From: Hart,Duane R Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 4:54 PM
To: Josh Cadman; ‘Mick Garvey’; ‘Ryan Smith’; ‘Andy Rettler’; ‘Rettler, Joseph’; ‘Robert W. Dean’; ‘cory buslaff’
Subject: Old time rant

I’m not sure what made me do this. Maybe it is the fact that I hate lost opportunities. Maybe it’s the fact that I read an article in which Darren Sharper had the audacity to rip his defensive coordinator, or maybe its because im a sick and obsessive man……..Either way, I want to revisit and reanalyze one of the most famous/infamous (depending on you perspective) plays in football history………….yep, 4^th and 26.

I provide the Wikipedia description for a refresher (not that any of you need it)

The Play

After an exchange of punts, the Eagles got the ball on their own 20-yard line with 2:22 left in regulation.

Staley started the drive with a 22-yard run, but over the next two plays, McNabb threw two incompletions. On third down the Eagles were penalized 5 yards for a false start. On the next play, McNabb was sacked for a loss of 11, pushing the Eagles back to their own 25 yard line, and left them faced with a fourth down with 26 yards needed to convert a first down, with only 1:12 remaining and no timeouts available.

The play (74 Double Go) called for a 25-yard slant running route for wide receiver Freddie Mitchell, and saw McNabb toss a perfect 28-yard strike to Mitchell deep into the Packers secondary. Mitchell was supposed to be covered shallow by Nick Barnett and deep by Darren Sharper, but Barnett was distracted by a tight end and didn’t cover him. Sharper stayed well past the first down markers, inexplicably playing for an interception, which would have been a worse result than an incompletion because it would have resulted in a huge net loss of field position. Packer safety Bhawoh Jue saw Mitchell running free and ran over to deliver a hit, but he was too late. Mitchell completed a leaping reception and was brought down at the Packers 46, giving the Eagles a first down.^[1]

The play set up David Akers‘ 37-yard field goal attempt after McNabb ran for another first down. The field goal was good, and the game went into overtime, where Eagles star safety Brian Dawkins was able to intercept a Packers pass and return it 35 yards, setting up another Akers field goal try. The 31-yard kick was good, giving the Eagles a dramatic 20-17 victory in sudden death overtime. The play helped send the Eagles to their third straight NFC Championship Game.

Limited edition T-shirts were made immediately following the game, with “FOURTH AND 26″ emblazoned on the front and “BELIEVE” printed on the back.^[2] However, the Eagles went on to lose the NFC Championship game to the Carolina Panthers. This would be the Eagles’ third consecutive NFC Championship loss and the second consecutive NFC Championship loss at home.

Thoughts / Analysis:

1. First thing I want to say is this is a darn shame. This was a very good, nearly great Packer team. This was a team that could run the ball at will. It was to the point where the Packers could like up on first and second down, have Kevin Barry (U-Bacon) #71, line up and basically show where they were running the ball. Did it matter? Heck no, they could run the ball down everyone’s throat and they wanted you to know it. We would have freaking steamrolled Carolina in the championship game. The pack may have ultimately lost to a budding New England dynasty, but that’s another argument.
2. I will start with the coaches. As we all know, Mike Sherman was a complete disaster in this game. Twice failing to run the ball on short yardage when we could have put the game away. When you have this running game, why not use it. Instead we settled for field goals.
3. This play was a microcosm of two terrible players who think they are good. Nick Barnett and Darren Sharper. Aint no body Sharper already had my ire from the ’98 playoff game where he made sure T.O. did not catch the ball by the goal posts. Unfortunately for Darren, T.O. made the decision to catch the ball in the front of the end zone. Well this behavior continued here as Darren chose to make a cherry pick attempt rather that cover the freaking play! Some Kudos is due to Nick Barnett for getting “distracted”. Nice work Nick, worry about the tight end who is running a 5-10 yard pattern on 4^th and 26!!! Do your job! This awesome play at the hands of Mr. Barnett continues to this day. He is terrible and will always be terrible. When Bwahoh freaking Jue recognizes a mistake and has to attempt to cover your behind, you know you’re terrible. Thank you Darren and Nick. You two cost a man his job (def coordinator) and ruined my playoff life.
4. This game is also on the back of Brett Favre. Mr. Favre, as he usually does, played brilliantly for the first 4 quarters of this game. Come overtime, Favre decided to chuck up a heave ho pattern to Walker. This duck was easily picked and the game was over. We must remember that this pick almost played into the loss as much as 4^th and 26. This behavior was simply a reoccurrence of Brett’s “playoff magic” in the 2000s. Along with the 6 pick fest in St Louis and the pick he threw to end his GB Career was a sign that this man was more flash than “clutch”. Give me Elway or Montana, never the latter years Favre with the game on the line.

P freaking S. This was a 2 receiver pattern…….yep 2…………..digest that for a moment.

Sorry for the old school rant, but I needed to write it. Delete it if you must, but remember it, because Packer fans will never live it down. We are reminded every freaking playoff season that we are and were a part of this play.

Andy, we need to get to work on the website as stuff like this needs to be provided to the masses. It’s my duty.