8:53 - Fourth and goal. Please go for it. No more field goals.

8:55 - Have we really seen nine field goals and no touchdowns today? Is that number accurate? It's still early, but this is currently worse than either of the bowl games I live blogged.

8:59 - What just happened? Touchdown? Somebody reached the end zone? I can die in peace now.

9:00 - "Signal to Noise said...Did that Trading Spouses commercial scare the shit out of you as much as it did me? Hi there, nightmare fuel."

STN, you have no idea. I'm still recovering from the last time that woman (and I use the term loosely) was on that show. She is one of the most terrifying people ever to walk the earth. And she has kids, which means somebody had sex with her at some point. I'm gonna go kill myself.

9:02 - I couldn't get MJD's video to work on Deadspin, but a commenter there had a picture of the FUCK DA EAGLES shirt. Amazing. I want to add a FUCK DA EAGLES tag to this post.

9:06 - Gotta love Reggie Bush slipping out of bounds rather than take a hit at the end of the screen. Something tells me Reggie's just about done with contact for the day.

9:10 - Wow, offense. Nice catch and run by Colston that ends with Stockton saying one of two things: "shoestring tackle" or "shoe saving tackle". I prefer the latter.

9:12 - Reggie Bush Just Says No to getting stuffed in the middle of the field, bounces it outside, and outruns the defense to the pylon for the touchdown. 13-7, Saints. Two touchdowns in one half - we're being spoiled.

9:14 - "extrapolater said...What is the atmosphere in the Superdome right now? It sounds like they're watching tennis. It was louder in the first game back than it is for the playoffs."

I think FOX is doing everything they can to deaden the crowd noise for viewers. Early in the game, it was obnoxiously loud, to the point that you couldn't hear the announcers (not that there's anything wrong with that).

9:21 - Are defenses ever fooled when the quarterback does the "oh no, the ball got snapped really poorly and now I must go chase it" routine on direct-snap plays?

9:24 - I hate the FOX robot.

9:28 - Garcia under pressure, lofts a pass to Westbrook, and...off his fingertips. L.J. Smith makes it all better on the next play, getting the ball down to the one yard line.

9:29 - Here's the thing: they always say that a player isn't down until his knee or elbow touches the ground. On that play, it looks like Smith gets the ball over the goal line before his knee and elbow are down but after his head hits the ground. Shouldn't the booth at least review the play?

9:32 - Anyway, it's a moot point as Brian Westbrook Supermans over the pile into the end zone. If the Eagles keep scoring touchdowns, they might become my favorite NFC team. And the extra point makes it 14-13, Eagles, with less than a minute to play in the second quarter.

9:37 - Quick poll: who else thinks "sack dances" are fucking stupid?

9:38 - Saints line up to punt, the Eagles come flying up the middle and punter Steve Weatherford takes off and gets the first down. Amazing - I'll bet his heart was beating out of his chest on that one. I'll also bet that he had no idea where the first down marker was and just ran out of bounds as soon as anyone got close.

9:39 - Good call by Bush: you've got one timeout left, why try to get out of bounds? Turn it back to the middle of the field and waste the timeout.

9:39 - The game clock is different every time I look at it, whether a play has been run or not.

9:41 - The Saints sure do know how to make things interesting: Hail Mary into the end zone and they almost come away with the touchdown. Looked like the receiver had it at first, then lost it on the way down. End of the first half, Eagles on top 14-13.

9:43 - Let's close out the second quarter thread with this thought from Signal to Noise, who opines, "No sack dance is dumber than the Giants' "jump shot," although I'm gonna mock Shawne Merriman big-time on the live-blog tomorrow if he gets to Tom Brady -- his "lights out" dance is a very close second."

You speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The worst thing about the Jump Shot is the fact that other players began copying it (didn't they even have a mini-controversy over who "created" it? Why would anyone want credit for something so...stupid?)

I'll be back in a few minutes with the final two quarters of play. If the first half is any indication, this could turn out to be a hell of a game.