the Toronto Blue Jays wanted starting pitcher J.A. Happ, top minor league arm Kyle Drabek, and top position prospect Dominic Brown for super ace Roy Halladay.)

While the drop off from Halladay to Lee is minimal, the Phillies were able to avoid giving up the three key players in their future. Talk about your no brainers — even Ed Wade would’ve done this.

I know a lot of Phillies fans were dying for Halladay, and you can’t blame them one bit. This trade for Lee, however, has a lot to do with what General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was willing to part with. The rookie GM seems to have pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Here is why I think the Lee trade is easily more valuable than the proposed Halladay trade.

• Carrasco and Donald are not better than the team’s current options and Knapp is a few years away from any impact, so Marson is the only loss that hurts the team in the near future. Current backstop Carlos Ruiz will never make anyone forget Johnny Bench (or Mike Lieberthal for that matter), and Marson was beginning to look like the catcher of the future. Looks like the team will continue to look for the preverbial catcher of the future. (Of course, if Ruiz has another World Series like he did against Tampa Bay, good riddance Sweet Lou!)
• This move allows the Phillies to keep Happ and Drabek. Young J.A. has been a solid pro in every one of his starts, but more importantly, the Phils have him for cheap for several more years. Giving him away certainly would’ve hurt the back end of the rotation. Drabek, on the other hand, seems ticketed for the front end of the Phillies rotation sometime in the next season or two. Like Hamels before him, Drabek was given the “untouchable” decree from the Phils front office. Now, whether he’ll be taking the Hamels route or the Gavin Floyd detour to stardom…
• The only thing I had against the Halladay trade was not wanting to disturb the current Phillies hot streak. By not dealing anyone from the 25 man roster, problem solved! (On a side note, my dad would like to pass along that he was against the Polanco trade mainly because he thought that Polanco should have been moved to third base. Like the rest of the Philly Phaithful, my dad wasn’t too fond of David Bell.)
• Cliff Lee did win the Cy Young Award over Halladay last season. Just saying.

After giving away zero major leaguers for Lee, the Phillies are ridiculously deep and talented in almost ever facet of the game, and it all starts with the Phillies lineup. From one through six, the Phillies lineup has All-Star caliber players at every spot — with four hitters (Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Jason Werth) currently on pace for over 30 home runs.

But how about their starting pitching?

Here are the SEVEN pitchers the Phils can plug from for their eventual starting rotaton: Hamels, Lee, Happ, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, Rodrigo Lopez, and soon Pedro Martinez. Manager Charlie Manuel has options with his rotation. Here’s my recommendation for ol’ Chuck for his eventual regular season rotation:

1. Cole Hamels
2. Joe Blanton
3. Cliff Lee
4. J.A. Happ
5. Pedro Martinez

After moving Moyer to the bullpen for long relief and waiving/demoting Rodrigo Lopez (who did a great job filling in the past month), this is how I’d set it all up. Hamels and Lee are similar pitchers, so separating them with Blanton — the team’s best pitcher this season — seems logical. My guess is that Manuel will have to decide between Happ and Moyer for the fourth starter spot. My gut tells me that Charlie puts Moyer in the rotation.

Now here’s where it gets tricky. When the postseason roles around, one of the starters will need to be dropped from the rotation. Charlie will have to decide between Happ/Moyer and Pedro for that last spot. That decision I suggest we table until we see just how good Martinez looks in the September stretch drive.

But wait, there’s more!

No it’s not an infomercial, it’s the return of Brett Myers.  When Myers returns from hip surgery late in the season, he’ll go right into the bullpen, which has really been the only chink in the armor of the defending champs this season, surprising given last year’s dominant performance. Now Myers, the closer for the 2007 Division Championship team, joins the late inning fray to help spell Ryan Madsen and even Brad Lidge – both of who have stuggled in 2009.

I’m don’t like to get ahead of myself with these things — growing up in Philly, who could blame me — but this move really makes the Phillies favorites to win the next two World Series titles. (Wow, say that out loud a few times.) With their deep pitching staff, and that lineup, who is going to stop them? No one could stop them last year, and that was before Ibanez and Lee joined the team.

Not that I like to brag or anything, but I’m feeling pretty good about the Phillies chances for a repeat AND a threepeat. It sure is great to be the defending champs!

I’m feeling so good, kind of like I did at that first fraternity party…