So much for it being only a preseason game, Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg sent the Eagles offense with their guns blazing. They immediately sent three-wide receiver personnel into the game and started throwing the football nonstop. I guess it was their way of serving notice on the rest of the NFL that the Eagles coaches are “All In” just like the front office.
Michael Vick has been taking his game to another level at training camp, so fittingly he gave Eagles fans a taste of what they can expect from him this season. He completed four of six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Vick played just one series in the Birds first preseason game and during that stretch he led the Eagles on a touchdown scoring drive.
Vick started things out by hitting Jason Avant for a twenty-yard gain and a first down. Later in the drive he dropped back, looked up his first option and he wasn’t open. He looked up his second option and he wasn’t open. He then looked up his third option and he wasn’t open. He made all of these decision with then two seconds.
“It actually felt like the game slowed down a little bit, which is crazy, but maybe we’re just playing faster, which is great,” Vick said. “Just practicing against our defense has made us better in so many different ways.”
His next move on that play was to start rolling to his left and looking downfield. That’s when he spotted second-year wide receiver Riley Cooper, who had come open deep in back of Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed. Vick let it go and hit Cooper on the Baltimore two yard line.
From there he hit Brent Celek with a perfectly targeted pass on a out pattern and that gave the Eagles the lead.
“Just to get back out for a preseason game after not having the OTA’s and the minicamps and the offseason strength and conditioning programs, it was good to get back and to get out there to have an opportunity to just play against another defense”, Vick said. We play against our defense every day in practice, they blitz us every day and we just wanted to play against somebody else.”
Everybody knows Vick’s story of learning from past mistakes off the field, well he’s also made a point to learn from past mistakes on the field.
“I learned a lesson back in 2003 – never go into a preseason game not wanting to play,” Vick said after the game. “I did that and I broke my leg, and I learned from that experience. It just happened to be against Baltimore. Tonight I was prepared to go out and give it everything that I had. Play smart. Take care of the football and try to get the ball into the end zone, and I was able to do that.”
So far with Vick’s performances during training camp and in the first preseason game, I don’t know how Andy Reid could have expected and hoped for him to perform better than he has.
Both offense and defense looked crisp. The new kickers were awesome. The running back Pitt looked real good. Only one thing. I miss Rory Siegrest.
Vick did look sharp, however, he def threw way short on that Cooper play. That was a easy TD, if the ball was thrown further. All things considered, last year we ended on a play where Vick threw a short ball to Cooper and Cooper failed to knock it down. At least Cooper avoided the INT, but more importantly, he hauled in the pass for a TD.
HAHHA Big – that is by leaps and bound your best post EVER. Hilarious
Loved Dion Lewis and his quickness. Thought Ronnie Brown was slow and ineffective. Chad Hall played well . Refreshing to see pressure without blitzing. Donald Lee may be best TE on the team when its all said and done. Watkins struggled.
thanx, i am here to enterain 9-6, sun -thrus
Like #83 the Harper kid. Big body see some potential. JL Higgins doesnt do enough to make this team. Starting LB didnt do much to be noticed, Backup LBs stink. LB should be a concern. Hopefully when teams trim rosters there will be some available. !st team oline needs to continue to practice run blocking. Overall the 1st and 2nd team played well for such short notice,
No doubt the team looks good, albeit what can be made of one night? Anyone else thinking Young needs a lot more work? It might be me, but it seems like he as quite the wind up.
Yeah that pass to Cooper was under thrown
I was impressed by the 1st team offensive and defensive line play.
Would have liked to see Shady, but I don’t blame them for saving him, they already know how good he is. Lewis looked great, but hard to judge against backups.
I think Gruden can win a Superbowl with this team and coaching stuff next year.
Dag – if we get nothing but field goals and punts from the opponents all day long and the LBs dont do much to be noticed – um… how should I put this GREAT. If we win and stop other teams’ offense on a consistent basis, I dont’ give two shits if I forget we have LBs. Just saying.
emoney – you crazy. F gruden.
Alright BIg E and gentlemen. This satisfied Eagles fan is hitting the sheets.
Not to Nit-Pick , but on 3 of the 4 completed passes by Vick when viewed closely, I have a different take about Vick being real sharp.
1st Pass to Avant was behind him and if Ravens LB (McLain) had his head turned, an easy INT
2nd Pass to Cooper down the field was underthrown as Cooper had Ravens Safety Ed Reed beat by about 4-5 Yards, Ball had too much air and fortunately Cooper came back this time to make a play on the ball, and again , If Safety Ed Reed sees the ball and has his head turned around, it’s a possible Int or at least a defelcted pass
3rd Pass to Celek in the end-zone was a very dangerous pass into double coverage when the eady,safe pass was to Cooper who was open and or to J Avant who was wide open standing on the goal line and ther wasn’t a Raven within 5-7 Yards of him…
All in all the first and second unit looked sharp but 2 short FG when in the Red-Zone is not the Start I envisioned.. This game coulda,woulda shoulda been a blown out, but come Regular Season Eagels needs to cash in ob TD’s and not settle for FG once in the Red-Zone..
Checking the Defense Stats
Did Casey Matthews play… No tackles or assists… What happened JH…
I see my under the radar LB Rolle has a nice game with 4 Tackles
as did DE Tapp,DE Teo , DT Landri, Safety Page
Seattle had a nice 2nd Half to beat San Diego and my Top LB from this past Draft (KJ Wright from Miss State and former teammate of J Chaney) led the Sehawks with 9 Tackles (8 of them Solo) in a 1/2 of Football.. pretty impressive
I think the Eagles missed on a good one by passing over KJ Wright who was selected in the 4th Round with the 99th Overall Pick and at 6-3 250lbs is a load who is thick, built low to the ground and can also run…
Oher News in the NFL
Steelers who could use some help at WR signed WR J Crotchery who was released by the Jets in a Salary Cap move and is a perfect complement to their young WR Corps with M Wallace, A Edwards and of course the aging Veteran H Ward..
NY Jets All-Pro Center N Mangold injured his neck in Practice, but was able to get up and leave the field under his own power..
Buffalo Bills have agreed to try to trade WR Lee Evans who has tried to get out of Buffalo the last couple of Seasons , He’s a pretty good Receiver and apparently the Arizona Cardinals are interested in him and are a little thin at WR behind Fitzgerald.
QB Kolb went 4-7 for 68 yards and no TD’s and no INT’s for a QB Rating 90
in his first action in 2 Series with the Arizona Cardinals
Ravens ended up with 20 First Downs to the Eagles 19 and the Eagles ended up with a few more Total Yards 322 to 315 YArds.. Didn’t it appear the Eagles dominated this game when in fact, they didn’t…
Come on Pauly, It’s not like our starters played the whole game. Give it a rest buddy and go along for the ride while it’s good.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ tough crowd to please
A good 1st Preseason game, but lets not be talking Super Bowl just yet. Great teams put their opponents down and away when they have a chance the Eagles should have has 17-21 Points in the 1st half after 3 niec drives but only 1TD and then let them hang around the rest of the way to make a game of it.. .
paulman ur just putting out the media’s fire, or whatever ur making up in your head.
in these posts/comments, we could have done without ur participation, maybe only that kolb/lee evans update.
anything you said about the eagles football team should flat out be ignored today.
try again next week…for a scrimmage/first game im satisfied overall.
for reasons stated and not stated here, but anyways moving on…
I loved how Vick EASILY moved the ball without Desean OR Maclin. If the QB is accurate, the SYSTEM is effective folks…it all falls on the QB.
All you chumps that said this team won’t do anything without Desean need to fall back….we’ll be fine.
Wm, thank you. Paul, either you really DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF PRESEASON FOOTBALL, which would be awfully pathetic at your age and considering all that you think you know.
OR
You just are INTENTIONALLY are trying to rile us up/be a dick. And now that I think about it, I vaguely recall you pullying the same bullcrap last year.
I hope this sinks in and you have a shitty shameful morning (and then a good day because im not an ass, just pissed).
Maybe I am being a little critical of Vick’s and Eagles perfomance overall..
But when around the other games last evening
NE PAts put over 40 POints on the board with no Brady playing
Cowboys and Bronco’s both score over 23 points
Seahawks 24 Points, Arizona scores 24 points etc,etc..Remember all teams are playing mostly back-ups this 1st game after a series or 2 or maybe even for the 1st Quarter, and all teams have had the same limited amount of time for practice and preparations..so call me an ass or just a devil’s advocate, but even though there was a lot of good things the Eagles did last night, they still have a far ways to go and need to score TD’s when in Red-ZOne and I don’t care if it’s Vick, YOung or Kafka QB.. All these other teams I listed were able to do it more often in thier first game, why can’t the Eagles…
hey paulman i dont know if you remember, but there was a lock out and these players haven’t had many reps. Also the 18-1 patriots with all that offensive talent only scored 10 points in their first pre season game. chill homie
Kolb – 2 Rushes for 19 yards last evening..
Patriots put up 47 Points last night their 1st Preseason Game and Tob Brady and many 1st Stringers on their Offense didn’t even play..
Arizona Puts up 24, Cowboys put up 24, Seahawks put up 24 Bronco’s 23, Raiders put up 18 and the Chargers put up 17 pts..
Paul, I know you’re old and often loopy – but let me remind you of something – HOW MANY POINTS AN NFL TEAM SCORES IS ONLY RELEVANT IN RELATION TO HOW MANY POINTS THEIR OPPONENT SCORES! AND THAT ONLY APPLIES TO REGULAR OR POST SEASON GAMES.
In other news, 2+2=4, summer follows spring and Sunday comes after Saturday. Also, food is eaten and water is drank. You wear your pants on your leg and your shirt on your torso. Hats are worn on the head and socks go on your feet.
Come back if you need more guidance, I’m happy to assist.
paulman obsessing over how many points other teams put up in their first preseason game, man, you need to get a life paulman
Paul – which is it – are you stupid (you just don’t get it?) or a jerk (you’re messing/playing/joking around with us – whatever you want to call it)?
Which is it?
Probably a little of both Schiller
All I am saying is everyone gets all excited and ready to order their Super Bowl TIckets because the Eagles scored a TD on their 1st Possesion..
13 Points to score in any game is not a lot to get all excited about in my opinion and I mentioned all these other team jsut for the simple fact that almost everyone else will score more than 13 Points whether they had their strarters,back-up or whoever playing QB.. Cardinal Back-up led them to 24points, should they be ordering Super Bowl Tickets too..
I expect a whole more production from the Eagles offense who have been running the same system for years..
I just don’t understand why everyone is actiing so loopy from last evening’s perfomance which was a good solid outing, but nothing dominating or to rave about..
Paul – now I get it more, and I apologize if was insulting earlier. YOU ARE JUST VERY OUT OF TOUCH. First, any talk of the superbowl in august is MORONIC. But excitement over last night’s game is due to context – a few different types of context that you just don’t sense/get.
Context 1 – The Eagles have been a pretty damn successful team overall for the past decade + with more playoff appearances, playoff wins, and division championships than most teams in the league – AND DESPITE THAT – they hve consistently SUCKED IT UP in preseason. So when you start with general success, and then add REMARKEDLY improved preseason play – and from the get go mind you – AND with all the changes etc…. THAT IS SOMETHING TO BE EXCITED ABOUT.
Context 2 – YOU ARE NOT A ‘Traditional” PHILLY SPORTS FAN. You have your own personality (nobody can deny that) and you sit there in NC with your unique sports analysis style etc etc etc…..but you know what? Most PHILLY FANS are excitable people who look for signs of change and improvement in our teams. We were looking for systematic differences from the DL, OL, D overall, new additions, rookies, progress from young players…etc….. THAT’S WHAT WE WERE LOOKING AT BECAUSE>>>>>>(SEE CONTEXT #3)
Context 3 – ANY FAN THAT ISN’T DANGEROUSLY STUPID KNOWS THAT PRESEASON SCORES ARE NOT RELEVANT TO ANYTHING – ANYTHING AT ALL. Seriously, you’re like a little kid who is tuaght ‘don’t put your hand in the fire, it will burn’. And then you put your hand in the fire, it burns, it hurts and you cry. And then you come back the next day and put your hand in the fire. Do you honestly no understand what preseason means/is!? there is no gameplanning, only a small percentage of the playbook…etc..etc..ec…and not starters. The teams are not aiming to score points or win the game.
Paul, if you talk to any NFL player or coach and said “preseason is about production” they’d laugh at you (if not worse). PERIOD.
I am just not real wxcited when my SUper Bowl potentail team only scores 13 Points in a game.. WIth this pass-happy offense and OC & HC who been around for 10-12 Years,, I don’t care who is at QB and WR, you have to score points and the Eagles failed to do so to impress me last evening.. I am a jerk or debbie downer for not wanting the Eagle to execute better and score more points.. How and why can all these other teams put up points with inferior talent, less experience coaching staffs and loweer expectations.. Are the Eagles the only team in the NFL where scoring and production in the Pre-Season means nothing…I beg to differ…
You guys crack me up and think because they come out of the gate and make some nice plays and score a TD even though Vick got away with at least 2 passes that coulda/woulda/shoulda been picked off out of the 5 he completed and here are artcles on how sharp VIck was…
Man Paul, give it a rest, the starters played less than a quarter and it will be the play of the eagles defense that determines this teams fate, and things look very good there
I will give it rest Jake,
It’s the 1st Preseason game and out of 10 teams that played last evening
the Vaunted Eagles Offense with it’s well regarded Offensive Coaches managed to only outscore 2 other teams (the Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars) and where playing at Home
The 7 Other teams had more Offensive Production,Success and Execution even though most are less talented, played back-ups too, have new coaches,and had the same limited pracative time,etc,etc…
I see the typical “Philly Hype Machine” is in full motion already..
Paulman: “I will give it rest Jake”….(then proceeds to NOT GIVE IT A REST).
I guess I’m the fool here because I’m falling for the troll’s trollitude (yep, I just coined that one). Paul, Paultroll I should say, because you’re acting more like a troll than a man, I hope you have a crappy weekend.
Thnx Schiller, I plan to have a great weekend as always (some yardwork,hang out with the kids, Grilling out and a lot of house chores to get done)
My Kids started School this past week and have some shopping to do to get the rest of their supplies..
Panthers are on TV down here tonight (they play the Giants) and I am curious to see how Cam Newton looks as well as their young Defense under DC McDermott and to scout the Giants a little bit too..
Have a good one
paulman, chill. we are here for you in case you have a mid-life crisis, we are on the same side!!