So what did the 5-8 Birds accomplish, in holding the Dolphins to 204 net yards, beating a team that came in 4-8, a team that had roared back from an 0-7 start on the strength of a defense that hadn't given up more than 20 points in 8 weeks?
Andy Reid and Juan Castillo were able to smile a little. No one will be asking them this week about players giving up on them, or on each other. That "youth" theme Andy started trotting out last week gained a little traction, with the first career Casey Matthews sack, a Phillip Hunt first sack that caused a safety, and a key Kurt Coleman interception.
But even in winning big, there were troubling flaws. Against a better team, do you survive getting your first punt of the day blocked, leading to a 7-0 hole? Or fumbling the ball away on an needless razzle-dazzle punt-return play, up 17-7 in the second quarter? Won't your offense need to be able to get out of its own way in the second half, against most opponents? The Eagles scored 24 points in a hectic span of 9 minutes and 51 seconds in the second quarter, then could add nothing until Hunt brought down J.P. Losman in the end zone with 9:02 remaining. The Birds' offensive line might have played its worst game of the season.
Those are questions and quibbles for another day. Today, let's let Castillo and his troops celebrate a dominant effort, one in which they stuffed the Dolphins on fourth-and-1 twice, shut them down on third-and-1 to force a punt, and swarmed a run for minus-3 yards on third-and-goal from the Eagles' 2 that forced a field goal, when Miami was down 24-7 and needed a touchdown. Not what we were used to seeing from the NFL's worst red-zone defense.
