Clay Matthews ( LB, 6-3, 240, USC, 2nd year) killed the Eagles last night…
Green Bay clobbered the Eagles 27-20 Sunday night…and it wasn’t nearly that close as it sounds…
With all the game-planning and scouting reports I gave you last week, I forgot to account for this madman on defense… Clay Matthews…
Clay made us look silly at times, and virtually knocked QB Kevin Kolb out of the game, if not the NFL…
For what it’s worth, Michael Vick replaced Kolb after Matthews concussed Kolb into the turf on a clean tackle from behind… Vick went on to “almost” lead the Eagles to a comeback tie in regulation with 278 yards combined passing and rushing offense…
But truth be told, Matthews and his fellow LB corps made the “comeback” a mere pipedream…
Too bad Eagles HC Andy Reid burned all his timeouts in the final five minutes of the 4th, or this might have turned out to be a different story…also too bad Mike Vick didn’t tuck it in and scramble for the goal line instead of trying to force a pass on the run to DeSean Jackson with about 5:11 to go…
But that’s the way it goes when you’re shocked into reality on offense by a guy (Matthews) who was supposedly “hobbled” by a hamstring injury…
We bought into that fiction…and the Pack and Matthews played us like a fiddle.
If I never see another twist move by the allegedly “hobbled” Matthews into our backfield, with his long blonde locks flowing just to annoy us further, it will be too soon.
But all that is pure conjecture.
The Eagles got hammered…Oh sure, the young and speedy “Boy Dogs” Eagles defense looked terrific at times, and stymied QB Aaron Rogers more than he’s used to being frustrated in an NFC contest…but the Birds just couldn’t close the deal on offense.
What really sucked was the complete annihilation of the Eagles offensive game plan by the Packers’ defensive coordinator in the first half. Kolb was completely mystified out there in the first half…I’m not sure if he even generated 25 yards of total offense! Sadly, with his parents and family at the game, he was finally buried into the turf by Matthews—and, but for a quick 3-and-out, never came back.
Also injured in the first half were center Jamaal Jackson (right elbow), MLB Stewart Bradley (concussion), and FB Leonard Weaver (sprained knee…looks bad, possibly 8-12 weeks)… Kolb at the minimum suffered a concussion and a bruised jawbone…but I won’t count him out just yet from coming back next week at Detroit.
Mike Vick showed signs of his old Atlanta greatness…but as you and I know, that “greatness” includes badly-aimed throws and stupid decisions…all of which combined to downgrade his comeback attempt in the second half.
It was almost good enough… but Vick came up short on a 4th-and-1 with about 2 minutes to go…and no timeouts left…and that was the ball game…
Pack quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a pair of touchdown passes and two interceptions, while Mason Crosby kicked a franchise-record 56-yard field goal. That 56-yarder before the half really hurt the Eagles’ confidence, in my opinion…
Oh, the Packers took a physical beating, too… running back Ryan Grant was in a boot on the sidelines after injuring his foot, while Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins suffered bruised ribs. Cullen Jenkins had a cast on his forearm, while fellow defensive lineman Justin Harrell was out with a knee injury early in the game.
Rodgers connected with Greg Jennings on a 32-yard TD pass to give the Packers a 27-10 lead late in the third. But Vick brought the Eagles back.
On third-and-goal from the 17, Vick fired a TD pass to Jeremy Maclin to cut it to 27-17.
Then the Eagles got a big play from rookie safety Nate Allen, who intercepted a poorly thrown pass by Rodgers and returned it to midfield.
A 24-yard field goal by David Akers cut it to 27-20.
But that, as it turned out, was all she wrote.
What do I take from this outcome? Well, for one, it was a rainy and wet day at the Linc…crazy stuff happens when the ball is wet. Also, it was the opening game of the season, when both teams suffer a lack of game-planning information…Not making excuses, but the Eagles at times looked fantastic on defense until Bradley got hurt and left the game…then the linebacking crew became somewhat exposed, giving up big gains to Jennings and Finley,with the finality being the burning of the Eagles secondary for a TD by veteran WR Donald Driver. I thought we had ’em just where we wanted at the end…the Packers were gassed on defense and in desperate need of oxygen and Red Bull… but Vick just couldn’t seal the deal.
Clearly there is now a QB controversy in Philly…but in my mind, Kolb deserves another shot, as long as his concussion poses no serious long-term effects…which is a nice way of saying, Vick is not the long-term answer…Although Mike looked great at times and is in superior football shape compared to last year, he is simply not the QB you want to build an NFL winning offense around…he is too indecisive and makes insane throwing decisions when he should run, and vice-versa…Not that Kolb made great decisions in the pocket either before he got knocked out…and trust me, his pass-protection was better than it looked…but Kolb still gives the Birds a better chance to score, based upon his upside for learning to react more quickly to pressure situations. Kolb definitely lacks Vick’s escapability under pressure…but Kolb still has a better ability to read the pressure before it gets to the pocket….He just needs real-time game experience to develop it and prove it, and perhaps a deeper drop-back strategy would help. Until then, Kolb should get used to the boo’s from Philly fans who want Vick at QB…or McNabb back! This game portends a nasty transition for Philadelphia Eagles fans everywhere, we who have become used to 11-5 playoff seasons…
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