Couple of Postgame Notes
Posted: September 11th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 58 Comments »In 2010 we had 2 blowout wins. I’m using a point differential of 15 to denote a blowout. We beat JAX 28-3 and WAS 59-28. Those games were easy. We overwhelmed mediocre teams.
There were other games where we had a chance to blow teams out. We blew big leads in several games. We struggled to rush the passer consistently. We struggled to cover on the back end. These issues led to the defensive changes that we made in the offseason. Based on the season opener, the changes worked.
We built a lead in this game and never let up. The offense extended the lead and the defense stayed all over the Rams. Sam Bradford didn’t have time to throw with any consistency. Then he hurt his hand and AJ Feeley got the same treatment. Receivers made some catches, but got nothing in the way of RAC yards. Defenders closed to the ball immediately. The defense played fast and tackled well.
This is exactly what the plan was all along. Build up the DL so we could rush the passer without needing to blitz. Find interior linemen who could get upfield and bother the QB. We finished with 5 sacks and they all came from DL.
The other big issue was pass protection. I need to study the tape to know if the O-line blocked well. From watching the game live, it sure looked like the OL played pretty well. We did give up 3 sacks. 2 of them were by DBs, 1 by a DE. Blitz protection involves the OL, RBs, the QB, and sometimes even WRs or TEs. I’ll need to study the plays and see where the breakdowns came from. Mike Vick took more hits than I care to see, but he also had a very clean pocket at times.
The offense was rusty early on. Once they settled down, you could see things starting to click. DeSean Jackson played really well. He caught 6 passes and was active on short, intermediate, and deep balls.
LeSean McCoy and the running game came alive in the 4th quarter. Part is execution by us, part is circumstances. The Rams were being over-aggressive. We got runs flowing to the strong side and then the back side blockers sealed well. Shady cut off the back side guys and had acres of space. It was fun to control the 4th quarter.
Plenty went right, but there are also lots of issues to fix. I’m happy that we won and didn’t have any key injuries. Watching other games today, there was a lot of sloppy play. Compared to some teams, our issues seem pretty fixable.
I’m going to get busy working on the game review. I’ll address the run game, penalties, pass pro, and all that stuff in the DGR. Gotta watch the tape and see what really happened.
Brian Billick always has the inside scoop..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08UPsxEFCAI
tommy, why is it 5 sacks instead of 6?
babin had 2
cole had 1
jenkins had 1
tapp is on paper with 1, but shouldnt it be 2? he had the FF on bradford behind the LOS, but i dont see it as a sack on NFL.com. He got another one later in the game too. why only one? shouldnt the first count as a strip sack?
One sack was taken away by penalty.
The fumble play was going to be a run. No sack. TFL.
Isnt a TFL on a QB always a sack?
Now that’s the Romo I know and love.
So sweet watching the Cowboys blow that game.
Ahhh yes its that time of year again, time to watch Tony Romo fumble and bumble the game away in the waning moments… I missed that guy last year, its good to have him back.
In many ways, it was more fun watching the Cowboys lose than watching the Eagles win – and I loved watching the Eagles win. But that Tony Romo, he’s just so darn creative!
One thing I’ve noticed about Romo over the years is how he throws his teammates under the bus with that smug “you screwed up” smile. First he did it to Dez Bryant… who from what I can tell didn’t mess up that route on the INT, or at least even if he did, Romo maybe shouldn’t have thrown it into triple coverage and right at Revis.
Next he went after his center for snapping it early on the penultimate play. Probably a guy on the line you don’t want to go after. I’m surprised he didn’t do it to the turf after he foolishly Eli-dove and fumbled on the 2 yard line.
I just don’t see how a team could rally behind him… I doubt we’ll see the OL carrying him down the field a la Byron Leftwich…
Here’s Byron…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jzYMSiNHQ
I’m kinda surprised Dez sat there and took it too. I guess he figures Romo’s the guy so if he says I screwed up then I must have screwed up.
I think this first Sunday of the season went well. Thanks for closing it out, Tony.
For he’s a jolly good fellow! For he’s a jolly good fellow!…
Am I the only one who noticed Kelce pulling on toss sweeps? I know the kid is a hell of an athlete but those plays just didn’t seem to work.
Also this new comment system wont let me have my old moniker of TSA damn you Disqsucks
Same problem for me.
How come when we lost Akers in ’05 to injury we needed Simoneau to put over ugly style, whereas the Chargers (who I believe were our opponents when Akers was injured), used their punter without missing a beat? Note to Matt Scrifes, ask for 2 wages slips this week, you earned them
Because we had Dirk Johnson?
Scifers = Pro Bowl Punter. Still, hitting a 40 yard FG is impressive.
I wonder: Do they carry only one kicker/punter all year? Tough to replace Kaeding.
Whoever replaces Keading, they’ll have a great back up plan in Scrifes. I was very impressed by him. Then again we now have two kickers who can do both in an emergency.
We lost him that year too, and it was by far and away his best statistical up to his injury. Any kicker should be better than a Linebacker wouldn’t you think?
Tommy,
To my amateur eye, it sure seemed like at least 2 sacks were a result of someone missing a block. Now whether that was Vick not making sure to let them know or the player themselves; that’s something we all obviously probably don’t know.
I definitely thought Celek missed some key blitz pickups. They even mentioned it once that he never chipped.
You’ll see on one of the DB blitzes that McCoy stayed in to block and turned to help Herremans and the DB just ran by him…
When Mikell nailed Vick and caused the fumble it looked to us that it was Avante who missed the chip.
I second that. On another, the blitzer came from very deep, really difficult to either espy or pick up.
Let’s not sugarcoat this win – yeah it was nice winning – but this was a inferior team – especially with S Jackson being out after that first play and the Rams receivers dropping so many balls – this game could have been real close and would have been a long day for the Eagles D if S Jackson were not hurt – the Rams WR’s were wide open quite a few times, which is troubling – Vick threw a few times into double coverage and the weak side blitz continues to be a huge problem. Vick said he played “lights out” – he must be kidding!! Would like to know how many snaps Dixon played – I saw him on the sidelines quite a few times….and isn’t it plain to see Casey Mathews sucks!!! not that the other LB’s were great either – I think its just a matter of time Casey gets benched
TROLL ALERT!
TROLL ALERT!
“TROLL ALERT” – on what??? Just because I typed up what I saw – C’mon guy – take it easy…maybe you are pretty high on the win – but I am not….I love the Iggles as much if not more than you…but this was a sloppy game…against a good team if they play like this, they will get their ass whupped -especially if they expect to win the SB
It was a bit harsh to call this a troll alert. I think Tommy addressed or predicted all your issues in one of his pre-game threads. Its going to take a few games for our LB’s to get some games under their belts before we can say one way or the other that it is time to bench someone or look for a street FA. This was a sloppy game on both sides as can be seen by the penalties/yardage that we gave to the Rams. As for S. Jackson being out and us being lucky, its not like C. Williams is some slouch. He averaged 4.8 a carry. How much more of a impact was S. Jackson was going to make over that is debatable (doubt he was going to continue to average 20 per carry throughout the game.) As for dropped balls that happens even to good teams. How many drops did Eli have yesterday in the Skins game. League wide there was quite a bit of sloppy ball going on. Lets wait a bit before we get too concerned about some of yesterday’s sloppy play being inidicative of what we may see throughout the season.
My thoughts too. Being critical is not being a troll. You are also right about Williams not being much of a drop off.
There were some issues with rust and with putting things together, but things improved within the game. If things continue to improve at this rate, or even close to it, we are going to be a formidable team in the playoffs… and how smoothly we earned the first W won’t matter a bit.
Keep things in perspective. Half the teams in the league will be 0-1 tomorrow.
I can’t wait to see the DGR on Vick’s performance. There’s this idea going around in the media that Vick “ran too much” and “he snapped the ball and immediately took off.” I just didn’t see that in this game. There were plays that looked broken down and he took off to get positive yards. There were other plays that it looked like he went through his progressions and decided to run.
I guess Vick did take too many hits, but I don’t think that was necessarily a result of his rushing more than poor blitz pick-up on some plays. What do you guys think?
i dont think there was a single designed run for him in this game. at no point did he take off at a point where i thought he shouldn’t have. he either a) had defenders breathing down his neck or b) had been back there long enough that his pass rush clock should have told him to get the heck out of there.
Having attended this game in person, I can say with certainty that Vick earned his 44% completion percentage. He made several head scratching throws into traffic when an easier pass was available. Obviously his performance was not all bad, but most of the good he did in this game are attributable to the strengths of the “old vick” not the guy who seemed to turn the corner last year. He’s never going to manage a game like Brady/Manning, but this was not a clean effort.
As for blitz problems, I really think the problems stemmed from a failure to recognize. Numerous times a blitzer came off the edge, yet there didn’t appear to be an outlet receiver even if Vick wanted to dump it off, meaning not only did Vick miss the blitz, so did the receivers who need to recognize the blitz.
I thought Matthews was pretty hideous in this game. Sure the LB corp as a whole didn’t play all that well, with some over pursuit, but Matthews stood out – negatively. There were a number of plays where he had an opportunity to make a play and just crapped the bed. Then there were times he just got lost in the trash and couldn’t get himself unblocked or in on the play. I’m not sure what the coaches are seeing with Matthews to make him the starting MLB with no real plan in place behind him.
The guys I watched the game with were all horrified at Matthews play. I look forward to the DRG to determine if the film confirms.
I thought Moses and Chaney did alright, especially as the game went on. Again, interested in what film reveals.
Yes, I’m very interested in what Tommy has to say regarding Matthews play in his Game Review.
14-32? Is that the line of a championship-caliber QB playing against a mediocre team?
Also, the Rams WRs dropped a ton of passes that could have led to TDs and/or long drives. The defense did not play as well as it looked.
This performance does not bode well for the Eagles in the future. The Redskins have looked like a far better team thus far, and will probably win the division unless things dramatically change.
Also, a side note:
Jason Pierre-Paul yesterday: 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Brandon Graham: 1 torn ACL
Sean Lee (selected with Eagle’s 2nd round pick): 9 tackles, 1 INT, excellent play throughout
Daniel Teo-Neshiem (picked with 3rd rounder after trade down with Lee pick): on practice squad
Trevard Lindley (picked with 4th rounder after trade down w/ Lee pick): cut
Roseman’s drafts are looking worse and worse every day.
Dial M for Morton…
Wait… how do you know that M is Morton?
It couldn’t be. Remember, “Screw this team completely. I’m done with the bum Eagles…” Morton has left the nest for greener, er bluer? marooner?, pastures.
Certainly someone wouldn’t backtrack from such a definitive statement made during a practice game. (Not a (real) game, not a (real) game, not a (real) game, we’re talking about a practice (game).)
To do so would seem to imply that sometimes one is unable to predict the future and decisions do not always turn out as expected. I cannot imagine someone who was critical of the Eagles for drafting promising guys who suffered injuries is able to assimilate the concept that their own decision does not stand the scrutiny of hindsight.
So, clearly, this must be someone else. Maybe M stands for Manic depressive, or Missed again, but I am afraid it can’t be Morton.
With all due respect, did you really mean to say that based on one game you believe the Redskins, the Washington Redskins, will win the NFC East?
Not to mention Sexy Rexy was playing against a cast of nobodies in the secondary and a defensive line minus Osi and Tuck.
Oh, come on now. Had we beaten a middle of the road team with a rash of injuries by two touchdowns, I am sure this mysterious “M” would be singing our praises.
What? Oh. Nevermind.
DeSean dropped 2 TDs. Our defense got THREE penalties on 3rd down which would have gotten us off the field, 2 of which didn’t impact the play, the other (Asante illegal contact) where it was just a bad call. If all those things check out, we blow them out even more.
Vick had a low completion % but high YPA. Who cares.
This just in Morton… Chiefs 1st round pick Eric Berry is a bust (torn ACL)
St. Louis Rams pick is a bust (Bradford hurt his hand)
Matt Stafford has spent whole seasons on IR (bust)
Peyton Manning’s neck injury (bust)
Any other injuries you want to add to this list? So many teams have made lousy draft picks… if only they had someone like Morton to help them select players who won’t get injured.
Add the Beason bum from Carolina. Be thankful we didn’t go and get that guy in the offseason. What a bust.
It was 13-31. Regardless I don’t see anything wrong with that at all
On a side note, does anyone know if Tommy is okay. Berry being injured must be tough for him
When I saw JPP force a fumble and Sean lee get a pick six, I couldn’t help but think about Morton goin nuts.
When u r critical of the eagles ask yourself this, if cowboys or steelers picked up Vick a few years ago and he was playing for their team, would you be saying, “cowboys/steelers were smart enough to deal with the BS that came along with signing Vick because they knew it could payoff in a big way” “they take chances” “boys/stillers went from one franchise Qb to another franchise QB, how many teams do that? they are just ahead of everyone”
I could go on but I think you get the point. I think its ok to be critical but if you only see the good that other teams do and you only see the bad that the eagles do, then you will always be upset. When you see one cowboy draftee do well, look back at their drafts to see how their other picks have panned out. I am sure we aren’t the best but we are def not as bad as some make it out to be. One franchise Qb, to the next, one franchise RB to the next, both without a year of sucking in between. Some teams sux for years and years till they find those replacements.
Morton has been critical of the Kolb pick despite the trade. Notice he never says, “Selected with the original Eagles pick? Anthony Spencer… bust!” Laws hasn’t panned out but at least you got DRC and a 2nd round pick next year. I think the Eagles also traded some of those picks to the Vikings, but they selected McGlynn and I don’t know who else. Probably guys not on the team.
I love that Morton has become famous (or is it infamous) on this blog. I have to admit that I get great enjoyment each time he posts something on here. Nothing would make me happier than Earl Holmes going off next week with 10 tackles, a sack and 2 INTs with one for a TD; while Graham and Nate are dealing with injuries. I would wait w/anticipation for Morton to strike.
Recently, I’ve been wondering if maybe Tommy created Morton as an alter ego on here just to stir up the pot. Highly unlikely, but genius if he did.
For readers from the old IgglesBlog, you might remember a time when a few commenters were questioning whether Bounty had made up myself and Morton just to spice up the comments.
Since then, I have come to accept that I am not going to show Morton the errors of his ways… mostly. Every now and then the illogic or revisionism just push me too far.
There is no way to deal logically with someone who frames the discussion so it meets their argument regardless of facts or objectivity. Before the game we were told the Eagles have all kinds of terminal problems on both sides of the ball, their draft picks are disasters, and the coaches are fools. Playing on the road against an up-and-coming team, we should prepare for disaster. After the win, we are told we were lucky to pull it off because the Rams were hit with the bad luck of abc while the Eagles got lucky with xyz.
It’s easy to communicate in this way when cloaked with the anonymity of the internet. In a bar, it can get you punched in the nose.
I’m still not 100% convinced that Morton isn’t just trying to get a rise out of all of us constantly. Sometimes it just seems like he’ll espouse ANY idealogy that makes the Eagles, especially the Eagles FO look bad, so much so that I’m pretty convinced he just does it to mess with us.
That’s funny people questioned Bounty. I came to Igglesblog when Tommy moved over there, so I think it was before then. How great would it be if we found out Morton was just some 16 yr old kid. At first he used to annoy me, but now I just embrace the stupidity.
In some respects the Eagles got lucky (Rams’ injuries, penalties) but in others they made it look easy. Vick overcame effective l pressure to move the ball even though he didn’t have a great game statistically.
The offense has primary threats (Vick, Shady, DJax) and then people who can step up to defeat double teaming. The main story on OL is the fact that the decision to start Kelce has paid off in a big way. Getting that first game in an enemy dome under your belt is key. DeVan was ok and the other three are playing very well.
On D I’m most relieved that Page is playing well and often, that the line is meeting its potential. Reid’s philosophy revolves around DL and CBs and he’s stacked there. I remain of the opinion that Matthews should be a backup who’s eased in like a 4th rounder, that Rolle at Will, with Chaney at Mike and Fukou at Sam is preferable. At least Matthews occupies blocks, but not enough to stop some runs. The Eagles two gap run D was quite good in recent years and is now a distant memory, but the Wide 9 would seem to fit Reid’s stop-the-pass philosophy more.
I expect Lewis to fumble at some point on a kickoff return… again, I hope they get another punt returner. Henery got his first game out of the way with no misses.
What they showed me was not that they don’t have some issues, but that they have enough firepower to get out of tight spots. After reading seemingly unanimous pre-season predictions that GB, Chi and NO were better, I remember my feelings from last year ‘these guys are dangerous.’ Should be fun.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but we did struggle in the areas we thought we would struggle, but we did get better as the game wore on as well.
Imo our growing pains are going to occur early in the season. We won’t know whether this is a super bowl team or not till the 2nd half of the season after we’ve had a chance to see if areas of weakness improve or not (linebackers, OL).
the line played well for their first time together.. they should get better, except those CB/edge blitzes may become popular if they don’t have an answer. At LB, everyone’s going to pattern their blocking around Matthews’ two bad games.
All last year and continuing into the Rams game this year, its always seems like we bail out the other team on 3rd down. We stop them on 3rd down, mostly 3rd and longs, but we get hit with a penalty. Last year it seemed to happen constantly. And it happened a few times yesterday. They aren’t all bonehead plays where we keep jumping offsides, that happens but most are illegal contact or illegal hands to the face, etc. Those kill me. I feel like the ref can call illegal contact whenever he wants. The one they called on Asante yesterday looked ridiculous
I would love for them to change some of those penalties to 5-10 yards and repeat the down. Automatic 1st downs when its 3rd and long is so frustrating.