I caught this story in the Inky and was mildly surprised.

According to ratings released yesterday, 23.3 percent of the houses turned on in this market were turned to the Eagles-Redskins game, equating to 687,000 households. For the Phillies, 13 percent (383,000 households) of the TVs on at the time were watching their game against the Brewers.

The fact is that most Philly sports fans were probably switching back and forth... Plus, the fact that the Eagles were on network TV and the Phillies on cable had plenty to do with it as well.

I do wonder however, given the way their fortunes went on Sunday whether we'd see the same result if they went  head to head again. Fortunately for those of us who root for both, there will be no more head to head Phils/Eagles matchups. The Eagles play the 49ers at 4pm this Sunday while the Phillies play around 8:30 that night.

Despite their 2-3 record, the Eagles players still seemed convinced of how good they are.

"We've got a great team," defensive end Trent Cole said. "I know we're a great team. We just didn't show it today."

"There's no way that this team is better than us," Donovan McNabb said. "The same went for last week. I was embarrassed these last two weeks. To two teams we shouldn't have lost to."

Maybe you guys know you're a great team... we're still not sure.

Sheldon Brown, as he usually does, told it like it is

"To have a championship team and to talk about the playoffs, you have to be consistent," Brown said. "If you're not consistent, you don't have a chance. You just don't."

Thank you Sheldon...

Brian Westbrook plans to keep up the fight.

"It's tough, it's going to be tough for us, but the good thing about the division is that we are going to continue to fight; this team is going to continue to fight," Westbrook said. "We are going to do the things that will allow us to have success. We are not going quit, we are not going to give up and we have to try to get everybody on board so that we can do the things we can do to have success."

Andy Reid, in his typical fashion, stated the obvious.

"When you are up by 14 points, you expect to finish the thing off right and do the right things and win the game," Reid said. "I think we are all embarrassed by it. We put a lot of time and effort into it. I don't think you want to go out and have a game like that."

Finally, Brian Westbrook addressed his rib injury and whether it would prevent him from playing.

"At the end of the day, you have to try to get a feel for what it's going to feel like," he said. "Can you stand that pain, and play with it, and be effective? Do I want to be out there at 45 percent and not willing to take a hit and hurting the team more than I'm helping it? No. I would rather have Correll Buckhalter, a proven running back, a guy who can get the job done, take over and carry this team. I wouldn't want to set the team back like that."

Minutes ago Andy Reid announced at his day after press conference that Brian Westbrook has fractured ribs. I'll update as soon as more info about what this will mean comes available. 

Things going from bad to worse.

[Note by JasonB, 10/06/08 2:33 PM EDT ] Update from PE.com

Head coach Andy Reid updated the injury situation on Monday and announced that running back Brian Westbrook fractured two of his ribs during Sunday's 23-17 loss to the Washington Redskins.

Westbrook came to the sideline pointing to his ribs after he scored. Trainers worked on him on the sideline before taking him into the locker room for further evaluation. It was during that time where Westbrook received a Cortisone shot. After the game, Westbrook said that he would likely have an MRI on his ribs Monday.

In a year where in all likelihood a team will have to be at least 10-6 to make the postseason in the NFC, the Eagles already have 3 losses and lose pretty much every conceivable tiebreaker. They've put themselves squarely behind the 8 ball with this home loss and kicked off their first losing streak of the year.

Onto headlines.

A game of 3 downs...

There's one very simple stat decided this game. 3rd down efficiency. The Redskins executed on third down, the Eagles didn't. Washington was an astonishing 11 for 19 on 3rd downs and frankly that stat doesn't even do them justice. If you take into account the fact that the Skins kicked 3 FGs and converted a 4th down... the Eagles actually only stopped them 4 times all game. That's simply not good enough.

It's not as if the Redskins offense was gashing us or racking up big plays one after the other... It was methodical. Four, Five yards at a time inching down the field 3 downs at a time. In fact, they averaged less yards per play than the Eagles did! Not flashy, but incredibly efficient and mistake free. In short, they were everything the Eagles offense wasn't.

The Eagles offense went a pathetic 5 of 12 on third down. The Redskins clearly came out with a concise game plan on offense and exectuted. I simply can't say the same about our team. Can anyone tell me what the Eagles game plan was? Despite the fact that the Skins defense created almost no pressure on McNabb and they were missing their best cover guy I don't remember us testing them deep once. I'm not sure whether Westbrook's injury is what held him to just 12 carries, but it's not as if there was any commitment to the run otherwise with Buckhalter carrying the ball just twice. What was the plan? What were they trying to do? It's a mystery.

A game of two kickers

Suisham - 3 for 3 with kicks of 41, 48, 50.

Akers - 1 for 2 with a 23 yd kick made and a 50 yarder missed.

It's not a statistical anomaly. Akers is done and has been for several years. That was not a speculative kick he missed yesterday. There was no wind, he was at home, it was a beautiful day... and he missed it bad.

Again I ask why no one on the Eagles has had the same thought I had last week? Why are we kicking a FG on 4th and 5 from around the 32? Akers simply can't make those kicks anymore. That's painfully obvious. Why are we not going for it there and at worst probably just giving the ball back at the 30 or 32 rather than at the 40 after a missed Akers kick? Surely the offense has a better shot at getting 5 yards there than Akers has kicking a 50 yard FG?

A game of one possession

This possession certainly didn't decide the game but it encapsulated it rather well. With just under two minutes(1:53 I think) left the Eagles offense had first and ten on their 40 yard line. They go a quick a 3 and out which allows the Redskins plenty of time to march down the field for a FG before the half. They have first and ten from the 40 with the less than 2 minutes left and the result is 3 points for the other team? That's an absolute embarassment!

Eagles fans did cheer loudly as the clock ran out...

But it wasn't for the Eagles. In an almost bizarre symmetry, just as the final kneeldown was taken to end the Eagles game Brad Lidge induced a ground ball to send the Phillies into the NLCS. By that time, many fans in the section I was in had left their seats and were huddled around the one TV on the club level that was showing the Phils game. I think the fact that the Eagles had just been so poor really made the moment in the Phils game that much sweeter.

The Eagles rarely showed the Phillies score, I remember it once or twice being shown on the out of town scoreboard. So most of the news from the Phils game was being relayed by people in different sections listening to the game on headphones. By the time the 3rd quarter was ending, there were "Lets Go Phillies" chants filling up Lincoln Financial Field. When was the last time that has ever happened? We've all been to Phils games were E-A-G-L-E-S chants broke out... but this is the first time in my memory that the opposite has been true.

I wonder if those chants drifted up to the owners box? For the first time since Jeff Luris has owned this team, it could very well be true that he no longer owns the top act in town. At least not at this moment.

One final thing

I'd kill to find out what play Andy called on that 3rd and less than a yard near the goal line that McNabb audibled out of. Reid didn't even look at McNabb when he walked back to the sideline after that.

Location: Lincoln Financial - Field Philadelphia, PA

Time: 1p Eastern

TV: FOX

Radio: 94.1 WYSP, 610 WIP, Sirius 126

Did you know? (from NFL.com)

3-0. After a Week 1 loss to the Giants, the Redskins are going for a fourth consecutive win. ... Redskins QB Jason Campbell has posted a 100-plus passer rating in past three games and is second in the NFC with a 102.2 rating. ... Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh is the only other Redskins quarterback to post a 100-plus passer rating for a season (Baugh did it in 1945). ... Eagles rookie WR DeSean Jackson is on track for 88 catches and 1,308 yards. Both would be club rookie records.

My usual post game headlines will be late today since I'll be at the game itself! Go Birds!