PS Game Review – PHI 16, BAL 13

The Eagles won their preseason opener on Friday night, beating the Ravens 16-13. Winning is nice, but staying healthy and playing well are actually more important in the preseason. The Eagles did all three so they should be feeling pretty good about things.

I’m not going to talk much about strategy and scheme. There is very limited gameplanning. The focus is on execution.

I do want to cover one thing…the Brotherly Shove. The Eagles ran it twice and were successful both times. However, they should not be running that play with their backups. The tush push is not some unstoppable play schematically. It requires excellent blocking, a powerful QB and smart blockers behind the QB who know when/how to assist. Other teams tried the play last year and I saw it stopped multiple times. Without Dickerson-Kelce blocking and Hurts running, the play is tough to execute.

Brett Toth didn’t get a good block on his attempt and the play was almost stopped. The second attempt required a generous spot to move the chains. I’m fine with running the play with the Eagles starters, but don’t like it at all with the backups. Run a normal QB sneak or RB dive play on short yardage. Leave the tush push to the guys who are good at it.

Enough of my dumb rant. Let’s talk about the players. I’m not going to cover everyone. I’m going to focus on the guys who either stood out to me or were of interest.

OFFENSE

Kenny Pickett – Not a great showing. The lack of good receivers didn’t do him any favors. Looked good when throwing to Calcaterra. Pickett was good on his short throws. They were accurate and looked smooth. Good timing when throwing over the middle. Not so good when he did try to go downfield. Pocket presence could have been better.

Tanner McKee – I thought he looked more in command, but his numbers weren’t good because he didn’t have guys getting open and/or catching the ball.

***

Will Shipley – N-S runner. Runs hard, but isn’t overly powerful. Caught short TD pass. Looked smooth on that play. Didn’t show much in the way of burst or speed. Did a good job in pass pro. Finished 7-23 and had the TD catch.

Tyrion Davis-Price – I was most impressed with him among the RBs. He was 6-34. I thought he showed good burst and vision. Strong enough to run through initial contact.

Lew Nichols – Only went 7-21, but he ran hard. Attacked up the middle aggressively. Has a good combination of size and power. His TD run required him to work through some traffic. Did that and got into the end zone. Nick Sirianni said after the game that Nichols is a played he liked a lot coming out of college. He was excited when the Eagles were able to sign him.

Kendall Milton – Showed some vision and burst. Still a bit stiff. Strong enough to run through contact. Finished 9-39.

***

Britain Covey – Showed good RAC ability. Finished 4-25, but long play was just 7 yards.

Johnny Wilson – Good blocker, on both runs and screens. Short catch over the middle. Looked natural. You could see where he could be an effective role player even as a rookie.

John Ross – The explosive speed that got him drafted early doesn’t appear to still be there. Ross was still the Eagles best receiver in the game. He finished 3-28 and was able to make a couple of plays, but you don’t want him as a chain-mover. That’s not who Ross is in terms of size or skills.

***

Grant Calcaterra – Good effort as a blocker. He’s not the strongest or most physical guy, but worked hard to try and keep his guy blocked. Went 2-14 as a receiver. Looked smooth. Good route-runner. Crisp and gets open.

CJ Uzomah – 1-3 as a receiver. Looked good as a blocker.

Albert O – Finished 1-6. Dropped a pass. Had another pass come his way where the DB broke it up. Not the performance you wanted to see from him.

EJ Jenkins – 1-4 as a receiver. Okay as a blocker.

K Foelsch – 1-7 as a receiver.

***

Fred Johnson – LT. Good combo block on inside run. Physical as a run blocker. Does a good job of using his length in pass pro. Extends his arms and pushes the rusher wide. Looked like the best of the backup OL.

Mekhi Becton – Started at RG. More upright than you would prefer. Happened multiple times. Allowed DT to push him back in pass pro. You can see why the coaches like him. So big and strong that when he does get his hands on a defender, can move him. Still learning to play OG, but has a high ceiling.

Tyler Steen – Took over at RG after first series. Had a good overall showing. Was good on some run blocks. Used his strength to toss a DT out of the way. Used his size and strength to seal a DL and make room for an inside run. Got movement on a short yardage run. Good pad level and power. Got shed too easily on a run play inside the 10. Needed to sustain better on that play. Looked good on a short pull. Hit his defender and had some pop. Got off-balance in pass pro and DT tossed him out of the way. Was beaten by DT on an outside rush and Pickett got hurried on the play. Got off the ball quickly and had a nice reach block on a run to his side. Missed time in camp so had to knock off some rust. Good performance to build on.

Brett Toth – Played C. Sloppy in pass pro early on. Got better. Moved his feet and played with good balance. Able to get out in space, but wasn’t able to block well there. Defender shed him easily and made the tackle. Has the agility the Eagles like, but doesn’t show good play strength. Got knocked back on the Tush Push. Toth doesn’t show the play strength you want out of an interior blocker. Frustrating performance.

Trevor Keegan – Started at LG. What I expected. Smart, tough, sound. Not flashy or overly athletic. Uses his hands well. Good awareness. Doesn’t look like a rookie out there. Got driven back in pass pro and Pickett had to scramble. The opposite of Becton. Keegan doesn’t have a ton of potential, but he knows what he’s doing and gets the most out of his ability.

Darian Kinnard – Played RT for the entire game. 83 snaps. Pretty good kick slide. Anchors well. Needs to do a better job of keeping rushers hands off his body. Must use his arms better in pass pro. Moves his feet okay, but doesn’t engage the rusher aggressively enough. Needs to do a better job of sustaining blocks. I came away feeling good about Kinnard. He showed better footwork than I expected. Kinnard has learned the Lane Johnson/Jason Peters trick of starting a bit early, but not getting called for it. That surprised me. Never seemed that nimble in college. He might be able to be a backup RT. There is plenty to still work on, but he’s a big, powerful blocker and is worth developing.

Dylan McMahon – Played C in the 2nd half. Good pad level. Active feet. Was able to get some push in the run game. Looked good when pulling and blocking on the move. Needs to anchor better in pass pro. Plays with good awareness. Promising debut for the rookie. He showed the athleticism the Eagles drafted him for.

Matt Hennessy – Played RG for most of the 2nd half. Looked good on pulls. He was better than I expected, but didn’t do anything to stand out.

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DEFENSE

Jalyx Hunt – As I expected, playing in a game brought out the best in him. Looked natural playing in space, which he should with his DB background. Dropped into coverage and QB scrambled. Wasn’t able to keep him from getting the 1st down. Comfortable in coverage. Lined up in the A-gap on a 3rd down. Play never happened due to penalty. Would have been interesting to see him rush from there. Looped inside on a rush and flushed the QB. Showed good discipline. Didn’t carelessly chase the run. Checked for the bootleg before crashing inside.

Nolan Smith – Solid showing. Shed a block and stuffed a run that came at him. Used a good shoulder dip to get by the LT and into the backfield on a pass play. Lined up in the slot and then blitzed at the snap. Got the sack on that play. Chased down a screen pass from the backside and made the tackle. Finished with 4 tackles and a snap.

Patrick Johnson – Good showing. Had 4 tackles and a strip sack. That was the play of the game. Flew by the LT to strip the QB and then recovered the ball. That set up the winning FG. Could be of interest to another team that wants depth at Edge/OLB.

***

Moro Ojomo – Good with his hands. Active. Athletic. Flashed a few times.

Thomas Booker – Blew by the RG on a pass play and pressured the QB. Was a screen, but the RG wasn’t able to even slow Booker down. Beat the RT and got some pressure on a pass play. Used quick burst and a good rip move on the play. Booker has athleticism and talent. Could challenge for a roster spot.

Mustipher – NT. Able to shed blocks and play the inside run. Good run defender.

***

Devin White – He and Baun only played 14 snaps. Finished with 2 tackles. Helped to stuff an inside run. You could see his athleticism when out in space.

Zack Baun – Vic Fangio said he played the first few plays incorrectly. That’s why going against another team is important. Baun can study the tape and learn from those plays and mistakes. Showed the ability to slip blocks. Tackled QB after he scrambled up the middle.

Nakobe Dean – Good game. Blitzed up the middle. Fought past the RB and hit the QB as he threw the ball. RB tried to catch a short pass over the middle. Dean hit him hard and knocked the ball away. Impressive play. Quick reaction, forceful hit. Played with confidence. Aggressive. Encouraging showing.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr – Good debut. Took on a wham block and helped to stuff an inside run. Blitzed the A-gap and got some pressure. Blitzed on 3rd down. Tackled the QB as he started to run and kept him short of the sticks. Needed help getting lined up correctly on a few plays. Physical. Fought to get off blocks. Led the team with 5 tackles.

Ben VanSumeren – Solid showing. Shed a block and stuffed an inside run. Athleticism showed on multiple plays. Closed to the ball quickly. Showed good speed when he chased down the RB on an outside run. Stuffed a goal line run with a strong hit. Was in on 5 tackles.

***

Tristin McCollum – Aggressive player. Flew to the ball. Didn’t always wrap up cleanly. Has a bad habit of hitting instead of tackling. He can get guys down like that, but safeties must tackle. Too risky to rely on hitting guys out in space. Had 4 tackles and a TFL. You can see potential in him.

***

Kelee Ringo – Good game. Good tackle vs run. Gave up a completion on a back shoulder throw. Still had good coverage. Broke up a pass in the end zone. Broke up a pass down the sideline. Had excellent coverage on that play.

Quinyon Mitchell – Played slot and outside. Jumped a route while playing inside and broke up the pass. Should have had the INT. Blitzed from the slot and forced the QB to run.

Isaiah Rodgers – Gave up completion on an in-cut route for 1st down. Only played 14 snaps.

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STs

Blocking on KOs must improve.

McCollum had a good tackle on KOR. Prevented big return.

Shipley made tackle in punt coverage.

BVS very good in punt coverage. Got off a block and flew down the field.

Tyler Hall was good as a blocker on some returns.

Jake Elliott was 1 of 2 on PATs and 1 of 2 on FGs. Somebody call Alex Henery and see if he’s available!

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