I was riding home from church (around 11:30am) Sunday when I heard on WIP radio that Reggie White had suddenly passed away. He was only 3 years older than myself. During his rookie season when he wore #91, even then you could see that he was going to be special. What amazed me most was his extreme power move that many called a “bull rush”. He wouldn’t try to fake you out when pass rushing the quarterback. He would run straight through the lineman(s) towards the quarterback. In 1987, he broke the NFC all-time record for sacks in a season with 21. What’s more fascinating about the record is that he did it in only 12 games (strike year). Michael Strahan owns the new NFL record with 23 in 2002. White would have had 28 sacks had he played all 16 games that season and he earned every one of his sacks that year too!

Reggie White was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and 1998. He was chosen to play in the Pro Bowl a NFL-record 13 consecutive times (1987-98). Although he is now second all-time for most career sacks with 198 to Bruce Smith, he still has the highest ratio of games sacks to games played. In fact, as an Eagle his ratio is 0.999 as he had 120 sacks in 121 games. My two most memorable moments of Reggie White: (1) Jan. 3, 1993 vs. the Saints in a Wild Card Playoff. In that game he first stopped QB Bobby Hebert on a 3rd-and-1 play in the third quarter, which helped to turn the tide for the Eagles to come back and win 36-20. Near the end of the game, he also sacked Hebert for and he immediately signaled a safety even before the refs had a chance to signal themselves. (2) Reggie White eating a huge turkey leg courteous of John Madden on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas after the Eagles defense totally crushed the Cowboys 23-0. Dallas always seemed to bring out the best of Reggie White. I guess you can also say, his coach Buddy Ryan had a lot to do with it. Conversely, that Cowboys game in 1989 also was infamously known as the “Bounty Bowl”.

As for the game against the Rams, well it did not take long for Andy Reid turned the game into an exhibition game. To start the game, St. Louis took the opening kickoff and ran it straight down the Eagles throat, literally. They rushed ten straight times for 73 yards and the Rams had a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard run by Steven Jackson. The Rams needed to win both their last two games and needed either Seattle or Carolina to lose their last game too to make the playoffs. The Eagles had already clinched the home-field advantage last week and had nothing to play for except to try and finish 15-1. On the Eagles first series, Donovan McNabb led a sharp drive of 12 plays. He led the team passing 3-for-3 and 36 yards with his best QB rating ever of 156.25, though that was it for him in this game. The Rams ultimately won this game 20-7, thanks to Andy Reid not playing most of his starters. Brian Dawkins, Jevon Kearse and Brian Westbrook did not even play one play. McNabb’s last pass went for a touchdown to Freddie Mitchell for a 7-yard TD. It would be his last of 2004. It was also Mitchell’s first of the season.

This game #15 on the Eagles schedule along with next week’s game will mean nothing to the Philadelphia Eagles. Instead of playing the starters most of the game or at least until halftime, this game was about keeping the most important starters healthy for the playoffs. Why, you ask? Just look at the past three years: Terrell Owens this season, Brian Westbrook last year and Donovan McNabb the year before. Every since Andy Reid has coached this team in the playoffs, the Eagles have one or more main cogs out/hurt for the playoffs. This season is not over yet and already T.O. is out until a possible Super Bowl. Next week will be worse as McNabb will probably not even play at all. These 2 backup QB’s both had terrible games against St. Louis as they combined for a lowly 5 total completions. And remember, no team other than the 1967 Green Bay Packers lost their last two games and still won the Super Bowl.