Detailed Game Review – PHI 34, JAX 17
Posted: September 11th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 139 Comments »PHI 34 , JAX 17
A tale of 2 halfs. Or halves. Or whatever you want to call it. The first 30 minutes and final 30 minutes could not have been more different. Jacksonville jumped out to a 17-0 lead. The Eagles looked like they were playing in the preseason opener instead of a real game. For a while, it seemed as if Nick Foles and Cary Williams were having a contest to see who could play worse. (it was a tie)
Things started to change in the 2nd Qtr. The Jags went up 17-0 less than a minute in, but didn’t score the rest of the game. Once the Eagles defense did wake up, it played well. The offense put together a long drive only to see Foles throw a terrible INT in the end zone. The offense had another drive stall just inside the JAX 40. There was hope, but still no points.
I was nervous. The game was still winnable because there was plenty of time left, but any long time Eagles fan knows there are just some days when the team won’t score. There was the infamous 13-13 game vs the Bengals in 2008. There was the 2007 season opener when the Eagles lost 16-13 to Green Bay. Who will ever forget the 13-9 loss to the Raiders in 2009? There was a 13-6 loss to the Jaguars back in 2006. And of course there was the entire 1998 season.
Would this be one of those days?
I thought scoring those first points, especially if a TD, would make all the difference in the world. Seeing Darren Sproles sprint up the middle of the field for a 49-yd TD took the weight of the world off my shoulders. I was able to breathe and felt worlds better about the game. When the Eagles cut the score to 17-14, I felt like winning was inevitable. I was still nervous, but then I’m nervous when the Eagles are up 13 points with 4 minutes left.
The Eagles ended up dominating the 2nd half and winning 34-17.
It was frustrating to see the team play so poorly for parts of the game, especially against a lesser opponent. Gus Bradley has the Jags pointed in the right direction, but they still need a lot of talent on that team. The Eagles mistakes were largely self-inflicted.
But there is plenty of reason to be happy as well. Look at those games I listed earlier. Those were ugly performances that ended as losses (and one tie). The Eagles were able to right the ship on Sunday and win. By 17 points. I think that really says something when the team can snap out of major struggles and then still win big. That tells you the coaching staff is smart. That tells you the team has a lot of firepower. And that tells you that the players are resilient.
Anyone can get down. Good teams don’t stay down. They can shrug off a bad quarter or half and win ugly. That’s exactly what the Eagles did on Sunday.
COACHING
Good and bad game for Chip. The calls he made in the 1st half were working. Foles just wasn’t executing them. Chip adjusted after halftime and Foles did a better job with those plays. It seemed like the plays were quicker and had more defined reads.
I did not like many of the run plays the Eagles ran. Kelly had both RBs going outside. The Jags killed those plays, over and over. They have a fast, aggressive defense. I don’t see how running outside was supposed to work. Chip obviously has more football knowledge in his left pinky than I do in my do in my entire upper torso so I know there was a goal. It just didn’t work. I’d love to know what he hoped to do.
Bill Davis called a good game. The execution was just bad early on.
OFFENSE
The offense did not have a good game. Yet, they still gained 420 yards and scored 27 points. All of those points came in the 2nd half. The other 3 NFC East teams combined to score 37 points. That should give you an idea just how good the Eagles offense is.
MISC
* 8 of 19 on 3rd downs
* 0 for 2 in the Red Zone
* The offense had 6 plays of 20 or more yards. They led the league in this category last year with 99. So even after a bad game, the Eagles are on pace to almost match last year’s total. And all of the plays went for more than 25 yards. Crazy.
Players
QB
FOLES – Bad game. There is no reason to sugarcoat this. Nick didn’t play well, despite the final score. He had receivers open throughout the game and simply failed to find them.
Nick Foles's second fumble vs JAX. Eagles ran old R&S switch concept and Maclin was wide open: pic.twitter.com/yWIb2MRD5u
— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) September 10, 2014
Foles left a lot of yards and points on the field. He failed to see open receivers a lot of the time. He made poor throws on other plays. It was not a good day. He also turned the ball over way too much. Foles threw a terrible INT in the Red Zone. Celek wasn’t close to being open and a CB dropped into a spot to kill any chance of getting him the ball. Foles threw it right to the CB. There were a pair of strip sacks that gave the ball to the Jags. Foles simply held the ball too long. He wasn’t seeing the field well and made poor decisions.
There is some good news. Foles fought through his struggles and did enough to lead the Eagles to the win. He made a handful of good passes in the game and that was enough to beat JAX. Foles hit Ertz for a 25-yd TD. He threw the ball behind Ertz, but put enough air under it that Zach could adjust and make the grab. Foles hit Maclin for a long TD. The Jags FS jumped a route to the TE, leaving Maclin uncovered. Foles saw him and got the ball out there. The pass was a bit underthrown, but close enough Mac could get it and go.
The first half of this game felt like a replay of last year’s loss to Dallas. Foles was awful in that game. The difference is that he never got going in that one. The fact he was able to do enough in this game to win does show some progress. Good players can still get the job done on a bad day.
27-45-333 , 2 TDs , INT
RB
SHADY – Didn’t post great numbers (21-74), but still made some sensational moves. There were a handful of plays where Shady got to a spot and a Jags defender was waiting for him. Shady made his patented jump cut and away he went, leaving the defender looking at grass. The Jags played the run well and that’s why Shady’s overall numbers weren’t great.
SPROLES – Great debut. Had the 5th best rushing day of his career and the longest run of his career. Was 11-71 on the ground, including the 49-yd TD run that sparked the offense. Sproles ran well. He got the ball and attacked upfield. He was able to move well in traffic. He was elusive. Really impressed me. Quiet day as a receiver, going just 4-14. Foles struggled and the timing on screen passes just looked off.
POLK – DNP
TE
CELEK – 3-15 as a receiver. Caught one screen, but JAX read it well. Last year that play delivered good results most of the time. I didn’t think Brent blocked well in the 1st half, but he did a better job after halftime.
ERTZ – Good game. 3 catches for 77 yds and a TD. Gained 26, 26 and 25 yards on his receptions. Did a great job of getting down the field and finding holes in the secondary. Lined up almost like a slot receiver and that stretched the defense horizontally, as well as vertically. The TD catch was a thing of beauty. Ertz was wide open down the middle. He saw the ball was behind him and made the adjustment. He was able to catch the ball and then roll into the end zone.
CASEY – Played 5 snaps on offense, mainly as a blocker in the 2nd half.
BURTON – Never saw him on offense.
WR
MACLIN – Welcome back. 4-97-1. Should have had more than that, but Foles missed him on some big plays. Early on the timing between Foles and Maclin seemed off, but they worked through that. My favorite grab came in the Red Zone. Maclin caught the ball in traffic and then got upfield for the 1st down. In the past, he wasn’t as good when working the middle of the field. If he is more comfortable playing in traffic now, that will boost his game. Mac was blocking better than in 2012, but he still needs work in that area. He needs to block to the whistle. Shady is the kind of runner that can keep a play going and going. And you never know when he’s going to start one way and then come back to your side. You must block to the whistle. Mac tried to draw a PI call on a pass into the end zone. If anything, he pushed off a bit. No call. I was happy to see Foles trying to get the ball to him downfield on several plays.
MATTHEWS – 2-37. Good debut. Caught a 30-yard pass down the middle. Was open for a couple more of those. Foles didn’t see him on one and made a poor throw on the other. Caught a pass on 3rd down in the 2nd half and moved the chains. That was more difficult than the longer play. Blocking does need work. NFL DBs are much different than college DBs. The fact you are bigger means nothing to NFL DBs.
COOPER – Targeted 7 times, the most of any Eagles receiver. Only went 4-29. Drew a penalty on at least one play, maybe 2. The timing seemed off with Foles and Cooper early on. They clicked in the 3rd Qtr and it was some quick passes to Riley that got Nick into rhythm.
SMITH – Quiet game.
MAEHL – Played on offense. 1-12 as a receiver. Had one interesting play. Came in motion and blocked the DE at the snap. Good block. Knocked the guy to the ground. Unfortunately, Jeff then tripped over the DE as he tried to release upfield on his pass route.
OL
PETERS – Not his best game. Gave up a couple of sacks. Foles was to blame for holding the ball too long. Still, it was JP’s man coming free and not other rushers on those plays. Was sloppy outside of that. Failed to block the right defender on an early run and JP’s guy stuffed Shady. Had more good moments than bad, but Jason normally shuts his guy down.
MATHIS – Disaster. Hurt his MCL in the 2nd Qtr and is out for a while. Was up and down in the game. Got beat by 59 for a sack.
KELCE – Mostly a good game. Did a lot of blocking on the move. While the outside runs didn’t work well, it wasn’t Kelce’s fault. He flew outside, over and over, and blocked someone. Made sloppy mistake on a run in the 2nd half. Engaged defender, then let him go and the guy got the RB. Kelce was mad at himself. It didn’t appear that he had any reason to release the guy, but he did. Jason did have the block of the day. Went upfield on the 4th/1 run by Sproles and took out the MLB. Gave Sproles a huge area to run in.
HERREMANS – Overall, it looked like Herremans had the best day of any OL. There weren’t any real highlight blocks. He did cleanly seal his DT on Sproles TD run. Herremans consistently engaged his DL and kept him under control.
BARBRE – Played well until he got hurt in the 2nd Qtr. Still is too passive in pass protection. Lets the defender come to him. Had a couple of good run blocks.
MOLK – Took over at LG when Gardner had to move to RT in the 2nd Qtr. Up and down showing. Molk has little time at OG and it showed. Struggled on some plays when DL were on his outside shoulder and attacking from that angle. Did a good job once he got his hands on rushers. A for effort, but C+ for results.
GARDNER – Played a bit of LG before moving over to RT. Gave up a sack at LG. Not a good fit on the inside. Looked better at RT. More comfortable on the edge. Had one beautiful run block when he went to his left and caved in a DL, giving Shady a ton of room to that side.
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DEFENSE
I asked for a shutout on Sunday prior to the game. The Football Gods responded by having the Eagles get torched early, but then pitching a shutout for 44 minutes. Was I just not specific enough?
As bad as the defense looked early, a lot of that was Cary Williams. He got burned on 2 long pass plays (1 for a TD). The overall defense was pretty solid. You can see the potential this group has. Once the DBs clamped down and the pass rush picked up, the D played pretty well.
The defense was more creative than last year, both in terms of scheme and groupings. Davis regularly lined up his DL in a Bear Front or variation. This is when you cover the G-C-G. Davis put blitzers in the A-gap a lot on passing downs. At times this was ILBs. There was a play in the 2nd half when it was a LB and CB Nolan Carroll. The Eagles rotated DL all game long. Davis used 3 OLBs on a regular rotation and all of them played well. As the defense gets more comfortable, they should play even better.
* JAX was only 2 of 14 on 3rd downs. That was a huge part of the game. The Jags could not sustain drives.
* The Eagles came up with 3 sacks and a pair of FFs.
* There was only one takeaway, when Cox scooped up the fumble late in the game.
* JAX was 0 for 1 in the Red Zone.
PLAYERS
DL
COX – Cox had 6 solo tackles. He should have had a TFL of Gerhart, but that was wiped out by a bogus horse collar penalty. That might have been balanced out when Cox got away with a big hit on Henne where their helmets appeared to touch. Cox sealed the game when he scooped up a fumble and ran it in for a TD. That’s a pretty good day for a 3-4 DE. Beyond the big stuff, did the little things well. Played the run well. Had one play where he shed a blocker and the RB tried to cut back, only to find Fletch standing there waiting for him. Had multiple plays in the game where he physically overwhelmed the blocker across from him. Really good game.
LOGAN – He played very well. Logan was a key part of the excellent short yardage defense. He drove his blocker into the backfield on the initial 3rd down stop of the game, which disrupted the play. Logan added a couple of solo tackles in the game. He read a TE screen well and helped to disrupt that play. My favorite moment of the day came on a run play to the outside. Logan got off his block and moved along the LOS. He then ran down the line in pursuit and got the RB from behind. A 350-lb NT isn’t going to make that play. You can see why the coaches like his mixture of size, strength and athleticism.
THORNTON – Sort of a quiet day. Had a pair of solo tackles. Showed great hustle a couple of times when chasing the ball to the other side of the field. Got pressure on one pass play that I saw.
CURRY – Wasn’t as disruptive as he usually is. Got in on 3 tackles. Best moment came when a TE tried to block him on a run. Curry tossed the guy aside and helped to stuff the run.
BAIR – Played DE and NT. Up and down game. Got doubled on a run play and ended up on the ground. On the next play, Bair got by a blocker and into the backfield. The RB tripped over Bair. Not the prettiest TFL, but it looks beautiful on the stat sheet.
B. ALLEN – Pretty good showing. There were some plays when he got moved off the ball, but Allen is relentless and even then would fight to get off blocks and back into the play. Credited with a tackle.
OLB
COLE – Last year he had to wait until Week 9 to get his first sack. This year Cole got a strip sack late in the season opener. Hit Henne a couple of times before the sack, but wasn’t overly disruptive. The sack came when Cole lined up as a DT and beat the LG into the backfield. Was in on 4 tackles, mostly when he chased down inside runs by hustling off the edge. Still does a great job of that. A Jags TE tried to block Cole on a play and found out the hard way that Trent doesn’t appreciate blockers. Trent just pushed the guy away. Love seeing him physically whip blockers like that.
BARWIN – Terrific game. You name it, Barwin did it. Only credited with 2 tackles, but also had 2 batted passes. Got into the passing lane on a couple of other pass plays that resulted in bad throws. JAX tried to throw to his side on 4th/1 and the pass was too far. I have to think Henne was worried about getting it over/by Barwin and that’s why he put so much air under the ball. Barwin did a good job of bull rushing and driving blockers back to Henne. Got a big hit on Henne on one pass play. Covered TE Lewis down the sideline on a play and kept him from catching the pass. Had some big moments vs the run. Drove back his blocker into the backfield on the initial 3rd down and disrupted that play.
GRAHAM – Best game as a 3-4 OLB. Still needs work, but showed progress. First, looked thick, almost fat. I don’t know if that was by design or what. Had a pair of TFLs when he flew off the edge and got the RB for a quick loss. Really exploded on those plays. Just missed another TFL. Beat the LT to the inside on a pass play and got a shot on Henne. Lined up in the slot on a couple of plays. Doesn’t look good out there, but isn’t as lost as last yar.
SMITH – DNP
ILB
KENDRICKS – Terrific game. Led the team with 6 solo tackles. He had a sack and deflected a pass. Blitzed on a couple of other pass plays and got good shots on Henne. Was all over the middle of the field. Played fast, but under control. Looked like a star in the making.
RYANS – Was in on 5 tackles. Credited with a TFL. Good game against the run. Highlight play came on a pass in the 2nd half. Deflected a pass where he had to work hard to get in position to reach out and get his hand on the ball. Looked athletic on that play.
MATTHEWS – Didn’t see him on defense.
GOODE – Got hurt playing STs.
S
N. ALLEN – Up and down showing. Was in on 3 tackles. Had a strip sack when he blitzed off the edge and hit Henne just before he threw. Underrated blitzer. Got run over by Gerhart on one play, but still managed to get him down. That’s progress for Nate. Had good coverage on a couple of plays downfield. Also had a hand in both TDs. On the first TD, the Eagles appeared to be in either in 2-man or Cover 4. Nate bit on an underneath guy (TE) and left Williams alone with the WR. Nate should have stayed deep and focused on the WR. On the other TD, Nate was deep and failed to make the tackle to keep the WR out of the end zone.
JENKINS – Good game. Had 4 solo tackles. Added an active presence to the middle of the field, which helped on some of the 3rd down stops the team made. Made one big mistake. Lined up in the slot over a WR. Bit on a quick screen fake and let his WR run right by him. That turned into a TD. Did a solid job in run support. Just missed a TFL when playing in the box. Hit the RB in the backfield, but the guy got back to the LOS instead of losing a yard.
WOLFF – Played in the 2nd half. Not sure he was on the field in the 1st half. Had 1 tackle.
MARAGOS – Didn’t see him on defense.
CB
FLETCHER – Up and down game. Started slow, but tightened up his coverage and played much better in the 2nd half. Wasn’t on the field in for some plays in the 2nd Qtr. Carroll was out there for him.
WILLIAMS – Terrible early on. Got beaten for TD by rookie WR Hurns. Williams was playing off and bit on a move. Williams cut back to the inside and had no one near him. The Eagles backed JAX up to their 1-yd line to start a drive. Williams played off and bit on a fake, letting Hurns run by him. That turned into a gain of 46 and completely changed the field position. The coaches seemed to mix in more press after that and Williams played much, much better. Broke up a WR screen with aggressive play (maybe too aggressive). Just started to play with an attitude and confidence that hadn’t been there.
BOYKIN – Failed to pick off a pass so it was a bad game. That’s the standard for Boykin, right? Got burned for a couple of receptions, but had very tight coverage on one. Had 5 solo tackles. Covered very well for the most part.
CARROLL – Played some at LCB in the 2nd Qtr. Gave up a couple of completions, but was covering more tightly than Fletcher had. Was used in Dime looks as well.
WATKINS – DNP
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ST’s
JONES – 5 of his 6 punts were downed inside the 20. None were touchbacks. Terrific showing.
PARKEY – Welcome to the NFL, kid. Nailed a 51-yd FG to begin his NFL career. Later on hit a 28-yd’er. As I wrote in the preseason, the thing that impresses me is how smoothly he kicks the ball. Doesn’t have to over-stride to generate power. Looks smooth and natural. Very powerful leg. Had 5 touchbacks in the game.
KOR – The weakest area of STs. The blocking wasn’t good. Carroll got 24 yards on his return, but it wasn’t impressive.
PR – Sproles was outstanding. He averaged 15.5 yards on 4 returns. That is just what this team needs. Last year Jackson and Damaris Johnson had 26 returns for 171 total yards. For the entire season. Sproles is already 1/3 of the way to surpassing that yardage total after one game. Sproles jump-started a scoring drive with a 22-yard PR. Had another one go for 22, but the offense failed to capitalize on it.
– MISC –
* Boykin made a beautiful play when he downed a punt at the 1-yd line.
* There were at least 2 plays when Chris Maragos and Bryan Braman were the first 2 guys to hit the returner. You love when your designated STers play like that.
* Brandon Bair blocked a 2nd Qtr FG. Drove his blocker back and extended for the ball.
* The Jags lone PR was 13 yds and the long KOR was 18 yds.
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I was thoroughly impressed by the special teams. It was what I was expecting last year. I said before the season began, “imagine our special teams if we had a kicker!” While Parkey is still far from proven he does show promise, at least in regards to other recent rookie kickers.
I wanna see Nate pick off a pass against the Colts because for some strange reason I still like him and think he can play better.
Even if Smith turns into a higher sack producing version of Barwin, I think it will be a HUGE win for us.
And of course, first.
Nate Allen has looked much more comfortable than in recent years. Hopefully he makes a statement Monday night.
Was very pleased that he could execute that blitz to perfection. It wasn’t anything crazy since he had a free rush to the QB thanks to Billy Davis flawless play design, but our guys are being coached to aim at the throwing arm when they get to the QB and I was pleased to see Nate execute.. Typically blitzing isn’t something you expect from Nate so I’m happy to see his game Grow a bit.
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Tho I saw Wolff put his elite athleticism on display a few times in the second half and it reminded me why we root for Earl to put it all together and win that spot from Nate… Once Wolffs brain catches up to his athleticism, we will be left with one bad mother shut yo mouth….
Maybe that’s Nate forte? Blitzing.
Malcolm Jenkins was the top blitzing safety in the NFL. Last year.. Highest pressure percentage among safeties.. Nate hasn’t been asked to blitz enough for me to speak on his blitz ability, but it looked good sunday
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Someghing to keep an eye on for sure… Curious to see when the next Time will be that Billy dials up a blitz for Nate
I totally agree. Wolff just needs more time. Nate is playing on a 1 year deal so that’ll factor in with analyzing his play this season; We’re probably going to see the best of Nate Allen this year. We may or we may not, but One thing to look at, not now but further down the line, is if Nate sticks around after this season. Earl Wolff will make that a difficult situation.
“I wanna see Nate pick off a pass” hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha……..good one. Nate couldn’t find a WR on a pass play, never mind the ball….
I’m gonna laugh and think of you when he does.
If you get 1 laugh this year, that’ll be the over number. I’m not talking about a pass where the QB was hit and the ball just flutters out there. I’m talking about Allen going with/or in front of a WR to take it away.
Maybe Nate evolves into a blitz kind of safety where he’ll get his spot chances and shines. Maybe he just has a nose for the ball up close. Sitting back as a safety — Either he needs glasses or he’s allergic to the ball.
He had an int like that in pre-season.
IIRC the Bear front is so named after the Buddy Ryan 46 defense that he used with the ’85 Bears.
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Okie – Center is covered, both Guards uncovered. By covered I mean that the defender is lined up across from him, or to his outside shoulder.
Over – Strongside Guard covered.
Under – Weakside Guard covered.
Even – Both Guards covered, Center uncovered.
Bear – All 3 covered.
When talking Okie, there also exist the Eagle front (name comes from Greasy Neale’s 5-2 defense he ran with the Eagles), In the Okie the DEs plays nose-to-nose with the tackles, in the Eagle front the DEs are shaded inside.
Tommy thank you for your objective analysis. This is by far the best eagles blog.
Definitely agree. Tommy Lawlor is a beast. Been reading him for years, and just started participating in his comments section. Best Eagles blogger.
TLaw is one of the best writers on football anywhere.
The Sproles 49 yard td was on 4th down. How huge. Changed the mojo.
Did you notice the wide 9 alignment by the defense?
I didn’t. Good to see that mess from the Offensive side of the ball.
They completely took advantage of the Jags lack of discipline after the third down stop. Not sure if they’re going to be able to spring that on anyone else for the rest of the season, but kudos to Chip for being able to create that opportunity (and preparing his players to execute well without drawing their own penalty).
Here’s a question that I don’t know the answer to: What adjective best describes Cary Williams? (FYI sconce is a noun, not an adjective). IMO the guy seems a bit nuts, but in a weirdly likable way. He will look bad in some games, but come through in the clutch in others. Might be the most complex guy on the entire team both from a personality and football standpoint.
He’s uniquely intelligent, and you’re right, it is very difficult to explain.
Williams talk way to much for a guy with his skill set.
Your nuts… A Super Bowl winning cornerback can’t talk? GTFO here.. Yous were All on his nuts during that 7-1 streak last year when him and Brad shut down all those too WR tandems
Cary Williams was 4th best cb on that team and I do not mind trash talk during the game, but stop doing it to the media. Guys like brown, Vincent or Dawkins never talk down about a rookie wr and then get badly burned several times.
I can agree with that… During the week as soon as Cary was running his mouth about picking on rookie WRs, I KNEW he would pay for those comments…
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Cary plays better when he fears his opposition. Hearing him too overconfident against WRs is not a good sign…I agree
If the Eagles won the Super Bowl last year, Casey Matthews would have been a Super Bowl winning linebacker. Alex Henery, a Super Bowl winning kicker. Roc Carmichael, a SB winning cornerback, and Kurt Coleman, a SB winning safety.
LOL
It’s amazing to see how much attention this guy gets. He’s average at best.
Big game cornerback… For example! he should have an excellent game Monday night against the colts but he will give up some crap against a team like the titans.. You are better off not talking about him on this site, people are ridiculous here when it comes to him
Sconce-y.
Aren’t all defenders “nuts” by nature?
Well, some are Cox…
After that 1st half? Toast would fit…
Inconsistent
Sproles looked great, I’m just a little concerned how well he can hold up over the course of a season with that many offensive touches and punt returns per game. He took some solid hits.
who cares — keeping shady healthy.
Good grief.
ESPN has Sproles scoring over 15 points in my league…. What do you all think the over/under for 15 on Sproles is?
Much as I like Sproles, that sounds optimistic.
If he scores a TD — yes he can. Without that TD, I’m not so sure. Shady might have 3 TD’s and Sproles gets 4th quarter mop up TD? (I know, I’m reaching but hoping)
They must think he is Shady or something
do you count return yards? is it ppr? if so i can see that. I think we put up 500yds of offense in an off game. I expect us to put up about 600yds per game and I think RBs are going to see 150-200 of that.
Just as a runner. Not ppr
I was actually slightly disappointed by Jax. The last few years, they’ve always put up a big fight in the first game, but this iteration of a big fight really could be boiled down less than 10 plays for offense and the same for defense. They were coming up with some big plays, but were really quite bad. They play like this all year, and they will struggle to win three games.
Oh wait, they in the AFC South. NVM.
if we beat the Colts, will you be impressed by the Eagles or only disappointed in the Colts?
And the NFC east.
This Sunday will really show what our defense is made of. I’m expecting it to be a high-scoring game.
Kendricks rushed the passer on 33% of his snaps.. A few plays we dropped both OLBs in coverage and had Kendricks be the 4th rusher, so he wasn’t blitzing, he was just one of the 4 men rushing (that’s excellent use of him by Billy D)
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DL was excellent, specifically Cox, but the young NT were awesome, I thought Thornton was better than this DGR suggests,
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Our LBs combined for a pretty good game.
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One of the two TDs was Cary and Nate miscommunicating presnap.
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Cary Williams is a big game cornerback!! the bigger the game, the better he plays. Frustrating when he plays down to the level of competition, but he was pretty excellent at pressing in the second half and not giving Henne a target…Colts game on Monday night, expect Cary to be fired up and have a big game,.. This defense will open eyes this week against Luck
That just about sums up the way of Cary Williams. He does play better in big games.
Probably the best overall special teams performance by an eagles team that I have seen in years… Very impressive ST play. Once we get our KR Huff back, we should be dangerous in every phase.
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So excited to finally get to play a top team, so no one can take anything away from our win…
when is Huff expected back?
Don’t know. he hasn’t been practicing, the way Polk has who is close to coming back. But he isn’t on IR designated to return either….so I’m guessing week 4 against the Niners, or week 5 vs. The rams he will be back, ATleast i hope
I still say — with that 51 yarder — Chip was confident our rookie kicker would make it by doing a short yardage play on that 3rd down. If this was last year, I think he would have gone after a lower percentage play to try and get a first down instead of relying on our ex-kicker.
Very true… And then there is the kickoff improvement. 5 Touchbacks, his other two kicks had hang time and where kicked away from returnmen giving us time to cover the kick so they only returned it to the 13 and 14yard line… Heck, if we can force teams to start from the 13yard line, that’s even better than a touchback
To the New Yorkers:
Does anybody know the atmosphere at the Shorty’s in Flatiron Manhattan? I am considering watching the MNG there but have only been to the Shorty’s in Hell’s Kitchen where the atmosphere is great thanks to many Eagles fans.
Being at the game, very encouraging to see how easy it was for Pope Jordan the 81st to get open. He was running free all game. Could have easily had a 100 yard game if FOles were sharp. Maclin was also getting open routinely, but Jordan’s route running really stuck out for me at the game… Very very encouraging to see how often he was getting open .. Kids going to have some big games this year
One thing I thought, though: did Kelly put Matthews in with the 1s too late? Maclin also didn’t have too much reps with Nick, but there’s nothing a Coach could do about that (injury related). With Matthews, maybe there could have been a better rythm.
But then again, Foles just had an off day. Probably would have been that way with more rythm.
The goal of pre-season? A ton of reps. That’s not a concern. As Chip would say — it wouldn’t matter in practice who’s throwing the ball to which WR. It was all Foles. If Foles was better, people would have said JM is in the lead for ROY.
Eh, Nick was missing passes to everyone, as you said. Thought the 3rd down catch JM made was really impressive.
Wish he could have pulled down that ball thrown behind him, but it would have been a spectacular catch.
Yeah, I can remember a few years back, a similar play, DMac to Maclin, thrown pretty far behind Mac on a crossing pattern. The usual suspects = “Mac got his hands on it! No questions asked, should have been caught!” Many of the same people this week “What an awful throw by Nick, he gave Matthews no chance!” (I tended toward the latter reaction on both throws, if you’re interested). Many people’s impressions of a play are clearly colored by their preconceived biases of the players involved.
I wondered the same thing about Matthews re: playing with the 1s. Brad Smith seems to have the starting slot position in name only, as he has barely played, in both preseason and game 1. What’s with that?
I think the entire passing game will benefit as FOles gets reps with Maclin! coop and j mat these next two weeks..
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We aren’t going to play our best football in September, by October, QB/WR timing should be on point…
Good stuff.
Matthews has an incredible motor, he goes full speed until the whistle blows. Pair that with his tremendous athleticism and you’re looking at a matchup nightmare in the slot, which is indeed encouraging. I’m excited to see him grow under Kelly.
I have to say that I am concerned about Nick Foles. Its obvious now that Kelly is doing more to make Foles than Foles making Kelly. A top QB would have scored more than 60 points Sunday, with 500+ yards passing. Great offensive design.
I thought Nick in that Dallas game was just a nervous young guy striving to be a starter–now I think he has some “head” issues about game-day pressure. I hope this doesn’t become a chronic issue in spotlight games.
Gotta root for Nick, but now I worry.
Not at all concerned.. Nick will out play luck Monday.. Take that to the bank
I remember last year when Nick went into Oakland and threw 7 TDs–but this time we’re going into a noisy arena, a better opponent, and with our two new o-line starters. Nick has got to get rid of the ball faster. It would help if Kelly opened up with some quick, simple-read throws.
yesterday could have been oakland, that’s how good kelly is.
Colts pass rush sucks,and Nick shreds the blitz… I know FOles will outplay luck. I know it!
I’m not concerned. I’m not sure he outplays Luck though. Colts D held the all mighty, all powerful – the male of the wondertwins (Eli is the female) and grand poobah to under 300 yards. That’s pretty impressive. I expect a WHOLE(not just a half) of solid play from Foles. I do expect Shady to go wild. Buck wild.
I hope Luck throws for 500 yards and 5 TD’s in a loss(for fantasy reasons :))
Nick quiet fiery competitor.. He won’t let Luck out gun him.. I actually like our chances even better following a rough game by FOles..but that’s just me…
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I had this game circled since the schedule was released. Nick FOles national coming out party!!
…and that’s why fantasy football is evil!
Women and Children get concerned.
It KILLS me with all the “FOLES HAD A BAD GAME” and then mention — he threw some picks and fumbles and blah blah blah. Writing like that leads you to the perception the Foles did that all game. He didn’t. So — let’s be a little more clear — Foles started our horrible(to put it lightly). No question. He stunk.
Now —
first half — 12 of 24 — 0 TD’s 1 int – 5 sacks – Rating of 50.5
Second half — 15 of 21, 2 td’s 0 int’s – 0 sacks – Rating of 129.7
omg. He was terrible the entire game. Give me a break. Is that what everyone is crying in their milk about? 15/21, 2 td’s and an amazing rating???
Look, I know he still missed people in the second half and number don’t tell the whole but let’s relax a little about with the whole “Nick worries me crap”. Go out and list all the other QB’s from the second half of week 1 and then come back and complain how poorly Foles did. I’m pretty sure Foles had one of the better second halfs(or halves)….
Preach..
Nerves nerves nerves.
It’s slowly becoming Nick’s signature move to struggle in, as you say, “spotlight” games (Cowboys at home, Playoff game, now as Week 1 Starting QB).
Hopefully as he gets more of them under his belt he realizes that they’re all just football games.
But its performances like this that provide fuel to the “Nick has never won a big game in his life” fire.
No quarterback is perfect, they all go through their fair share of rough stretches. Only way I’d be concerned is if he played like that later in the season when things are more intense. I’m not concerned at all. The offense had some rust to shake off that’s all. Cooper missed time in camp, Maclin missed all of last season. Offensive Chemistry takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, I’m more impressed the offense found the groove as quickly as they did and just took off and scored 27 points. Foles responded the way any elite Quarterback would after a rough half, so I’d say it’s a positive sign more than anything.
Preach!! I am more pleased that Nick could claw and scratch his way out of a bad day and still find a way to win, then I am down on him for having a bad game…
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NEWSFLASH… If Nick goes on to win 3 superbowls, there will still be bad games like the jaguars first half every once in a while…. As bad as it was, I saw Brees and Brady have much worse games last year… If the elite hall of fame QBs can look like shit at times, why would I over react the rare occasions that Nick has a bad day?… So I can look like an idiot like the rest of the dopes when he bounces back and sets defenses on fire in his next game? No thanks
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Last 10 times Nick took the field he found a way to win 8 times, should have been 9 if the ST and defense could hold on to the lead he gave us in playoffs.. And the first time some adversity, fans and media shit on the kid? City doesn’t even deserve a boss like FOles… Yous got a young stud, and people don’t even realize it smh
wow
I’d worry more about his concussion, than his nerves in that Dallas debacle
Could the early runs outside have simply been a way to wear out the defense…was chip just running them back and forth across the field so that later he could run right through them up the middle? Also I know files held the ball too long on the fumbles ( especially on the blindsided hit) but why is no one pointing out that both of those fumbles were caused by Jason peters man AND in both cases he blocked the guy once and then let him inside? I think peters is just as responsible for those strip sacks as foles…right?
peters mentioned that he played poorly but foles had open guys, how long is he supposed to hold on to the ball? how long is peters supposed to block?
I think an elite LT like Peters expects to hold his block until the pass rusher is on the ground (then he gets to flop on them and take a break) the pass rusher gives up (IE the ball has been thrown) or the whistle blows. Our expectations can be a bit more reasonable.
The first sack fumble he was hit at 2.3 seconds with everybody covered. The second sack fumbled was 4.4 seconds. He looks down the middle of the field (maybe trying to move the safety) He then looks left to Coop. Coop is open short but the defender is closing. Would be a bang-bang play. He comes off Coop and check Matthews on a deeper curl but the MLB is sliding into the passing lane. Clock goes off and his natural tendency is to slide back to the right. As he comes right he sees Maclin but he now has traffic in his face with a defender leaking to his right. He tries to come back into the pocket to step up. He then gets hit in the beginning of his throw to his 4th read. It was 2nd and 20.
The TD pass to Maclin…He was hit at the 4 second mark. He released at the 3.43 mark.
then get rid of the ball, just toss out of bounds.
… be prepared to hear about even more plays that Nick “left on the field.”
there will always be plays on the field — though from photos receivers were wide open. however, no one’s complaining if he doesn’t take those sack fumbles.
My point being, if you want him to not reach his 4th read consistently, prepare to hear even more about “plays left on the field.” There’s a balancing act involved. It’s much easier for a Wilson or Kaepernick to be conservative – they don’t need to do much to help their teams win. Not so with the Eagles. The offense MUST make plays for them to have a chance. So while I agree he probably should throw more of those away, understand that he’s never going to be as conservative as Wilson so long as Chip’s his coach.
I am so excited Eagles football is back! It feels like it could be a special season. I love the work that Tommy does on theses DGRs. It really helps us to become smarter fans. Thanks Tommy!
to sum it up — a little better safety play and maybe they hold Jax to field goals.
I love our special teams! What a relieve after absolutely hating everything about them the last 3 yrs. the additions of Maragos and Braman are noticeable. I’m thrilled they canned Henery. Never a good use of resources to take a kicker in anything other than the 6th or 7th round IMHO. It’s especially damaging when you use a decent draft resource like a 4th rounder on a kicker and he turns out to be no good.
I’m really starting to believe in the potential of this defense. The guys we needed to take big leaps, Kendricks and Cox, both looked like stars last Sunday, which is great news. Despite the lack of a true impact edge rusher, I really like our front 7. If Marcus Smith gets it together by next year we’ll have a great foundation to a good 3-4 for yrs to come. It’s obvious though that one of our top needs next off season will continue to be help in the secondary. Knowing how good our front 7 can be and seeing Cary get toasted by a rookie on more than one occasion truly makes you realize how much an impact corner would change the entire dynamics of this defense. We know we can stop the run, we have no problem getting the opposing team to 3rd and often long, but then we don’t have the corners that can consistently apply tight coverage when we need it and too often get burned deep due to lack of speed. I’m usually someone that’s all for building up the lines and pass rush over DBs, but I think in our situation it’s time to either break the beak on a FA CB or spend a high pick on one.
Eagles tried to improve st last year with Jason Phillips and Areliois Benn, they both got injured and missed season. James Casey was in part to improve st.
Parkey is a very, very, very lucky break. I’m sure eagles were thinking they could pick up a rookie kicker from a team with two, but they must’ve been sweating it out. All the uncertainty of getting a UDFA kicker week and a half before season.
What if UDFA had missed one 50 yard kick in last preseason game or both? Hopefully parkey can keep it together, like pitching, kicking is very mental.
Nothing lucky about Parkey. That’s when relationships come into play..Howie has a relationship with Colts Grigson. We knew they had two good kickers, Colts needed a back… Front office relationships are what got us this quality kicker a week before the season started
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He isn’t some no name kicker.. Big college program, made a name for himself..would have some great kicks, and then screw up some easy ones… Hopefully we can coach him to clean up those lapses so we can consistently get the good Parkey
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Think he can be a Longterm kicker.. Instead of just being a stop gap til week 5 when Denver cuts temples McManus.. So far, Parkey is out performing the temple alum
This defense is better than everyone thinks… It will prove to be a top #8-13 ranked defense by the end of the year… I don’t even get how so many fools could think our defense would be weak. We have a lot of young talent on that side of the ball, that we are just waiting to come into their own
I love reading everything Tommy. The best thing about him, he doesn’t have this I told you so attitude. He’s not on here to be nostrodumbass and then come back and brag, look what i said, I told you! …blah fucking blah I’m always right you guys suck.. He’s very good at what he does and he doesn’t have to point it out.
I have absolutely no idea who you could be referring to.
With the new drug policy being signed off later today Lane Johnson will be actually cleared to play on Monday night. The question is however: will Chip let him dress???
this is news to me!
1) do we know for sure that the new policy will go into effect immediately?
2) do we know for sure that Lane’s status will change with the new policy?
3) do we know for sure that they will retroactively apply the policy to past offenders such as Lane?
oh please oh please oh please
I never heard what Lane’s suspension was for. From what I have read, the relaxed rules are more for “recreational” drugs and not PED’s. Amphetamines in the offseason will be viewed as “recreational” but in-season will be more like a PED. I guess we will see.
Lane suspension won’t be reduced,, he will be back week 5 against the Rams..
If it’s true, I’d wager he dresses but doesn’t start -unless the fill in RT looks that bad in practice. Monday night game actually helps a bit here.
He’s only been away from the facility for a little over a week right? Injured players have been inserted right in after longer absences from football right?
Good point. He did practice with the 2s all pre-season, but that probably doesn’t matter much (since 40% of the 2s are now 1s).
what is your source for this?
I don’t think that’s true, although I’d be happy to be wrong. Les or someone covered this on twitter a couple days ago. Lane wasn’t suspended for recreational drug use.
Lane was suspended for PED use. We know that. But let’s say it was amphetamines, those would now fall under recreational if taken during offseason.
There are contradicting reports out there. While some suggesting that lane’s suspension won’t be reduced, others state that all players, and not only Josh Gordon, will benefit from the new agreement.
Chip Kelly and Demeco Ryans both said the new rule will not affect Lane’s suspension.
No…Lane is staying suspended for 4 games
yeah — apples n oranges — Lane isn’t coming back with a shortened sentence…
speaking of games where they couldn’t score, the december game at Fedex field like four years ago was the worst. #5 killed every earthworm in maryland, and big red burned a timeout less than two minutes into the 3rd.
Lol! Big Red and those timeouts…
Looks like Lane Johnson’s ban could be shortened, depending on the NFL working out the new drug agreement.
Nope… Not going to happen. PED suspensions remain the same.. Recreational drug suspensions during the offseason will be reduced… This has nothing to do with Lane suspension… Who cares, in two games Lane will be back..,
Lane suspension isn’t being reduced..l not sure where Yous are coming up with this, but it’s false. Lane will be back week 5 against the Rams.. Period… Nothing to discuss
I think Jacksonville’s defense should get more credit. That front seven was flying around and hitting people. They were tackling and getting Shady to the ground. He had no room. They took the NFL’s rushing title and shoved it down the offense’s throat. The first half was 5 sacks, 3 TO’s and our vaunted rushing attack averaged 3 yards a carry.
Yup yup… More disturbing that they shut down our rushing attack aka the strength of the team, than them making FOles struggle..
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All the bitching this city has done about FOles all week should be aimed at the strength of our offense, the run game. Nick is a developing young QB, run game is what we should be able to hang our hat on… They failed us in the playoff loss, and they failed us first half against the jags
They need to relax, it was week 1 and a 17 point win. Everyone is running under the context of 2013. I’m tired of seeing people get down on a team for “almost” (we only won by 3 possessions, pheew, that was close) losing to the dumpster-fire Jags (obviously they’re a dumpster fire because they were in 2013 right? things don’t change in this league).
We got a ton of stuff on tape that we need to work on. The good news is it’s only week 2, and we took our lumps on our way to a blow out victory. That’s extremely lucky. Everybody needs to cheer up.
you think jags will have more than 6 wins this year?
I think that’s irrelevant
“(obviously they’re a dumpster fire because they were in 2013 right? things don’t change in this league).” I’m asking if he thinks they won’t be a dumpster fire this year.
Not gonna say they’re great after proclaiming the folly of assuming a team’s identity in week 1. Could I see them getting 6 wins or more though? Sure. They didn’t look a whole lot worse than a lot of the teams I saw play week 1. We just give a lot of other teams a benefit of the doubt not afforded to teams like the Jaguars.
Think there defense is better than a 6 win team, but the offense has a lot of catching up to do,,, this isn’t an elite defense, but it’s a few pieces away from being pretty darn good… It would easily be the second best defense behind us in our division….
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But it’s pretty irrelevant. Human nature means you won’t always play to your ranking.. Sometime you will over perform, and there will also be weeks were your legs just feel heavy and you aren’t playing your best ball… Teams also grow a lot of the course of the year, a lot of it has to do with WHEN you catch a certain team… GOod teams are better in December than September… Bad teams, or injured teams can regress, a well coached team like the eagles will improve from one month to the next…playing the eagkes week 1, should be very different than catching the Eagles in week 13…
agreed
Ain’t that the truth… The way our media and fanbase behaved this week is absurd. Players shouldn’t have to deal with a week of negativity after getting a win, while getting ready for a big rode game against the colts
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Win is a win.., some times it will be very ugly… You don’t get style points for wins. Home openers are always wacky…we managed to salvage an ugly opener, it should have been celebrated, instead we treated it like a loss SMH
if you sell out for the run you should be able to stop it — maybe that’s why pass was so open.
someone in my knock out pool took the Colts! I’m insulted. Of all the games in only week 2, this is the one you pick?
You should be happy… His loss, your gain
its amazing that this week was the first time in the NFL that a quaterback missed an open reciever and still scored 27 points in 2 quaters and oh by the way won the game.
the thing that is fun about Foles is that we all are pretty sure he will paly well the next game…. thats just the way he is and our coaches are.
no one is complaining about the coaching or the WRs or fact that Kelly crushed the jags scheme-wise. We’re all glad we got out with a W, i think people were expecting more from mr. 27/2 playing against a perinneal 3-13 team especially after a less than stellar pre-season, that’s all.
i hear ya, i hate seeing him struggle too, but it bodes well that he can come through in the end and get the win. this week will be a better test, although i would ventur ethat the Jags have a better defense then the colts maybe….
yeah kelly’s scheme is crazy. just needs to be executed.
Chip spoke about how he added the penalty challenge specialist because he will always look for ways to improve our team. Aggrivating that he says on the road they haven’t even been giving us replays and he played it off by saying that’s why we have 8 home games and 8 away, it all balances out…
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It’s 2014, this is the biggest sport in the country, I find it bush league that home teams can still play games with the road teams replays on challenges. Shouldn’t be too much to ask for, for a fair playing field no matter where the game is played..
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Maclin hasn’t been one of my favorite eagles, but I’m starting to get the impression that we haven’t seen his best yet. If you look at how he was used in college, it’s very different from what Andy did with him… Now Chip is looking to use Maclin to his best ability! and today Chip mentioned that thenext step is to get Maclin some short routes where he can use his run after the catch ability, refrencing that Maclin led the nation in punt returns back at Mizzou.. Already we see Chip line Maclin up in the slot at times! which he was great at in college and Andy just ignored that part of his game…
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Last year we saw the best version of Desean.. I know Chip will find a way to make Maclin more effective that he was under Andy… Wondering if Maclin will be even better than Desean was last year under chip
i think maclin looked plenty fast last week. he is going to light it up this year
No doubt.. But statistically Desean had a monster year under Chip… I expect Mac to have a great year either way! just wondering if it can be even bigger than what Desean could do under Chip
too many weapons. added two more playmakers and ertz playing a bigger role — how many yds could they possibly put up? I don’t think mccoy hits 1500yds this year either.
It’s Friday, we have a HUGE matchup on Monday night…I’m getting tired of the media wasting my damn time with the 3rd fucking day of asking questions about Shadys tipping habits…. Like, is that really the best Zack Berman can make of his credentials? He asked bout it 3 days in a row.. Geez
What I love about Chip’s preparation is that, leading to his stint in the NFL, his teams consistently won the games they were supposed to win. I like that the players and coaches didn’t panic or abandon their plan at halftime, but tightened things up and delivered – even with OL in MASH unit mode.
I do believe that Chip’s early game play calling involves a lot of poking and probing to expose defensive game plan. There’s typically a number of TFLs from the RBs as Chip deciphers tendencies and sets up favorable match-ups. I think most of the talking heads still don’t understand/acknowledge how open receivers can get, and how big of holes our OL can produce through Chip’s use of tempo and scheme. Can’t wait to see how we fare against Chip’s old PAC12 coaching nemesis’ Harbaugh and Carroll.
Love this match-up against the Colts. Want to see the Defense keep third down conversions below 33%. With Colts struggles in running the ball, will likely see a lot of base nickel on first and second downs, dime on third.
Bold prediction – Eagles get 3 INTs and 2 FFs!! Eagles 38 Colts 17
we had it all last week.
tempo on 4th down for a touchdown.
deep bomb pass play (without Djax? wow)
tight end up the seem.
51 yard field goal!
touchbacks!
forced fumble defense scores!
You couldn’t really compare those years to this first game because we mostly had McNabb as a QB and Andy Reid as a HC.
They never adjusted at halftime and stayed the course even if it drove them into the ground.