There were flashes of Eagles team brilliance…but overall a rather inconclusive mess of conflicting evidence…this team is far from a finished product.
But what more can you realistically expect from any NFL team right now after only two weeks of practice—with few if any full-contact scrimmages?
“It was the first preseason game and we were all a little rusty,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “But that’s what preseason is for, to work through the rust. The one thing I really liked was our enthusiasm. Everyone played with a lot of heart and a lot of hustle.”
I’ll give them that.
The Ravens were rusty too, and it showed…for the most part, their tackling was terrible… and the Eagles’ tackling and overall blocking efforts were just a little bit better.
The Ravens drew first blood by taking the opening kickoff to the Eagles’ 35, aided by their TE candidate Dennis Pitta’s scorching Eagles safety Kurt Coleman for a big 27-yard reception… then sending Billy Cundiff in to kick a 53-yard field goal.
But it could have been worse, as Darryl Tapp, a rotational defensive end who is working his way into perhaps more playing time this season, made one of the key stops in that series, combining with Derek Landri to take down RB Ray Rice for a 6-yard loss on first down.
Tapp later came through with a sack of backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor as he enjoyed a productive night along a defensive line that showed promise despite the absence of Mike Patterson (brain AVM) and emerging backup Trevor Laws (hip flexor).
Tapp finished with three tackles and two sacks.
The Ravens had just 107 yards and six first downs at the half, and were 1-for-6 on third down.
Mike Vick led the Eagles on a touchdown drive in his first and only series, completing four of six passes for 74 yards, including a 3-yard TD strike to tight end Brent Celek that finished off the 80-yard march.
From there, the Eagles defense took over, allowing just 62 yards the rest of the half and forcing the game’s first turnover when rookie safety Jaiquawn Jarrett intercepted a pass early in the second quarter.
Before that, veteran defensive end Trent Cole punctuated a first-quarter stop with a third-down sack with the help of blanket coverage by the secondary.
“Just do what I always do,” Cole said. “Go out there, make plays. It was a lot of effort put in by a lot of guys on the D-line. There was a lot of guys that got back there with me. A lot of guys pressured that guy to move like that. That’s what we want, a lot of pressure back there. Whoever makes the play, makes the play. It’s a team effort.”
What Cole appreciated most of all was just getting to hit somebody in another uniform for the first time in more than seven months.
“It feels pretty good [to get back on the field],” Cole said. “This is our chance to really get all the new guys acquainted and get everybody on the same page — you know, just get us going and see what we got. It’s looking good right now.”
And that was pretty much the end of the day for the 1st team starters and rotational candidates…Reid failed to stick to his original plan and pulled most of his starters long before the first quarter was over…His first team squelched its Ravens counterpart 7-3, and the backups extended the lead to 10-3 with the help of a creative drive engineered by backup quarterback Vince Young.
Young also didn’t get much exposure in this contest — going 3-for-5 for 45 yards before giving way to Mike Kafka, who was mostly crisp and efficient with the exception of an ill-advised try for the end zone near the end of the first half that was picked off by Bernard Pollard at the 10 and returned to midfield.
Still, that failed to change the momentum for the Ravens, who gave up six sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Kafka completed 13 of 19 passes for 132 yards.
Jerrod Johnson, an undrafted rookie, appeared midway through the fourth quarter and completed 2-of-2 passes for 2 yards.
Although the Eagles averaged just 3.0 yards on their 30 running plays, they made the most of them by being able to convert a key number of third downs in short yardage situations.
The game ended, fittingly enough, with a red-zone stop by the Eagles in which Tyrod Taylor was pressured into two incompletions.
Although the Ravens managed 313 yards, they converted just three of 12 third downs and were denied the end zone all night.
The good things: (1.) WR’s Jason Avant, Riley Cooper and Chad Hall all played well in place of Jackson and Maclin. (2.) Tapp had a tackle for a loss and two sacks in the first half. (3.) Alex Henery made two field goals in as many attempts.
The bad things: (1.) The starting defense gave up two big plays on the first series before stiffening. (2.) The Eagles’ running game was ineffective for most of the game. (3.) Backup left tackle Austin Howard got beaten badly for a sack by Paul Kruger…I mean embarrassingly beaten…(4.) Not real happy with Chas Henry’s punting, which seemed to lack hang-time and distance for the most part…
The new guys: (1.) Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha only played one series and didn’t have any passes thrown in his direction. (2.) Tight end Donald Lee caught three passes for 31 yards. (3.) Rookie running back Dion Lewis was the Eagles’ leading rusher with 26 yards on 10 carries. (4.) Jaiquawn Jarrett (who played his college football at Lincoln Financial Field with Temple) made himself at home again with an interception and 20-yard return in the second quarter. (5.) Backup defensive end Philip Hunt nailed Ravens quarterback Tyrod Taylor for a sack in the fourth quarter. It was the Eagles’ sixth sack of the game.
Bumps and bruises: Tackles King Dunlap and Fenuki Tupou both left the game in the fourth quarter with knee injuries.
Vick, running back LeSean McCoy and several other offensive starters were benched after just one series. So were cornerbacks Asomugha and Asante Samuel.
In summary, it was about what I expected to see in the first preseason game… certainly nothing to write home about, but a great opportunity for the 2’s and 3’s on the team to step up and show why they should have a job in the NFL…if not for the Eagles in 2011, then another team who might be impressed by their performance on tape.
I certainly did not enjoy Kruger’s sack of Vince Young. That was the result of a total breakdown in blocking assignment by 2nd-team LT Austin Howard.
Kruger’s sack was scary good for them, bad for us. Blew Austin Howard up. But almost as bad, Arthur Jones getting into the backfield and stopping Lesean McCoy was another annoying play. No, he didn’t get the tackle, but he was a DE running at a factor back. He stopped him dead long enough for the rest of the Ravens D to catch up. That kind of thing is troubling to me… Stuff like that cannot happen in the regular season…so I sure hate to see it now…but that’s the preseason game kind of incident which the coaches can use as a teaching device tomorrow in the film room.
And the Ravens were lousy in some areas, too… No continuity on offensive line. Poor route running by WR’S… Some pieces on defense looked solid with pressures and penetration…. but terrible tackling technique was a big factor. They could have had 4 or 5 more tackles for losses. Overall, yep… a preseason opener….
The Eagles are off today, then resume training camp at Lehigh University on Saturday. They are scheduled to hold a practice at 8:05 a.m. and a walk-through at 2 p.m.
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