Game Review – PS #2 – NE 37, PHI 20

The first preseason game is supposed to be the sloppiest showing of the summer. The Eagles somehow got sloppier from Week One, losing an ugly affair to the Patriots. Losing isn’t a big deal in the preseason. Results don’t mean a thing.

The fact the Eagles played so sloppily is less than ideal. That was Nick Foles, potential opening game starting QB, throwing the ball high, low and everywhere but on target. That was Big V, potential starting OT, getting beaten play after play. That was Sidney Jones, potential starting nickelback, getting beaten for a TD. This wasn’t a bunch of scrubs out there tripping over themselves.

Penalties. Turnovers. Missed tackles. Dropped passes. Errant throws. The game had a bit of everything.

To be fair, the Eagles didn’t play their starters a ton. And they were missing plenty of key players, especially on offense. Tom Brady, on the other hand, played all but one snap in the 1st half.

And guys having an off day isn’t the end of the world when they’ve got a good track record. We know how good Foles can be. We know how good Big V can be. Jones isn’t a proven commodity at the NFL level, but he’s incredibly talented.

There were plenty of positives in the game. This was a sloppy performance, not some disaster. Let’s move on to the individual players.

QB

Nick Foles – Nick hadn’t practiced a lot recently and it showed. He was off-target with almost every throw. He didn’t look comfortable in the pocket, which was compounded by poor blocking on some plays. Foles got hit while throwing and that hurt his shoulder. He left the game.

Nate Sudfeld – Strong showing. Made a great throw to Treggs down the right sideline that could have been caught for gain of 35. Thrown with touch and accuracy. On the next play, tried to hit Carter down the left sideline. Good throw 30 yards downfield. Drew PI call on that play. Made a nice play to escape a free rusher and get outside. Had a chance to hit a receiver for a TD, but threw on the move and the ball was off-target. There are some plays where he needs to read things quicker and get the ball out. Hit Goedert down the middle for a big gain late in the half. Had a chance to hit Jones for a big gain, but the ball was a bit behind him. Still catchable, but not as accurate as it could have been. Had a chance for a huge play in the mid-3rd, but put the ball a foot too far out in front and Treggs couldn’t get hold of it. Made an impressive throw on the next play. Moved up in the pocket, saw Carter and hit him in traffic over the middle for a good gain. Good pocket presence and awareness. Made the throw of the game in the late 3rd. Eagles were backed up at their own 2-yd line. Sudfeld dropped 5 yds into the end zone and launched a perfect strike to Gibson for a 57-yard gain. The pass went 52 yards in the air. Great touch and accuracy on the throw. 22-39-312 with 3 TDs.

Joe Callahan – Didn’t get in the game until the final minute.

RB

Jay Ajayi – Mostly a good game. 6-23 on the ground. Lost 5 yds on one run when there were multiple guys in the backfield. Biggest problem came when Patrick Chung ran over him on a blitz and then sacked Foles. Has to pass protect better than that to have any shot of playing on 3rd downs. Poor effort on that play. Caught one pass and fought his way upfield for 16 yards. Good job as a runner. Fought for every yard and punished tacklers.

Corey Clement – DNP.

Wendell Smallwood – Was 4-1 as a runner. Didn’t have a lot of room so that’s not all his fault. 1-5 as a receiver. Caught pass in the flat on 3rd down, but couldn’t make the DB miss and came up short of the chains. Smallwood didn’t make any key mistakes. The problem is that he didn’t do anything to stand out. He’s fighting for a job. He has to win that job in some way. Didn’t help his cause in NE.

Josh Adams – DNP.

Matt Jones – First chance to see Jones in action for the Eagles. Disappointing. Got on the field in the 3rd Qtr. Not impressive. Looked slow. Dropped short pass. Caught pass on very next play and fought off 3 tacklers. Still a strong, physical RB. Went out of bounds, but never down. Had another pass go off his facemask/hands and right to a defender. Had a chance to be a big play. Caught screen pass and got upfield for 15 yds. Had space on the play, but lack of burst limited the gain. Dropped easy pass over the middle in the 3rd. 6-19 as a runner, 6-32 as a receiver. Did not help himself.

TE

Dallas Goedert – Up and down as a blocker. Got blown up on GL run and that led to TFL. Had several plays where he did a solid job. No highlight blocks. Caught 28-yard pass from Sudfeld late in the half. Had the smarts to get wide and out of bounds. Had chance for TD late in the half. LB got his hand on the ball and helped to break the pass up. Almost made a great catch for TD. Turned back and extended as far as he could. Got his hands on the ball. S reached in and knocked it out. Finished 3-57 as a receiver.

Richard Rodgers – Good showing. Solid as a blocker. Hauled in a 17-yd TD pass. Came against the blitz. Sudfeld put the ball up high and Rodgers made an impressive over the shoulder catch. Hurt his knee on the play.

Josh Perkins – Suffered a potential concussion in the game.

Billy Brown – Barely played. Caught one pass for 7 yards.

WR

Mack Hollins – DNP.

Mike Wallace – Had 3 balls come his way. He and Foles couldn’t connect on any of them. 2 were off target. One was in traffic and either dropped or knocked away.

Shelton Gibson – Best game of his young career. Averaged 30.3 on KORs, including one that went for 46 yards. Used his speed to get wide and fly upfield. Caught several passes on crossing routes. Good to see him working the middle of the field. That’s not his strength and something he needs to work on. One of those catches came late in the half. Gibson made sure he got the 1st down and then out of bounds. Smart. Ran a good route inside the 5 to get wide open for easy TD pass. Hauled in a 57-yard bomb in the late 3rd. Used his speed to get deep and caught the ball on the run.  

Kamar Aiken – Had early pass come to him. Couldn’t make the grab. Ball was behind him so not really a drop, but a guy trying to make the team really needed to find a way to make that grab. Drew PI call in the end zone. Went up for the ball and the DB never looked back.

Rashard Davis – Was awful as the PR. Just awful. Ran backwards twice. Lost 11 yards on one of them and was tackled at the 2-yard line. That is cutworthy. Lost 3 yards on another return. Even when he did have a 10-yard PR, danced too much. Learn from Brian Mitchell. Get the ball and go. Caught a 31-yard TD pass. That was an impressive play. Bad coverage by the CB, but Davis got behind him and then had to make a tough over the shoulder catch.

Greg Ward – Caught pass on crossing route in the late 3rd. Did that again on the final drive of the 3rd Qtr and got 11 yds on the play.

Bryce Treggs – Solid showing. Had chance for deep ball down the right sideline, but Gilmore got a hand on it to break up the play. 2-23 as a receiver. Had a 32-yd KOR and a 10-yd PR. Got hurt in the game and he’s out 10 to 14 days.

DeAndre Carter – Quietly impressive. Drew PI call on throw down the left sideline. Chipped a DE, released into the flat and caught a short pass late in the 1st half. Caught pass on over route late in the half for a gain of 24. Drew holding call on DB in the end zone late in the half. Had a good catch in the mid-3rd. Was tightly covered but snagged the ball up high and then added some RAC yards. Made a good adjustment on the ball. Got 22 yards on the play. Finished 3-48.

OL

No reason to cover the starters.

H. Vaitai– Bad game. Struggled with blocking 94 for much of the game. Terrible block attempt in early 2nd Qtr led to strip-sack and TD for Pats. There were times when Big V was too passive. He retreated deep and then got pushed back toward the QB. On that play V got off balance and Clayborn went around him with ease. Continued with up and down play in the 2nd half. Would block well for a series and then get beaten easily the next time out. Struggled with multiple rushers. Just a rough day at the office.

Chance Warmack – I didn’t focus on Warmack. Looked like he was better than last week. Anchored well in pass pro.

Isaac Seumalo – Much better snap accuracy this week. Solid job as a blocker. Didn’t always get a lot of movement in the run game. Good in pass pro. Very good block on screen pass to Jones in the mid-3rd. Stuck on DT and rode him wide so Jones could cut back to the middle.

Matt Pryor – Better showing this week. Improved awareness. Used his hands better, but still needs a lot of work in that area. Still misses too much. At times still seemed confused on who to block. Had real impressive sequence in early 3rd. Popped DL initially and then went upfield. Hit LB and put him on the ground. That’s the kind of physicality and power Jeff Stoutland has been wanting to see him Pryor in a game. Good block of LB on screen pass.

Taylor Hart – Bad game. Struggled in pass pro. Gave up at least one sack, but lots of pressure. Got blown up on GL run. If Hart had slowed the DL down at all, Smallwood scores. Instead, he was stopped at the 1.

Jordan Mailata – Played the last minute. Hard to make too much from a couple of snaps at the end, but looked better than last week. Seemed more confident.

Aaron Evans / Jon Toth / Darrell Greene – All played late.

Toby Weathersby – Took over at RT in the 4th Qtr. He’s improving, but still struggles with pass pro.

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DEFENSE

DL

Derek Barnett – Drove TE backward on 3rd/1 run and forced RB to cut back.

Destiny Vaeao – Used good rip move to beat the RG and pressure Brady. Helped to create TFL on run by driving his blocker into backfield.

Bruce Hector – Was on the field at the 6:27 mark of the 1st Qtr. That’s 3 quarters earlier than last week. Quick off the ball and disruptive. Relentless effort. Plays like he’s fighting for a job, which he is. Mostly an effort guy right now. Really fights to get off blocks. Needs work, but effort means a lot at DT.

Michael Bennett – TFL on run play. Played DE and DT.

Elijah Qualls – Didn’t play until 2nd half. Drove the C back several yards on one pass play. Beat the LG with a quick burst off the ball to open the 4th Qtr. Had some other good snaps, but didn’t stand out.

Haloti Ngata – Got the start at DT. Effective power rusher. Drove the LG backward on multiple plays.

Steven Means – Got on the field in the 1st Qtr. Strong game. Got pressure from left and right side on multiple plays. Showed great hustle on screen by chasing the ball 40 yards downfield. Called for roughing when he hit the QB low in the 3rd Qtr.

Josh Sweat – Played a decent amount of snaps, but failed to stand out. Not quick enough off the ball on pass plays. Love his effort on run plays, but just not enough of a factor as a pass rusher.

Azziz Shittu – Didn’t play until the 4th Qtr. Hit the QB on his first snap. Got TFL on screen pass. Got a sack late in the game when he exploded off the ball and got the QB down for a big loss. Made the most of limited snaps. That’s how you force the coaches to play you more.

Joe Ostman – Played in the 2nd half. Got moved off the ball on run play to his side in the early 4th. Struggled against the run. Was unblocked on pass play in the early 4th and got pressure on the QB. Moved over to RDE when Sweat left the game. Looked more natural on that side. Used inside move to get by the LT and stuff a RB for minimal gain.

Winston Craig – Played DT late. Didn’t flash like last week.

Ezechukwu – Played LDE late. Looks natural on that side. Good effort.

LB

Jordan Hicks – Started slow. Tackling was sloppy and wasn’t taking great angles to the ball. Things started to click and he played better. Got stiff-armed by RB on 3rd/2 and let him get outside for big gain. Failed to wrap up RB on 3rd/1 run. They converted. Missed tackle of RB in space. Slowed him down, but others finished the tackle. Made a good tackle of Edelman after short catch over the middle. Made form tackle of RB on play up the middle. Wrapped him up and put him on the ground. On the next play, wrapped up Hogan after short catch and put him on the ground. Didn’t slam him down. That would have been fun to see, but would have drawn a flag. Did the smart thing.

Nate Gerry – Blitzed up the middle in the 2nd Qtr and forced Brady to throw the ball away. Should have been grounding. Was in on one tackle.

Kamu Grugier-Hill – Good tackle of RB on 3rd down kept him short of the sticks. Completely blocked on screen pass over the middle that went for TD late in the half. Credited with 2 tackles. Didn’t flash like he did in the opener. No highlight plays.

Joe Walker – Tackled RB on play up the middle to open the 2nd half. Struggled to get off blocks. Looks good in space. Athleticism seems to be back. Would like to see him play better against the run.

Corey Nelson – Too quiet. You’d never know he was fighting for a roster spot. One tackle.

LaRoy Reynolds – Was in on 3 tackles.

Kyle Wilson – Played some MLB late. Didn’t flash.

S

Malcolm Jenkins – Called for hitting receiver on overthrown pass.

Corey Graham – Played but didn’t stand out.

Tre Sullivan – Better showing. Led the team with 7 tackles. Good tackle of Edelman after short catch over the middle. Had pretty good coverage of TE on pass play over the middle. TE bobbled the ball and it fell incomplete. Active run defender when he played in the box. Had a chance for TFL in the early 4th. Went through a blocker and was in the backfield, but couldn’t get hold of the RB. Missed tackle on cutback run in the early 4th. Bad miss. Still far from a lock for a roster spot.

Stephen Roberts – Only played 3 snaps on D.

Jeremy Reaves – Physical player. Had multiple hits in the game. Was in on 6 tackles. Up-ended a RB and almost forced a fumble. The problem is that this isn’t 1993. Safeties must cover and Reaves continues to struggle in that area. Missed multiple tackles in the game.

CB

Jalen Mills – DNP.

Ronald Darby – Outstanding game. Came in to tackle RB on inside run. Brady tried to go deep on him. Darby was right with the WR. Turned around at the right moment and should have picked the ball off, but couldn’t get control of it. Another ball came his way, but the WR caught it 3 yards out of bounds. On the next play, Brady threw deep on him again. Darby ran the route right with the WR. Ball came right to Darby. Should have been an easy INT, but he dropped it.

Sidney Jones – Made tackle of RB on run play away from him. Moved through trash and made the stop. Good tackle of Edelman after short catch. Got TFL on run play when he was lined up in the slot and just fired into the backfield. Broke up pass in the early 3rd Qtr. Gave up a TD in the 3rd. Patterson caught a quick throw and faked Jones out badly, left him on the ground. Patterson has excellent RAC skills so this isn’t like getting burned by some scrub. Broke up pass in the mid-3rd. Patterson got behind him down the field. The ball was underthrown. Jones recovered and got a hand on it to break up the play. Made a good break on the ball and deflected a short pass thrown his way in the early 4th.

Rasul Douglas – Got the start with Mills out. Lost contain on early 3rd/2 run. Went inside for RB in traffic instead of staying wide and playing outside-in. Made good tackle of RB inside the 10. Minimal gain. Was outside-in on that play. Didn’t play a WR screen well and let Patterson get outside for a big gain. Can’t give up the sideline like that. Not his best showing.

De’Vante Bausby – Quieter game. Good hit of TE after catch near him in zone coverage. Called for facemask penalty when trying to tackle Hogan after short catch. Solid in coverage. Tackled well. Played in the slot in the 4th Qtr.

Avonte Maddox – Played early. Tackled RB in the flat. Could have taken a better angle on that, but made the play. Burned by Hogan for TD on opening drive. Good route got the best of him. Needs to watch how he uses his hands. Could have been called for holding there. Broke up pass in the early 3rd. Excellent coverage on multiple punt returns. Great effort. Was right there when the PR was trying to make the catch.

DJ Killings – Gave up a few completions, but kept everything in front of him.

Chandon Sullivan – DNP

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STs

Cameron Johnston – Got better. Averaged 48.7 on 7 punts. Had 2 downed inside the 20, one of them at the 10-yd line. Better ball control and accuracy this week. Also seemed to have better hang time. 3 of the punts were fair catches. Long return was just 7 yards.

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