Detailed Game Review – GB 53, PHI 20

Okay, not so detailed this week. And very late. But done for posterity’s sake.

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Things got out of hand so quickly that I actually was numb while watching the game. Normally I’m shouting instructions to the players, assuming they can hear me through the TV. I’ll remind the line to give Sanchez time to throw or mention to the defense to tackle well on 3rd downs. Nothing brilliant, but my way of helping the team. I yell at them after some bad plays and congratulate them after good one. Point is, I’m rarely quiet.

On Sunday I sat there in stunned silence.

Normally a blowout loss leaves me really upset at some unit, specific players and/or the coaches. I didn’t have those same feelings after the disaster in Green Bay. Put simply, Aaron Rodgers debacled the Eagles. (h/t Emmitt Smith)

Rodgers was sensational in the 1st half. I’m not sure the Eagles A-game would have been enough to handle him. Unfortunately the Eagles didn’t come close to playing an A-game. When you play a good team and you’re on the road, you need to make plays and eliminate mistakes. The Eagles did neither. That’s how you get blown out 53-20.

I was encouraged by the fact the Eagles only gave up one offensive TD in the 2nd half. The defense was more effective. The Packers did call off the dogs a bit, but the Eagles covered better and got some pressure on Rodgers as well. Green Bay was still trying to score. It isn’t as if they started going down on a knee in the 3rd Qtr.

The offense only scored 6 points in the 1st half. They did post 2 TDs in the 2nd, but also had a pair of turnovers that led to Packers TDs so that’s a wash. You can’t have much of a comeback when you give up a TD for every one you score.

There is no one person to blame for this game. There isn’t one side of the ball or a specific unit at fault. This was a total team loss. An ugly one.

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COACHING

The Eagles ran the ball okay, but Green Bay DBs were aggressive vs the run. Seems like Chip Kelly should have thrown down the field to Maclin and/or Cooper a time or two early to loosen up the defense. I do like the fact the coaches kept running the ball. Mark Sanchez throwing 60 passes would not have helped matters.

Bill Davis got a lot of criticism for playing a single-high Safety look a lot. That strategy didn’t work well at all. He did mix things up and showed a lot of different looks to Rodgers. None worked in the 1st half. GB ran 35 plays for 314 yards and 23 offensive points. That is incredible efficiency.

There weren’t a whole lot of situations where Kelly had to manage the game. He could have gone for it on 4th/6 in the 1st half when the team was at midfield. He punted and GB then had a long TD drive. That might have been a time to be aggressive. They already lead 24-3.

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OFFENSE 

QB – Mark Sanchez was 26-44-346. He had 2 TDs and 2 INTs. There were some good throws and nice plays, but they were overshadowed by bad mistakes. Sanchez threw a terrible INT to Julius Peppers on a simple zone blitz. Peppers ran it back for a TD. Sanchez has to read that play better. Maclin slipped on the other INT so that was more bad luck than anything. Sanchez fell on one bad snap, but couldn’t get another and that was run back for a TD. Ugly play. Sanchez missed an open Riley Cooper for a TD when he overthrew him downfield. There was a missed connection with Sproles out in the left flat that might have turned into a long TD.

RB – LeSean McCoy was 23-88 on the ground. He caught one pass for 18 yds. I thought he did a solid job for the most part. But like everyone else, there was a critical mistake. McCoy fumbled a hand-off from Sanchez in the 3rd Qtr and the Packers recovered it. That hurt for a couple of reasons. The offense was at midfield and on the move. And there was a big hole for McCoy to hit. Ugh.

Sproles was 2-21 as a runner and 2-23 as a receiver. Chris Polk had 3 carries for 0 yards. They all came on the final drive when the Eagles were trying to score after recovering a blocked punt in the Red Zone.

WR – Jordan Matthews was 5-107 with a TD. He made some terrific catches and had a good game. He did have one bad drop when he failed to catch a 3rd down pass down the field that would have put the Eagles in scoring position. Jeremy Maclin was 9-93-1. I loved the effort he showed late in the game when he scored his TD. The game was over, but he was going to get in the damn end zone no matter what it took. Coop was 4-39. Huff had a drop.

TE – I didn’t think Brent Celek blocked all that well. He caught one pass for 11 yds. Zach Ertz was 4-55 as a receiver.

OL – Matt Tobin had an up and down game. I thought his run blocking was pretty good. He struggled in pass pro and that led to pressure/hits on Sanchez. Jason Kelce was erratic with his snaps. There were some missed assignments that hurt. Not a banner day, but the OL looked better than I expected on tape.

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DEFENSE

DL – Fletcher Cox had a good game. He beat his blocker multiple times in the game and generated some interior pressure on Rodgers. Ced Thornton jumped offiside on one play. He batted down a pass. He didn’t get much pressure. Bennie Logan did some good things vs the run. He had a TFL. Vinny Curry had the lone sack in the game. He knocked the ball loose, but it was just one of those days. GB recovered the fumble. Ugh.

LB – Trent Cole had a TFL and got pressure a couple of times. He was held a couple of times as well, but couldn’t get a flag. He got his hands on Rodgers once, but could not get control of him and Rodgers ran for a good gain. Connor Barwin had a quiet game, but did have one TFL. Brandon Graham was quiet.

I hoped this game would bring out the best in Mychal Kendricks, but he was a non-factor for much of the day. He did have a TFL. Casey Matthews and Emmanuel Acho were quiet. Matthews ran over the blocking back on a 3rd Qtr blitz and pressured Rodgers for his lone highlight of the game.

S – Nate Allen and Malcolm Jenkins combined for 8 solo tackles, but they didn’t do anything of note. They failed to cover well deep or come up and make any impact on runs or short throws. Disappointing showing.

CB – Long, long day. Bradley Fletcher was awful in the 1st half. He was beaten by Nelson and Cobb. He was beaten deep, short and over the middle. I do give him credit for bouncing back and playing better in the 2nd half. Cary Williams wasn’t exactly Troy Vincent, but didn’t get picked on like Fletcher did. Even Brandon Boykin had some issues.

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STs – Up and down. Josh Huff should have tackled Micah Hyde for no gain on a punt, but whiffed and that turned into a 75-yd TD. Huff didn’t get any help from his teammates, but he was right there to make the play and just blew it. The good came in the form of a blocked PAT and a blocked punt.

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