Early Postgame Thoughts
Posted: August 11th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 60 Comments »2011 is off to a good start. The starting offense came in and looked sharp. Mike Vick led us on a TD drive. He was accurate with his passes and made good decisions. Riley Cooper helped him out with a great catch on a broken play. Vick hit Celek for the TD on a simple play that was well executed. That’s what we need in the Red Zone.
The defense is what really excited me. The defensive line was outstanding all game long. The goal of the new coaches is for the players to fly off the ball and be disruptive. That’s exactly what happened. Trent Cole got us off to a great start. Cullen Jenkins was a force up the middle.
Then the 2nd string came in. Darryl Tapp played great. Derek Landri was disruptive all game long.
The 3rd stringers showed up as well. Phillip Hunt made a strong case for not just a roster spot, but playing time. He was a force off the edge. Teo had some nice plays. Marlon Favorite came alive on a couple of plays.
We ended up with 6 sacks. All of them were by the D-line. We might have had more if Tyrod Taylor wasn’t so elusive. He scrambled out of a couple of plays. Great start by Jim Washburn and his players. I haven’t been that excited by our D-line since the early part of the 2006 season. We did rotate guys early and often. I’m going to enjoy that this year.
The guy I wanted to focus on was Casey Matthews. He wasn’t on the field all that much. He didn’t stand out, good or bad, vs inside runs. I liked what I saw from him on a couple of pass plays. There was a screen where he stuck with the RB and threw off the play. There was a 3rd down pass play where Casey hugged up tight on the RB and Joe Flacco had no options. The DBs took away the outside guys and Casey was all over Ray Rice. Those are subtle things, but they are exactly the kinds of things I think Castillo wanted from Casey.
Ryan Harris got beat twice to the inside. Can’t have that. He’s got to work on that problem. Harris also whiffed on a run block, unless you listen to Brian Baldinger. He was praising the non-block. Danny Watkins was up and down. There were some good signs, but he looked like a rookie. Jason Kelce played pretty well. He got beat once in pass pro that I noticed with the blind eye. Austin Howard needs to be in better shape. He had some good moments, but gave up a sack when he was badly beaten to the inside.
Vince Young came alive when put in a game setting. I mentioned that as a possibility. Some guys are at their best in a game and not practice. Mike Kafka started slow, but got better. Jerrod Johnson will get some nice parting gifts. His football career is about to end. Good kid, but he’s not a pro QB.
Ronnie Brown and Dion Lewis had some good moments running the ball. That was fun to watch. More please.
Alex Henery was good from 24, 35. His KOs were deep, but that was expected with the new rules. Chas Henry was up and down. He had a long punt of 52. He had one shank. He’s talented, but needs work.
I came away from the game feeling pretty good. King Dunlap and Fenuki Tupou suffered injuries, but we didn’t see any starters go down. We didn’t see anything significant on the injury front. The defense ran around and played aggressively. That was fun to watch. The offense mixed in some new wrinkles. We scored a Red Zone TD and got multiple Red Zone stops. All in all, that’s a good start.
The only slip up I noticed from Kelce was on the run where Ronnie Brown had to sidestep a guy in the backfield. It was a combo block and the backer came on a delayed loop around blitz. Tough to pick up if Vandelverde didn’t let him know he was coming. Overall thought he played very well.
@ Tommy
What do think of term “Dream Team” referring to the Eagles?
Hate us being called the Dream Team. That name has certain connotation. We’ve got too many overachievers and castoffs to be a dream team. I hope our season ends in a dreamy way, but don’t like the name.
@ Flyin’
Let’s let this “dream team” thing die. It was a dumb thing to say and overblown by the media. We don’t need to go painting in the bullseye that the media is pinning on us.
I didn’t get home in time to see the starters, but I liked what I did see. Watching the defense was so much fun I didn’t mind when Anderson’s pick got overturned. QBs are going to lose sleep thinking about playing against us.
I watched the ETN coverage of the game. At one point my wife, who wasn’t really watching looked up from her book and asked “What are they talking about?” I couldn’t answer. I wanted to know who let the punt bounce into the endzone, not what Hugh ate for dinner to justify his dessert.
I am not a football expert, not at all… but I did wonder why Baldy said, that Harris did a great job, while clearly reaching after, and thereafter falling, after a D-lineman! How can a veteran NFL-player who should know a thing or two about football, make such lousy judgements??Anyway, it’s great to have you Tommy!! Wouldn’t wanna miss your writings!!
Finally getting to watch the game. (Thank you NFLN) Our d-line looks ridiculous.
Dion Lewis looks like a player. Hope this guy does enough to earn the 3rd RB spot.
This new kick off rule sucks. It’s hard to see how good guys are on special teams.
Oh. The ETN crew freaking sucks. Hugh and Baldy? You’re killing me. And their sideline reporter is an idiot. Having to listen to this crew of announcers should be unconstitutional. Cruel and unusual punishment.
@Jason
Just wait until you get to later in the game when they don’t know the players names. I won’t ruin it for you, but you might want to start drinking, now.
@ATG
LoL. Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately, I only have two beers in the fridge. I’ll just have to utilize the mute button.
tommy,
after what you saw tonight from watkins do you feel comfortable with him as our starting RG?
also, how did jarrett seem to do in coverage? i tried to pay attention to him but didnt see much.
i like coleman alot, but that first play, to their TE, that was horrible. could have been picked off, at least knocked down if he were turned around. he will be a good player for us no doubt. already is. lol just saying that was ugly coverage on that one play.
Wow, I guess right up front I have to eat some crow. I thought Mike Kafka was as useless as a wet sock last year and I didn’t think he had what it took to be a pro QB, but he looked pretty darn good tonight. I was especially impressed with the one play where the blitzer came free, he saw it and hit Chad Hall on the hot route in stride. That was a veteran throw imo.
I was really nervous before the game, I kept imagining that someone was gonna get injured, that we were gonna look sloppy and crappy because of all the new players/coaches, or that one of our new corners was gonna give up an embarassing long TD.
Instead we ended up looking pretty impressive in all phases, which was nice. 1st team offense came out in midseason form. Defense was getting after the Ravens and Henry made all his kicks.
Imo of the guys who improved their stock the most this game the leader is Dion Lewis. Imo he looks like a baller. Phillip Hunt looked pretty nice also. JJ had the nice interception which was a plus, he didn’t have much of a chance to show what he could do but hey, picking one off and taking it back a ways is a good start to your pro career.
The guys who dropped their stock a bit imo were just about all our late game corners. I don’t know who specifically they were but it seemed our DB’s were getting worked over hard in the 2nd half. Giving up easy passes, getting run over, missing tackles, etc. Fortunately we have a pretty solid top few corners so… I’m not seeing this as an issue.
I’m not sure what I expected from Ryan Harris but it wasn’t that, I think his stock is falling a bit after this game as well.
Mathews didn’t really stand out in any way, I can’t say he’s a faller but there wasn’t anything that made me take notice of him eitehr.
I had moment during the game when #83 caught a pass, for a second I panicked thinking Greg Lewis was back in town.
Jerrod Johnson… yikes. Poor kid isn’t even giving himself a chance but hey at least he made it to a camp.
Lastly, Daryll Tapp really likes Washburns new scheme I think. Dude was beasting it tonight.
Just two quick hits from the German:
1. Daryll Tapp is my early Eagles favourite for breakout player in 2011. I even confused him with Trent Cole sometimes.
2. I miss David Akers.
Loving our depth on Def – the DL looks as deep as I’ve seen it and we’re so solid in coverage.
After watching us play in a game my only real concern is the right side of the OL. I have faith Mudd’s unit will look better given another few weeks to play together.
When we have Jackson and (I hope) Maclin back we’re going to be off the hook on both sides of the ball.
Stay healthy Birds!
No love for Asomugha’s old school haircut in here ?
Anyway, guys who disappointed me:
– R.Harris: Not the feet I was expecting
– A.Howard: Kruger abused him
– E. Mathis: PFF overhyped him
Guys I liked:
– Tapp did look outstanding
– Kelce, as I watched him a lot, did look really good. Incredibly quick (he was getting to the 2nd level so quickly) but yet wasn’t pushed around
– D.Lewis ran hard, showed some vision&cuts, and even threw some good pass blocks
– J.Page looked really athletic (more then when he was a Chiefs when I watched them) and active, didn’t see enough of him on ST, but I could see him take C.Anderson’s job
It’s next to impossible to infer anything from this game about the performance of the defense over the long run.
Remember last year, in the first preseason game, when the defense completely stifled the Jaguars on the first few drives? The Jags were missing two starters on the offensive line and the Eagles D-Line feasted on them. Of course, based on that performance you would have thought the Eagles were destined to have a great pass rush, and subsequently, defense in the regular season as well.
The Ravens were similarly missing two starters on the offensive line and the Eagles D-Line probably looked better than it actually is.
@ ubrab
I love Asomugha’s haircut! Nice to have some old school swag on this team.
RE: Kafka
I can’t wait until Kafka becomes a 2nd round pick for us. Too bad we have VY at back-up, because I can envision Vick sitting a couple games and Kafka throwing for 300 yards or so and becoming the hot new name.
An observation from last night: That new kickoff rules sucks big time! It really eliminates a whole facet of the game and makes it really boring. Kickoff returns are exciting due to the anticipation of your guy possibly breaking a big one. That excitement is totally eliminated with this new rule. Horrible rule change for fans.
Two guys I don’t see a lot of discussion regarding:
Teo seemed to have a nice game. A young, home-grown success on the line would be nice, looking ahead a few years. If him and Graham could both work out, we will be set.
Chad Hall just made that decision that everyone had already penciled in a little more complicated.
As much as it makes you wish you had kept a guy around when you see guys go on to succeed on another team, having more than 53 good, NFL-worthy players around is a good problem to have.
Not bad for a scrimmage, which is exsactly what this looked like and was.
Vick looked quite poised and masterful in the pocket and controlled when scrambling.
Young looked like an NHL quarterback. It’s amazing no one wanted to make him thier starter, given how scarce that position is. I imagine he’ll get paid a lot of money next year by someone, probably the Vikings when the DMac era is over in that town.
The DL looked exactly like I have always wanted them to look, slippery rather than sticky.
Did they complete a pass to a WR against our 1st team? I don’t remember seeing a single one.
Excited about next week to see what carries over.
@ ubrab
I’m holding out for a Kid-and-Play-style hightop fade before I start handing out the praise.
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@Morton
While this certainly does not secure us home field advantage throughout the playoffs, if the worse you can say about our performance is that it is not guaranteed to continue, we did well. I wonder if you would have been quite so dismissive of the results had we looked inferior.
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@Cliff
I don’t know. Last night I was wondering if Kafka is the guy whose development keep tightly reined and time it out to be ready when Vick starts to fade, ala Aaron Rodgers. He really looked to have all the tools last night.
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@begatts
Unfortunately, I think that was the goal. The league decided that kickoffs are too dangerous to be a regular part of play. I liked the idea when they discussed moving touchbacks up to the 25 to balance it out a bit; let the kickers choose to blast it out of the endzone or choose to loft it down to the 5-yard line and have coverage waiting to pin the returner deep. I thought it changed the equation just enough to make the strategy interesting. Instead, a piece of the game was eliminated. For better or worse, the league choose safety over excitement.
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@ATG
Hey, you mind not trying to dominate the conversation so much? There are lots of readers here, let them get a few comments in.
@ Dan
I don’t know, Vick looked good passing, but his stick work and checking still need work to make it in the NHL.
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@ ATG
How you like me now?
Damn. I meant Young. I hate when a typo interferes with a joke. It is like dropping your keys in lava… it is gone and you don’t get another chance.
I have no idea what Morton is even an Eagles fan…
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Anyway, Pretty fun game to watch, especially once you muted the channel. I came away pretty impressed with Landri. He was getting penetration play after play. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Trevor Laws is in serious trouble.
Did Dixon play at all?
@Kevin,
i can absolutely believe that Trevor Laws is in trouble.
he has been on the outside looking in for a while. the new scheme was supposed to resurrect him and turn him into at the very least a solid backup and spot starter. instead, he has disappeared. i think he is injured…thats not the way you want to start off the season with a new scheme…
@ATG
Very good point on Morton, but it also shows that it’s the preseason and he’s not in mid-season form either. He didn’t even complain about Reid blowing a timeout and challenge in the first quarter
And I completely agree on kickoffs though I think I read that the Jags had a 85 yard one
I don’t see why a lot of people hate so much on Chad Hall, he’s not an amazing player but he’s certainly not as bad as some say, he does a ´good job getting open and make catches, he did the same against Dallas last year. I think some of the hate is because of the ways he has been used, running back etc.
@ATG
Deep thoughts reference. Nice.
@ Tommy
I’m trying to wait til you write your full-analysis before asking a ton of questions, as I know you’ll answer 95% of them. One thought I had in watching the game… I remember you saying way back when to watch the OL & DL in preseason, as you can learn the most about them. So I did, especially given the Mudd/ Washburn intrigue. Obviously, we all saw the DL dominate and the right side of the OL get punked. But what can you tell us about Baltimore’s OL & DL? I know their DL is pretty damn good. Can we aftribute some of the OL’s mistakes to that? And is the DL that good, or is Baltimore’s OL that bad? Just something I’d be interested in seeing addressed in any future posts…
It was also interesting to see the offense showing some new stuff, vanilla as it was. The balanced 2 TE formation hasn’t gotten a lot of use over the past few seasons, and it was almost a base formation in yesterday’s game. It was good to see them getting some production running simple zones and outside sweeps, especially from Dion Lewis.
The other obvious one is the sprint draw, which seemed like it was being much better executed (and had a greater chance of actually gaining some yards) than the typical Eagles draw from the past, which usually was little more than a “get 2-3 yards and punt in long yardage” kind of play.
I’d Tommy to continue the discussion of special teams – guys like Colt Anderson
I think I counted around 55 kicks returned (kickoff/punt returns) in all 5 games yesterday. So that would be a total of about 5 returns per team per game.
The Eagles faced 1 return….do you still feel it’s as important to have special teams aces? I’m really on the fence. If Sean Morey, or Ike Reese were still playing, I’d bet you they too are worried about this rule change….as I think Colt Anderson should be.
I agree with begatts, the new kickoff is lame.
I’m not surprised Young played so well. He’s an NFL starting qb. He’s enrolled in the Andy Reid “QB Reputation Repair” program. He’s got a one year deal with the Eagles and then wants to get back to being a starter. I’ll bet he’s highly motivated.
Glad that Cooper and Celek looked good. Maclin is in St. Louis, apparently seeing more docs about his mystery illness. If he’s out, for however long, Riley and Brent are going to have to step up.
Apparently I am in the minority here… but I like the new kickoff rules. In my opinion kickoffs weren’t all that exciting to begin with… and when compared to the number of injuries that occurred during the play… well it just doesn’t make that much sense to have it as a regular part of the game.
I think Jerrod Page made the beginning of a case for being the veteran safety on this team.
“I told him to get open and I’ll find him,” Vick said of Celek. “I went back and looked at film by myself in the offseason and a majority of the time last year Brent was open and I failed to throw to him because I was focused on DeSean and Jeremy.”
Interesting! Maybe Celeks reduced catches was in large part down to Vick.
@Davesbeard
Brian Solomon (aka McNabb or Kolb) wrote an article about this awhile back. Vick just wasn’t very focused on the center of the field.
I only care about the new kickoffs in the context of the NFL’s broadcasting. Commercials, kickoff, commercials were always my least favorite part of football. Now, make it commercials, certain touchback, commercials, and suddenly you have even less intrigue in significant chunks of time. If by some miracle, the new rules would force changes in commercial breaks/ broadcasting, then I would love them.
I was excited by the pressure the D-Line was getting as well. It looks great. I’d love for it to continue to throughout the regular season.
You just have to remember, however, that last year we saw the *exact* same thing in the first preseason game – the D-Line destroyed David Garrard and his offensive line. Did that mean that the D-Line was going to be good throughout the season? No; they were mostly average in the regular season last year.
So you have to temper your enthusiasm until we see them repeat that kind of performance in the regular season against a good O-Line, over the course of 4 quarters.
I’m pretty sure Morton is Rachel Dratch reprising her Debbie Downer role from Saturday Night Live.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/debbie-downer/32806/
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I saw everything I wanted to see last night. First team offense looked good, defense got a ton of pressure and held them to 6 points, Henery nailed all his kicks, and nobody got hurt.
Nothing to be unhappy about
I’m doing some traveling today. Couldn’t be helped. I’ve already re-watched the game. Just have to polish up the notes a bit and get them posted. Will do ASAP. Just not sure how quick that will be.
@ATG
Homegrown DL talent like Dixon, Patterson, Cole or Bunkley?
Not sure what you were saying there. I think DL is the one place the Eagles grow good talent.
@ ATG
In regards to Kafka… I think that’s an interesting outlook on developing him slowly, but if a guy’s ready, he’s ready. Right? Can you really rein that in? I’d be a little put off if Kafka developed the skills and wasn’t chomping at the big to play, a la Kolb.
@Tommy, take your time with the writeup. we all love reading what you have to say, but i dont think anybody here is going to whine about you taking too long.
by the way, you should get some ads that get you some money on this website. days like today, i’m checking here every 30 minutes or so to see if you have posted the update yet lol
*Can Chad Hall return kick offs and punts? Because if he can he might beat out JLH for a roster spot.
*Not so sure if I would cut Donald Lee.
*Phillip Hunt played well. If he keeps this up we might have to cut/trade a player we drafted in the 3rd round for the 9th time.
@ Your Mom
I agree that Donald Lee really showed up in this game. definitely a big surprise.
As most of you have stated, there is not a whole lot you can take from pre-season games. But it was absolutely glorious to be watching football–EAGLES football–and we were blessed with no big injuries.
I was really pleased with the amount of pressure generated by the DLine. McDermott so often had to rely on creative scheming and blitzing to generate pressure, and that clearly won’t be a problem this year. Whether it be a deficiency in Baltimore’s blocking, Washburn’s coaching, or just a year of development from our DLinemen… they were just lining up and getting after it.
And a huge benefit of the “wide 9” seems to be that the Ends fire up the field and force the QB to step back up into the pocket, often. Almost all of the sacks last night were backside pressure. That is a recipe for turnovers; QBs hate stepping up into the trash and trying to complete throws in a cramped pocket. It leads to a lot of strips, and a lot of forced passes over the middle. If our DL gets that kind of pressure during the regular season, its going to be a turnover feast.
I watched the game live, and have not yet been able to re-watch it on the DVR… but, unless I’m mistaken, it looked like the Eagles lined up with 4 ‘backers and 4 down linemen on a couple of defensive snaps.
I didn’t peg Castillo for the real creative scheming type, but perhaps the ability of our cover corners will allow some flexibility with how we use our fronts.
Think the point about Vick not seeing the middle of the field goes deeper, one impact of McNabb was to take a lot of the WCO playbook out of play. There are few 2 foot WRs with 4.5 speed to run slants available in the draft every year (cue worm jokes).
If Vick stops looking for the big play, and MM puts the WCO basics back into the gameplan, we could see a very different offense, guys like Avant, Cooper, Smith and Hall can make their living in the 20 yard zone, but they need a QB who can make a quick decision, getting the ball to them off their cuts and hitting them in stride so they can get YAC.
It’s nice to have speed to force the safties deep, but a precision intermediate passing game keeps the LBs and safeties on their heels, and opens up the running game. Brady made a lot of money throwing 1o yards downfield to Patten, Brown, Branch and a plethora of TEs, now he’s throwing to Welker, Branch, Hernandez and Pettigrew.
This also fits Mudd’s blocking scheme where his guys fire out to create a comfortable pocket that allows the QB to move around to find a passing lane – but the downside is they’re not the big earthmovers that can hold a pocket 5-6 seconds against a mediocre rush. The idea now is to get rid of the ball in 3 seconds, something Vick did very well at last night.
Opps, Gronkowski, is there an edit function around here?
Point remains the same, in a balanced offense with quick, sure handed receivers and TEs who can get open, the deep threats become the icing on the cake.
I wasn’t sure about Tapp but he looked good. He looks slimmer than last year. Our whole Dline looked good. Ravens really need a new RT, he was absolutely terrible.
Austin Howard didn’t really look that great. I think against good competition he really struggles. I would not feel comfortable with him starting a real game this year. I really hope Harris starts playing well. RT still is the only spot I worry about
R Brown looks like the prefect compliment to shady.Dione Lewis looked like he has some potential. I would like to see him with the 2’s
is it just me or does R Cooper remind you of Tim Riggins?
Tupou is probably out for two months, which means he can’t answer his critics to win some sort of job. One less option at RT.
@CVD…reminds me of “Sunshine”..apt name for him!!
@austinfan
Great post.
per pff
Against the Ravens jumbo package of two TE, two RBs and a single receiver, CB Nnamdi Asomugha was charged with playing press coverage against LWR Anquan Boldin. Safeties Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen came into the box making almost a 5 linebacker look and CB Asante Samuel was deployed deep as a single high safety. When Boldin lined up at RWR instead, the situation was reversed. Samuel manned up in off coverage with Asomugha the single high safety.
@ Dewey
Yeah, I guess I was a little vague. I was thinking of DE where we have had some bad luck pairing someone with Cole. And, unfortunately we are going to be looking to start preping Cole’s replacement in the next couple of years.
@ Cliff
I was thinking “reining him in” in terms of not having him as the #2, therefore limiting his game time and the interest from other teams. If we think he is the guy in 3 years or so, Andy might try to keep him under wraps so he doesn’t look to follow Kolb’s path next year.
@CVD
I actully like that idea alot when you think about it. At the single high safety a guy like Asante can read the QB much easier without having to take care of a reciever by him self. Also the last int against Peyton came when Asante was playing safety. Also with both safeties down against the jumbo package, it should be tougher to both run and pass to the TEs.
@ Anders & CVD
I wonder if this helps to decode some of Juan’s hints as to his style. This arrangement is creative without being tricky for the sake of confusion. It puts everyone in a role that plays to their strengths, and asks them to do their job better than their opponent does his.
I like the concept too, as well as the philosophy that it might hint at.
[…] Tommy Lawlor focused on Matthews and saw something he liked. […]
[…] Tommy Lawlor focused on Matthews and saw something he liked. […]
In case you missed it…
I’m just glad he didn’t go to Dallas
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8216ddc5/David-Akers-59-yard-field-goal?continuous=true
While it was great to see the dline play great. Morton does have a point. It doesn’t mean all our problems from last year are solved. The ravens tackle opposite M Oher played about as bad as you can play, everyone was beating him.
But the fact that we have Wash makes me confident about our dline. Even if we didn’t get babin and Jenkins, I would be confident. But this preseason game doesn’t make it a done deal, just makes you feel pretty good about it.
The one thing I love about the Washburn style is it will give us some swagger. We didn’t have much swagger last year and I think you need that for you defense. I think it will make our dline more confident and they will be having more fun.
@CVD
That last paragraph is a terrific point. I hadn’t considered that aspect, but between the exuberance of youth, Asante’s mouth and Washburn’s system, we should have no shortage of swagger.