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Mired in the middle of a quite reprehensible offense, Adrian Gonzalez had been struggling at the plate for quite a while. Sure, he was still hitting home runs and drawing walks, but his batting average from May 1 to August 9 was an atrocious .228 in 298 at-bats. He hadn't had a multiple hit game since July 29 and hadn't had more than two hits in a game since June 18.

Tuesday night, Gonzalez went 6-6, giving him more hits in one night than the rest of August combined.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- On the side of a hill at the corner of the practice fields at Eagles training camp, "JJ" is painted in white letters on a green oval in honor of Sean McDermott's beloved predecessor. A fair-skinned redhead, McDermott wears a wide-brimmed hat and long white sleeves in deference to the hot August sun and the skin cancer that claimed former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson two weeks ago. When he goes to work out in the morning, McDermott still half-expects to see Johnson there, having beaten him to the gym once again. When he jogs out to the fields for the morning session, he's still surprised that Johnson isn't next to him.

The Eagles will be without starting linebacker Stewart Bradley for the season. He tore his ACL during the first week of training camp, leaving a big hole in the middle of their defense (particularly after safety Brian Dawkins wasn't re-signed).

Compounding matters: longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson lost his battle to cancer and his replacement, 35-year-old Sean McDermott, is in his first year on the job. The Eagles have signed a couple warm bodies -- Matt Wilhelm and Jason Babin -- and second-year linebacker Joe Mays will also get a shot at replacing Bradley. (There was some speculation that Omar Gaither might get the nod but it looks like he'll remain the fourth linebacker, at least for now.)

In May, the Eagles announced that Sean McDermott would be the team's interim defensive coordinator, replacing Jim Johnson indefinitely while he received cancer treatments. Friday, the organization named McDermott to the full-time gig.

Johnson continues to battle cancer, and as NFL Network's Jason La Canfora writes, "If there is ever a Coordinators Wing in the Hall of Fame (and frankly there probably should be), then of this modern era of defensive coaches, Johnson and Dick LeBeau should be first-ballot entrants."

Johnson, 68, molded the Eagles into one of the league's best defenses during his 10 years in Philly, and in a 2005 interview with the Boston Globe he explained his blitz-happy philosophy.

Former Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart has joined the Eagles coaching staff, according to various reports. Stewart spent the last two seasons in Dallas before he was fired following the 2008 season. with one year remaining on his contract.

Stewart did not return a call seeking comment.

In Dallas, Stewart had his play-calling duties taken away from him at midseason and fell out of favor with coach Wade Phillips, whom he considered a close friend. Several players were split about how they felt about Stewart.

The Eagles made this move because of the uncertainty of current defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson has taken a leave of absence while he undergoes treatment for a cancerous tumor on his spine.

Apparently, the reason the Padres have won all these games the first two weeks of the season is that they needed the postgame handshakes.

To introduce themselves to one another.

Two weeks ago, the Eagles' venerable defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, was busy preparing for the conference championship game in Arizona. Now, he's undergoing radiation treatments for cancer.

Johnson was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2001, and apparently a melanoma skin cancer has formed a tumor near Johnson's spine. He was suffering from a good deal of pain in the area, which prompted the MRI exams that, in turn, discovered the tumor. There is no surgery scheduled, nor any plans for Johnson to cease coaching, according to Eagles trainer, Rick Burkholder.

Ryan already broke down how the now famous Arizona Cardinal modified fleaflicker that resulted in a 62 yard Larry Fitzgerald touchdown has a history in Ken Wisenhunt's playbook, dating to the Steelers in 2005.

But it turns out, via the esteemed Larry Brown, that there's a little more history behind it as well, particularly with the Philadelphia Eagles. So much so, in fact, that the specific play is actually known as "The Philly Special" because it seeks to take direct advantage of Jim Johnson's aggressive blitz packages.

The two biggest underdogs of the postseason will square off in Arizona this weekend, with one of them emerging from the desert as NFC Champion. They've taken drastically different paths in order to arrive at the same point in this 2008 season, but they meet at the same place.

The Cardinals -- beneficiaries of the NFC's weakling division -- had the playoff spot wrapped up for weeks, while the Eagles had to fight tooth and nail -- in addition to needing Bears and Bucs losses in Week 17 -- just to make the dance. The Cards scuffled down the stretch and were nothing but an afterthought as the playoffs began.

It was a defensive struggle Sunday at Giants Stadium. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles making more plays on both sides of the ball. They beat the NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, 23-11 to advance to their fifth NFC Championship game under head coach Andy Reid.

The Eagles led for most of the second half, but didn't put the game away until the fourth quarter. It was then that the Giants' chances were destroyed by their inability to either convert short-yardage situations or trust their struggling quarterback to make plays.

Eli Manning is going to be ripped in the New York press for his performance in this game. He should be. But he didn't have the ball in his hands on either of the game's biggest plays.