What happened?
Green Bay jumped out to a 27-10 lead, and Kevin Kolb got knocked out of the game with a concussion. Michael Vick tried to lead the Eagles back, but was stopped on a fourth and one try from midfield, and the Eagles lost their first game of the season.
The Good:
Michael Vick was forced to play in place of an injured Kevin Kolb, and did quite well. He finished the game going 16/24 for 175 yards and a touchdown through the air, and he ran for 103 yards as well.
The defense got pressure on Aaron Rodgers, sacking him three times and forcing two interceptions.
The Bad:
LeSean McCoy had an ok game, but it wasn't close to enough. He rushed for 35 yards on seven carries and caught five passes for 47 yards.
DeSean Jackson was held in check until the third quarter. He caught just four passes for 30 yards.
Kevin Kolb made his first real start in place of Donovan McNabb and looked nervous, and it showed. He completed five of ten passes for 24 yards before leaving the game with a concussion.
Jason Avant was the leading wideout, and he caught four passes for 41 yards.
The offensive line didn't give Kolb or Vick much time in the backfield, allowing five sacks.
The Ugly:
Aside from Michael Vick, the Eagles had a grand total of 47 rushing yards.
The Eagles were called for ten penalties, costing them 80 yards.
The kickoff return team was horrible in the second half. Jordy Nelson averaged over 31 yards per return, including a 51 yarder after the Eagles scored in the second half.
The fourth and one play to end the game for the Eagles was horrible. Who calls a quarterback draw out of the shotgun? Everyone knew the draw was coming, you might as well run it under center.
Injuries, lots of injuries. Leonard Weaver is out for the season with a torn ACL, Jamaal Jackson might be joining him with a torn triceps, and Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley both left the game at the half with concussions.
The Breakdown:
Well, this was not how Eagles fans anticipated the Kevin Kolb era would begin in Philadelphia. After a summer of waiting, Kolb came out...and was mediocre, at best. He completed his first pass of the game, but after that, it was all downhill from there. His second pass was incomplete, and then he was sacked on the third offensive play of the game. After that, it was more of the same problems that the Eagles had in the preseason. The offense still couldn't get anything going with Kolb in at quarterback, and the offensive line was horribly average. Kolb was running for his life while he was in there, and Clay Matthews was a machine out there for the Packers. Just like last season, the Eagles had problems with the 3-4 defense, and Matthews took advantage of it.
With the passing game not working, the running game needed to step up, but they never had the chance. Andy Reid didn't call many running plays when Kolb was in the game, electing instead to call wildcat plays with Michael Vick rather than giving LeSean McCoy a chance to establish himself. McCoy is the starting running back this season, and he needs to touch the football. Having your starting running back get just seven carries is not enough. That has to change. McCoy needs to get more carries. I don't care what the gameplan is. This is a very different team than last year, and they need to have a running game that can bail out their quarterback.
I want to be able to say more than a few bad things about Michael Vick, but I can't do it. After Kevin Kolb left the game, Vick looked more like the 2005 and 2006 version of himself than the player that was out there for the Eagles last year. He completed more passes today than he did all of last season, and rushed for 100 yards for the first time since the 2006 season. It was Vick's ability to make plays that allowed the Eagles to get back in the game, though he did make one big mistake in the fourth quarter. Following Nate Allen's first career interception, the Eagles were facing a third down and goal down 27-17. Vick slipped while avoiding the pass rush, and while he had receivers open at points during the play, when he rolled out, he also had a clear path to the end zone. Instead of running for what could have been a touchdown, Vick passed into coverage, and the play ended with a tipped pass. David Akers kicked an easy field goal, but it felt like more of the same from the preseason. Vick should have run for the touchdown on the play, I'm not sure why he decided to pass. Regardless, you can't go back now.
Even though the defense gave up 27 points, the blame doesn't completely fall on them. They allowed just three points against one of the best offenses in football for most of the first half, giving up ten quick points at the end of the second quarter. In the second half, the kick return unit couldn't stop Jordy Nelson, and the Packers were able to take advantage, scoring once following a 51 yard return. When the defense is playing in front of only half of a field, normally things aren't going to end well. Even if the Packers didn't score on the drives that they had, they were able to pin the Eagles back and keep them from starting their drives in good field position. I'll give the Eagles credit, they did get pressure on Aaron Rodgers throughout the game, even though they were only able to sack him three times. Brandon Graham had a chance on a couple of plays to bring Rodgers down, but he couldn't finish the play. That will come in time, but it was good to see the rookie getting into the backfield in his first game.
Then, there's the play calling at the end of the game. Why the Eagles would call a quarterback draw out of the shotgun on a fourth down and one play is beyond me. The Packers knew that the play would likely go to Michael Vick, so why not start him under center, rather than a few yards behind him? It doesn't make any sense, and feels almost typical of the Andy Reid era. Vick was also able to get more yards around the corner, so why not fake up the middle and run outside? Of course, none of this matters now, and second guessing is always fun, but it's not going to change things. It would have been nice to see things like this, but it's no sure thing that the end result would have changed.
Oh, but the injuries. So many injuries. Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley left the game with concussions after both coming back into the game at first, and those were the easy ones. Leonard Weaver, the Pro Bowl fullback for the Eagles, is going to be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, and Jamaal Jackson is more than likely out for the season with a torn triceps. The Eagles struggled last season when Jackson was knocked out with a torn ACL, and the offensive line looked just like they did at the end of last season when he left the game. It's going to be tough to replace Jackson two years in a row. As for Weaver, the Eagles just lost their best fullback in the last decade and a half. Weaver was great last season, and losing him hurts even more than losing Jackson. The Eagles don't have another fullback on the roster right now, so they're going to have to go out and find one, which means we're looking at Dan Klecko or someone similar once again. It's going to take a lot of the bite out of the offense.
Even with all of this going down today, it's still just the first week of the season. Anything can happen. Yes, Kevin Kolb looked bad today, and the offense didn't look good at all, save for most of what Michael Vick did out there. There's no guarantee that Kolb is going to be able to start next week, so Vick might get the call to go against the Lions. If Vick does get a chance to play a full game for the first time since he played with the Falcons, it'll be interesting to see what happens once Kolb does get back. There's no quarterback controversy now, but if Vick can keep up what he started today, things might get a little dicey. Andy Reid can say what he wants to say, but he's going to half to see what player is getting him results. It's too early to say anything else, though.
Next week, it's hopefully bounce back time for the Eagles. They play the Detroit Lions in their home opener. We'll find out who the starter is going to be later on this week.
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