Great Win, Good Game
Posted: September 10th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 189 Comments »I had my doubts about the Eagles beating the Skins. My big concern was if the defense could make enough plays to keep the Skins under control. The Skins offense is really hard to deal with when it is going well.
The Eagles defense did make plays. They came up with a fumble, INT and safety in the 1st half. They had another INT in the 3rd quarter. The Skins were sloppy and contributed to these plays, but the Eagles did their part as well. The tackling was better than anyone could have guessed.
Let’s talk about LB play. Trent Cole was terrific. He was credited with 4 tackles. Had a TFL, FF and a couple of QB hits. He wasn’t a dynamic pass rusher, but did a solid job. Mychal Kendricks was all over the field. He led the team with 10 total tackles. He recovered the fumble that Trent caused. Kendricks also got a couple of big hits on RG3 when he blitzed up the middle. DeMeco Ryans had 8 total tackles and a sack.
CB Cary Williams had a big game. He had a sack and INT. He also broke up another pass and generally had tight coverage. Williams played with lots of emotion and that was a good thing. Brandon Boykin played the best game of his young career. He had 5 solo stops, an INT and a PBU.
I’m happy to say Isaac Sopoaga played much better than he did in the preseason.
The Eagles offense was simply amazing at times. Shady had a monster game, rushing 31 times for 184 yards and a TD. He made some sensational moves at the LOS and in space. I also loved the fact he ran hard when he needed to. He converted a couple of short yardage plays by attacking up the field and not looking for big plays on the edge.
Michael Vick is tougher to discuss. I need to see the tape. He missed some throws that were wide open. He made one bonehead mistake when he ran out of bounds for a sack instead of throwing the ball away. That said, Vick didn’t have any turnovers (the early backward pass didn’t look like a backward pass so I was giving Vick a pass on that). He made some terrific throws. The TD to Brent Celek was very impressive. Vick ran for a TD and threw for 2 more. He had a 36-yard run late in the game that was big. That gave the offense some momentum. Vick had a good game. How good is the question.
The O-line was a bit erratic. There were some missed assignments that looked pretty easy. That stuff will get worked out. They did a great job of getting movement in the run game and also getting downfield.
DeSean Jackson looked like the guy from 2009 and 2010. That’s great. He caught passes and headed over the middle. He didn’t do that much in recent years so I was very encouraged by that. DeSean was 7-104-1. Think about this…Vick completed 15 passes. 7 of them, almost half, went to DJax. The passing game wasn’t about volume but rather impact. That’s the way it should be, all apologies to Coach Reid.
I think Dave Fipp’s STs units were outstanding. They helped the Eagles win the field position battle. Alex Henery boomed a 48-yd FG that was negated by a challenge. He came back and kicked it again, this time even straighter than the first.
There are plenty of things to fix. I need to see what went wrong with the defense in the 2nd half. Jason Avant had a bonehead fumble. Pat Chung made a terrible play on a pass he should have broken up, if not picked off. There were dumb penalties by several players. Chip Kelly can enjoy the win, but also has to love the fact he can use this tape to show his players where/how they need to improve.
Kelly has a few issues to work on himself. I’ll get into them in the DGR. He never looked lost, but I think there were a few decisions he’d like to have back.
Last year the Eagles were 1-5 in the NFC East. This team is 1-0, with a road win against the defending division champs. That is an excellent start. The Eagles got lucky in facing RG3 on a night when he started very rusty and played poorly. He’ll be better each week. The Eagles should also get better. Ought to be a heckuva rematch.
* * * * *
_
Great work as always tommy…I think everyone is ready to face Big Red and his Chiefs, but we still have the Chargers on Sunday and as I type this they’re shocking the Texans 28-7, without Teo and with King Dunlap holding his own at LT. Yes I said that. That will be a tough close game Sunday!
Trent Cole should be able to dominate Dunlap.
Cole just had a good game against one of the best LTs in the NFL (Trent Wiliams is my 2nd rated LT after Peters, as he can do some of the same things Peters can do).
Yeah I got Trent Williams rated number two behind peters as well
Great game and write up. I’m curious what happened to the offensive line in the 2nd half. It seemed the Washington blitzes started getting home. Was it missed assignments or the guys in the trenches losing the one on one battles?
I don’t think Kelce can handle giant DT’s the size of Coefield/ Ratliff. When Barry was with the Giants he would always give us problems. Teams may try to blitz the A and B gap more often. Hopefully this isn’t going to be Hank Fraley 2.0.
Ratliff is a smaller quick type NT.
Cofield is tiny for a NT…
6′ 4″ 320? Is not tiny at all…
Then he must have put on mad weight…was not thy big coming from gmen, he was maybe 300 soaking wet
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com has post-game […]
I’m anticipating a slew of doubters who will say that the great minds of the NFL will have figured out Chip’s “gimmicky” offense once they’ve had a time to look at the tape. That Kelly has blown his surprise and this win is an aberration. Never mind that as an Oregon fan, I’ve heard the very same things at the college level for years. Never mind that Kelly’s offense is based on “gimmicks” like exploiting mismatches, running the ball and dominating the line of scrimmage.
I’m going to really enjoy a lot of talking heads eat a lot of crow this season. And I mean eat a lot of it. Warren Sapp saying the Skins will win this game 41-0 is the first of a long list of people who don’t understand how great this offense can be. The marriage of the Eagle athletes with the Chip offensive scheme is truly a match made in heaven. The scary thing is that if the Birds had executed even slightly better, the score could have been a blow out by the half instead of merely 26-7.
Excellent first game. And I anticipate improvement in the next. Go Birds!
Also how do you account for Lesean McCoy? I mean the Eagles could not block half of the D and McCoy would still get yards
You just can’t!!! Lol simple as that! defenses have to find a way to Hit shady with their linemen….if he isn’t getting hit til he reaches the 2nd and 3rd levels, and is only taking hits frm LBs and Safeties, then he is going to run all over this league
Awesome win. Have to correct the mistakes. Lets see consistency. Go Birds!
Hopefully we’ll be getting an especially lifeless, unmotivated Chargers team after that loss they just took.
And Philip Rivers should be extra tired after throwing his entire offensive line and defense under the bus.
Some stats that make me so glad the Reid led aerial assault is over in Philly. How about 263 rushing on with a 5.37 yard per carry average for the team. 25 pass plays vs 49 run plays. Winning a turnover battle (2-4). All stats that point to winning the majority of games during the season. Take away the strange backward (though it certainly looked like it was going forward) pass/TD and that could have been a 14 point swing.
Still would like to see the D snuff out teams once we are ahead vs allowing chunk yards/points. Kelly also will need to work on clock management, especially with a large lead. Certainly think we could have run down the clock quite a bit more in the 2nd half and not had the game get that close.
Any chance E.A. Sports releases Madden 15 based solely on this week’s performance?
Hey, just take a look at Philip Rivers. Four TDs and a loss, and SD doesn’t have a defense that needs smoke and mirrors to compensate for lack of talent and fit. Still can’t believe the Chargers lost that game.
Maybe it’s not all Norv Tuner’s fault…
djax was fantastic tonight, that includes his contributions on STs. His presence (finally!) in the punt return game really impacted the way the redskins were going to kick the ball, thus netting us some sweet field position. With all due respect to Damarius I don’t think he gets those poor out of bounds (deliberate) punt results like desean did tonight.
On a sleepless night I became father of twins girls, Cary decided to bring his sconces. Thank you, Eagles.
Congrats German Eagle!
Cheers! 🙂
Wow congrats man!
Thank you!!
Congrats my friend
Thanks buddy. Re-watched the Game as live on the NFL.gamepass and it was just the icing on the (BIRTHday) cake! 🙂
Glückwünsche! Glückwünsche!
Danke Schön!
Gazuntite!!!!
Congratulations.
Names? Chip & Kelly? Lesean and Desean?
Lol, since it’s girls it was hard to choose an Eagles player. Brian(a) was in the top 5 of names though. Lol
Riley and Cary.
100 points for creativity and sarcasm with a little touch of irony.
Congratulations! I believe I predicted the date a few weeks ago, didn’t I? It looks like you are entering new eras on a couple of fronts.
I think you’re right. Where shall I post your prize, 10 boxes of nappies, unused of course?! 😉
Congrats man…get ready for many more sleepless nights!
After watching Eagles night games from Europe I am confident to have enough training by now. 😉
Congratulations. Our twins will turn 5 this month. I was in the hospital watching the Eagles play Dallas on a Monday night (the Desean early celebration game) right before they were born. Time flies!
Hey, GermanEagles, congrats. Welcome to the Dad club. All the best to you, your lady, and your little girls.
Thanks bud.
Congrats buddy!!! Wish you the best
Thank you.
Ausgezeitnet! That’s one of the few German words I remember from high school and I probably misspelled it but I think you know what I’m trying to say. Congrats!
Ausgezeichnet. Danke! 🙂
Congrats! May their futures be as bright as Mychal Kendricks’!
Haha, i hope they won’t be that muscly. 😉
I could’ve been at this game, except my friend who I would stay with had night class. Here’s hoping I can make it out to Denver.
I’m not sensing quite enough “Chicken Little” mentality from the Iggles Blitz nation… perhaps it’s the Morton vacuum? Anyway, I’ll try to fill in the gap, simply to nitpick and poke the bear.
***** Michael Vick blocking on McCoy cutbacks *****
When McCoy cuts a run back, Vick – as a competitor and teammate – races down to block for his RB. As much as I like to see that (especially if he can effectively remove a tackler), I wonder whether he’s coached to do so, or in fact coached to NOT do so with the hope of avoiding big hits and injuries.
EVIDENCE:
1st Quarter: 12:29, 2nd and 10 – [[Play immediately preceding the “lateral fumble”… where, incidentally, Desean is standing wide open on the “N” in the REDSKINS end zone, but I digress]] McCoy cuts back toward left side and is knocked out of bounds at the 3 yard line. Vick, having continued to that side with his run fake, races down to help block and winds up getting blasted by the combined, Voltron-like forces of CB David Amerson and WR Riley Cooper, who delivers a solid helmet-to-helmet hit on his own starting QB.
2nd Quarter: 8:17, 1st and 10 – [[First play of the Celek TD drive, a.k.a. the “DeAngelo Hall Rodeo” drive]] Vick, misreading LB Perry Riley Jr.’s crash, hands the ball to McCoy, who deftly reverse pivots back toward Vick’s run fake. Seeing the cutback, Vick sprints forward to softly block S Bacarri Rambo, then sits down awkwardly to avoid contact after Riley Jr. flies past him and a loafing Orakpo “pursues” the play.
3rd Quarter: 5:58 – 2nd and 4 – [[the “turbo button, video game” run]] Vick, seeing a crashing Orakpo and erroneously handing to McCoy, continues to his left on the run fake. McCoy once again reverse pivots (this time escaping the aforementioned Orakpo). Vick sprints forward instinctively to block old friend Bacarri Rambo but holds up short and then awkwardly takes a knee to stay out of the trash. The block wouldn’t have mattered anyway because McCoy juked back inside past Rambo.
4th Quarter: 15:00 – 2nd and 2 – [[First play of the 4th quarter on the “Avant Fumble” drive]] Vick hands to McCoy. I believe this is a called run since we’re coming out of the huddle now, though if it was an option, he read it wrong again since Orakpo is selling out hard. McCoy, stops on a dime and cuts back to the left side, where Vick actually sprints in to crack First Blood… leading with his head and left shoulder, which Dr. James Andrews would argue has some relation to Vick’s throwing motion.
What’s interesting to me about the plays in the 2nd and 3rd quarter is that you can actually see Vick make the calculation to protect himself, contrasted with his headlong sprint into the maelstrom in the first quarter, or throwing himself (and shoulder) into Rambo in the 4th.
Hypothesis? When the stakes or emotion of the game are higher, Vick is less likely to remember to protect himself. We see this more acutely every time he takes off running and refuses to slide… so I guess we should be happy he misreads the crashing end so much (he did read it right on his 36 yard run in the 4th, where he got crunched by Hall before going out of bounds).
Again – this is nitpicking. He looked great for the most part, but watching Vick struggle to balance his goal of staying healthy with his inherent, competitive drive is going to be harrowing this year…
I’m happy with the win. You 100% expect Vick 6s (ok, it was a lateral) missed reads, needless sacks taken, exposure to extra hits, etc.
If Vick would like to go two passing TDs to one turnover (INT and/or fumble) every game all year, we’ll be fine. They guy is never going to the elite passer and reader that would really make our team a title contender, but I don’t want to make last night look like the return of “bad Vick.” He played more than well enough, just not great.
Agree 100%. Vick played well, but we all know that he’s capable of better and also worse. Just 3-4 more completions at some key points would’ve been the difference between his good performance & a great performance, as well as possibly another 14, maybe 21pts scored. If last nights play is the staple of his play throughout the season, I’ll take it as I truly believe he’s the wildcard to this season’s success. If he minimizes the bonehead mistakes & TOs, it will go a long way in helping out the defense, that will already see a lot of action just due to the offensive tempo.
Speaking of the defense, I think we can clearly see the reasoning behind the Eagles brass signing 2nd-3rd tier FAs. With the amount of time they’ll be on the field, depth across the board is going to be much more valuable to us than a few highly priced star players, as we will definitely need to rotate guys in order to compete throughout the season.
I hope you contribute a weekly post like this after every game this season with the same level of eloqoquence to keep us semi-sober (where have you gone, M0rton?!!).
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/videos/Williams-Its-Game-1-of-16/d93ba846-37fd-4606-8e28-71e5b6db7036
I really like Williams attitude here. Take nothing for granted and you can always improve and strive to be the best
Telling you Philadelphia can end up Loving Cary….
McCoy rushed 31 times tonight.
The team record for a single game is 35 (shared by best friends Steve Van Buren and Heath Sherman, who did it twice).
Earnest Jackson rushed 34 times against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 (your thoughts, AC?).
SVB, “For who, for what?” and Westbrook all hit 33 once… Westy against the Giants in 2008 in the game following Plaxico’s gunplay.
My late night research only extends to the top 5 attempts, but the point is 31 carries is a lot.
So you are telling me McCoy wont rush for 496 attempts for 2944 yards?
Something to be concerned about? Should Chip have given more carries to Bryce?
I meant this as a positive observation! Chip’s first game and he’s got McCoy near the team record in carries! It would’ve taken two and a half Reid games to get to that number.
chip can get better at game mgmt. however, late in the game, we were trying to preserve the lead. the turnover and some momentum had WAS driving and closing the lead.
had we still been up by 2 or 3 scores, brown would no doubt have been in to close out the game, but with it ending up more close than we’d have liked, no way do you have brown (and his potential fumbles) as the closer.
i’d look to see more carries from brown earlier in the game next week, and don’t think shady will be in the 30 rushing attempts per game area, consistently.
Rod Hood tripped Kevin Curtis…..no….Rod Hood got faked out and fell to the ground and had enough sense to see that Curtis was wide open and…..decided to cheat his ass off….and thus gave Curtis a forearm shiver to the back Curtis’ leg. Unfortunately that was enough to distrub Curtis (heaven forbid the guy make a game defining catch while being touched) and he dropped a ball he should of caught….still pissed about that no call……
Look, last night Defensive lineman couldn’t even sniff Shady….If he is constantly getting to the second and 3rd level, and only taking hits from safeties and LB’s…..then we can pound him all season long!!!!
The most important play of the game(at least a ten point swing) was the “backward pass” call. Vick used really bad judgment on that pass, but it clearly WASN’T backward. See enclosed pic.
Can’t make that throw even if it was forward because Kerrigan is know for pick 6s and could have easily just intercepted it.
It was 100% the correct decision. Vick went trough his progression, nobody was open so he want to his outlet receiver and there is a great chance McCoy walks in to the end zone if it is not batted down.
I agree it was the correct decision. I think the two defenders on the goalline would disagree with the idea of McCoy walking into the end zone, though. On the other hand, with the night he was having…
That was my thought, great chance he makes them both look silly 😛
And yells “McCoy!” at them as he breaks their ankles.
McCoy wasn’t where he was supposed to be. It was sloppy route running by him. This offense has a lot of those type of passes, and it was (barely) a forward pass.
What I really like is that they didn’t let it rattle them and came back and put points on the board.
McCoy is where he is suppose to be, in the flat ready for Vick to dump it off. Its not a real route, it is fake the run, slip out and be ready for the dump off.
If only he had thrown it with his right hand…
I said during the preseason that the qb competition was unfair because Vick should be throwing with his right hand, same as Foles.
I consider this absolute validation.
Can’t really say that from that angle though.. The ball is about 7 feet in the air, so where it is in terms of the field is still not clear.
disagree…you can see where vicks feet are set just inside of the ten yard line. Since Vicks standing straight up and his left shoulder/arm are basically at the same spot as his feet, it’s safe to say the ball was released just inside of the ten. Now look at Kerrigan. His arm batting the pass down is at about the 9 yard line. It’s close, but I think the screen shot really does show a forward pass. There’s no way for the ball to get batted down at the 9 yard line after being released just inside the 10 without traveling forward.
Except Vick often throws a bit sidearm. I remember thinking at the time that he threw it from the 9, and then used that as the marker when watching the replays. None of the angles was definitive enough to overturn.
Is the consensus from our very objective bloggers here that it was a forward pass? I was in a crowded bar and couldn’t hear any of the TV commentary. It looked forward to me by a foot or two.
What I really didn’t like in the game:
– Missed blocks by the o-line on the right side
– Use of Brown over Polk when spelling McCoy because of how Brown still doesn’t keep the football put away and lack of ability to pass block
– That “throw” by Vick that resulted in Skins fumble return TD on the first drive.
– Kelly’s challenge of Ertz’s obvious drop
– Nate Allen washing himself out of the play on the TD run by FRAUD Alfred Morris
– Jason Avant’s fumble and poor attempt to cover up the on-sides kick
– Curry being inactive on a night when our front 3 didn’t really generate enough pass rush
– The refs calling the BS holding on Mathis, not calling holding enough on the Skins’ linemen, and the failure to flag Hall for BOTH a late hit AND a horse collar tackle. I wanted both flags there.
curry being inactive was a Joke!!
…
I would have benched Curry the entire first half….then in the second half, when you dial back the blitzes, and put more emphasis defending the big plays…Curry could have been put in the game, and Oline would have had to deal with a different type of speed exploding off the ball…It was a mistake to not dress him…he could have been a BIGTIME weapon in the second half..
…
Love me some Poyer, but he didn’t look ready last night
Curry still clearly not doing something right in Coaches eyes…I hope he fixes it because he can really rush the QB. Great first step.
I will give credit that Cary played a great game. If he continues to play like that, he can run his mouth all year.
As long as the man bites, he can bark all he wants….He is one of our defensive Captains, and before Cary arrived, I haven’t seen a Philly dense play with such fire and Nastiness in years…..our Front 7 is not to be F’ed with!!!!
…
Where can I find the defensive plAyers snap totals from last night?
Yeah Poyer clearly not ready, but him and Boykin needed some time at those respective positions.
Wish you could challenge penalties…Ertz got ravaged by Biggers on that play. Came completely through him. Amazing that Ertz actually caught the ball.
1) lane had a good showing for his first game. he will be a monster by the end of this year..Herremans is the question. Would love to see us replace Herremans in 4 years with Kyle Long….could you imagine what Long and Lane would look like on the right side 4years from now(I know, I know, Pipe dream)
..
as long as Dlinemen aren’t hitting shady and he is taking all his hits in the 2nd and 3rd levels, then we can’t shady all day..
…
Vick cleaning up turnovers cant just be automatically assumed but if he is able to do so, it’s scary what we can be..
…
yeah I hated the challenge of the Ertz drop…shades of Andy Reid popped into my brain.l
..
I had both Shady and Alfredd Morris in fantasy, so I don’t hate Nate for letting Alfred get that TD lol..
…
We should be ale to count on Avant cleaning the mistakes up
…
Even if we don’t like Curry(which blows my mind) we have to play him and dress him to build trade value…Tell me that a guy like Pete Carrol wouldn’t view Curry as a weapon?
…
I thought the Refs were horrible…that was NOT a backwards pass, the gave them a 14pt swing to start the game, ontop of the BS distribution of penalties stat you talked about throughout the game…
….
what really pissed me off was Skins players ALL cramping up. With the way Orakpi was sucking wind, I can’t possibly believe that all those skins Denise cramps were legit…however if they were legit, then it’s awesome to see our pace having effects on the defense like that…
….
I was banking on tiring out defenses resulting in shady breaking runs onthe second half…last night It materialized. last night was the first time our players played 4quarers at this pace, and they still handled it beautifully….scary to think how they can look once they get comfortable playing in this system…
…
chargers and the Chiefs are getting RAN OUT OF PHILLY!!!!
…
WTF is an Andy Reid team going to do when they see both our OTs split out wide? “I have to put my guys in a better position to make plays”…. let’s see Andy Ried hang with Chip in a chess match of adjustments lol
I thought Brown did a better job securing the ball last night as it seems he gets most careless with it when he starts to break away (or thinks he is in the clear). He’ll improve his pass blocking as he gets more practice at it and he has the size / strength to be good at it.
My main complaint is he tends to bounce everything outside. He needs to run up the gut more and then the lateral pursuit will slow down.
What I liked:
– Vick only making one stupid play with the ball all night.
– DeSean rightly being the focus of the passing game
– Our CBs and LBs actually covering and wrapping up
– Jason Peters once again showing that he’s the best o-lineman in the NFL
– The final score – a win is a win is a win!
I’d add special teams that actually looked special and a sense of urgency by the defense to get to the football, even when it was dead. I disagree about only one stupid decision by Vick, however. The ball he threw back into the field from the sideline that deflected off hands and was almost caught in the back of the end zone was stupid, as was the diving, falling down pass attempt to Cooper. Only one had the feared results, but none of them were smart choices.
If last night’s games are any indication, Sunday’s game is going to be the most exciting first half in the history of the sport, followed by a second half of utter boredom.
As long as the game ends with Philly at 2-0.
I think we should win. We got the rushers to exploit the likes of slow footed Fluker and Queen Dunlap (If Cole does not abuse Dunlap, either Mudd is the worst OL coach ever or Cole is no longer good). We also got the LBs to cover Gates and the physical CBs to match with Brown and Floyd.
Our offense as a whole should be able to move the ball at will vs a bad Chargers D that had trouble with the Texans slow as fuck no huddle.
Like I said…3-0 until Peyton brings us back down to earth
I give my game ball to the oft overlooked special teams units. I felt they were near perfect. Changed the face of the game in terms of field position. Donnie Jones was awesome, the speed and hustle were top notch. Desean’s presence forced Good ole Sav to shank some kicks. It’s probably the first time in the past 15 years where I didn’t close my eyes, grit my teeth, and pray that the we didn’t give up a big play on kick coverages. I can’t say how refreshed I am that Chip doesn’t treat teams like Big Red did. (Reno Mahe – you can finally rest in peace, soon you will be completely forgotten)
Loved the game overall. It always feels good to come away w/ a deserved win and the 1st 1/2 was amazing. Only issues I have was not w/ Chip slowing it down in the 3rd. That’s what he’s supposed to do. The O still has to be more effective though. I put this, mostly, on player execution. Yet, prehaps, some different play calling and not forgetting bout DJax, save for out routes, will correct this.
My biggest issue was Davis and the D play calling in the 2nd 1/2. Prevent sucks!!! I thought he could have gone man coverage way more between the 30s. I know it runs the risk of leaving the team exposed to RGIII scrambling, and it makes it more difficult to spy him, cause Kendricks is needed in coverage. However, to offer up the skins the same zone over and over w/ the only difference being blitzes mixed in, did not help our D at all. I totally appreciate the blitzes, as they kept pressure directly in the face of RGIII, thus helping to take away the seam routes and big gains in the middle of the field, IMO. But that weak ass soft zone behind them just hung us out to dry! It wasn’t a cover 3, and although I can’t tell the correct name, it seemed more akin to a cover 2 or sink (Madden…WOOT WOOT!).
I tend to not like zone as much as man, but when “you” run the same zone over and over, you cease to make the QB think and change, and allow him to get comfortable w/ the same easy decisions. Poyer’s play didn’t help much and Boykin had some struggles on the outside, but he was great in the slot. Really wanting some decent CB and S depth.
The prevent defense was most likely cover 4 or quarters (I dont know if that is called sink in Madden, but it is where the CBs and safeties got 1/4 deep each). We did run some cover 3 as well (on the late TD where Chung should as a minimum have been able to bat the ball down it was clear cover 3)
Madden comment was a joke due to the fact that I didn’t know the name of the D and that I said sink. I thought cover 4 but didn’t seem like the CBs were/had to drop deep enough for it to be that and yeah, there was cover 3, but on the plays that the skins were eating on and moving the ball at a steady rate, I didn’t see the CBs dropping deep enough (they were real shallow) as well as LBs covering the flat. Yes he did change it up sometimes. Didn’t mean to imply that he didn’t change some. It’s just that he kept running the same thing more often than not. I don’t mind zone once your near the redzone or in it. Chung just had a horrible play on that. Yet, I thought it was, or should have been, important to go man or switch it up more frequently, between the 30s or nearing the redzone. I still have a bad aftertaste from past years about redzone woes.
It was clearly cover 4 on those short throws (the outside CBs dropped too much for cover 2).
Yeah, those soft zones killed us last year, and it seems like that’s pretty much all we ran by the end of the year.
Too many flashbacks to that in the 2nd half last night…
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz shares his initial feelings on the first game and victory of the Chip Kelly […]
i hope you can give some love to the guys on ST in your DGR. of course, donnie jones was great in that game. but i saw boykin down there on every single punt. he was the first man down there, ready to keep the ball from going into the endzone.
we had some appearances by the usual special teams aces like colt anderson and then some new stuff from people like chris polk.
man oh man that was great to see.
I’ve been watching the highlights of the game (for about the last three hours) and I am excited for what’s ahead. The offense was sloppy at times and still came up with 33 points. Can you imagine what happens when they’re firing on all cylinders? Wow.
I will say that every time I see Poyer in the replays it looks like he’s running in sand. I’m hoping the game slows down for him because he’s going to have a high football IQ to make it in the league. Way too slow.
At one point I was not that far off with my 41-0 prediction to the Eagles. If Vick was only both handed…
and the Refs wasnt blind squirrels
For all the negativity around my guy Cary Scones Williams, he came threw tonight. And even more impressive said all the right things in his presser.
it’s a start.
damn right it is!!!!
Looked to me like the Eagles players got as tired as the Washington guys. I am optimistic that after a few games they will be more used to the pace of play and it should work to their advantage in the second half of games. You wonder how much the smaller roster (vs college) will affect the up-tempo style of play Chip likes to run.
Prepare to laugh at PFF
Wait…they gave Kendricks a negative grade?
They gave Ryans, Kendricks and Cox negative grades, despite them having good games. Also Trent Cole got a negative pass rush grade even tho he had several pressures
Stop reading PFF….that’s how you end up thinking that players like Cary Williams are bums!!!
I use them for their snap count stats and then get a good laugh of their terrible grades
I wish that site would go away!!! Skews fans thoughts of players! I hate that Damn site….why is it when that site says a player like Carry or Soap sucks fans believe it, but when it says a guy like Graham is playing well, fans don’t believe it? I despise that site…
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know how they get some of their grades but I don’t think they are all bad. They raved about Evan Mathis even before he came to the Eagles and knew Stacey Andrews sucked before we got him. They turned people on to Brandon Graham whenever he got a chance. Now at least you’ll hear people say he’s good at rushing the passer.
They also gave Lane Johnson the 2nd highest grade for this game of any rookie the 1st week.
Joeckel looked pretty bad for the Jaguars.
I heard he and Fisher were struggling in the preseason but when we played the Jags I didn’t think Joeckel looked bad other than on one play or so. With his background everyone considered him a safe bet. I’ll be really surprised if he winds up being a bust.
Ok…everytime I’m wrong I eat crow, front and center…..well today it’s time to feed crow to all the experts analyst and Fans who talked about this talentless defense for months…..How about that Eagles defense? that what real NFL defensive Coordinator looks like:
..
tell me again, How Cary sucks and how he won’t improve from last year..
…
Tell me again how Philly won’t love the Brama Bull Barwin
…
tell me again how Soap and Meco weren’t just going through the motions in the preseason..l
..l
Tell me again how Cox and Kendrcks aren’t destined to be probowl monsters
…
tell me again, how worried we should be about Cole and Graham dropping into coverage?
…
months of defending Davis, and the defense from EVERYONE…well the truth shall set me free!!!!
…
I was wrong about Graham playingore then Cole…I havent seen Cole in two years. last night was great to see him show that he has something left in the Tank…
…
Who Today is ready to argue with me about how we don’t have enough Talent on Defense?….who’s ready to tell me how much Cary sucks? Or how Soap is washed up…or how Barwin is just average….Let me hear it boys!!!!!
…
FLY EAGLES FLY!!!
like I said. 3-0 until Denever brings us back to life!!!!
…
props to Mike Vick!!!!
The defense looked good last night, waaaaay better than what I thought they would look like, but to play the other side… it was one game, and in week 1. On top of that, while our defense did in fact play well, the Redskins offense also played terribly through three quarters basically.
To me, this game showed me that the defense COULD be better than what I expected, but I’m not ready to say that they can be consistently good.
I never in six months, said they would be ready to be this gangbusters force in week 1….but it made me sick to hear the talentless talk!!!!….
…
You can’t look at young players and not expect them to be better then the previous year..you can’t look at players playing under a joke of a coordinator, sorrounded by quitters and Ot expect them to be bett in a healthy situation..
Just because A guy isn’t good in a 4-3, it doesn’t always mean that he will suck in a two gap, 4-3u or sme other scheme…
….
I’m not claiming that after last night we have the second coming of Buddy’s defense, but I am claiming that they have much more potential then 99% of you thought!!!!
“you can’t look at players playing under a joke of a coordinator, sorrounded by quitters and Ot expect them to be bett in a healthy situation..”
Can I use this every time you talk about Nate Allen? 😛 Just busting balls.
I 100% agree with you, I think this D will be better than many people thought. For me the D only gave up 6 real points. 7 of the points was on a short field after a turnover and the last 7 was with a super prevent defense and it should really have been an interception if Chung had played it better (I still love his tackling and hitting ability, but hope Davis learns to use him in less deep coverage)
It’s Gametime…decisions have been made. you won’t hear me utter a bad word about guys like Vick and Nate unless it’s really warranted!!!….and right now, I don’t have a bad word to say about either…
…
Only defender I wasn’t happy with was Poyer. like the kid a lot, I just don’t think he is ready to handle Nickle corner responsibilities down in the redzone
Was also more for fun 😛
Agree with Poyer, I think he will be 5th CB once Hughes is ready.
There was a point where I was hoping to see 3 safety look instead of 3 CB look and just have Allen or Coleman play nickle CB
I too wanted to see the 3 safety Nickle look, but when we do go with that scheme, wouldn’t Chung be the Nickle corner?
I sure hope so because he’s lost deep.
And after these past two years, and the doom n Gloom I was forced to hear from EVERYONE about a talentless defense…I’m not trying to hear that 1 game talk…There will certainly be defensive up and downs this year, and it damn sure won’t always look as good as last night, but the BITE is back in the defense, we have a REAL defensive coordinator…and I’m thrilled to see that people can no longer call me crazy when talking about the potential of these defensive players
Again, I agree they showed they have a lot of potential to be good on defense, but my point is, just look as far back as the last season. The team started 3-1 last year… It is just way to early to label this defense good (or if they had played poorly, bad). I’m definitely waaaay more excited about the potential of this team this year than I was prior to last nights game, but I’m just not ready to say Davis is a good coordinator or this defense is good after one game.
I never labeled this defense good. Never said they would be a top defense this year….I just took SERIOUS offense to hearing how allegedly Talentless we were on that side of the ball, and how everyone was selling our FA additions short due to Silly reasons such as:
..
Cary Williams sucks because PFF says he sucks and because he pushed a referee..Heck, just go back to the posts from two days ago, and read the countless people who say he would be a 1yr stop gap, who would be gone at the end of the season..
..
PFF says Soap was horrible, and people got worried when they watched the preseason. urprise surprise, Veterans like Meco and Soap are more concerned with going through the motion and preserving themselves during the preseason
…
Connar Barwin was nothing special because he went from 11 sacks to 4 lol
…
I don’t know how well we would play in september, or this year for that Matter….what I do know is for 6 months people have been selling these players way Too short with the consensus being that we just don’t have talent on defense…The only thing I want to get people to come around on is that personel wise. 2/3rds of an eventual top 10 defense is already in place…how long us take to Gel, and develope is anyone’s guess….
…
I just hope that the Talentless talk has been put to bed!! IF Talent was evident last night, then it isn’t magically going to disappear. We have Plenty of Defensive Talent, this year is just about developing it, and gelling it all together….One more offseason of making the right moves like this years, and we will be on our way for having the personel in place to see a top defense that this defensive city has been longing for…
…
I eat crow and Man Up every single time that I’m wrong….well today, a lot of people need to be doing the same!!!! I took a lot of crap from a lot of people for 6 months, well today, Yous are going to hear it!!!! Lol
I was so exhausted by the end of the first quarter, I thought the half had ended! Then I wake up this morning and read Michael Vick also thought the half was over after the first quarter! Glad it wasn’t just me.
In former Eagles news, Dmitri Patterson leads the league in interceptions so far this year…
From the chipper:
“Afterward, Kelly admitted that he might have called the dogs off too soon, which means the Eagles can probably expect an uptick in tempo Sunday in their home opener against San Diego.”
I’m glad Chip recognized this and is hopefully not going to do that again. The last 18 minutes or so last night took six months off my lifespan I think.
Chip has to learn as well. He was used to college where he could sometimes call of the dogs by the end of the 1st quarter.
He admitted as much. He will show no mercy going forward. ESPN will complain about him shamelessly running up the score.
ESPN can eat Sh$t and Die! (No halftime analysis underscores their bias and ineptness.)
We aren’t a finished product…not even close. These coaches and players will become more and more familiar with each other and as long as we don’t get crippled by injuries….there is plenty of improvements to be made and room to grow
Yeah i think over time we’ll see us develop a better slow play game. I don’t think we can run tempo all game. But damn imagine what skins D would have looked like after 4 quarters. It’s going to be tough for teams with lesser defenses.
Lol did you see the shots of Orakpo kneeling on the sideline completely drained praying for some air? Lol
does curry play on ST? if not, that might be a big reason why he didn’t get on the field.
I’m not sure, but if he doesn’t then you are probably right. however, what I do know is that Brandon Graham plays on ST, and if Graham can do it, then I don’t see why Curry can’t
true
Curry was sent a message. Do you think he got it?
I hope so, but I also think Curry would have been a good guy to have in the late part of the game where we needed to get more pressure on RGIII. He lives in the backfield and Chip could have just let him loose.
I’d like to see Curry also learn the OLB position for more versatility.
Absolutely!!!!, we started to Dial back the blitzes in the second half to go more prevent style to guard against the big plays, that was PERFECT for Vinny Curry….no one explodes off the ball like him, He would have been extremely valuable when we go prevent style especially if you don’t use him in the first half…because opposing linemen would need a few plays to adjust to his speed off the ball
Or have him play pass rush DE in nickle. We went with a lot of 3-3-5 looks
I want to see him move all over the Dline and even some OLB…He explodes so fast off the ball that I suspect Olinemen need to get acclimated to that type of speed so I would hope to see him rush the passer against a different linemen every 3rd down….I have a feeling that if you keep lining him up against a different lineman on 3rd n long, the kid is going to make some things happen
certainly no one thought the eagles would be up 26. sure they thought more run stuffing d-line guys would be needed. now, if he sits against pass happy chargers and chiefs, little more concern or curious that something is up.
First post for me after the game, WOW what an experience!
At Oregon, with a sizable lead, Chip played the 2s and 3s while generally using a prevent defense. It was always maddening to see the opponent score points and chip away at the score differential. BUT his 2s and 3s learned some tough lessons and got better, especially on D.
As you mentioned above, Chip learned that things are different in the NFL. He needs a bigger lead and he needs to press on D more. Specifically, he needed to “destroy” the Skins D with uptempo – wearing them completely out. (Now he did not do this because he was avoiding fatigue injuries on O but he needs to be less conservative. Maybe he should substitute players more.)
I have to say, that for me, the first half of Eagles O was the most thrilling, and awe-inspiring play I have ever seen. It was not a one man show like the Denver game but a total team effort (the D was mesmerizing!).
Congratulations Eagles Nation, let the Chippah epoch begin!!
We went out and won one for the Chipah!!
..
Like you said, the best part of the game was the Team Effort. that was a team win, no player or unit won’t it for us, everyone had each others back and it’s been a while since I have seen an Eagles team look so united.. Awesome first step towards our bright future!!!
How about that performance by James Casey?
the “secret weapon”
With the way McCoy and Jackson was playing in the first half, I dont think we need Casey (he did have a some good blocks tho)
He only played two snaps on offense.
Over reacting a bit much? I thought Casey was being saved for the season and actually predicted he would catch a RZ TD last night but 3TE sets clearly weren’t a part of this weeks gameplan but I see no reason for concern….The great part about our coach is he is a versatile and adaptable football mind. the great offensive minds in this league are able to morph their offenses into drastically diffent looking offenses from one week to the next…we will attack different defenses in drastically different ways over the course of a season …our coach clearly thought that 3TEs weren’t the best way to hang 40pts on the skins defense, but that won’t always be the case…..we will see plenty of James Casey, not just this year but for years to come
I’m just sarcastically reacting to all the hype we heard about him and his role leading up to the season.
Loved the tempo and pace of the game. I thought going into the game that we were saving James Casey for the regular season but he didn’t get anything the whole game. Does anyone else find this a little surprising or the fact in general of how little the TE’s were used in the pass game?
Can’t show them everything in the first game. 3rd date is the charm.
Vick mentioned that we only showed 60% of the playbook in this game.
Thank you for Chip Kelly!! Thank you!! Thank you! Thank you!!!
We passed a total of 25 times. Remember 25 times was often a half games worth of attempts for AR.
was it really only 25 pass attempts?!? no way. i’m sorry, but i dont believe you.
* looks it up *
* jaw drops *
i really don’t know what to say. this is so new and different to me.
when was the last time eagles had 2-1 run/pass ratio? maybe with buddy and randall running alot. bet have to go all the way back to vermeil
What up Cliff!! How about my beloved defense? Lol
outside 2 TOs, i loved how they stiffened in redzone. that part looked like the old JJ days. 2 pnt conversion was destroyed. hope kelly learned a valuable lesson, up 20 in today’s nfl means nothing.
Long season my friend..Have no fear, Casey will show his value. Loved putting up so many points without showing a weapon like him…we will encounter defenses who will take away some of what was working last night, and when that Happens its good to know we still have a guy like Casey in our back pocket…same with Vinny Curry
Site I just found for the first time… the NFL fines and suspension tracker
http://www.spotrac.com/fines-tracker/nfl/
Maybe we’ll see a fine or suspension for this (gif of DeAngelo Hall horse collar of Desean Jackson)
http://cjzero.com/gifs/DeAngeloDragsDownDeSean.gif
the best part of Last night was the players after the game…These players believed in Chip, but after last night you know guys are now ALL IN!!! Players all talked about how much fun they had last night…Chip Kelly showing these players last night That if they listen to him they can have team success and get crazy stats….for a college coach to come in asking players to run something so drastically different then anything else you see in the NFL, getting off to a start like that was just HUGE!!! There just isn’t enough I can even say about how it it was last night for the players to see what they are capable of they believe in their leader…Vick a
Ready talks about how happy and excited guys are to come to work every day, after last night, each guy is going to come to work with an extra pep in their step….
…
billy Davis, Good Cop Demeco, Bad Cop Cary Williams…are bring a Philly Brand of dense back into this city….Watching last night, it just felt like Jimmy Johnson was calling the defense, and that the ultimate compliment that I can ever give to a coordinator….Soap isn’t flashy, but like I said he will do his job well enoug to allow Mykal Kendricks to SHINE!!!!!!
defense played like they know sitting on sideline is an offense that can throw up 21 in 5 mins. how much fun was that energy and confidence. even after the bs lateral, i knew they were going to drive down and get some of it back.
.
bring on king dunlap! trent is probably foaming at the mouth already! liking my bold predition 3-0 start
Yeah, I said the same thing the other day….3-0 til Peyton brings us back down to earth…
…
Chip said something awesome. we have been training like this since April, I don’t think it’s enough for teams to say, Oh we are playing the Eagles this week, time to get a few extra sprints in!!!
,,,
Love it!!!!
wait, i’ve only been listening to the national talking heads. thought it was only running high school/college gimmick one word plays really fast. mean there’s more too it?
Lol soooo many people were just dying to see the chip gimmick implode….Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be Jim Haslett last night? Lol How did watching all those hours of Oregon footage work out for you Mr. Haslett?
…
I wish we didn’t have to play the chargers this week. I’m dying to see Chip deliver Andy Rieds head to us!!!!
who is KCs defensive coordinator? Lol
I don’t hear anyone fighting with me about how much Cary Williams sucks today…lol crickets!!!!
He sucks. We didn’t bring him in to intercept passes. We brought him in to hit people and bring that nasty back. He should have let the receiver catch the ball then light him up. He’s soft like the light from a frosted sconce.
I jest. Don’t call me surely.
Lol…loving him hitting RG3!!!!
Any word on Fletcher? Or Peters?
Think Fletcher was concussed.
Did I miss any discussion about Vick’s status? He looked gimpy afterward.
Yeah chip said he had a concussion
Funny comment in Chip’s presser:
When asked about the 3 down OL play with the T split out wide, “I thought the Tackles were tired, so we decided to not make them run back to the ball, and just hang out outside.”
Plus the comment asking the reporters if they got annoyed talking over each other all the time.
Fun to watch.
Not Photoshop
It would appear that, of the two, the picture up top looks more like Chip’s predecessor
scary part about 1st half, washington was lucky to only be down 26-7. for starters that wasnt a lateral, but vick missed couple pretty easy passes. easily left 14-17 points out on field. not nitpicking, but its great for filmroom.
Last night’s game in one image
Re: Eagles RB Earnest Jackson – 1985
Baloophi dug out some great info on rushing attempts by Eagles’ RBs.
And he asked about the 1985 performance RB Earnest Jackson against the Cards — 34 atts for 162 yards.
The Eagles were on the road that day in perfect football weather (high 40s). The Birds ran the ball 42 times, and threw only 18 times. HB Herman Hunter, a slow but great return man, even completed a HB-option for a 38 yard TD.
So what do I say about E-Jax — who ran for over 3000 yards in 3 seasons (1179 for SD in ’84, 1029 for the Birds in ’85 — 3.6/ypc, and 916 for Pitt in ’86)?
Jackson — for those too young to know or remember — was a fatter, slower version of Dion Lewis. E-Jax was about as tall as Boykin. As heavy as Polk. And he ran like Nick Foles . . . but slower.
Bottom line — Buddy Ryan was right when he publicly offered Jackson to any team who would take him, telling the media: “I’d trade him for a six-pack of beer . . . and it wouldn’t even have to be cold.”
E-Jax! I love it!
Namaste, my good sir.
Sounds like a possible movie for E-Jax could’ve been “Earnest Goes to Fat Camp”…
The best part of the game for me was our special teams. Dang! What an improvement.
To go from last years pathetic bunch, to looking like this only training with our new coaches for a couple of months, is very exciting…Love having a coach that Genuinly values ST and the emphasis we have clearly put on ST is already showing..
…
we put on an offensive Clinic last night on how to move the ball, and we didn’t even get a lot of our guys involved…We still have guys like Damaris and Casey who will prove to be valuable weapons..
…
We have a very young defense both in age, and NFL playing experience..Adjusting to drastically different schemes and getting acclimated with coaches(and vice versa)
…..
we Still have so much room to grow, gel and improve, and I really trust the Teachers we have Entrusted our young defenders to..
…
so excited to see just how much Kelly can get this team to grow in 1 season. if injuries don’t absolutely cripple us, it should be a fun year with glaring team improvements from one month to the next
man….I just can’t wait to get done work, get home and watch that game again!!
Btw, that backward pass call was an absolute Joke!!! Kerrigan is was in front of Vick when he tipped the ball(between Vick and the endzone). When Kerrigan batted down Vicks pass, he jumped straight up in the air. if Kerrigan was clearly in front of Vick, to bat down a “backwards” pass, he would have had to dive forward to get his hands on a backward thrown ball. if he was clearly in front of Vick, and jumped straight up in the air(not jumping an inch forward) then how the hell in the world woud he be able to get his hands on a backward pass?
..
What a joke. Says a heckuva lot about the mental toughness this offense showed, after last season disasters turnover plagued season to go on the road against a division rival with new coaches, an unproven offense in the NFL and take a BS 14pt swing on the chin to open up the season like it was nothing, put it behind them and quickly march back down field and get some points on the board…..That was a great sign to see about the makeup of these players
Can’t agree. TV angles were insufficiently precise.
Late in the 4th Q of the 1958 NFL title game — the Colts v. Giants Sudden-Death game — NY ran a classic “Packers” sweep to the left (Lombardi was the Giants OC). A first down clinches the game.
Watching the old TV recording, HB Frank Gifford looked like he made it. Angles and all.
But the line judge marked him short. The Giants punted. And Johnny Unitas marched the Colts downfield for the tying FG with a few second remaining in regulation. (The rest is history. Even the earlier part of the game is history.)
A couple years ago, ESPN did a special on the game — 50th year anniversary of the “Greatest Game Ever.”
A physicist studied the TV recording, did all kinds of fancy stuff, and — voila — found that Gifford was a foot short . . . despite the deceptive TV angle.
_________________
Now I don’t know what happened. (Except I have a low regard for ESPN’s MNF production crew and, especially, the director who’s calling the camera shots. I really don’t give a crap about post-play close ups of the QB in the huddle.)
But trying to judge Vick’s pass — using ESPN’s camera shots — is like trying to judge balls and strikes from the centerfield camera. Just being 6 inches right or left distorts the viewer’s perception.
Kerrigan was in front of Vick (about a yard in front of Vick)…and jumped straight up in the air to bat the ball…..to get his hands on a backward pass he would have had to lunge forward…impossible to tip a backwards pass if you jump straight up and are in front of the qb
Re: RZ numbers
How did the Washington football club do in the RZ last night?
Were they 3 for 3 for 3 TDs?
Or just 2 for 2?
Great opening performance by the Birds! My only concern is with our depth on defense. In fact, I think it’s the biggest riddle that Chip and staff are going to have to solve in applying Chip’s offensive scheme to the NFL game in the long-run.
I’m an Oregon grad and an avid Oregon Football fan. To me, Oregon became a legitimate powerhouse once they developed quality depth on the defensive side of the ball. The Ducks routinely rotate 20+ quality guys on defense to stay fresh. And there’s not much of a difference in the abilities of the 2’s as there is with the 1’s. The Duck’s 2’s might not be as talented as the 1’s, but they’re better than the 1’s when the 1’s are gassed. This is a lot easier to do when you’re dressing 105 at home and traveling with 70 players. It’s a much bigger challenge when you’re limited to a 53 man roster.
The first half of last night’s game was an aberration in terms of the number of plays (53) they ran on offense. Chip was clearly conservative with his play calling and clock management after Shady’s TD scamper in the beginning of the 3rd quarter, but to me our defense looked as much or more worn down than Washington’s… especially in the 4th quarter. It’s early and the guys will get in better shape, but I think we’re going to see a couple of late game collapses this year as the frantic pace of our offense wipes out our defense.
While at Oregon, Kelly always said that time of possession was a meaningless metric and had no impact on the outcome of the game. Hard to argue with that logic when Kelly’s teams produced a 46-7 record and played in 4 straight BCS bowl games while finishing next to dead last in time of possession. I agree with that logic at the college level, but I’m not so sure it’s as cut and dried in the NFL. If the Birds can develop quality depth on defense, look out. Until then, we’re going to have to score a ton of points to win in my opinion.
Either way, it will be fun to watch.