What happened?
Aside from the noise about Michael Vick's debut, the Eagles looked decidedly average against the Jaguars last night, with their backups pulling out a last second win.
The Good:
Jason Avant caught five passes in the first half for 92 yards.
Donovan McNabb was decent, completing 21 of 36 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an interception, and was charged with a fumble.
Despite the score, the first team defense looked very sharp last night. Asante Samuel was on top of things all night, making several nice tackles and grabbing an interception. He looked like he might be developing into that leader the Eagles need on defense.
Kevin Kolb honestly didn't look bad. He completed ten of 18 passes for just over 100 yards and a touchdown, and moved the Eagles down the field for the game winning field goal. Of course, he also got called for intentional grounding in the end zone on his first play, but what are you going to do?
There were no serious injuries.
The Bad:
The running game was nonexistant. LeSean McCoy led the team with 31 yards on 11 carries.
The Eagles committed eight penalties.
They also turned the ball over three times, and had a safety called against them.
The Ugly:
One of those turnovers was a 92 yard fumble return on a backwards pass from McNabb to McCoy in the second quarter.
Did I mention the running game already?
The Breakdown:
You'll notice that I didn't mention Michael Vick at all, aside from the opening statement. That's because I wasn't disappointed, or too thrilled, with his debut last night. The crowd gave him a nice hand, and he didn't look bad, but something seemed a bit off about switching quarterbacks like that. Andy's always been a coach that likes to be "cute" on the field, and I think that's what Vick is for him. It's a chance for him to be even more cute on offense. The only problem is that is can break up a good rhythm on a drive, and Vick doesn't know the system that well yet. That much was obvious last night. He still doesn't fully have his sea legs back yet, and it's understandable. More knowledge will come in time, and I'm sure Andy's got all kinds of fun plays drawn up...but I need the offense to look better before it gets cute.
There were a few glaring problems last night that I saw. The first one was the lack of a running game. LeSean McCoy just couldn't get anything going and looked off all night. If your leading runner only picks up 31 yards, then he's not cutting it. The running game should always either set up or compliment the passing game, and without it, defenses can pin their ears back and go after the quarterback. It was the same problem the Eagles had last season at times, and it looked like the same old story last night.
The other issue stems directly from the lack of a running game, and that's Andy's inability to call something other than a pass from inside the ten yard line. The Eagles had this problem last year, too. Their offense is great when they have a lot of room to work with, but once the field gets crunched down, it doesn't work so well. This is why they need a good running game, or at least someone to keep the defense honest. The first team got two shots inside the ten in the first half, and didn't run the ball once. The first time ended with a horrid looking backwards pass from McNabb to McCoy that Jacksonville returned for a touchdown. I'm not blaming McNabb for that, as far as I'm concerned, McCoy should have either caught that ball or fallen on it, just to be safe. You have to play until the whistle, kid. The second time, McNabb threw three straight passes, and the Eagles had to settle for a David Akers field goal. Yes, there was little time on the clock, but a single run couldn't have hurt. It would have been something to keep the defense honest.
At least the first team defense looked better last night. Asante Samuel was all over the field, and looked like the guy that could take charge of this defense this season. He knocked out a Jacksonville receiver at the one yard line, but Torry Holt picked up the fumble and scored. It was a great hit, but again, Asante needed to finish that play. Don't celebrate the hit until you grab the ball. He made up for it with an interception later in the first half, and overall the defense was impressive. They kept Maurice Jones-Drew under wraps for most of the first half, and had David Garrard under pressure with several nice looking blitzes. If you were just looking at the stats, you would have thought the Eagles had won in a blowout, but mistakes by the offense kept the game close.
Luckily, it's still just preseason, and these things can be worked out. However, there's only one game left before they count, and if the Eagles make these same mistakes against Carolina, then there's going to be some issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment