Eagles Almost Don’t Lose

Posted: August 9th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 100 Comments »

The dream of the Eagles going undefeated in the preseason is over, but I don’t think we should throw in the towel on the regular season quite yet.

The starters were very up and down. That’s never fun to watch, but you don’t want to make too much of this in the preseason. Remember that Michael Vick was nearly flawless last summer, but was erratic during the season. Nick Foles was sloppy tonight and there’s no debating that. If this spills over to next week, then we’ve got an issue. For now, I’m not too worried.

The overall game was quite sloppy. Penalties. Turnovers. Dropped passes. Missed tackles. Players slipping. All they hype of Training Camp disappeared in a fog of ugly football.

Still, there was plenty to be happy about. The biggest victory is that the team emerged from the game pretty healthy. No major injuries.

And there were plenty of players who did impress. Let’s start on defense. Malcolm Jenkins had a good game. He brought energy to the defense and was a physical presence. I was also impressed by Nate Allen. He had an INT. I thought he took better angles to the ball and was more aggressive as a tackler. That’s progress. I didn’t get a good feel for Earl Wolff.

The backup DL was terrific. We all expected Vinny Curry to make plays. He’s gold in the summer. Rookie NT Beau Allen lived up to his hype and then some. He was stout vs the run. He got good push on a couple of pass plays. He chased down a screen pass and made the tackle. Allen also was quick off the ball and showed some disruptive potential. The guy who came from nowhere was Brandon Bair. I had to look up and find out who #93 was. Wow. He was the backup RDE. Bair was quick off the ball on some plays. He was stout vs the run. He had a good motor and relentlessly went after the ball. I was really impressed.

Young guys Taylor Hart and Joe Kruger also had some good plays. Kruger really needed to get going so it was encouraging to see him show up in a positive way. All of a sudden the Eagles have a bunch of DL they’ll want to keep. That’s a problem, but definitely a good problem.

We do have to be careful about making too much of this.

Brandon Graham was up and down. He did get pressure, but a guy with his ability should be backup blockers. His pressure on one pass led to an INT. Graham had a good block on the long KOR. But he also missed a tackle out in space. He just doesn’t look like a natural LB. That’s the area where we wanted to see growth.

Rookie Marcus Smith was somewhat the opposite. He didn’t stand out as a rusher, but was athletic and active. He looked like a LB. Smith broke up a pass with a quick reaction. He made a good tackle out in space. He did show excellent burst on one pass rush, but the blocker rode him wide of the QB. Smith is talented, but still needs plenty of work.

Among the ILBs, Najee Goode stood out. I didn’t focus on the other guys. It almost looked like Casey Matthews had a solid game, but that could be my eyes playing tricks on me.

Safety Chris Maragos had a terrific showing. I think he is going to become one of my favorite Eagles very quickly. He is physical. He does his job very well. And Maragos seems very much like a team guy. He comes across as a natural leader. Good player. Rookie Ed Reynolds caught me off guard. I’ve never found him to be a compelling player, but he had some good moments tonight. Keelan Johnson is going to really regret ever talking to that cop. Reynolds jumped over him and might stay there.

Rookie Jaylen Watkins had more bad than good, but somewhat redeemed himself by making an impressive INT. Watkins has the talent. He just made rookie mistakes. The same can’t be said for Roc Carmichael. Ouch. He led the team in solo and total tackles…because the ball kept coming his way. According to TV analyst Brian Baldinger the Bears weren’t picking on Carmichael, the ball just happened to come his way a lot. Isn’t that what picking on a DB means? The play of the backup CBs led to this tweet.

I echo that sentiment.

The offense put up points, but didn’t have a smooth game. Mark Sanchez looked solid. He threw the ball well. There was only one major mistake, when he pulled the ball on an option play and threw out wide. The offense was at the 1-yard line. You have to run inside there. The Eagles did score right after that so it wasn’t a big deal.

Matt Barkley was less impressive. I didn’t like the way he threw the ball. Too many of his passes lacked ideal velocity. He finished 7 for 16. GJ Kinne didn’t impress me either. He played the whole 4th Qtr as if there were only 10 seconds left in the game. I hope that was simply a case of him being too caught up in the moment.

Matt Tucker had a mixed game. He had a 24 yard run and a pair of TDs, but also had a bad fumble and some other plays where he wasn’t so impressive. I was hoping for a better showing. David Fluellen looked faster than I anticipated and went 6-25 on the ground. He also caught a TD pass. Nice showing. Henry Josey was disappointing. He struggled to catch the ball and when he did just didn’t do anything special.

Rookie Jordan Matthews had a couple of drops. That surprised some people, but he’s had drops issues for a few years. Matthews needs to keep working on his hands. He can get better. Matthews did make one catch on 3rd down that moved the chains. He finished with 4 catches, but only gained 14 yards. Fellow rookie Josh Huff failed to stand out as a WR, but did have a 102 yard KOR for a TD. That was terrific.

The backup OL did some good things. I thought LT Andrew Gardner was solid on runs and in pass pro. LG Matt Tobin got movement on a couple of the TD runs. I didn’t see much of Dennis Kelly or Lane Johnson.

I’ll be re-watching the game and writing more detailed reports in the next few days. I’m glad Eagles football is back. I’ll be even happier when good Eagles football is back.

GAMEBOOK

_

100 Comments on “Eagles Almost Don’t Lose”

  1. 1 Wilbert M. said at 3:23 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’m worried about Foles. He looked bad. I was at the game sitting in the end zone behind him when he completely missed Maclin heading to the post. There was another play where Shady was completely alone in the flat. These aren’t the mistakes you should see from a veteran QB. I want him to prove he’s the real deal, but tonight reminded me of the first Dallas game debacle.

  2. 2 SteveH said at 4:25 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I share your concern in theory, but I’m going to wait until PS game 3 to put it into practice if things don’t change.

  3. 3 GEAGLE said at 10:37 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Don’t understand the concerns… WTF did people expect out of FOles when the refs stop every other play with a penalty?f you don’t let QBs get into a Rythem, it will look like last night

  4. 4 P_P_K said at 8:08 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    It’s certainly painful to sit and watch Jay Cutler outperform your #1qb. No worries, yet, it’s only pre-season.

  5. 5 Tumtum said at 9:15 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’m going to go out on a limb here and say if they both play 16 games; Cutler throws 5+ more ints than Foles

  6. 6 ICDogg said at 8:16 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    He looked bad. On the other hand I’d just as soon, in the context of preseason, that he throw interceptions as opposed to holding onto the ball even longer and taking unnecessary hits.

  7. 7 GEAGLE said at 10:24 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    First string wasn’t able to get in a Rythem. Every other play was a penalty… You aren’t going to see our offense run well. If refs stop the flow every other play

  8. 8 anon said at 8:20 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    He’s not a vet. But agree — hopefully he bounces back with a vengeance. But i think that was one of the worst QB performances of the preseason.

  9. 9 Tumtum said at 9:14 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    It’s not reassuring but it’s not something I’m worried about yet.

  10. 10 GEAGLE said at 10:22 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    LOL sky is falling… We should just trade him. Obviously can never play in a Chip Kelly offense

  11. 11 Jamie Parker said at 4:55 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    When Tucker fumbled, he slipped on the field and came down right on the back of Lane Johnson’s legs. That was a gasp moment for me. I thought the back up OL did very well. I loved seeing them make and finish their blocks down field on Fluellen’s TD. I think everyone loved what they saw from Allen and Bair. I really liked Marcus Smith. He’s going to be a player. I just don’t like the #90 on him. Makes him look too lanky. JMatt and Huffy need to hit that juggs machine.

  12. 12 GEAGLE said at 10:21 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kruger was better than Bair

  13. 13 Richaud Jeaffreson said at 2:56 AM on August 11th, 2014:

    Were we watching the same game? Aside from Curry, I think that Bair and Allen were the best back up DL. Kruger looked stiff and slow.

  14. 14 Sean Stott said at 4:09 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    My gasp moment was Maclin’s leg looking like it could get rolled up when he was tackled. Surprised he was ok, of all people.

  15. 15 Insomniac said at 6:01 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Thank god the Matthews hype is cooling down. He’s still the same player as he is in college right now. He needs to ask Momah and Ertz on how to toughen up and use size.

  16. 16 anon said at 8:28 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Rooks get more leeway to me. I’m glad we can slow down on overhyping our guys (Foles and Matthews) make them earn the hype.

    Also we’ve been hearing a ton about Ertz in pre-season, i wonder if that’s bc we can’t guard TEs in the slot? We have 3 more pre-season games to clean this stuff up. At least we didn’t look as bad as dallas.

  17. 17 ohitsdom said at 2:10 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Ask Momah on how to use size? Momah is just starting to figure it out himself!

  18. 18 Sean Stott said at 4:08 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    re: Watkins,

    He fucked up the press, and had no safety help. Simple as that.

    Even with 4.3 speed, if you have to turn around from a dead stop and catch up to someone with a head start, it’s gonna take you at least 20,30 yards, if not more.

  19. 19 Corry said at 6:51 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I remember one play where the Bears ran a stunt or a twist and Lane Johnson lost his man. The replay showed him running after his DL, which is clearly not a good thing…

  20. 20 Tumtum said at 9:06 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’m watching on NFL preseason live from nfl.com. So I took Mrs.tumtum to diner and watched the rest of the Os dismemberment of the cards before turning on the creen birds, birds. Then went to bed at half. I’ll rewatch the whole thing tomorrow.

    What i did notice:

    BG looks bigger, but also looks like he has regained burst I haven’t seen in a while. He did terribly miss that open field tackle but he was in position, and got his hands on the guy. Looked like he was nervous to be overly physical in space. I know he and Molk were training with that dude in Detroit who had a show on discovery (which has disappeared and I loved it!).

    Front 7 first and 2nd string looked really good against run and with rush. Pass was a mixed bag. Meco did let up that TD, but man Cutler has a pair to throw that. Easily could of gone very bad for him. How Zach Miller is behind Bennett and Rosario on the dc is beyond me.

    Secondary was pretty bad.

    Starting O was very frustrating. Was good to see Mac make a physical catch and pop up. Huff looked better than expexted from tc reports. I hope Foles can get Ertz involved like Sanchez did. Shady was…well Shady. He looks a little faster out of his cuts or was he just making a real effort to turn N S?.

    Mohma looked good. Who ran the wrong route on that int though?

  21. 21 Tumtum said at 9:12 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Oh yeah and was it just me or did Cole Barwin and Kendricks look really really good?

  22. 22 GEAGLE said at 10:19 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kendricks was I his way to a 12 tackle performance had he played the entire game..
    …
    Barwin was his usual money self

  23. 23 Mitchell said at 9:56 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Evan Mathis was outplayed last night at least a couple times. I think it was Jay Ratliff on one of them, ugh. He was at least part of the reason Nick was so uncomfortable.

  24. 24 GEAGLE said at 10:23 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Roc was worse than Mathis

  25. 25 Tumtum said at 10:44 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Remember I only saw first half so far! :). He did make some bad plays in what I’ve seen so far.

  26. 26 GEAGLE said at 10:45 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    We can compromise: Mathis was the worst with the first string, Roc was horrible with the backups.. We both win 🙂

  27. 27 Ark87 said at 12:03 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kinda feel bad for Roc. Horrible horrible Playoff game. Has an unnoteworthy camp (good or bad), then the first time back under the lights he has a game like this. The dude had best start packin now, not even because he’s getting cut, because it ain’t safe in Philly for him. Get to witness protection!

  28. 28 GEAGLE said at 12:33 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    LOL true!

  29. 29 theycallmerob said at 11:57 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Great O’s game! Glad to have that distract from all the usual august preseason overreactions

  30. 30 fran35 said at 9:24 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I really hope Momah keeps improving. The kid made a really tough catch and looked much more natural. Also, that kid is an enormous WR

  31. 31 Mitchell said at 9:40 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Roc was turdible but Marsh looked pretty good. At the least we shouldn’t have a repeat of last year where Brees victimized our 4th cb.

    Would love to see more Momahtron. Hell he was the only guy catching first string passes.

  32. 32 TommyLawlor said at 9:42 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Momahtron? I like it.

  33. 33 Mitchell said at 9:55 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Lol, I think it fits quite nicely.

  34. 34 GEAGLE said at 10:30 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Props for Turdible

  35. 35 Mitchell said at 9:54 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I really like Malcolm Jenkins hammering that receiver on the Bears first or second drive. The ball was too high but if the receiver did catch it, he would have gotten PUNISHED. I was so happy to see Nate make plays out there. That int, he didn’t look hesitant at all, he just read the play and reacted before the ball even got to the receiver.

    Vinny Curry is an extremely exciting player. Constantly in the backfield. I don’t see how he doesn’t play. Did anyone see his 2 gapping skills last night?

  36. 36 mattwill said at 3:32 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    As long as Curry isn’t leaving a gap in the D-Line that a RB can run through I’m comfortable with the amount of penetration he gets. If RBs can run through his vacated space, then not so much.

  37. 37 GEAGLE said at 10:15 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kruger was one of the best backups on the field, chasing QBs around, tipping passes, Kruger had a better outing than hart…
    …
    Beau not surprisingly showed to be the War Pig we needed. Beau n Bennie will lockdown the NT for the next 5 years..
    .
    Marcus smith was all over the field last night. Very active, nice display of his athleticism, kids going to have a bigger role this year than the consensus anticipated
    …
    When Nate got the INT. The happiest player was Malcolm. Cool to see him jumping around on the sideline after his fellow safety got the INT
    ..
    VInny Curry is a FORCE.. No surprise there…
    …
    Can’t wAit to watch a real philly defense this year
    …
    Loved seeing Jalen struggle, keep his head in the game and snatch that INT up.
    …
    Marsh didn’t live up to his practice improvements, and Roc was the worst player on the field.

  38. 38 Mitchell said at 10:26 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I thought Marsh played pretty well. He broke up that 2-pt conversion and was in on at least one other breakup.

  39. 39 GEAGLE said at 10:27 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I only noticed him on the two point conversion… I didn’t think he was bad, I just expected a little more considering all the practice success he has had…very curious to see how he plays this next games

  40. 40 GEAGLE said at 10:20 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Who is the idiot on this site that jumps down my throat every single time I talk about huff returning Kickoffs? Does the clown have the balls to identify himself today? LOL

  41. 41 mksp said at 1:07 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Dude. SHUT up. Please.

  42. 42 GEAGLE said at 4:32 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Eat a dick… U wanna talk shit, at,east own it Henne you are proven to look like an idiot…back to being insignificant you go…but hey, congratulate yourself. You actually got me to read one of your posts..see u next summer, you bitch

  43. 43 Anders said at 3:10 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Will you then own up too Mathews not been the savior quite yet?

  44. 44 GEAGLE said at 4:31 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Wtf… I never said he was going to be some rookie of the yaar… I don’t give a shit what he does this year…it’s about who he grows into, and in that regaurd, no I won’t admit to anything, because it see no reason why he can’t be a quality weapon

  45. 45 Insomniac said at 3:34 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    He had the best blocking possible. Any of our past KRs could have had a TD that time. You’re acting like Huff did all the work.

  46. 46 Kristopher Cebula said at 10:20 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    After watching that game, where do you see the eagles going this year? Mildly disappointing or complete disaster?

  47. 47 Mitchell said at 10:24 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    After one preseason games, those are my options? Lol.

  48. 48 GEAGLE said at 10:29 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Only in Philly….smh

  49. 49 anon said at 10:40 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    what’d you think we’d do after the first 5 games of last season? just take games day by day.

  50. 50 theycallmerob said at 11:55 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    You win!

  51. 51 xlGmanlx said at 6:07 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Neither!!

  52. 52 GEAGLE said at 10:35 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Liked seeing back up OL Molk/Tobin block that screen beautifully.
    …
    I have Molk ahead of Vandervelde so far

  53. 53 mattwill said at 3:35 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Last night may not have resolved any of the individual position battles,
    but for me it did clarify some of the Roster position counts.

    Beginning with Game 5 we will carry 10 O-Linemen: the 5 starters Peters – Mathis – Kelce – Herremans – Johnson plus 5 backups Gardner
    – Tobin – Kelly – Barbre and the winner of the Molk Vandervelde battle
    at Center. In Weeks 1-4 Johnson will be suspended, so the O-Line will
    take up 9 Roster slots in Week 1 with Tobin and Kelly inactive and
    Gardner suiting up as the backup OT.

    That means there is one “extra” roster slot available for more CBs or Safeties than would otherwise be the case.

  54. 54 anon said at 10:40 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Can we just play 4-3 and be done already? We have MONSTERS all over the d-line and nothing in terms of rushing LBs. We’d be top 10 sack leaders if we played attacking 43. It’s like the only place where we drafted well (or maybe that’s just where most of our high picks are from the AR era).

  55. 55 GEAGLE said at 10:43 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Lol WTF is the difference in playing our edge rushers as down linemen, and letting them rush standing up?
    ..l
    Playing a 4-3U will have NO EFFECT on pressure we put on QBs, because we don’t play a 3-4 on passing downs, so I’m not sure what your beef is….no one two gaps in pSs rushing situations, and there is NOTHING wrong with our 3-4… Silly

  56. 56 anon said at 10:54 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’d rather have our interior lineman attacking rather than 2-gapping, sine that’s what they’re better at. BG / Cole are liabilities in coverage, i’ll throw meco in there two since he got beat on the exact same passing play twice.

    I’m not saying they can’t be effective in a 34, i think they’d be better in one scheme than another.

  57. 57 GEAGLE said at 10:56 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Guess what? When the QB drops back to pass, our interior lineman do attack,.,,and you can’t make an argument for why ANY front would be better against the run than what we are using now

  58. 58 anon said at 11:01 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Looking at last year’s tape i’d sit my RBs if i was an opposing OC, just dip and dunk and let my TE rack up fantasy points.

    To be fair, i don’t think we’re doomed-hopefully we’ll be better than last year, but to think Cox and Curry aren’t better shooting gaps and getting after QBs seems wrong to me.

  59. 59 GEAGLE said at 11:07 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    LOL when a QB drops back to pass THEY DO SHOOT THE GAPS!!! Lol no one two gaps when QBs are dropping back to pass. Nevermind, Vai con dio
    …
    We shouldn’t have to have this convo in year two SMH

  60. 60 mattwill said at 3:42 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Graham and Cox and Curry shoot gaps well. Last night we once again saw Curry bursting through the line into the
    backfield, but with such force that his penetration takes
    him further upfield that the QB and RB often are. If the play is a
    5-step drop pass, being upfield isn’t a problem, because that is where
    the QB is. On a running play being too far upfield can be a detriment
    and the gap in the D-Line that opens up because Curry is no longer in
    it.

    Graham isn’t as effective a penetrator as Curry, but he is guilty of over pursuit more often than is ideal.

  61. 61 bsuperfi said at 12:15 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’m asking this question because I really don’t know the answer:

    Is the defensive scheme such that the DL could have a 2-gap assignment but always go for the backfield when the QB drops back? I get that there’s no sense in plugging up the line when the QB is actually setting up for a pass, but there are some things to consider.

    For example, the DL has to be aware of a draw or other trickery. A lineman could try to get out of a 2-gap position to rush when the QB drops and then see a RB shoot through the space he vacated.

    The rush also wouldn’t be nearly as effective for some DL because they significantly rely on getting a fast first step. This isn’t happening if they’re in a 2 gap position and then switching to a pass rush. I’d think this could hurt players like Cox.

    And thinking to the future, if Chip’s offense starts spreading, it’d really hard for a lineman to make a good decision.

    Maybe you’re just talking about having an assignment to shoot a gap on obvious passing downs, but I’m just not sure.

  62. 62 GEAGLE said at 12:29 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Yes.. Our guys need to two gap in base, but when there is opportunity to make a play you will usually see them abandon two gap and just attack… Think last nights first team, when instead of two gapping, Thornton knifed thru the line and stopped the RB behind the line of scrimmage…. If all we did was two gap, we would never see Thornton make a play like that…
    …
    And when it’s an obvious pass rushing situation, we will never see two gapping. 3rd down we will stay in base with Jenkins picking up the slot man to man if we are worried about them trying to run on 3rd, but usually we will go to a 4-2-5, 3-3-4 or this year implementing the Dime package 4-1-6…never two gap in passing situations, that’s why I cringe when fans cry about us not letting our DL attack…it’s just a silly myth

  63. 63 Tumtum said at 10:43 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Looks like a solid 3-4 front to me…

  64. 64 Ark87 said at 10:52 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Was hoping to see more Momah, he’s not really a starter, he did some nice stuff against starters….I always thought of him as a guy on the roster bubble, under that mentality it seems a big disservice to give him the snap count of roster-safe players in the roster bubble bowl (preseason week 1). However should we be changing our opinions of Momah’s chances? Maybe the coaches are higher on him than we thought.

    For the starters we seemed a bit finesse rather than our usual smash mouth brand, and I can’t blame them, wrap your super star in bubble wrap and take it easy on your over-30 mighty mite. Save them for the season. Of course that was likely more a result of an absurd amount of penalties putting us in throwing situations. Nick wasn’t sharp, but between the penalties and missed assignments, the whole offense was a mess.

    Defense was ok. It had those familiar things you like, physicality, solid tackling and an edge, but it was discouraging to see the familiar short comings pop up. Meco chasing a tightend into the endzone so far behind he can only stick his arms up and hope he gets a finger on the ball. Also the 3rd and long situation, CB’s giving a ton of cushion, watching Fletcher extend that cushion 5 yards past the sticks for the easy first down, uhg. Ineffective 4 man rush is another issue. I think the defense will show itself to be better overall over the course of a game and season with better depth.

    Overall this is what preseason games are for, this isn’t week 1, none of it matters. Knock the rust off, get some stuff on tape to work on, get better. Still extremely optimistic about the season.

  65. 65 GEAGLE said at 10:54 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    I wouldn’t even mention Meco’s name during the preseason… Every single summer fans and media rip him for his PS play, only for him to turn it on during the regular season and go on to have a nice year for us…
    …
    I was hoping I could get thru this preseason without the early ripping Meco’s preseason play

  66. 66 Ark87 said at 10:59 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    It’s just bad assignment, don’t put him in coverage on a pass catching tight end. He’s best sitting watching the runningback, When the running back stays , Meco is one of the better green dogs that I’ve seen. When the running back goes, Meco is one of the best I’ve seen at leveling people carelessly trying to run a route out of the back field. He’s always been inadequate at chasing down tight ends. Can’t ignore that.

  67. 67 GEAGLE said at 11:06 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kendricks has to get the green light for green dog blitzes… He is the one who will be matched up with the RBs man to man, so when a RB stays in to block, he has the green light to blitz… We Used kendricks In that role last year and I don’t expect it to change

  68. 68 Ark87 said at 11:17 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    They switched it up, depending on coverage. I’m not calling Meco a bad player, he brings a lot to the team, and in the lockeroom he is considered a probowl player and the defensive MVP on the team, you just don’t want him going vertical in man coverage.

  69. 69 GEAGLE said at 11:27 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    No, you don’t want him in man coverage, but he is pretty friggin crafty dropping into zone. Don’t expect us to have him dropping in man too often, that’s when a different subpackage will be used

  70. 70 Ark87 said at 11:28 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Agreed, he is awesome in zone, watching him level shallow crossers, such a joy

  71. 71 GEAGLE said at 11:29 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Right! Also comes up with INTs when he is in zone…. But yes, watching him throw WRs to throw ground at the LOS is awesome!

  72. 72 GEAGLE said at 11:04 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Dissapointed to not see any fans talk about special teams…. We focused on improving our ST unit this offseason and boy were the improvements on display last night. Braman and maragos were playing like Savages. Loved seeing them on ST… Huff returned the first kickoff,since Demps did it as an eagle god knows how many years ago… Blocked FG’s..l
    ….
    I also loved seeing Macus Smith try to rip the ball out of the RBs hands instead of just going for the tackle… Only preseason but our defenders weren’t just tackling, they were trying to force turnovers.
    ..
    Going to enjoy my top 12 defense this year….it’s been long enough since we had a philly style defense… Going to be a big year defensively

  73. 73 anon said at 11:11 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    our st. was gang busters last pre-season too then they were mediocre during the year. like everything else it’s too early to draw conclusions. Was nice to see a return TD happen and the blocking looked perfect there.

    But if we aren’t going to get down about Foles, o-line play, CB play etc. i can’t get too excited about STs.

  74. 74 GEAGLE said at 11:15 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Considering we are like the only team I have ever seen use free agency to drastically improve ST, I’m confident they will be at a different level than last year…
    …
    If you add maragos!Phillips!Nolan, Braman our ST, why would you expect the same level of ST play as last year?

  75. 75 anon said at 11:43 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    You think any of that will make up for losing colt anderson?

  76. 76 Benzino said at 12:22 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    I think it will. Those new players will more than make up for the loss of Anderson IMO. They are better all around players and will pay huge dividends when the games count. I really like Maragos and Braman and I think they will impress Colt Anderson lovers as well as the season unfolds.

  77. 77 GEAGLE said at 12:23 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    LOL Colt can’t hold maragos jock strap… If Colt was better than them, he would still be here… Colt was just the best we had, Maragos was the captain of a top ST unit…maragos outclasses colt

  78. 78 Ark87 said at 11:51 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    The KR return was a joy to see. Josh Huff was good there, but credit goes to the blockers on that one, what a gap! Watching Braman go stride for stride with Huff was eye opening as well, what a monster. Loved the blocked FG, crazy it was by one of our shortest linemen. Still rooting for us to keep 7 DL: Cox- Logan-Thornton (beasted it last night by the way)-Curry-Allen-Hart then a Square Kruger Bair battle royale. You can see why the coaches just love Square, great kid that works his butt off and maximizes everything that god gave him, so it hurts me to root against him in favor of Kruger who has so much up-side, but I gotta. Kruger had a nice moment where he blew at tack off the line and make a nice play, very impressive.

  79. 79 GEAGLE said at 12:25 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Kruger had. Few really nice plays…. Braman promised me that he will hit Romo, so I have my eye on him lol.. Love that psycho with his long

  80. 80 BobSmith77 said at 11:42 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Even by meager standards for an early preseason game, this was largely unwatchable.

    If Goodell is dead set on adding 2 more games to the regular season, can the preseason just be 2 games max? Chaps me every year to have to pay for not even glorified scrimmages in the preseason as a season ticket holder.

  81. 81 Ark87 said at 11:59 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    That’s definitely what they are, scrimmages. The coaches get the luxury of not having to play to win. They play to the situation rather than the score. The preseason is incredibly valuable to teams in terms of getting some tape against players not wearing green who don’t use our scheme, and still have 3 weeks of intensive practice to bang out the dings.

    The real issue is as you said, having fans pay real money for it as if it were a real game (particularly for the season ticket holders). They badly need to unshackle season ticket holders from the preseason.

  82. 82 GEAGLE said at 12:51 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Unless you are a cowboy fan who gets treated so well that they even include NFC conference championship game in their season ticket package Bwahahahahahahah @ Jerry giving season ticket holders playoff tickets

  83. 83 xlGmanlx said at 6:08 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Let’s pray for his health

  84. 84 Sean Stott said at 3:14 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    To add to this, they don’t even suit up in their official uniforms, that’s what really ices the cake for me. You can tell because the unis they wore yesterday had the flywire on the neck (they’re the Nike Elite jersey I believe) but their game jerseys do not have that. That’s the tangible proof that the league does not take the games seriously, all the while expecting you to with your wallet.

  85. 85 Ark87 said at 11:43 AM on August 9th, 2014:

    Interesting note: the tight ends on both teams were absolutely killing it last night. The evolution of tightends becoming devastating weapons continues, and defenses still don’t seem to have answers.

  86. 86 GEAGLE said at 12:49 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    NFL is already moving to counter that trend, switching to these small LBs who can run and Cover.
    ..
    Hoping we draft Mykal Kendricks little brother to add him as a subpackage weapon in coverage…since we missed Out on Christian Kirksey

  87. 87 shah8 said at 1:42 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    One coulda woulda shoulda point–Kelvin Benjamin hasn’t been showing his issues about accel or hands during camp through first preseason game. This isn’t firm, of course, we would have to see what he does in real games, but it is looking like maybe we should have picked him. One piece of context–he’s the only real WR talent out there for Carolina, so he’s got everyone on his back about concentration and working on things.

  88. 88 Anders said at 3:07 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Benjamin was also picked before Matthews by around 20 picks, so it wasnt between Matthews or him

  89. 89 mtn_green said at 3:25 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Smith and another pick for KB.

  90. 90 Insomniac said at 3:28 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    That was a really nice TD catch by him. I don’t see Matthews doing that in year one. I hope I’m very wrong.

  91. 91 Sean Stott said at 3:17 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Momah should now be in the conversation for the 53. Ditto Fluellen.

    I’ll be surprised if Carmichael isn’t part of the cut-down to 75. I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt for too long; those were 3’s he was struggling against.

    If Eagles can get Sanchez on a longer contract, I see no reason to keep Barkley.

  92. 92 Anders said at 3:22 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Momah seems to be front runner for 6th WR spot, still think Smith is front runner for 5th spot.

  93. 93 Insomniac said at 3:37 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    We sure aren’t going to keep a 4th RB at this point.

  94. 94 mattwill said at 3:48 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    I’m of the opinion that both Barkley and Kinne can go. I’d like the Eagles to pick up Jeff Mathews from the Falcons’ cuts when they happen.

  95. 95 Sean Stott said at 3:51 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Brad Smith is probably an acceptable 3rd string WR.

  96. 96 mattwill said at 6:40 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Did you mean 3rd string QB?

  97. 97 Sean Stott said at 6:56 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Yup.

  98. 98 mtn_green said at 3:25 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    Was it Kruger or Square that had the block on the FG? Seen different reports in the media. Krugers interview doesn’t mention it, but it’s a short snippet online.

  99. 99 Sean Stott said at 4:11 PM on August 9th, 2014:

    One thing I noticed is that the Refs were not up for the tempo. There were a ton of plays where the Refs slowed down the tempo beyond what the Eagles were looking to run it at.

  100. 100 Scott J said at 12:03 PM on August 10th, 2014:

    So how long does it take to evaluate the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4? So far I’m not impressed. I would rather play a 4-3 and have my line look like this: Curry, Thornton, Cox, Graham.