The Eagles had a pretty rough go of things, so this is going to be more critical than positive. I’m just going to throw my thoughts down the way I put them down on the piece of paper I had.
Jeremy Bloom’s night started off poorly. I didn’t like his first return because he cut outside right into a coverage guy when it looked like he had a lane inside. He calmed down and made nice returns after that. He got upfield fast and showed explosiveness not seen in the Eagles return game in forever. What interested me most was what he showed at receiver. He caught the ball with his hands and quickly turned upfield to get yards after the catch. He has potential there, and that’s going to make his value skyrocket.
I was a bit worried about the play calling again this year when we got a delay of game on the first series, but that didn’t develop into a problem over the game. Nevertheless; get the play in on time.
Chris Gocong had a nice start to the game, and I think the first play is a preview of what we’ll see a lot of this season. The Eagles lined him up on a classic high school lightning blitz and turned him loose against McNair. He didn’t get the sack, but he was explosive. I’m going to be using that word a few more times, because it’s something I was impressed with and will get to later. He had a great burst and good closing speed and nearly chased down McNair, who was rolling the other way. He got crossed up in coverage, but he’s learning a new position. He’ll get better.
William James, for all the trash talking you did over the offseason, you’ve disappointed me so far. I haven’t heard good things about you in training camp, and seeing you against
They need to find the ball better. The Ravens ran two naked bootlegs and Jevon Kearse was the only player to catch on to either of them. The Eagles went with the flow of the play and didn’t find the ball, allowing for easy yards for the Ravens. Teams can do that up and down the field all game long, they need to pay attention.
I wasn’t a Sean Considine fan last season, but it’s clear he worked hard to get bigger and improve against the run. He made a nice hit early in the game and was good in run support. However, it looks like his man caught the TD on
It would’ve been nice to see Takeo Spikes make a better debut. He struggled a bit fighting off blockers, and that was our problem last year. It has to be fixed. That’s why he was brought in here. He flies to the ball, but on one play, he just completely overran Todd Heap and missed a tackle. He has to play under control and make the plays.
The second team Offensive Line was dreadful. I’m pretty sure the talent is there. I even said last week four of our second string linemen could start on some teams, but they certainly didn’t show it. To me, it looked like they just showed up five minutes before the game, put on the pads and took the field. Like they never played with each other before. They played as individuals and not as a unit. That’s more important than having one standout talent. If they don’t play as a group, things fall apart, and that’s exactly what happened. Guys didn’t know their assignments and there were missed blocks. On one running play, two defensive linemen were double teamed. I’m not an expert on the Eagles’ blocking schemes and playbook, but that can’t be right. Several players came free and clogged the hole. In pass protection, blitzers came free with regularity. The tackle has to be able to trust the guard to get a guy so he can handle someone else. They just needs reps working together.
Whether or not the Ravens blitzed more than everyone expected or what the Eagles game planned for, they have to be better on Friday. Have to be.
The QBs were sharp. Holcomb did a good job of completing passes and for the most part, he got rid of the ball fast. That’s one thing I noticed all three of them did; they dropped back, made their reads and threw the ball. A couple problems I noticed with Holcomb; he stares down receivers, and he turns into Drew Bledsoe when someone isn’t open. He’ll hold onto the ball and just get pummeled. I know some guys can’t run, but you have to try.
While I’m on the QBs, Kevin Kolb impressed me. This was the first time I’ve been able to see him play, and he did a good job meeting expectations, despite the lackluster stat line. He showed a lot of confidence and poise. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve said he was a 5 year vet. He stepped up and fired bullets to his receivers regardless of tight coverage. He could get into trouble with that sometime, but you have to love seeing that from a rookie.
Omar Gaither had an on and off night. On some running plays, he did a great job of filling the gaps, which is what you want to see from your MIKE. On a scramble by Kyle Boller, Gaither ran him down on the sideline and just kind of stopped expecting Boller to run out of bounds. You have to play to the whistle.
Another backup Linebacker, Tank Daniels, probably won’t make the roster this year, if this game was any indication. He played a bit in the
Rashad Barksdale might’ve been the player of the night, at least defensively. The second day draft pick might’ve been a longshot to make the roster when we first heard about him, but he was impressive. He reminded me of Sheldon Brown. He was aggressive and did a great job coming up and supporting the run. His one play early on when he ran step for step with his receiver into the endzone and knocked the ball down showed good coverage ability. He’s only played football for a year or two, and it’s a possibility that the Eagles uncovered a real gem here.
If Barksdale was the defensive player of the game, Brent Celek was the player of the game on the offensive side of the ball. His college highlight was his 80+ yard catch and rumble to help knock Rutgers off, and he showed some of that ability against
Matt McCoy. Probably should’ve talked about him with the other linebackers a few blocks of text ago, but here we go. He’s the same player as last year, except going into this season, we have that bad taste in our mouths because of him while he was fresh last year. He didn’t bulk up at all and he still gets manhandled by blockers. He can fly to the ball and he’s a great athlete, but he can’t stand up to blockers and stop the run.
Stewart Bradley saw his share of playing time at SAM and MIKE and he did okay. On one play, he made a nice read and fought through traffic to make a tackle on a play to the weak side. On another, he took an awful angle and helped contribute to a big gain. He’ll learn. I don’t think he gained any ground on Gocong in the battle for SAM though.
The backup RBs, and the running game in general, were bad. It’s a shame Moats got hurt, but now he can be on IR for a year and not get cut. Nate Ilaoa attempted to get running north and south quickly which he should. Hopefully next time he touches the ball, there isn’t instant penetration knocking him back. Tony Hunt was pretty smooth catching the ball and suffered from the same O-Line problem as Ilaoa, so it’s tough to get a read on him. He needs to block better or he’s not going to play. Period.
Remaining in the backfield, Reid didn’t show his hand related to the FB battle. Tapeh hardly played. The first team offense didn’t run many two back sets, so if there is a fight for the job, Tapeh wasn’t given a fair shot. Jason Davis got his money’s worth and played pretty well.
I’ll say it right now. Give Sav Rocca the job. Dirk’s been alright and he’s had his moments, but you know what you’re going to get for him. He’ll generally give you some okay punts and then occasionally a huge dud that hurts you in the field position battle. Rocca nailed some great punts, took a big hit and showed his potential. I don’t see how NFL teams don’t get this. Aussie players can kick the football better than everyone else. I don’t know why there aren’t more of them in the league. Dorenbos can’t be taking points off the board, and I really hope he doesn’t make us miss Bartrum.
I was more impressed with individuals rather than the unit. Some guys had some good performances. Lately, we’ve drafted some good athletes and guys that can make plays, and I mentioned that with Bloom and Gocong. Those guys just have abilities you don’t normally see from their positions and they can really be weapons.
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