Special teams -- Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb?

The simple analysis of the Eagles' punting decision is power vs. consistency, the home run hitter vs. the contact hitter. Of course, Big Sav Rocca is the Ruthian, bombing 70-yard punts and then shanking a few, and incumbent Dirk Johnson is the slap hitter, moving the runners and never hitting into a double play. But of course, it's not that simple. Dirk's got some pop in his bat, and Big Sav has professional experience that will keep him from peeing his pants on the big stage.

This fight will go down to the last moment, and I'd love to know what they're basing the decision on. I don't know if it's significant, but Andy said that Sav will punt and hold the first half tonight, and Dirk the second, which is the opposite of what it was Monday.

The holding situation is interesting too. David Akers was explaining the other day how he had it so great for a while with Mike Bartrum snapping and Koy Detmer holding because he could be as fast as he wanted to be, and the ball always got there in time. Being fast helped, he said, helped him beat the apex of the D-line's jump, avoiding a block even with his line-drive sort of kicking style. It's clear that neither Dirk nor Sav is in Koy's league as a holder, but I can't tall if Akers likes one over the other quite yet.

I'm pretty certain that Jon Dorenbos is no Mike Bartrum on the long snap, either, but he seems to have that job locked up. As does Jeremy Bloom as the primary returner, though the Eagles haven't tested a lot of options there. Given Barksdale's solid performance on Monday, it would be interesting to see him try a return or two.