Game Notes

Overall I was very unimpressed with the Eagles first team offense and defense. Our offenses biggest problem was the offensive line’s ability to pass and run block. The run blocking was a little better than the pass blocking which was terrible. Hopefully when Todd Herremans and Jamaal Jackson start again our O-line problems will disappear. We will have an extremely hard time winning without a solid offensive line, which was why it was one of the positions that I said that we should draft in the off-season. Hopefully Andy Reid and the Eagles knew what they were doing by not drafting any offensive lineman.

Our defense was certainly better than our offense, but had its own problems. We were bellow average at stopping the run and average in coverage. Our coverage would have been better, but our pass rush and blitzes were both bellow average.

I thought that our special teams played a little better than our offense and defense and I had no major complaints. I would like to see more explosiveness in our return game. Chad Hall was much less impressive in game two than he was in game one and I think that he’s probably not going to make the team. He was bellow average at returning the ball and only pulled in two catches for 9 yards.

I tend to think that the Eagles are a year away from seriously competing unless our O-line pulls it together. Our pass rush should improve over the course of the season as Brandon Graham and Te’0-Nesheim improve.

Quarterbacks

Kevin Kolb did fairly well despite being under almost constant pressure. He moved well in the pocket and scrambled away from pressure. He finished the game 11/17 and 126 yards. His stats would be much improved if the O-line could protect him at all. I also picked Kolb up in my fantasy draft in the 6th round. I trust in him, lets hope that he doesn’t let me down.

Unfortunately both of our back up quarterbacks looked terrible. Once again it could have been due the the pressure that they were under. Vick finished a horrible 1/5 for 6 yards and 2 interceptions, but he did have 3 carries for 34 yards. Kafka finished 4/12 for 29 yards and two interceptions, but in his defense he is a rookie.

Running backs

LeSean McCoy was very unimpressive to me, but it could have been partly due to the offensive lines’ poor run blocking. McCoy looked a little slow and not very explosive. I’m pretty worried about our run game this year and if we can’t run the ball it’s going to put a lot more pressure on the young Kolb. McCoy finished with only 20 yards on 6 carries, but one of his runs was for 17 yards, which gives him only 3 yards for his other five carries. I would say that if he doesn’t step it up someone is going to take his job but we don’t have much else in the way of running backs on the team. Bell could challenge, but we haven’t seen much of him because of injuries.

Eldra Buckley played the best on Friday, but wasn’t that impressive. He finished 4 for 19 yards. Leonard Weaver didn’t even look as fast as he did last year. I hope that our running backs step it up or we are in trouble.

It’s too bad that the Eagles didn’t draft or pick up as a rookie free agent Joique Bell like I said that they should. The Bills picked him up as a rookie free agent and he is having a great preseason. His first game he had 52 yards, a 10.4 yard average and a TD and in his second game he had 80 yards, a 7.3 yard average and another TD. He also had 3 receptions for 15 yards in both games combined.

Receivers

DeSean Jackson was our star performer of the night. He looked as good as he always does and seemed to have no trouble getting open against the Bengals secondary. He finished 4 for 74 yards.

Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper were the only other receivers that showed much. Both looked pretty good, but unfortunately Maclin was shaken up when trying to make a play. I don’t think that the injury was serious though.

Defense

Joselio Hanson had a pretty good game overall making 5 tackles with one assisted tackle. He covered pretty well most of the game, but did get beat deep for a touch down.

Quintin Mikell looked as good as he always does. He tackled and covered well. He is one of our best players on defense.

Although Nate Allen got run over by Cedric Benson on one play, but he did cover pretty well and had a good game overall.

One player that was particularly impressive was Dimitri Patterson CB. He ended the game with 2 tackles a forced fumble and an interception. He could end up being our third corner when the year starts.

Brandon Graham started out slow and was having trouble getting by the Bengals first team O-line. He picked it up against he second team and ended the game with three tackles and a sack. He showed some of his all star potential on a run play by bursting through the line to make a tackle for a loss. He also showed power as well as speed in his pass rush at times. I still want to see him do more in the next preseason game.

I thought that Juqua Parker looked both slow and weak in his pass rush abilities. I could see Graham taking over for him part way though the year.

Trent Cole looked great as always. He ended the game with 3 tackles and he pressured the quarterback several times. I don’t know where are defense would be without Cole.

Overall I think that our defense would improve greatly if we can sure up the linebacker play and improve our pass rush. I hope the Eagles pull things together for game three, because game two made me want to hit my head up against a wall.

By: Terenna at EaglesDomination.com