There was a lot working in favor of the Eagles today. First off, Andy Reid and his teams do not lose after the bye week. Coming into this game, Andy Reid and his prior Eagles teams were 10-0 coming off the bye. Add that onto the fact that they were playing the lowly Bucs, Reid was going for his 100th win, and Donovan McNabb was making his return you have a fairly obvious outcome.
33-14 gave the Eagles a 19-point, and seemingly decisive, victory. However, the fact of the matter is that this game could have been a whole lot closer than what the score would indicate.
Quarterback | Grade: A
Donovan McNabb could not have been more perfect in his first game back since breaking a rib in Week 1. Well, he could have been a little bit better judging by his 157.2 quarterback rating. One or two more completions and he probably would have had it.
Anyway, quarterback rating aside, McNabb looked absolutely phenomenal. It didn’t take him real long to get going, either. A nice long run on his first play back, then a 51 yard strike to Jeremy Maclin is how his day got started, and it didn’t end real shabby, either.
16 of 21 for 264 yards and three touchdowns compared to zero interceptions was the end result as he picked apart a patchwork Tampa Bay defense.
Michael Vick threw the ball three times, completing one for one yard, so not a whole lot to discuss there. He did toss one deep intended for Maclin that was a bit underthrown, but it was a nice show of arm strength as he tossed the ball downfield with that signature flick of the wrist.
Isn’t it sad that Vick gets discussed for a 1-3 day as much as McNabb gets discussed for throwing three touchdowns? It’s the world we live in, God help us all.
Running Backs | Grade: Incomplete
I’m going to do my rant about the playcalling when I grade the coaches, so I’ll try to leave that aspect of it out for the moment.
The fact is that there just was not a body of work for the running backs to really give an accurate grade. 12 carries total by Westbrook and McCoy is just not enough to see what kind of day they had. Westbrook averaged three yards per carry, and McCoy averaged a little over two yards per carry, but it was the playcalling more than bad execution.
See, I couldn’t help myself. The playcalling was just putrid.
So the grade stays as an incomplete until Andy Reid and Mary Mornhinweg can call some running plays and let us see what a Westbrook-McCoy combination could do.
Receivers/Tight Ends | Grade: B+
As much as I want to give them an ‘A’ just because of the outstanding day that Jeremy Maclin had, it’s tough to do so when the only other catches made by receivers was one catch for 12 yards by Jason Avant, and one catch for one yard by DeSean Jackson.
Brent Celek had four catches for 58 yards, which ends his 100+ yard receiving games streak at two, but he has been so impressive this season, and Maclin was so dominate all day, it’s tough to give him a lower grade because he just wasn’t targeted as much as he was while Kolb was playing in weeks 2 and 3.
And wasn’t that leap just incredible? Wow.
DeSean Jackson, while accounting for only one yard today, actually had a good game beyond the stats. His play this season and the way he gives 100 percent on every play is a big reason why Maclin was able to succeed.
The Bucs respected Jackson to the point that they were double-teaming him, which allowed man coverage on Maclin. Then Jackson, unlike most receivers who get double-covered, ran his routes every single play expecting to get the ball. That drew even more attention to himself, and even less from Maclin.
The Maclin-Jackson combination is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, and Leonard Weaver pitched into the passing game with a combined five receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown (Weaver). Well, at least they were able to pitch in somewhere.
Offensive Line | Grade: C
Once again, there wasn’t much of a push for the running game, and McNabb was sacked three times, all by Jimmy Wilkerson. If you’re scratching your head and wondering, “Who?!,” you’re not alone. A role player with three sacks? Not a good day for the offensive line.
However, it’s still not time to panic. Todd Herremans should be back next week, and Stacy Andrews is coming around slowly but surely. With those two back and playing (in Andrews’ case, playing full time), the line should start to get some much-needed continuity back.
That continuity will lead to much better offensive line play. The Eagles have the Oakland Raiders next week, so that’s a great opportunity to work on playing together and working out the kinks.
Defensive Line | Grade: B-
While there was not much of a pass rush all day long, the line did do a great job of stuffing the run all day long. Cadillac Williams was held to 10 carries for eight yards, and even though Derrick Ward had six carries for 37 yards, 28 of that came on one carry. So if you remove that run as just an aberration, he had five carries for nine yards.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s a pretty impressive day for a stout defensive line, and really it was mostly the defensive line. Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson may be the best, and are at the very least one of the best, defensive tackle combinations in the entire league and they put it on display today.
The line will have to get more of a pass rush on its own before the entire defense can take that next step, but the feeling is that the pressure will come as the season progresses. They had a good day today, but will have to step up because a better offensive line won’t get manhandled like the Bucs line did today.
Linebackers | Grade: C+
The linebackers played off of the defensive line today and really didn’t make many plays of their own. All in all, Jeremiah Trotter was unspectacular in his first game back as an Eagle, and was even outplayed by Omar Gaither. Gaither made a nice play against the pass, nearly coming up with an interception, and had four solo tackles compared to Trotter’s two.
Chris Gocong was able to come up with a sack, and Akeem Jordan got jipped out of a fumble recovery for a touchdown, but overall they haven’t been impressive this season, and this game didn’t do anything to reverse that.
This is the obvious weak-point of the defense as the unit is made up with four middle-of-the-road (four because of Gaither/Trotter) players. Jordan, Gaither, and Gocong all have the potential to make that next step, while Trotter is in his decline, but as of now it’s nothing but unrealized potential.
Secondary | Grade: B+
Three interceptions isn’t enough to earn an ‘A’? No, I don’t belive so.
Two of the interceptions landed right in the gut of the corners (Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel), and the other interception fell into Samuel’s lap after the ball was tipped into the air.
The coverage was okay, not great, as the corners got burnt a couple of times by Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton down the field. Were it not for the inexperience of Josh Johnson, both guys likely would have given up long touchdown passes.
The safeties were not much better as Kellen Winslow, Jr. was able to exploit the middle of the defense for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Macho Harris was especially victimized and will have to pick it up as far as covering tight ends goes if he expects to remain the starter for the rest of this season, much less next year.
Special Teams | Grade: B-
David Akers was money all day long. He was booting the ball like we have never seen before. I got the chance to listen to him speak this year at training camp and he said he had worked on his leg strength, and it has officially paid off.
Sav Rocca has been lights out since I called him out after the Saints game and continued that today as he continuously booted the Eagles out of trouble. Now, I’m not saying it’s my fault he’s playing well now, just a coincidence, but honestly I couldn’t care less why he’s playing well, just as long as he keeps it up.
The return game is what it is. Ellis Hobbs offers little explosion returning kicks, and Jackson was swallowed up as soon as he caught the ball today. The blocking for both players has to get better.
Covering kicks and punts was actually pretty good today. They gave up a long return to Clifton Smith, but it was called back for a ticky-tack holding penalty, so they got lucky on that one. If that aspect of the game doesn’t get better, the Eagles will eventually lose because of it.
Coaching | Grade: C-
The only reason the grade is this high is because while I didn’t agree with all of the blitzing that Sean McDermott was doing, it’s hard to argue against and really just goes down to a defensive philosophy. I’m not going to argue too much with blitzing, although in this game I thought it was unnecessary, and actually wound up hurting the defense.
Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg, on the other hand, need to have their playcalling sheets taken away from them. I don’t care if they hand it to Doug Pederson or the towel boy, but the play-calling was absolutely hideous and tough to watch.
Why do they feel that it is impossible to just call a running play? Why does everything have to be out of this flippin’ Wildcat formation all of a sudden?
I was on board with running it with Vick because it exposes his strengths and hides his weakness, but when they use it in place of a running game, I have a real problem with it. It’s unbelievable that Reid, a former offensive lineman, doesn’t understand the mentality that goes along with running the ball.
The wildcat is not a replacement for running the ball. If Reid doesn’t realize that, the Eagles won’t make the playoffs much less make a Super Bowl run. It’s absolutely insane and it needs to stop. So Reid, we love you, and the knowledgeable Philly fans want you to sign that extension, but for the love of everything will you please run the ball?
