What? That’s about all you can say. What happened on special teams should never happen ever for any decent team with aspirations for an extended playoff run. Yes, it is only one game, but those two special teams gaffs could make the difference between 9-7 and 10-6 or first place/wild card or out of the playoffs down the road. This is not baseball, where for example the Phillies have given away 4-5 games so far this season, but also been fortunate enough to have 2-3 X-Mas presents in the past month alone. In the NFL, giving away early Christmas presents is tantamount to giving away 10 games (comparison to baseball). Ten fricken games! This is all on Andy Reid. Yes, they cut Jeremy Bloom, who basically had nothing to show, but he did not fumble. They also let go of Reno Mahe, a pretty reliable punt returner and descent 4th running back too. Their solution was to try J.R. Reed and (cough-cough) Greg Lewis. With the emergence of Jason Avant and Hank Baskett, why keep a fifth receiver like Lewis around. He is extremely undersized at 180 lbs and now in his 5th season hasn’t really ever shown much of anything, other than a catch here and there.

It all started with 13:27 left in the first half, when the Eagles forced the Green Bay offense into a 3-plays-and-out possession forcing a punting situation. Greg Lewis went back to field the punt, but muffed the ball away as he was being hit and somehow, the ball was magically kicked 20 yards backwards into the endzone for a touchdown. Jarrett Bush, the same guy who forced the fumble on the punt, recovered the TD. Green Bay led the game 7-0. Then on the Eagles next possession, McNabb was picked off on a terrible pass intended for Hank Baskett. The Packers’ Nick Barnett read the play, intercepted the pass and then returned the ball to the Eagles 34-yard line. That led to a Mason Crosby 53-yd FG and a 10-0 Green Bay lead. McNabb was not very sharp as a whole on the day, completing just 15-33 passes for 184 yards. Brett Favre was not much better, passing for just 206 yards on a 23-42 day. Favre was also intercepted once, but failed to throw a TD pass. The only TD Green Bay had on the day was courtesy of Greg Lewis’ muff.

The Eagles did fight back with a 13-play 62-yd drive that ended with an Akers 33-yd FG. Then with 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Donovan McNabb connected with Jason Avant for a 9-yd TD pass. That tied the game at 10-10. Then halfway through the third quarter, a 31-yd pass completion, again to Avant helped setup a 47-yf FG to give the Eagles a 13-10 lead. Then Brett Favre with some magical escaping feet, led the Packers straight down the field, before the Eagles defense, forced another FG, this tied the game at 13 with just 45 seconds left in the third quarter. The big play was with 3rd-and-10 from the Eagles 42-yard line. Somehow, Favre escaped the clutches of both Joselio Hanson and Takeo Spikes and then quickly shuffled the ball off to DeShawn Wynn who gained 18 yards. On a whole, the Eagles defense played great holding the Packer offense to just 215 total yards. Green Bay managed just 46 rushing yards.

Then came those end of the fourth quarter plays that doomed the Eagles in their season opener. With just 1:09 left in the game, the Eagles defense once again held the Packers and forced another punt. This time, Andy Reid put in J.R. Reed to field the punt and he gaffed on the play. He actually dove for the ball as Aaron Rowand of the Phillies would dive for a baseball. Reid muffed the ball and Jarrett Bush at the Eagles 31 recovered it. Four plays later with just 2 seconds left in the game, the Packers rookie kicker gave Green Bay an improbable 16-13 victory. Though McNabb did not look great in his first start after his knee injury from last season, he is not at fault for the loss. Special teams sucked as they muffed this one away. What else can be said? The Eagles signed Reno Mahe one day later and cut J.R. Reed again. Better luck on Monday night.