Defense Shines Again, While Offense Struggles Again

It was ugly preseason football game with mistakes by both sides along with plenty of turnovers and near-turnovers.  The Eagles played on the level of the Kansas City Chiefs who are one of the doormats of the NFL.  It surely wasn’t what we would have wanted to see in the final dress rehearsal for the starters before the first regular season game against the Green Bay Packers.

The game was a continuation of what we had seen at training camp.  The defense was outstanding for the most part, while the offense could only put together a long touchdown scoring drive at the very end of the game with rookie quarterback Mike Kafka in there and the Chiefs third-string defense on the field.

The offense isn’t clicking on all cylinders.  The timing seems to be off and too many times Kolb is under pressure and misfiring or one of the receivers is failing to make the catch.

The Chiefs defense which is nothing to write home about, was able to put pressure on Kolb and keep the Eagles off balance.

I could see that both Andy Reid and Marty Morhhinweg are concerned and they have reason to be.   This offense doesn’t have much to show from this entire preseason.  They scored one touchdown in six quarters of action and that was after the Chiefs gave them the ball on their own 20-yard line.

They can put a happy face on it all they want, but this team isn’t ready for prime time as of yet. the offense continues to make mistakes on every other play.  On one play it’s the line, on the next play it’s Kolb and on the next play it’s one of the receivers. The running game has looked better than the passing game and that’s not saying much.

They had 14 yards passing in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs in a game in which they game-planned and prepared for.

The scoring in the game started with running back LeSean McCoy taking off on an 18-yard touchdown run.  It was a well blocked play right up the gut.  Todd Herremans, Leonard Weaver and center Mike McGlynn all made good blocks at the point of attack.  Stacy Andrews was overpowered on the backside but McCoy was gone by the time the linebacker threw Andrews off of him.

Wide receiver Jason Avant, who was in there for DeSean Jackson, did a great job of blocking downfield and was the main reason it went all the way for a score.  McCoy exhibited good vision and cutting skills as he ran to daylight on the score.

Mike Bell was unimpressive in his first action.  He ran the ball hard and gave good effort but he didn’t get much done while he was in there.

On the defensive side, the defense is playing well and the rookies are improving.

Rookie safety Nate Allen had another outstanding game.  He put pressure on Matt Cassell on a blitz on third to force an imcompletion.  On another third down he ran down the running back after he caught the ball on a screen pass.

He was active on run and pass plays.  I like the way he attacks the line of scrimmage on running plays, but isn’t caught out of position on pass plays with run fakes.  He seems to read plays very well.

Rookie Brandon Graham was all over the place and constantly he was putting licks on Cassell when he threw the football.  Sean McDermott hasn’t had to blitz very often because the pass rush pressure has been there with the four-man rush.   Graham is active against the pass and run.

When they took him out, Darryl Tapp went in and didn’t miss a beat.  He got a sack and kept the pressure on the Chiefs quarterbacks.

New outside linebacker Ernie Sims was active in the contest against the Chiefs.  He made some good play on a number of run plays and almost had an interception near the goalline.  Sims was covering a back and had him blanketed, when Cassell’s pass hit him.

Does Moise Fokou know the rules of the game?  I saw him hit the punt returner out of bounds.  It was an aggressive move but a stupid decision which should have been a penalty, which reminds me of this horrible team of referees.   They couldn’t referree a good high school game, much less a pro game.

Asante Samuel put a lick on rookie Dexter McCluster in the second quarter, which had the running back’s cleats sailing over his head.  Samuel caught McCluster before he could turn around after catching the football.

A few plays later, Samuel was out of position when Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe caught a five-yard touchdown pass.

He was in position for an interception but Bowe grabbed him,but the blind group of referrees missed the call.

Rookie cornerback Trevard Lindley was in there on a nickel play early in the game and grabbed an interception on a deflected pass.  Lindley has outstanding potential and could wind up on the field a great deal as the season goes along.

Lindley was pass interfering on that play but it wasn’t called.  I’ve noticed that he continues to push receivers after they’ve gone five-yards downfield.  It’s going to be called during the season, so the coaching staff had better correct him.

The Eagles seem to be considering playing Lindley over Ellis Hobbs and I could understand why.  Lindley has been size and one-on-one coverage skills than Hobbs. but he’s still learning the complexities of the coverages.  He definitely has a huge upside because he can go toe-to-toe with the big receivers the Birds will be facing in the division.

Lindley is not only the tallest cornerback the Birds have, he’s also has long arms with outstanding leaping ability.

He’s physical and loves to move up on a receiver in press technique and jam him before he releases.  The press technique is what the Birds like their corners to jump into when they’re in a blitz.

Expect to see a lot of Lindley as the year goes on and don’t be surprised if he’s starting before too long.

It seemed that the Eagles and Channel six were more interested in getting their messages out than covering the game.  Exciting plays were happening while Channel six was talking about something that none of us cared about.

Why should they be showing the guys in the booth while the game is going on?  I don’t want to see the guys in the booth when they’re playing the game.

Michael Vick converted three third down plays into first downs.  Reid seems to be intent on putting the ball in his hands on short yardage and goalline situations.

He made a nice throw to Jason Avant to set up a third and short.  Bell wasn’t able to pick up the first down on the third and one try.  Weaver picked up the first down on fourth down.

Weaver fell on the ball at the end of that carry and it knocked the wind out of him.

Should we just pencil in two motion penalties on left tackle Jason Peters?  I’m thinking we should get it done on the first two plays of the game and that way we won’t have to worry about it earlier.

They’re going to have to do one of those hand-holding situations with Herremans.  They could have Herremans and Peters hold hands, so that Peters knows the ball has been snapped when Herremans lets go of his hand.

Punt returner, wide receiver and Mr. Do-It-All,  Chad Hall is trying hard but he doens’t have the speed needed and just can’t get the job done.  I think the reincarnation of Reno Mahe is still appropiate.

The Eagles offense looked it’s best when rookie Mike Kafka was in there with the third team.  He took the team the length of the field in a two-minute drill that allowed the Birds to win the game.  The offensive line blocked well during that stretch and everybody was on top of their assignments.

I don’t know if it was the effectiveness of the Eagles third-team or the ineffectiveness of the Chiefs third-string defense.  Whatever the answer, it’s no reason for the Eagles to celebrate.

Kafka connected with Riley Cooper on an 18 yard touchdown pass to win the game for the Birds.  He did a nice job of taking what the Chiefs defense game him.  The rookie also did a good job of getting the Birds offense in and out of the huddle, which allowed them to utilize all the time they had on the clock.

It doesn’t say much for your offense, when you can’t play mistake-free football until your third-team guys are on the field.  Unfortunately quite a few of the guys on the field at that time, won’t make the football team.

It’s got to get better than this, or should I say, it should get better than this.