Last night’s Eagles/Steeler pre-season game was my first glimpse of the Eagles this season. Living up here in North Jersey, I haven’t gotten the broadcasts of the first two games. Here is what I learned:
-McNabb is fine. His final numbers would have looked a lot better if Kevin Curtis didn’t sneak a peak at the on-coming safety at the goal line, and Reggie Brown had removed his blindfold. There are questions with this team, but Donovan is not one of them.
-I don’t believe that Reggie Brown can catch McNabb’s ball. I felt this last year, but I wanted some more evidence. He dropped two passes last night. Anyone else notice that his drops went way down with Garcia in there? If McNabb throws like Billy Wagner, Garcia throws like a beer-league softball pitcher. I think McNabb’s tosses come in a little hot for Brown’s liking.
-I continue to be disappointed with Sean Considine and I’m even more disappointed with the available options at safety. If Brian Dawkins shows any age this year, the Eagles are in deep trouble at that position.
-Who is teaching tackling to this defense?
-G has been saying this for a while now, but I think it’s true: The Eagles should probably look elsewhere at defensive coordinator. Trotter was obviously not the only reason they couldn’t stop the screen pass. The Steelers had huge gaps of space with which to run on these plays. At what point is the guy scheming the defense responsible?
-I did see a few good things on defense. I liked the play of Patterson and Bunkley and I will argue that DT is the most important position to dominate on defense. Disrupting the middle of an offense goes a long, long way to making everyone else on the defense better.
-The defense got a few turnovers and appears very opportunistic. They better be because they got mauled last night.
-Did Jevon Kearse play last night? I didn’t notice.
-The Eagles did an ok job running the ball, but I wouldn’t go any further than that. I know Westbrook only ran once, but there doesn’t seem to be a ton of room. Get Shawn Andrews back, pronto.
-Kevin Kolb looks like has going to be good at football. I was impressed on one particular play where it looked like he was going to be swallowed by the pass rush. He stood his ground and delivered the pass with authority. That speaks volumes to me. This is one of the biggest reasons that Eli Manning has struggled in New York. He turns his head and throws off his backfoot when someone is in his face. That’s a recipe for disaster.
-All Jason Avant does is catch everything thrown his way. He could be a very valuable target on third downs.
-Penalties, penalties, penalties. They are an absolute killer.
-Is Lincoln Financial Field still standing down in South Philly? I thought Nick Cole may have eaten it before they left for Pittsburgh. Sure looked like it.
-Sav Rocca is a monster. He’s got the leg for sure, and he seems quite adept at pinning the opponent inside the 10. Last night was a great example of why you need a great punter. Rocca put the Steelers inside their five, and when they went three and out, their fourth-round rookie clanked one off the side of his foot to give the Eagles the ball at the 20-yard line.
-Someone needs to tell the Steelers’ punt returner Willie Reid a cardinal rule of returning punts: Put your heels on the 10-yard line and let the ball go over your head. I saw him catch one at the five-yard line. That’s the stuff that Anthony Edwards used to do. Remember him?
Overall, I don’t want to overreact, but this defense is a concern. The offense will put up points, we know that. But if this defense doesn’t play significantly better, this will be another year washed away.
micahw@feverpitchmedia.com
takipçi satın al