PS Game Review – BAL 26, PHI 15

Posted: August 25th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on PS Game Review – BAL 26, PHI 15

The first half of Thursday night’s game was ugly. U-g-l-y. The Eagles made mistakes and committed penalties at an alarming rate. The score at halftime was 26-0.

Yikes.

You have to understand that the Ravens do things a bit differently. They have won their last 16 preseason games. They treat these games differently than most teams. They blitz a lot and get more creative on offense than others. Still, the level of sloppy play by the Eagles was troublesome.

The second half was very different. The players settled down and executed much better, on offense and defense. The Eagles outscored the Ravens 15-0 and only gave up 29 yards. Night and day different.

Let’s talk about what we saw.

***

McCown – Came in behind Kessler. Slow start. First few throws were off target. Not by a lot, though. He was just rusty. Once McCown settled down and got into a rhythm, he played very well. Finished 17-24-192 with a pair of TDs. Made some really impressive throws. Accuracy was erratic at times, but had some passes that were right on the money. Good touch on his throws. Very catchable. Passes still had good velocity. Really impressed with his ability to read the defense and adjust play/protection. Showed mobility as a scrambler. Still a good athlete. Had to deal with a messy pocket for much of the game. Able to overcome that.

Kessler – Started the game and once again played poorly. Took a sack on 4th down. You have to do something there. Take a chance. Throw it deep. Stats don’t look bad (3-5-34), but the tape tells a different story.

Thorson – Barely played because game was cancelled due to lightning.

***

Sanders – Was on the field for the opening KO, but didn’t play on offense. That’s a bit odd. My guess is that the coaches had some interest in seeing him return a kick, but didn’t want to use him on offense. They have a good feel for what he can do already.

Clement – Good game. 7-25 on the ground. Ran well and showed fresh legs. Blocked well on several plays. Over-reliant on using his shoulder on some blocks. Needs to mix in his hands more. Good to see him healthy and playing well.

Adams – Doesn’t have good field vision. Feels like he always leaves yards on the field due to his choices. Got away with holding on McCown’s first TD throw. Grabbed blitzer around the waist. Ran hard on plays up the middle. Converted on 3rd/1. Got 3. Caught screen in late 3rd and got 18 on the play. Wide open for TD, but McCown put the ball in tough spot. Adams couldn’t make the grab. Making a tough catch like that would have really helped his cause.

Pumphrey – Limited snaps on offense.

***

JJAW – Breakout game. 8-104-1. Caught early pass over the middle. Got sandwiched by 2 defenders, but didn’t go down. Kept running and another DB took his legs out. Love to see a WR who can go over the middle and bounce off tacklers. Big guys gotta play big. Smart about how to catch the ball. Can pluck it away from his body, but will also let it into his body when he’s in traffic and that’s the better option. Drew a holding call while trying to get open. Not afraid of catching the ball in traffic. Called for OPI on rub route, but questionable call. Release on his TD catch was a thing of beauty. Sold CB to outside, then went inside. Able to run his route and extend for the catch. CB was trailing the whole time. All started with a great release. That play had it all. Feet. Hands. Awareness. Route-running. Very impressive play. Caught a ball thrown at his feet, turned and ran upfield. Love the hands and concentration. Ran an inside route on 4th/2. McCown put the ball behind him. JJAW adjusted, made the grab and then added 25 RAC yards on the play. Another impressive moment.

Hollins – Ran good routes. Made toe-tap catch in 3rd. Looks healthy. 2-15. Played 34 snaps so the coaches got a lot of him on tape.

Ward – Plucked a ball just over a DB and then turned upfield to add RAC yards. Bobbled pass in early 3rd, but got control and held on despite big hit from S. Love that kind of toughness. Finished the game 4-45. Another solid outing.

Agudosi – Impressive sideline grab. Good hands, body control. Dragged the back foot. Textbook.

***

Perkins – Solid game. Runs well. Good hands. Adjusted to pass thrown behind him while on the move and still made the grab. Willing blocker. Has legit shot to be #3 TE.

Tye – Only played 4 snaps.

A Ellis – Good effort as a blocker. Really battles. Had a great 3-play sequence. Caught short TD in the late 3rd. Had the key block on the 2-pt conversion after that. Then went and made the tackle on the ensuing kickoff. The catch was a simple route, but Ellis got open and showed smooth hands. Over the shoulder can be tricky for some guys.

***

Dillard – Backup LT. Had his “Welcome to the NFL” game. Played well, but not to the level of the previous two weeks. Ravens gave him a hard time. Inside rushes and bull rushes were primary issues. Called for holding. Also gave up his first pressure.

Pryor – Backup LG. Up and down showing.

Wiz – Played RG on 2nd OL. Did not help his case to make the team.

Big V – Played RG. Pulled and had good kick-out block on early Clement run. Picked up a stunt smoothly. Looks pretty smooth, natural at RG.

Mailata – RT. This is the kind of game that shows you how far Mailata still has to go. Ravens and their blitz packages test your brains, skills and athleticism. Ravens beat him for sack on 4th down. Had edge rusher slant hard inside. Mailata watched him while blitzer came untouched off edge. This is the kind of blitz you study tape to plan for. With minimal game prep in the preseason, you need a lot of experience or great instincts to get something like this. That’s not Mailata. Whiffed when trying to block DE on pass play. Didn’t get his hands out quick enough. Terrific downblock on run play. Knocked DL off balance. Slow with his hands on 3rd down and got beaten by edge rusher. Rusher beat him to inside and got a big hit on McCown. Still gets too far over his feet at times. Love watching him get to 2nd level and getting clean shot on LB or DB. Can really move those guys.

Herbig – Played C on 2nd OL. The coaches like him so they played him early. Handled the physicality of the Ravens well. Got downfield on screen, but didn’t really block anyone. Good to see him on the move. Shows promise, but needs work. Must get in better shape. 

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V Curry – Flashed early. Blew up run with inside move. Blew up screen by driving LT almost to the QB. Gave the LT fits on a few plays. To be fair, that wasn’t the starting LT.

B Graham – Played the 1st Qtr and looked good. Disruptive. 

Sweat – Quiet at first, but got better. Part of that is facing the #3 LT. Drew a holding call to open the 3rd. Did some rushing from 2-pt stance. Looks good when he does that. Consistently slow in his get-off. Really good here and there, but generally half-step behind rest of DL.

Malik Jackson – You could see just how athletic he is on early 3rd down. McSorley rolled out to the right. Jackson took off in pursuit and ate up ground, forcing McSorley to just throw the ball away. Most DTs don’t run like that.

T Hester – Does a good job of getting off blocks. Disruptive. Got hustle sack after DE flushed QB. Got off block of OT in 3rd and had TFL. Drew holding call when chasing after McSorley.

Ridgeway – Stout vs the run.

D Hall – Another strong outing. Drew holding call on 2-pt play. Showed his athleticism on zone blitz. Covered TE on short route, then peeled off and went out wide to hit WR after catch/run. Called for roughing when he tackled the QB and landed on top of him. Good for at least one or two “Wow” rushes a game where his timing/burst just blows you away. #61 for Ravens had no chance on some plays.

S Miller – Good shoulder dip. Called for facemask penalty. No doubt about it.

K Wilkins – Good quickness off the ball.

A Shittu – Almost got a hustle sack, but couldn’t wrap up the QB.

***

Zach Brown – Didn’t play much. Quiet game.

N Gerry – Trending up. Seeing the field better. Shedding blockers better. Must improve as a blitzer.

LJ Fort – Good game. Had early TFL. DE blew up run and Fort flew in to finish. Love his effort. Flies all over the field. Has gotten better at taking on blockers and shedding them. Finished with 4 tackles and 2 TFLs. His speed is legit and shows up on a lot of plays. Reminds me of Jordan Hicks. Faster, but not as skilled.

TJ Edwards – Got TFL when he saw read-option, read it well and got out wide to make the stop. Had 2 tackles for no gain. Moved well through traffic to get to the ball. Sees it, gets there and finishes.

Singleton – Hustles. Tackles well.

***

Maddox – Another good game. Looks ready to go.

Douglas – Poor play in late 1st Qtr. Played off due to zone and gave up catch in front of him. Then made terrible tackle attempt and missed. Made solid tackle on the next play so that was good to see. Didn’t go into a funk.

Scandrick – There are times when he seems to be going through the motions. I’m sure he’ll play different in the regular season, but has to do enough to impress the coaches. I’m told he’s looked much better in practice.

McKinnon – Beaten for TD. Coverage wasn’t bad, but wasn’t able to make a play on the ball. Lacks top ability, but he will compete. Jumped route and almost had pick in mid-3rd. Love the effort.

Hawkins – Struggled again. Poor instincts. Slow in coverage. Broke up pass in end zone, but got away with holding on the play.

***

McLeod – Finally got on the field. Looked quick, agile. Played in the box and back deep. Looked good in coverage. Flew around the field. Didn’t show any signs of coming off injury. Smart. Aggressive to the ball. Very encouraging to see him play like that.

Sendejo – Quiet game.

Sullivan – Missed tackle of RB in the box. Should have been an easy play. Spin move got the best of him. Failed to stand out at all. Credited with 1 tackle.

Cyprien – Aggressive run defender. At home in the box. Solid tackler. Okay in coverage.

***********************

STs

Jake Elliott – Missed another FG.

Boston Scott – Does not look instinctive as a RS. Really needed to stand out as a returner to help his cause and that hasn’t happened.

Tre Sullivan – Failed to impress on STs. That’s critical for a backup S.

Pumphrey – Good PR in the 3rd. Averaged 8.7 yards on three returns.

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