After a week of joint practices in Foxborough, MA, the Philadelphia Eagles took on the New England Patriots Friday night in week two of the preseason. The Eagles would go on to lose 42-35, but the second team offense and defense were the focus of the game.
Lets start on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Nick Foles and the first team offense played much better this week without Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper as they got their feet under them. In Friday night’s game, Foles was efficient, passing for 81 yards and a touchdown. He would also have zero interceptions and completed 8 out of 10 passes.
Foles would leave the game at the midway point of the second quarter as Chip Kelly saw enough from him. Then, quarterback Mark Sanchez would come in and pick up where he left off last week against the Chicago Bears. Sanchez led a quick touchdown drive as he found wide receiver Damaris Johnson out of the backfield for a five yard touchdown. Despite Sanchez’s two touchdowns, he did have an interception.
Sanchez threw the interception to begin the second half as he tried to fit the ball into tight end James Casey amongst double coverage. Other than that, it was a productive night for the Sanchize. Finally, if anybody thought there was a competition between Sanchez and Matt Barkley, Sanchez is putting distance between them.
Another player that stood out after LeSean McCoy came out of the game was running back Henry Josey, the undrafted free agent out of Missouri. Josey and McCoy were the only two running backs active for Friday night’s game as Chris Polk, Matthew Tucker, and David Fluellen did not play. Without those two backs playing, Josey definitely put his name in consideration for the fourth running back job.
Josey did a great job running and catching the ball out of the backfield and in pass protection. He also had a nice 27 yard catch and run on the halfback screen for a touchdown. Finally, he would finish the game with eight carries for 56 rushing yards and one reception for 27 yards. Expect Henry Josey to get more playing time in the final two preseason games.
Lastly on the offensive side, wide receivers Jordan Matthews and Arrelious Benn played solid on Friday night. Benn did not make a huge impact like Matthews but did the small things. He had one catch in Friday night’s game for six yards and a touchdown. His touchdown would come by the ball bouncing out of Ifeyani Momah’s hands and Benn being at the right place at the right time.
Benn did the little things in the game especially on special teams involving kick coverage, one surefire way to make a NFL roster. Finally, lets not forget Matthews or Baby T.O. because of his skills on the field. After a shaky first game, Matthews looked much better. He became Sanchez’s safety valve and favorite target.
In Friday night’s game, Matthews had nine catches for 104 receiving yards. If Maclin and Cooper are both ready to play in next Thursday’s game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, expect to see a lot of Matthews in the slot.
On the defense, there was one player that stood out for the wrong reasons and that was cornerback Curtis Marsh. Marsh had a bad game and continued to get turned around by Patriots wide receivers. Now, a reason why Marsh got so much playing time was because Cary Williams left the game immediately with a hamstring injury after taking a Tom Brady interception 76 yards for a touchdown. Also not playing was corners Nolan Carroll and Jaylen Watkins. This made the secondary very thin which put Marsh under the microscope.
Going into the third preseason game, players will be fighting for roster spots as the first roster cuts are coming up on August 26. Of he players that I mentioned, some of them are on the upswing while others have an uphill battle to fight. Thursday’s game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers will be a dress rehearsal for the starters. For the backups, they must take advantage of whatever playing time they get.
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