GITMO

The Philadelphia Eagles are getting on my last nerve!

They are about to get the ball back with 2:55 left in fourth quarter, trailing 17-10 to the Washington Redskins. 1st and 10 from their own 15-yard line. Can Donovan McNabb engineer a game-tying drive? Despite having a sports hernia and banged up ribs, I have no doubt that he can. Outside of Brett Favre, there isn't a more dangerous, gamer of a quarterback than McNabb. The fact Philly is in danger of dropping to the cellar of the division, after dominating it in the past years, isn't what irks me about this team.

No, it's how they're handling my boy -- rookie running back Ryan Moats. Moats, who is 5-foot-8 and 210 pounds, is simply one of the most outstanding running backs that I've ever seen. He also happens to be a personal friend of mine. Moats is inactive for this game, as he has been for six of the Eagles' eight games this year.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out Andy Reid and this team. They chose Moats in the third round of last year's draft, after the jitterbug rushed for more than 1,700 yards and earned the Offensive MVP award in the Western Athletic Conference as a junior last year. Moats, who is very similar to the Eagles' starting running back, All-Pro Brian Westbrook, was supposed to be a backup plan and second option to Westbrook. So far he has yet to even get his chance at sniffing the field.

After coming in during the preseason and giving a glimpse of his incredible skills, Moats has had to watch almost every week. He sat on the inactive list for the first five games of the year before getting his first shot in Week 6 against San Diego as a kickoff returner. He touched the ball twice before being knocked out of the game with a mild concussion. He returned to practice that week and was active for the following game, despite not playing. This week, Moats again returned to the inactive list.

Much of the excuse for Moats not playing has been his seeming inability to grasp the Eagles' playbook, considered one of the most complicated in the NFL. Reid and offensive coordinator Brad Childress have acknowledged Moats' great ability. However, they've said he hasn't grasped the system well enough, particularly in being a receiver out of the backfield -- something the Eagles ask from Westbrook.

The Eagles have had a great deal of problems this season running the football. Coming into tonight's game, they had thrown the ball on an incredible 72 percent of their plays. That's a ridiculous amount of passes! They like to use Westbrook in the passing game, which he is fine with, as long as he gets a certain amount of touches per game. But the lack of a running game could easily be solved by using a combination of Westbrook and Moats. Here's a novel concept -- the two are not mutually exclusive; they can line up together in the same backfield!

The Eagles season has been followed by a huge shadow with off-the-field issues concerning Westbrook and Terrell Owens. Both of those situations were fixed this year, as Westbrook's contract squabbles were fixed with a five-year extension and T.O.'s continual running of the mouth caused him to be suspended indefinitely. Now the problems on the field must be addressed, and some of those can start with putting Moats on the field.

McNabb, who engineered a great drive down inside Washington's 10-yard line, just threw his 8th interception of the season with 1:25 left to basically seal the game. After playing in the Super Bowl in January, less than a year later, the Eagles find themselves in dead last in their own division at 4-4.

It's gutcheck time for the Eagles. They can end up 4-12 or they can end up 12-4. Andy Reid has a great deal of soul searching to do right now. The defense, which hasn't been able to stop the run much all year, stepped up against the Redskins and performed admirably. But the offense is still woeful. Reid must make a commitment to the running game, and that includes allowing Moats a chance to make a difference. Pure and simple, the kid is electric and he is a difference-maker. It's long past time to give him a chance to show what he can do.

Other thoughts around the NFL ...

Bravo, Dick Vermeil. That was a gutsy, gutsy call going for it on 4th down from the 1. Larry Johnson leaped over the top to give the Chiefs a 27-23 win over Oakland. However, I am tired of the crying Dick. Football is a game of emotion -- BUT NOT THAT KIND OF EMOTION!

Cincinnati roughed up on Baltimore. Carson Palmer threw for more than 250 yards and continues to show that he is an MVP candidate. Marvin Lewis has done a great job with the artist formerly known as the Bungles. They need to get over the Pittsburgh hump, but Palmer is established himself as perhaps the best young quarterback in the NFL.

Tampa Bay lost for the second time in a row, falling to 5-3 on the season. After starting 5-1, the Bucs are 0-2 since losing Brian Griese at QB. Simply put, the Chris Simms experience isn't working. The Bucs acquired Timmy Rattay from San Fran as the backup plan, but it's about time Jon Gruden makes TIM-MAY option #1.

Atlanta moved to 6-2 with a win over Miami. I know Vick's QB rating and statistics aren't nearly in the elite level, but how can you not like #7? The kid simply makes jaw-dropping plays, and the Falcons continue to rack up wins.

During the NFL draft two years ago, I couldn't understand the hype around Eli. Now he's beginning to show what all the hoopla is about. While Palmer is the best young QB in the league, Eli might have more upside than anymore. Eli and Plaxico -- the new Peyton to Marvin?

Speaking of Peyton and Marvin ... the Colts face their inner and outer demons Monday night as they travel to Foxboro to face the defending world champion New England Patriots. Can Peyton shake the Pats? With Tedy Bruschi back and the Pats' defense as good as ever, I don't think they will. The Colts fall to 7-1 on the season, while the Pats begin their annual late-season run towards home field in the playoffs.

In other sports news ...

In something that really might only matter to me, the Louisiana high school football playoff brackets were released today. Here are my predictions for the state title games, played for the first time this year in Shreveport, instead of New Orleans, thanks to Hurricane Katrina:

5A -- West Monroe over East St. John
4A -- Bastrop over Neville
3A -- Notre Dame over Wossman
2A -- John Curtis over Sterlington
1A -- Evangel over Oak Grove

The latest BCS rankings come out Monday. My predictions are 1) USC 2) Texas 3) Miami 4) Alabama 5) LSU. With Miami demolishing Virginia Tech, the BCS have taken a slight breath of relief. Should USC and Texas run the table, we have our national title game. Alabama, even if they run the table and win the SEC title, doesn't have too much of an argument since Miami has already passed them in the polls and will most likely be ranked ahead of the Tide for the rest of the year. It would be interested if an undefeated SEC champion from Alabama is left out of the national title game for the second straight season.

The Larry Brown era in New York has gotten off to a great start, as the Knicks lost tonight (to Golden State, no less!) to fall to 0-3 on the season. It's still far too early to hit the panic button in the Big Apple, but it's certainly not the way Brown wanted to start his latest -- and 20th??? -- stop in the NBA.

On a related NBA note, it's still far too early to know anything about how this season will shake down. Miami will hurt a little over the next month or so while Shaq nurses his injured ankle. It's time for LeBron James to take his game to the next next level. How good can the Cavs be? As good as King James wants them to be. After averaging 27 pts, 7 asts and 7 rebs last year, he could realistically go for the triple double this year -- or even 30, 8 and 8. The new-look Cavs should be one of the top five teams in the East and have a shot to make a deep playoff run.

That's all my thoughts for this Sunday night. We'll catch ya when we catch ya next time!