Detailed Game Review – PHI 30, IND 27
Posted: September 18th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 113 Comments »As with most things in life, context is everything. If you told me back in August that the Eagles would trail the Colts 20-6 in the 3rd Qtr on the road and would come back to win that game 30-27, I would have been ecstatic. That’s a pretty good team and beating teams like that on the road is never easy. And comeback wins are always fun. It is great to steal a game from someone who thought they were in the catbird’s seat.
But I’m not as giddy over the Colts win because it came on the heels of trailing the Jaguars 17-0 at halftime of the opener and needing to come back to win that game.
Yes, I like being 2-0. Yes, I like the way the team stepped up in the 2nd half. Yes, I like the mental and physical toughness the team showed in playing all 60 minutes. But this team is too talented and should be too good to be trailing by double digits at the half in consecutive games. The comebacks are self-inflicted. If this team was playing their best and not just “good enough”, then comeback wins would be great.
The 1993 Eagles started the season 4-0. In Games 2-4 they trailed by at least 10 points in the 2nd half, but still managed to win all 3 games. That was exciting because that team was mediocre. They had marginal talent on the O-line. They had no running game. Clyde Simmons and Tim Harris got hurt, leaving the team with no pass rush. The defense did have a great set of LBs and Pro Bowler Eric Allen at CB. And Rich Kotite was the coach. Winning ugly was okay with me.
The 2014 Eagles are loaded with talent and should be one of the better teams in the NFL. They need to play to that level. And they have…in the 2nd half of each game. But the 1st half play is a real mess. And that has to change.
It is kinda weird that I never got too down on Monday night. As long as the Eagles stayed within 2 scores, I felt like they could come back. The Colts don’t have a juggernaut defense and we know the Eagles can come up with some explosive plays. The Eagles did get the benefit of several calls in the game. That stuff will balance out over the course of the year so I’m not going to apologize for that. The key is to take advantage of the calls. I’ve seen plenty of Eagles teams that got help from the zebras and did nothing with it.
A lot of people have made the comment that the Eagles would not have won the last 2 games under Andy Reid. I do agree with that, if you’re talking about the Reid from recent years. The Eagles had some good comebacks early in the Reid era. In recent years, the team seemed to play dumber and more erratically. That has changed under Chip Kelly. The Eagles seem to be smarter and they just have a confidence and toughness about them that had been lacking in recent years.
We’ll see if this lasts, but right now the Eagles are a clutch team. That definitely was not the case in recent years.
COACHING
I think Chip Kelly and the offensive staff put together a good gameplan. They mixed in some good wrinkles and then had wrinkles off those wrinkles. Not everything worked, but that had more to do with execution than design.
Bill Davis and his staff got caught off-guard. The Colts mixed in a lot of unbalanced line sets. They ran away from the stacked side, which burned the Eagles. Then they ran to the stacked side and that burned the Eagles. Davis and the players adjusted to the set in the 2nd half and it became less effective.
OFFENSE
* The Eagles had some bad luck on one drive. They marched down inside the 10 when Arthur Jones got hurt and there was a long delay. The Colts defense was on their heels and that might have been a TD drive, but the injury delay allowed the defense to re-set and they forced the Eagles to kick a FG.
* Eagles were 5-12 on 3rd downs, which actually isn’t bad.
* Eagles were just 3-6 in the Red Zone. This is a major issue right now.
Players
QB
FOLES – Up and down game. Played better than some realize, but made too many mistakes to call this a good game. Numbers were pretty good, 21-37-337. But more than half the yards came on passes to the RBs. You cannot count on them piling RAC yards like that every week. Foles did play better than in the opener so it feels like he is heading in the right direction.
Threw a pair of good passes to Ertz on the opening drive. Put good touch on the first, a corner route. Climbed the pocket and threw a strike on the next play, a crossing route. One play in the late 1st Qtr kind of sums up Foles season so far. Threw to Cooper in the end zone for what should have been a TD. Real good throw. Riley just couldn’t get hold of the ball. But Maclin was wide open at the 5-yard line. Wide open. Foles was looking that direction. Would have been an easy TD. Ugh. Tried to hit Mac with a deep ball in the early 2nd Qtr. Had him open for a TD, but put the ball to the outside and Mac couldn’t make the catch. A good throw is a TD there. The CB was cleanly beaten so it didn’t need to be a perfect throw. Had Maclin open for another big gainer in the 3rd Qtr, but was off target with the throw. Mac went up for the ball and had a shot, but couldn’t make the grab. That throw wasn’t easy because there was a S lurking, but Foles was too off on the throw. Good throw to Ertz in the mid-3rd. Put the ball behind him, but had to in order to keep it from the DB. Missed Ertz on what should have been an easy completion in the late 3rd. Would have moved the ball inside the 10. Pass was just behind him. Came up big when he made some late throws. Hit Maclin for the tying TD on a pass play inside the 10. That throw had touch and was on the money. Opened the final drive with a good pass to Ertz that moved the Eagles into FG range. That pass also had touch and was accurate.
I thought Foles did a good job in the run game. He ran 4 times for 22 yds. He made good decisions and then slid when he had to. There was one play when he slid before getting the 1st down. Many people thought he should dive. I get that mentality, but I’m okay with what he did. It is hard to know exactly where you are on a broken play like that.
RB
SHADY – 20-79-1 on the ground, 4-23 as a receiver. Loved the TD. Ran the ball up the field and found a hole in traffic. Made sure he got in for the score. Didn’t post great overall numbers because the Colts were playing the run aggressively. Lost yards a few times because there was a DB that was unaccounted for. The fact he got to 79 yards is due to his dynamic ability. Made a few beautiful runs, especially to the left side.
SPROLES – Team MVP so far. 4-26-1 as a runner, 7-152 as a receiver. Delivered 2 receptions of 50+ yards. First huge play came in the mid-1st Qtr. Caught a circle route out of the backfield. Was matched up against a young, slow ILB. Foles hit Sproles on the move and that turned into a gain of 57. Made a poor read on 3rd/1 run. Cut back and got stuffed. If he continued to his left, there was a hole. Great TD run in the late 3rd. Got upfield and then put a wicked move on the DB. Got by him and then showed great balance he took hits, but stayed on his feet and got into the end zone. The other big pass play was a little dump screen in the 4th Qtr. There was room to run and Sproles exploded upfield. Put his hand in Kelce’s back and used him as a shield for a few yards. Then took off in space and got chased down by a DB. Sproles used a stiff arm as best he could, but the guy got him down at the 6-yard line. Loved seeing that kind of strength from Sproles.
POLK – DNP on offense.
TE
CELEK – Quiet game. Had a short pass thrown his way in the end zone. The ball had some heat on it, but should have been caught. I panicked for a moment because the ball popped up in the air. That’s the kind of play that used to be picked off when Vick was the QB. Luckily, this ball fell to the ground. Celek’s blocking was iffy in this game. He hasn’t played as well as he did in 2013. Is age starting to catch up with him?
ERTZ – Another terrific game. 4-86. Had 2 other passes come his way. One was a bad throw. The other was a terrific PBU by the DB who jumped the route and hit Ertz as the ball got there. Caught pass on opening drive. Ran a corner route for a gain of 27. Just reached up and plucked the ball. Burned S Michael Adams on the play. I remember the Eagles burning him as a Niner 10 years ago. Crazy. Caught another pass on that drive on a crossing route. Other 2 catches were downfield. Has really turned into a vertical threat.
CASEY – Didn’t see him much on offense.
BURTON – DNP on offense.
WR
MACLIN – Mixed feelings about his game. Targeted 11 times, but only produced 4-45-1. Part of that is on Foles for making off-target throws, but Maclin still looks off in this offense. The timing just isn’t there between him and Foles, which is funny. They worked well together in 2012. I also saw some moments where Maclin looked like he was letting bad habits come back. Caught his first pass on the opening series. Got a quick throw to the outside and had blockers out in front. There looked to be room to the middle of the field, but Mac headed for the sideline. Did work his way for yards along the sideline, but I wanted him in the middle of the field. That’s where there was more space to work with. Failed to break up an INT late in the half on a downfield pass. Wasn’t going to be easy, but needed to show better effort than he did. That stuff won’t fly with Kelly. He will call Maclin out on it. Maclin did catch a couple of passes in traffic and on one play he ran at a defender and didn’t go down easily. There is hope for him.
MATTHEWS – Caught a pass late in the half. Turned upfield and got extra yards. Almost didn’t get out of bounds, which would have sent me over the edge. Did fight his way out at the last minute. Dropped a pass to open the 2nd half. Was only going to gain 7 or 8 yards, but still needs to make that grab. Called for hold on 3rd Qtr run play.
COOPER – Slow start continues. Dropped a short pass over the middle. Had a DB on him, but should have made the catch. Failed to catch a TD on a good throw from Foles. Fought through contact, went up for the ball, but just didn’t make the catch. Drew a PI flag on CB in the mid-3rd, which set up the first TD of the game. Coop and the CB were battling. Your bias decides what you think of the call. Foul occurred in the end zone so it set the Eagles at the 1-yd line. As a highly unbiased Eagles fan, I thought it was a good call.
SMITH – Didn’t see him on offense.
MAEHL – Didn’t see him on offense.
OL
* Someone missed block of ILB on opening drive run play. Was either Herremans or Kelce. They both found someone else to block, but left the ILB free to stuff Shady.
PETERS – Good game. Kept Foles blind side clean. Pancaked DL Arthur Jones on 2nd Qtr run play.
KELLY – First NFL start at LG and first start since 2012. Looked rusty early on. Failed to get clean block of DT on inside run play in the late 1st Qtr. DT almost got Sproles for a loss. Failed to make clean block of DT on 1st/GL. Guy got a piece of Shady and limited the run. Kelly got better as the game went along, especially in the 2nd half. Had a good block on run play in the mid-3rd. Sealed ILB and let Shady get free to the outside. Had the key block on Shady’s short TD run. Controlled his DT and gave Shady room. Looked pretty good in getting upfield on screens, but didn’t always find someone to block. Did a good job of keeping his head on a swivel in pass pro. If he was uncovered, he stayed on the lookout for a blitzer or DL stunting.
KELCE – Good game. Spent a ton of time on the perimeter on screens and outside runs. Showed great athletic ability as he got wide and up the field. So gifted. Highlight moment was Kelce leading the way for Sproles on the screen pass late in the game. Darren put his hand in Kelce’s back. That was half “I’m here behind you” and half “Block someone big fella.” Did a solid job on inside runs as well. Got just enough of the ILB to keep him off Shady on the short TD run.
HERREMANS – Good block on the screen pass to open the game. Slowed DT, then released and got a DB out front of Shady. Hidden scary moment of the game came in the early 2nd Qtr. Screen pass to the right. Todd was out blocking and pulled up. Grabbed the back of his leg. Didn’t come out of the game due to cramps, thankfully. Would have been crazy to lose another starter, even if for just a few plays or a couple of series. Grabbed at the leg for a while and his play was a bit sloppier after that. Still did his best when asked to get outside on screens and runs.
GARDNER – While watching the game live, I thought he really struggled. Looked better on tape despite the fact this was his first start at RT. Did have some issues in pass pro. Gave up a QB hit on 3rd/long at the end of the opening drive. The rusher, Walden, was to the outside and Gardner set and waited for him. Walden shot to the inside and got by Gardner and hit Foles as he threw. Werner beat Gardner with a hard outside rush to open the 2nd series. Foles was still able to get the pass off. Had some good run blocks on the 2nd level. There was a run play in the early 2nd Qtr where he put #91 on the ground while Shady was running around. Gardner is an impressive effort blocker on run plays. He gets upfield and finds someone to mash on. Pass pro needs work. Gardner tends to sit and wait. If he’s able to engage the rusher, tends to win. Misses too much, though.
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DEFENSE
* Offside penalties were a major problem. Luck has a great hard count and drew the Eagles off several times. Each one produced a 1st down, some coming on 3rd/short. Ugh.
* Lots of tipped passes, but no INTs. You just knew the Eagles were going to get one of those tipped balls, but they never did.
* The Eagles continued their solid 3rd down defense. They held the Colts to just 4 of 12.
* Red Zone defense was not good, Indy was 3 of 4. All of the TDs came on play-action passes. 2 of them went to the RB and one to the TE. The Eagles were selling out to stop the run. The RB was wide open on both plays. That has to be cleaned up.
* Tackling was an issue. Defenders were in the right spot and sometimes wrapped up, but failed to bring down the RBs. Give Indy some credit for running hard. This better get cleaned up before Alfred Morris comes to town. That dude is hard to tackle.
* The Eagles didn’t have a sack, but they got some pressure on Luck and did land a few big hits.
PLAYERS
DL
COX – Another outstanding game. Shed the LT on a run play and got the RB right at the LOS in the late 1st Qtr. Slanted to his left and got into the backfield for a TFL on a 2nd Qtr run play. Showed his freakish athletic ability in the 3rd Qtr on a 3rd down pass play. Barwin flushed Luck and it looked like Luck might be able to run for the 1st down. Cox turned and flew out wide, forcing him out of bounds short of the sticks. Great speed and hustle for a big man. Made a huge play in the mid-3rd. Shed the LG and stayed to the inside of the LT and blew up a run play. Knocked the ball loose, which Ryans recovered. Blew up a screen pass by being right beside the RB, although Cox was somewhat blocked into that position. Luck and skill. Got some pressure on Luck’s pass that was picked off. Looped outside on a stunt and was coming toward Luck when he threw the pass. 4 solo stops, TFL and FF.
LOGAN – Good game. Had 6 solo tackles and a TFL. Generally controlled the middle. The Colts ran well to the outside, not the inside. Shed the RG and stuffed an inside run. Blew up a 3rd Qtr run by driving the RG back, shedding him and then grabbing the RB. Stuffed a run play up the middle at the end of the 3rd Qtr.
THORNTON – Almost made terrific play vs the run. Shed the RT and grabbed the RB right at the LOS, but couldn’t hold onto him. RB got upfield for a few more yards. Hustled to chase down Bradshaw after quick pass to him on the outside. Shed block of TE and tackled RB on play that came his way. Credited with 4 solo tackles.
CURRY – I was hoping for a big game from him. Didn’t really happen. Okay showing. Drove the RT backward and got some pressure on Luck, forcing him to dump the ball to an underneath receiver on RZ pass play. Got a big shot on Luck on 3rd down pass play in the early 2nd Qtr. Looped around a blocker as part of a blitz package and came free up the middle. Got held on 3rd Qtr play where Luck scrambled for a good gain, but there was no call. Curry needs to sell that better.
BAIR – Quiet game.
B. ALLEN – Looked better on tape than he did live. Came in on the 2nd drive of the game. Had one wow moment. RG tried to block him on a pass play. Beau hit him in the arm with a club move and put the guy on the ground. That is some serious power. Actually got some pressure on a 2nd Qtr pass play. More hustle than anything, but still good to see.
OLB
COLE – Rough game. Struggled against the unbalanced line. Wasn’t sure about slanting inside vs staying outside. Colts ran at him effectively. Didn’t stand out as a pass rusher either. Still made his presence felt here and there. Disrupted early run play and set up Kendricks for TFL. Got a FF in the late 1st Qtr when Cox blew up a run and Trent was able to knock the ball loose. Got his first good shot on Luck in the early 4th.
BARWIN – Up and down. Deflected pass on opening play of the game. Had tight coverage of a RB in the 3rd Qtr, forcing Luck to throw the ball away. Looped to the inside on 3rd down pass play and flushed Luck. Got him on the run and forced a FG attempt. Looked to be at fault in one of the TD passes. Mabye 2. Jumped offside on a play, giving the Colts 5 yds. Failed to do much as a pass rusher.
GRAHAM – Gave the Colts a free 1st down when he jumped offside on 3rd/4 to open the 2nd qtr. Dumb. Used good burst off the edge to disrupt the timing of a 3rd Qtr screen pass. Quiet game.
ILB
KENDRICKS – Pretty good game. Was in on 7 total tackles. Had a TFL and PD as well. Got his TFL on the opening series. Penetration forced the RB to stay deep and go wide. Easy target for MK. Had a good tackle of Richardson right at the GL in the mid-1st Qtr. Had to fly over and hit him on the move, but managed to keep Richardson from rolling into the end zone. Deflected a downfield pass from Luck in the early 2nd Qtr. Active game against the run.
RYANS – Terrific showing. Constantly seemed to be around the ball. Was in on 10 total tackles. Had a TFL, FR and PD. Mostly sat between the tackles and just got to the RBs. Jumped on the fumble that Cox knocked loose. Key play as that set up a short scoring drive.
MATTHEWS – Whiffed on Richardson after short pass in the early 4th. Did not look good and got benched.
ACHO – Played late but didn’t stand out, good or bad.
S
N. ALLEN – Was in on 5 total tackles. Failed to contain run play in the 1st Qtr. Aggressively took on pulling blocker, which you want. But Nate went low and took out the blocker, taking himself out of the play as well. That let the RB get wide for 29 yards. Must contain on that play. Missed tackle of Bradshaw right at the LOS. Went low and tried to wrap, but couldn’t. Almost had a chance to get a tipped ball in the early 2nd, but was focused on the receiver and not the ball.
JENKINS – Good game. Had a hand in 6 tackles. Broke up 1 pass and picked off another. Tackled WR after short catch on 3rd/long on opening series. That forced a punt. Leapt up and deflected a pass in the early 3rd Qtr. For a minute, I thought he was going to make a miracle pick. Instead, just a deflected pass. Came up with a huge pick with only 5 mins left in the game. Controversial play, but Jenkins jumped the route and made the grab. Forget the penalty angle for a minute and you have to appreciate the play Jenkins made. Run defense was pretty good, but did miss a couple of tackles up around the LOS.
WOLFF – Didn’t see him much on D.
MARAGOS – Only STs.
CB
FLETCHER – Gave up completion on 3rd/2 to move the chains. Got turned around in coverage, but was never far off and did make a quick tackle after the catch. Had a pair of throws come his way in the early 2nd Qtr. Both were incomplete. Solid coverage by Fletcher helped, but he didn’t break up the passes. Had a chance for an easy INT in the 3rd Qtr. Luck threw off target into the end zone and the ball went right to Fletcher. Hit him in the hands. And he dropped it. Ugh. Colts tried to beat him deep in the late 3rd. Fletcher had pretty good coverage, although he did get away with some contact.
WILLIAMS – I reallyed expected to see TY Hilton attacking Williams with double moves, but that didn’t happen and Williams had a solid game. Had pretty good coverage on fade pass into the end zone. Pass was incomplete. Got a TFL on a quick screen in the early 2nd Qtr. Was all over that play. Nicks had no chance. Lost 4 yds. Beaten for 1st down on 3rd/long by Wayne. Williams got off balance at the top of the route and that gave Wayne enough separation. Called for facemask on 3rd Qtr pass that came to his side. Barley touched it, but got the flag. Had 5 solo stops and a couple of assists.
BOYKIN – Only played 21 snaps since the Colts aren’t a big 3-WR team. Showed speed and hustle when he chased down Hilton on a crossing route and made the tackle. Had tight coverage on a couple of plays. Was involved in the controversial pass to Hilton late in the game that turned into an INT.
CARROLL – Played very little on D.
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ST’s
JONES – Averaged 53.8 yards on 4 punts. No touchbacks. None inside the 20.
PARKEY – Heaven and hell showing. Missed a 38-yard kick early on. Can’t miss inside of 40 in the NFL, but he did in his first MNF game ever. Got a chance for redemption and nailed it. The Eagles gave him a chance to win the game. The kick was good, but nullified by a timeout as the Colts tried to ice him. Parkey didn’t flinch. Nailed the second attempt and the game was over. Had 4 touchbacks on his kickoffs.
KOR – Quiet game. Most KOs were touchbacks. Nolan Carroll took one for 21 yards.
PR – Sproles was 4-25 as a returner. No impact returns like he had last week.
– MISC –
* Chris Maragos is a fiery, emotional player. That’s usually great, but he did draw a penalty on one STs play for losing his cool.
* PR coverage wasn’t good. Griff Whalen averaged 11 yds per PR.
_
It is two games into the season. The Eagles are 2-0, I’ve been told. This is the time to go through some early season struggles and get better. This isn’t week 16+17. No concern from me at this point.
Thanks for the DGR!!!
Jimmy Bama proved that “no-call” against Boykin was a good decision by the referees. Let’s not sell the Eagles short when they won that game fair and square. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/red_zone/Shut-up-Heath-Evans.html
No worries, I’m selling the Eagles “long”, season wise.
I love Jimmy when he debunks other stupid reporters, he needs to do more of it.
Been going back and forth with Foles. I’m leaning to “he’s trying new things and it hasn’t all clicked yet, and given what a great teacher Chip is he’ll become dominant as the season wears on.”
He also has a new QB coach. Wonder if that may be having an effect too. This point was posted in the last couple days by another poster.
yep
Whatever flaws the Eagles might have, at least they aren’t the Bucs.
35-0 at the half. Lovie Smith era is off to a hot start.
They both look terrible. Gotta be close to a record in turnovers and ineptitude.
Why are you down that much and still huddling? Makes no sense at all. Or am I just biased because of how Chip has the Eagles offense always aggressive?
Can’t stand watching teams huddle any more
Thanks, Tommy, for an excellent DGR. I agree with almost everything so, maybe just to be contrary, I’ll pick out one thing I can disagree with. If an Eagles bro can’t find something to hassle about, who can?
For me, the Colts win was enormous and stands on its own. If you told me anytime at all before Parkey’s final fg that the Eagles would come back and win against the Colts, in their dome, after being down 20-6 in the 3rd quarter, I’m a happy man. I was holding out hope for the entire game, but I was also pondering, “1-1 ain’t bad.” The team really pulled out a big W.
Add to that, “Mr. Comback and never loses 2 in a row” Andy Luck has the ball with about 3.5 minutes in the game and the Eagles D makes a huge stand. I can’t remember the last time our D completely killed any attempt at a comeback agianst a name qb in his house. Add to that, Nick Foles completes that beautifult pass to Ertz to bring the Eagles near fg range. Foles did what I thought Luck would do. Add to that, the Baby Face Beast nails the fg (after being iced on the first kick) to win the game. Couple weeks ago this kid probably didn’t think he’d be playing football right now. Well, again I’m a happy man.
I do “get it” that the Eagles aren’t playing 60 minutes of good football. The win against the Jags was fun and didn’t prove much, but the comeback against the Colts was big time football. I know a lot of the guys here will disgaree with me, but I think this win showed a ton of talent, guts, and demonstrates the team is a legit playoff contender.
It’s nice to know I will not go to the local Sanitarium alone.
We are all waiting for you.
excellent. I thought the same thing during that drive; my gf asked why I looked so sad when Maclin scored, and I told her it was because we just left Luck with 3+ min to win the game. Felt like the N.O. game all over again.
glad to see the defense has some moxie. and I give absolutely no credit for this to sconces. I’ll prefer to tip my hat to Jenkins & Meco (and the coaches) finally coaxing all that talent out of Kendricks and Cox
Seems like we have always been on the wrong side when the game comes down to what happened. It feels nice to win one this way. Hats off to the O for tying it up and taking the lead. Hats off to the D for getting that stop.
Andy Reid’s eagles records in games he had to comeback from a big deficit late is 2-47
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Chip Kelly and FOles are already 3-5 in games they had to comeback late to win…
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Great to see a eagle QB step up when it matters most, lead us right down field for a quality game winning FG.
Mcnabb and Vick weren’t the greatest at putting together a clutch game winning drive…it’s great to see, especially from a young QB and a young offense who’s best football is still ahead of them
no no no … you stare and concentrate on ALL the negatives!!! Best write up in weeks. A defensive stand? When was the last time that was written about this team? Good stuff. This post should be pinned at the top so everyone reads it….
Colts win was the biggest win this franchise has had in 2-3 years…
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When was the last win that was bigger than this?
didn`t the dallas win get the team into the playoffs?
If the Eagles get into post-season bc of 1 game, then this`ll rank up there with that. As for this season it`s an improvement on last week`s win. Hopefully(see that there, a desired expectation, not a statement of an realized matter-of-fact how it`s gonna be), this Sunday will be a complete 4-quarter effort, and a convincing thrashing of a division rival.
We aren’t losing these next two games pal.. Say it any way you want… Outcome remains the same
What this guy said^^^^^
Do you see the team taking another look at Jake Knott? Seemed Eagles liked him and was a priority UDFA. Suspension and hammy kept him out of practice, but I don’t see Matthews and/or Acho remaining the back up answer.
He’s suspended first 4 games this season
Plus, he’s still suspended for 4 games. Only will count if he finds a team who signs him. He won’t count against the 53, but has to be signed. Stupid rule, but I think Chip wasn’t too happy about the suspension.
I think Knott would be a possible Meco backup. Ryans + Knott is too slow. Same way with CM, obviously. Sign a new LB or let Marcus or Acho play.
Not true, because he was suspended while on a team, his suspension is running right now and he can play for a team after week4
Yep. It was initially reported the other way, but then corrected to Anders’ explanation.
Oh dear. False information everywhere. I’m sure I read this about 3 or 4 times during the offseason, thought it was true.
Thanks for correcting that one. Didn’t make any sense to me, but personally, I don’t expect sense everywhere, so I took it how I read it.
For discussion sake, I present a hypothetical. Hopefully no one feels that I am wasting their time.
The Eagles have played too poor halves of football and two good halves. What arrangement of those four halves would be your choice?
Both bad halves against the Jags? We would be 1-1, but clearly headed in the right direction (at least until the next game).
Both bad halves in the second half? Jump out early, and just barely hold on for the win?
Clearly not both against the Colts. Right?
In my opinion, if we need to suffer some growing pains, this has been the easiest way to do it.
Kelly willl bring it. We willl enjoy.
If we revisit this question at the end of the season we will have 64 quarters to juggle. Now that could mess with a mans mind.
Good teams find a way to win tough games.
Frustrating teams have talent and find ways to lose close games.
Clearly the Eagles made these games harder for themselves than they should have been so I propose a new category.
Above average teams can find a way to make a game look harder than it is.
The only evidence that the 2014 Eagles are “loaded with talent, and should be one of the better teams in the NFL” was their 10-6 season last year. 80% of this “loaded” team was in place when they won 4 games in 2012. After Peters, McCoy and Mathis on offense, Cox on defense, and Donnie Jones on ST, there is nobody who could be confused for “best” at their position. I find it hard to think of the Eagles as elite because Nick Foles is not an elite QB. There’s much blame to go around for the sloppy play of the offense in the first two games, but Foles position is the most critical, and he deserves the most blame, in my opinion. I am not a Foles-hater, and I love his work ethic and genuine persona, but give me an arrogant, swaggering s.o.b. who knows he’s great, and I will buy the “loaded” tag.
You can’t blame Foles on the 8-10 passes dropped by receivers last week – passes for the most part that bounced off of the receivers’ hands. Including a TD by Cooper and a likely TD by Celek if he holds the ball. Both of those drives ended in FG attempts – with only 3 points scored.
We’ve had 16+ years of “swaggering s.o.b.” QBs that couldn’t win a big game when it was on the line – or stage a come back with 2:00 minutes left if their life depended upon it. I’m extremely happy to have a QB that shuts up and just wins games!
So you’re saying that only 5 of our 24 starters are in the discussion for “best in the league at their position” in the 32 team NFL? I’d say 1.)it’s more like 6-25 (to me nickel CB is a starting position and I think Boykin is as good as anybody), and 2.)that’s a high enough ratio that I think “loaded with talent” is not an inappropriate description, particularly given that several other young players (Kendricks, Ertz, Johnson, etc.) look to be knocking on the door of elite status and much of the rest of te roster consists of solid veteran starters like Ryans, Allen, Herremans, etc. How many other NFL teams can you name which clearly have more talent? And how many of those have the elite QB you mention?
I like our team – a lot. And Boykins is our best athlete according to the HC., but he’d be in over his head against the “elite” wide receivers like megatron, Fitz, Bryant, etc. I like Boykins at the slot, but I don’t think he’s in the same class as Pederson or Sherman. “Loaded with talent” was an apt description for the 49ers defense 2 years ago when over half of the starting defense was in consideration for pro bowl. That’s not 6-25 that 6-11! I would concede that teams can only be “loaded” when they stink for a protracted period of time and have very good talent evaluators at the time. To me calling the Eagles “loaded” is wishful thinking.
Peterson and Sherman are outside corners. Boykin is a slot corner. You’re comparing two different positions. No, he’s not as good as the best outside CBs in the game, but he’s in the discussion for the title of best slot corner in the game. A guy doesn’t have to be a clear-cut All Pro to be “in the discussion”.
I think you’re exaggerating the quality of that SF team. That defense, as good as it was, only had Justin Smith, Aldon Smith, and Willis as clear-cut top 5 guys at their positions, with Bowman close. The rest of the D was made up of solid veteran players. On offense I’d say only Mike Iupati and Vernon Davis were in that category, with Kaepernick and Gore close. That’s 5 out of 25, 8 if you count the “maybes”. Slightly more talented than this Eagles team, but not the gulf you’re making it out to be.
I’m not making anything out. You think the Eagles are loaded – I don’t.
I wouldn’t call them “loaded” either. But they are very talented. Almost as talented as that SF team, albeit with a very different distribution of talent across the roster.
Well we won’t be the highest scoring offense after this week..Bucs getting dominated. Julio Jones please retire and join the Eagles after this season.
My god Julio is a freak. I don’t think we had any receiver that could have done what he just did.
What play are you talking about? (I didnt get to watch the game)
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap3000000396983/Wk-3-Can-t-Miss-Play-Juli-Oh-my-goodness
Riley Cooper can do it, just not as consistenly as Jones, see Packers game
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000279156/Riley-Cooper-45-yard-touchdown-catch
That one?
Thanks for posting this video. With the way he has been playing this year, I had forgotten that Cooper actually made plays for us last year.
hahahahahah ok. his name shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence.
Falcons Bucs game is hysterical. 2nd stringers scoring long touchdowns during run down the clock mode. Bucs might be worse than the Jags.
Hey Guys….great story about Chip in Monday’s WSJ…..great read!!….Blessed he’s our coach!
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-philadelphia-eagles-secret-coaches-professors-1410890601
Great write up. The only time I noticed Casey was when he gave up quick pressure on a block on the right side. Foles had to step up and was behind on the throw to Ertz. Should have still made the throw. I think that is whats missing from him this year. He is not leading his receivers to the holes. It is like he is throwing at them.
I was going to let the Foles missing Maclin go but the “ugh” won’t let me. Please go back and look at that play. Coop is singled up on man coverage. 1 deep safety. Nick takes the snap fakes the IZR to shady and then immediately launches it to Coop. He knew where he was going 5 seconds before the snap. Maclin was never an option. It was the right read and a great throw.
That’s one of the dangers of “3rd party” review, even (sometimes especially) with all-22 access. You still don’t know what the play call was (perhaps the play call from Kelly was throw that pass unless Coop was doubled, period), you don’t know who the QB was supposed to be reading, and most fail to take account of timing (i.e., yes, the 4th read had beaten his man at the LOS, but the pass rush arrives at 2.7s – the QB either doesn’t execute as expected, or there will be armchair QBs screaming “he missed him! WIDE OPEN!!1!”).
Not complaining about TL’s work, because it’s generally fair and unbiased (except when he admits to his mancrushes!), and it would be extremely boring and less educational if he didn’t offer his opinions. Just noting that there are limits to what we, as Friday morning QBs, can honestly evaluate. And perhaps TL is right – Foles should have pulled down and thrown to Maclin. Absent an explanation from Kelly or Foles, we’ll probably never know.
The throw looked like a sky hook. One hit cooper on the hands, the other coopers are was held by db, and pass interference was called.
Love the work Tommy puts into this site. When I first saw that play on the coaches tape I saw Mac wide open and thought that would have been the easier play. So I went back and studied it in slow mo.
Last week there was such a storm on the missing a wr(Mac) on the sack fumble. Mac was his fourth read on the right but Foles’ progression was all left. I am just trying to calm the fan base before they go nuts again about missing all of these receivers. Like you said. The progression vs the pash
Rush might not allow for the qb to see the receiver.
Thanks for the DGR! One minor error in Curry’s write-up: “Drove the RT backward and got some pressure on Foles” I think you meant Luck.
And we still wonder why Curry was not active for the first two games last year??
I know it is easy to pick on, as Jon Gruden called him, “Young Casey Matthews”, but the fact that Acho’s performance where he “did not stand out, good or bad” was such a huge improvement over the guy he replaced is really frustrating. He’s got to have incriminating pictures of Chip, Howie or Lurie – right?
special teams
I’m sick of hearing that excuse. He doesn’t make any more plays on STs than somebody like Avant used to make. Most of the time all he does is run and jump on the pile after the tackle.
He is HORRIBLE in coverage and slightly less bad rushing the QB. But he does wave his hands nicely at runners!
I find it absolutely amazing that out of all the free agents and recent college grads that nobody else can play better than Casey Freaking Matthews! The plays he was in for last week were just embarrassing!
i’m sure they would love smith to supplant matthews on teams, i don’t know why he’s not.
Hard to really make a strong impression on the 2 snaps Acho got.
The lack of talent in our WR corps is going to make the pass game interesting as the season progresses. Ertz is a legitimate weapon and the addition of Sproles is going to cause Ds to have to re-adjust their play.
I wouldn’t rule out a trade if our WR still stink.
for djax? it’d be hard to get anyone halfway decent. should have got andre johnson when we had the chance!
That’s why you’re not a professional coach. As soon as defenses start to key on Ertz and Sproles, Maclin and Cooper see their games take off. It’s all about where the defense puts it’s extra guy. They bring up the safety (or extra LB) to cover the TE or RB, Maclin and Cooper are both single covered and become easy targets. As it is, the safety is usually playing a deep zone and keeping those two blanketed. Watch in the next couple of weeks as the defense cheats up and the WRs start to fly.
Like Tom, watching it live, I thought Beau was having a bad game, watching the tape I realized he should have forced ATleast two holding penalties. I feel like the colts OL got away with murder in the run blocking all night
Yep – they were holding the entire game. I say several plays where their OL had arms around our guys necks and no flags. I know there is holding on every play, but when its blatant, it needs to be called.
Furious over the INT to Maclin. Maclin is a veteran, he needed to adjust to the pass, slow down, so that the ball would land in front of him were only he could get it. Odds are corner would have run Into him, drawing a penalty instead of letting the corner steal an INT away from you. That play, along with the running out of bounds on the screen drove me nuts….. But he needs to he allotted time to get back in the swing of things.
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Pleased that Malcolm Jenkins value is showing up on film these past two games. He has been on of our better defenders in this short season.
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Cary is a big game corner…no a surprise to see him have a good game against a top teams Like the colts.
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Bring on the foreskins
you think we went after tj ward. howie said we don’t have box and free safeties but jenkins is a box safety.
Dude, you can’t call a friggin former cornerback a box safety
For a guy who came out as a corner, Jenkins is really tough for a converted one. Not box safety tough though lol
Yeah he certainly has adjusted well to the physicality of playing safety
I’m with you on that Maclin play. He needed to turn into a defender at the very least on that play. Gut feeling — one of our WR’s (cough Mathews) will have a big game. Foles to JMat will be the headline on Monday.
That’s a good call.. Jordan has been running around free for two games now.. FOles will find him soon, and when he does it should be a big game…
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Thinking is the game shady and the WRs get back to their normal level of play
Maclin has never been too good at tracking down fly balls. It may look like something small, but being able to track deep passes is just as important to anything asked from a WR. Had Maclin made the adjustment, he would’ve easily hauled in that pass for the big gain/possible score. He’ll get more deep balls than he’s used to getting anyway. He should he fine.
Yeah, my take on the interceptions was : 1. Great play by DB. 2. Slight “miscommunication” between Mac and Foles. Not that they needed to communicate to each other, really, but Foles’s throw was outside shoulder, while Mac was looking inside and didn’t really do any adjustment whatsoever. No idea who to blame on the disconnect, would need to know what technique Kelly is preaching there, but if they were on the same page, that might have dropped right into Mac’s hands. 3. Mac needs to adjust/fight more for deep balls. Jaccson got rightfully blistered for doing that once last year, despite generally being very good at it last year. Mac’s gotta clean that part of the play up. I’m sure the coaches let him know about it this week, so it’s on him to do it.
Tobin has been full participant in practice but the Eagles are sticking with Gardner and Dennis Kelly. Why? Continuity actually matters. It’s not some “old wives take from the sea” lol
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Our backups were much better in the second half. I’m not sure if that’s a product of them settling down, or our tempo taking it’s toll, leaving the colts DL like a 70yr old penis, when Viagra wears off… Probably a little of both.
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Getting the colts game and another week of practice under their belt, I would expect them to be better this week in the first half..regardless our tempo is the great equalizer and it will slow down the DL by the second half…
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First half of the skins game, spread them out, run, force those big defenders to tackle us in space, 4, 5 plays in a row with no rest in between, not allowing them to substitute,..sure we end up breaking some big runs…..use their aggression against them. When they pin their ears back to rush FOles, we need to have a screen waiting to take advantage of their aggression.
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Second half that DL will have slowed down considerably because of the size of their defenders, and when FOles gets time against this secondary, it’s the perfect opportunity to get our WRs going with some big plays against two bad safeties and average at best corners.. Secondary will provide opportunity for some big plays throwing the ball down field..
nothing is as pretty as watching players, like Kelce, pull and run down field to destroy someone. Good to see someone talking about this weeks game….
When the skins are getting dressed in Our locker room, we should keep making them watch replays of Kelce mauling their old man MLB last year over and over again on a loop.. Game time is almost here. This weed flew
Bradley didn’t have the greatest game, but it wasn’t bad either,,, was very pleased to see us never allow the colts big play passing game to get behind us and burn us with big plays. Secondary wasn’t having that this game.
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Was also pleased to see FOles/Ertz out play the years of chemistry Luck/Fleener have together.
How ’bout Zach Ertz? Was never a big fan of tightends, but MANNNN he’s good. He’s incredible in the seam. He runs routes like a wideout. He’s quick, big, and athletic. On a good pace for 1,000+ yd season if he solidifies a role as the go-to guy on third down.
If Kendrick’s can’t go this Sunday (chances are high), Acho will get the start. Casey Matthews…. I just can’t understand him. He’s absolutely atrocious. Back when he was a rookie I was hoping he’d pan out.
Marcus Smith getting some reps at Inside Linebacker. He’s definitely getting some snaps this Sunday. I like him there for now, he’d be a nice A-Gap blitzer. Smith and Kendrick’s at ILB doesn’t sound bad at all actually.. Hmm
That missed tackle was just horrible. The RB didn’t even put a move on Casey, just caught the pass in the flat and cut up field. Casey looked like his legs were stuck in concrete. That guy has no business being on an NFL roster.
In Casey’s defense — he’s allergic to contact.
@Shouldn’t be making fun of someone’s allergies. @
I’m rooting for a real tasty, Marcus Smith, SACK LUNCH this weekend!
I’ll be honest, for the life of me I cannot believe this team is moving forward without just randomly acquiring ILBers to replace Matthews. Literally, almost any football player would be better.
He’s maintained his hair better than his linebacking skills that’s for sure.
I don’t get the intense hatred for Casey. Yea, he looked like shit in the handful of plays he was in on defense. Can’t deny that.
But didn’t he lead the team last year in ST tackles? That’s kinda important.
I’m afraid not. He was third, behind James Casey and Colt Anderson. Also, our special teams struggled last season… Especially in that playoff game…
Anyone hear Heath Evans on WIP yesterday? Anthony Gargano made him sound like an a**h0le. I get so peeved when people blame officiating for winning or losing a game. If we take Monday’s game in particular, the Eagles were penalized 11 times, dropped two TD passes, dropped multiple other passes, dropped an INT that cost 3 points, and missed a chip shot FG.
You could make an argument that the Colts shouldn’t have been in the game. Not to mention they gave up a 14 point second half lead, retook the lead, gave up that lead too, then pussed out when the had the ball back with 3 minutes to play. They had plenty of chances to put the game away and just couldn’t do it.
And then the people who say, Eagles fans would be bitching too don’t know what they’re talking about. We would have bitched in the moment like any fan would do and then start picking apart all of the other shit that went wrong. We blame our own players and coaches first, give credit to the other team second, then complain about officiating last.
If I get really bored today I may use my Twitter account and can start blowing up Heath Evans’s timeline.
I heard it. Heath Evans is such a douche. Gargano destroyed him. Evans makes no sense and contradicts himself from sentence to sentence. Moron
You’re getting bored…really bored…
#foolback
Evans was a fullback. That’s how you know he’s useless.
LMAO. Epic…
I would say the offensive game plan in the 1st half, especially in the redzone, was just a hair above horrible. I’m not sure what Chip was thinking with all of the runs up the middle for no gain on the first three trips to the redzone. Fortunately, unlike Andy Reid, Chip is able to actually adjust his game plan and worked it out in the second half.
Agreed. The red zone offense in particular was not good. There were two possessions that were run outside, run outside and pass on third. Normally that is fine. But they were killing our outside runs and it is too packed in down near the goal line to do that.
Disagree. If you have a shady, use him. If it was three pass plays at goal to go, fans would still complain. Is guess if you rematches you’d think it was a good mix of run v pass in red zone.
I don’t have an issue with called run plays necessarily – that is the foundation of our team. I would like to see some more runs between the tackles. I think the last two weeks has seen us run outside unsuccessfully alot.
But that is just my opinion.
It’s good to read ‘run-foundation of team’
we got dominated inside all game.
Any correlation between a lack of Mathis and lack of inside running?
Tommy, nice write up, as always.
I have a couple comments:
There is something different about this team, which feels like an enhanced carryover from last year. They score so quickly and move the ball so far and fast they never seem out of it. Sometimes I get the feeling they can score at will. I wasn’t worried while watching either game; I didn’t necessarily think they would win, I guess I felt they weren’t done yet.
The stop against Luck at the end of the game was new. They didn’t seem to do that last year (NO Playoff game) or even this year, ie., first half against Jacksonville when Boykin downed the ball at the one and the Jaguars immediately completed a long pass down the sideline. Was it better conditioning? coaching? or just dumb luck? (no pun intended)
Last year Foles’ passes weren’t dropped. DeSean may not have dropped a pass all year. Neither did Celek. Early on Ertz and Cooper did. The frequent drops this year magnify and exagerate Foles apparent performance shortcomings so far. Even the interception was a well thrown, catchable pass except for an extraordinary defensive play. If Cooper and Celek hang on those TD passes that hit them on the hands, Foles QBR would have gone through the roof.
The interception was underthrown.
Yes it was, I think that int was on both qb and receiver.
Concur. Slightly underthrown and Maclin expected it to drop into his arms, rather than getting at the highest point.
We might want to record for posterity, Fletcher Cox definitely isn’t trying to light the world on fire in the preseason. We can all rest easy next time he looks like he’s seriously regressed in the preseason.
You’ve gotta know when to hold em and know when to fold em.
Re: Parkey’s missed field goal, I think it’s OK as long as he hits the next 9 or so FGs from around that range.
You can’t really expect a 38yd FG to be made 100% of the time. 90% seems fair tho.
It’ll be interesting to see how fast the people who wanted Henery out and annointed Parkey the savior want to get him out of town if he hits a rough patch.
I remember 1993 going to work and someone saying this is the worst 4-0 team I’ve ever seen. He was right, they ended up 8-8 that year ending with a meaningless overtime win in San Fran on Monday night. The best thing about that year was the Eric Allen interception return for a touchdown. It was really long…lol.saying that because I can’t remember exactly how long, 90 plus yards?
Why do we still have Matthews on the roster? Does he have pics of CK in drag or something?
Who would you consider tapping into other teams practice squads as a quality LB to fill in for MK if he can’t go this week?