Here’s my take on the defensive performance after a quick glance at the game. It surely was nothing to write home about for Juan Castillo and the Eagles defense.
The Birds defense didn’t play well for most of the game. They allowed the Steelers to control the ball, the clock and the game. The most disappointing thing about the defensive performance in the game was the fact that they couldn’t get off the field on third down. The strength of the defense is supposed to be their pass defense and pass rush. Neither got the job done with the game on the line.
All of that talk about simplifying the coverages and the defense hasn’t showed up during the game.
Stand Out Defensive Performances:
Trent Cole made his presence known during the game. He pounded Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich to force him to throw out of the end zone. He also made plays against the run by getting into the backfield. Cole looks like he’s ready to start the season.
Left defensive end Jason Babin did a good job of being disciplined on the sack he got. He was turned loose by the Steelers offensive tackle, so he got upfield and was able to get the sack before Ben Roethlisberger had a receiver come open downfield. He chased downfield and made a tackle on a pass completion.
Defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove picked up a coverage sack in the second quarter. He was initially blocked on the play, but he kept battling and was able to get to Byron Leftwich.
Poor Defensive Performances:
Juan Castillo – The first guy I must call out on the defensive side of the ball is Juan Castillo. The Birds were supposed to be simplifying the defense, but guys were running free all over the place. That’s been the case for the two games the Birds have played so far this preseason.
This defense was awful last night. Castillo has to do a much better job than this. They let the Steelers convert a 3rd and 24 by simply
sending a receiver straight down the field. Nobody jammed him and covered him. That was pathetic to say the least.
Nate Allen – I know Nate Allen is coming off of knee surgery, but he looked completely lost out there last night. He was unable to cover tight ends or third receivers. It’s almost like their game play was to get Allen isolated and get the ball to whomever he was covering. He was the guy chasing HInes Ward on the touchdown pass.
On the first touchdown pass which the Eagles surrendered, Allen was a free blitzer who hesitated and allowed Ben Roethlisberger to make an easy pass for six points. Allen was also the guy closest to the receiver when Leftwich and the Steelers converted a 3rd and 24.
Casey Matthews – I hadn’t gotten the chance to see Matthews play some extended reps, so I was eager to check out this young middle linebacker in action. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I saw from him last night. He got swallowed up by the Steelers big offensive linemen.
Numerous times he was left trying to tackle running backs at their ankles. I saw him get dragged for a few yards on one instance. He didn’t stand out and made no plays of note. The Eagles coaches have to be concerned that they may have to make a change in the middle.
Defensive tackles – The Eagles must get more of a pass rush from their defensive tackles or quarterbacks are going to be able to step up into the pocket and avoid the pass rush pressure coming from the defensive ends, who are getting up the field outside.
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The Eagles better make some changes right up the gut..
Now they will get Dixon back to help solidify the DT spot with some size and bulk, But MLB Matthews is not Starter Material so look for Chaney to slide back in the middle with the Eagle using a combination of Jordan & Clayton at the WILL spot… Looks like another season of the typical merry-go -round with the LB’s again which does not bode well moving forwards..
The other move is at Safety with Nate Allen, who needs to replaced as a Starter. I see a better Starting Safety combo with Coleman & Page which gives the EAgles the best chance right now to start the Season..
And before we get on the Trent Cole hype train, the Steelers lost their Starting LT the 1st play of the game and then their 2nd String LT was also hurt in the 1st Quarter so Cole was going against their 3rd String at LT for the entire 2nd quarter and should be able to dominate at player like that…
Schill….where are you this morning buddy?? When I expressed some concern about the run defense and characterized the middle of the D as being soft against the run you ripped me. I’m not saying they cannot improve. I’m just saying I think my concerns are a little more warranted than your enthusiasm right now.
So let’s assess. The Eagles were going to get a run defense test last night. They failed. We were going to see how the defense played for a half against a top team. They failed miserably. We got a chance to test Castillo on making adjustments. He failed. They looked bewildered and more importantly unconcerned that they were getting embarrassed. And Trent Cole. Man, please. I am so sick of his over ratedness. You can’t beat up on a third string tackle and make a play on the QB? He is as soft as soft can be. PLEASE stop mentioning him as one of the best pass rushers in the league. He’s not even in the top ten!! How did the offense look against a top defense? They failed miserably. And I stated yesterday in my lengthy analysis that this team would still struggle to put up points on good defenses. Now I know its only preseason but I am sticking to my guns on that. The O line got tested. They failed. Vick got tested on his blitz recognition. He failed. The coaching staff had the challenge of halftime adjustments. They failed.
I could go on. But I have two burning questions and I’ll just stop. First, WHY ARE YOU NOT PRACTICING?!?!?!? I keep hearing about these lazy walk throughs at Lehigh and they are taking things soooo easy. Let’s frigging do some work!! Second, why would you pass over a good pass blocking tackle in Sean Locklear and go for the injured player (as usual!) with better upside. They should have just got the healthy guy. RT is a mess now.
Paulman…you are missing one key point. Nate Allen is their guy. Just like Sean Considine was their guy when we kept saying why isn’t Quinton Mikell getting more of a chance? They are going to go with Allen no matter what because he’s a second round pick and they have to prove to everyone that he was a good pick.
Daren Sharper needs to signed asap. If you dont start him he can mentor the other safeties cause right now our veteran safety is nate allen. Thats scary.
Paulman…thank you for concurring on Cole. He is hands down the most over rated Eagle and fully deserves to be 73 on the list. He is not a gamer. He disappears in big games And most of his stats come against inferior tackles and bad teams.
Jbird – I hope you are not correct about Allen, but there is something to your comment.
I met a former Eagles defensive back last year in a business meeting. Afterwords I asked him why Macho Harris was starting and he said the same thing your comment did.
Even when he was healthy I liked Coleman over Allen because Coleman will pop you. Allen and Mikel got steam rolled too many times. Andy loves the kid from Temple because he can hit. Let him play. It can’t get much worse than last night.
Hope this Advil works.
@ the dude jbird….New CBA rule prohibit contact practices back to back has to be live then walkthru live then walkthru
was anyone else watching the game wondering..why aren’t we blitzing? I know the eagles made some big moves during the off season to grab some defensive guys that can play. But if you think sending only 4 most of the time will stop a team like the steelers you’re dead wrong. The reason we have all these corners is because we hope to get the ball out of the QB’s hands to force bad plays. For that to happen you need to send some guys to create pressure. The defensive didnt seem angry out there and thats disappointing. Hopefully they can turn it around in the next couple weeks because that was hard to watch. The steelers managed the game perfectly and ate up the entire first quarter. You wanna talk about a well run organization….
I agree jbird and have been saying the same thing for the last 3 Years..
I like T Cole and think he’s a good player, but just because he has been the best DE on the Eagle Team doesn’t mean that he’s an elite player in th NFL.. The Philly Media and many fans have always had a hard time distinguishing this..
To Vricchini, I think the Eagles could go with Jarred Page at Allen’s sport and be fine, D Sharper is a little too old at this point..
About the only positive was watching QB Kafka operate and play well and how about those 2 young WR (Turner and Jones) all they do is catch the ball
He’s their guy…that is why he’s starting…that’s so dumb…EVERYBODY on that team is their guy….The were picked, drafted signed whatever you wanna call it by THEM
I see a combination of things going on here. It seems that the Eagles decided to go “all in” during the worst year possible. The team needed the OTAs and a full camp to acclimate both their new players and coaches. During this “all in” year, we really needed the time to gel.
Of course, the team makes at least one head-scratching move each year, and this year’s topper is the movement of Juan Castillo. I’m declaring the move neither a success nor failure. I’m only saying that making such a change during a year when you’re going for the big one seems risky, at best.
I give the front office high marks for finally trying to build a championship roster. At the same time, I question some of Reid’s moves (as always).
Lots of drama to unfold.
Not going to go ape-sh*t over one pre-season game.
Everyone’s concerns over moving the OL coach to D Coordinator looked to have been validated, but doesn’t mean that he is a failure.
Probably couldn’t of had a worse offensive and defensive performance, but did anyone notice how badly the Steelers looked against the Redskins last week? i will put this into the column that it was a pre-season game in a year where we have had a truncated off-season.
However, I wonder if Big Red is questioning his decision to end camp a day early as a reward for all of their hard work.
Let me tell everyone just how awesome Trent Cole is and how valuable he is in big games. In nine games against the Cowboys and Giants since 2008, he has one sack! In five playoff games? One sack! Yeah he is really great and he really straps it on for big games.
This is just what the eagles needed. I was afraid that since the eagles who have improved at the D-line and corner positions and not linebacker – safety would be vernerable to the run. Mathews is not ready to start! Start Chaney in the middle for now. Play Mafhews on special teams. Put Allen on notice and give Page more snaps
Couple of Questions: I thought the coaches were impressed with Cheney’s level of play last season. Wasn’t he supposed to be the heir apparent to the MLB?
And isn’t more difficult to find a MLB linebacker than any other linebacker?
Have to concur JBbird. Looked at Cole’s 8 career playoff games and he only has 1 1/2 sacks. People will point out that he gets doubled because their is no one on the other side of the field, but other stud DEs find a way even with that handicap.
I am concerned as much about QB Vick as I am the defense..
He looked very slow to react last evening on blitzes and what coverages the Steelers were throwing at him.. He reverted to old habits and was throwing the ball into double coverages all evening..
I stated last week that even though Vick went 5-7 in 1 Series versus the Ravens, that I was not overly impressed or excited about his play.. He got away with 3 poor passes which were completed in that game but was not so lucky versus the Steelers.. He better snap out of it or it may be a long season for this “Dream Team” who we might be calling the “Nightmare Team” before too long..
I never liked Juan as an offensive line coach and definitely not as the defensive coordinator. But since it is a reality. (I tried to convince myself it was a bad dream when Andy made the announcement.) I want to support Juan.
But I feel a touch of Banner and Andy in the choice to start Casey Matthews at MLB. We already had a MLB. He replaces Bradley and excells. Then somebody looks into their Crystal ball and sees something the rest of us can’t see. Remove a proven commodity at MLB and replace him with a rookie. Where do they get this logic from?
It’s like removing Merly Streep in the female lead and replacing her with Suri Cruise. Yes she has the acting bloodlines but she’s a few years away from being the lead in a major motion picture.
End this experiment right now and give the kid more time to learn with the 2nd team. Let Jamar Chaney play the middle. And Foku play outside. Then you have 2 guys who should at least know where to go on each play
We can’t afford to have another “shark in the water” starting on defense..
Now come on Cobb ,you are talking about the “”Dream Team ”” or “”Gold Standard “” , How can this be ?????
‘
Seansyh, I agree with you, With 3 All Pro corners on this team we should be blitzing every other play, I think they saw how good we looked with a 4 man rush last week an figued it would work again, Castillo better wakeup an realize were not playing the same team every week, I also agree with Vricchini an think picking up Darren Sharper would be a great pickup right now even if its only for his presence.
Matthews is not a middle linebacker. I hope they move him to the outside and put Chaney back in the middle because Matthews looks bad out there. And I know he’s only a rookie but for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, you cannot rely on a rookie at such a critical position especially if that rookie looks really bad. Don’t know what to say about Allen. I don’t know how much of it has to do with the knee or just not knowing what he’s doing. This is what happens when you play a BALANCED, physical veteran team. Too many times were receivers wide open and the Steelers made sure they ran the ball to keep us off balanced. Hopefully, they learn from this and realize that looking good on paper means nothing.
bsm…I totally agree. Who did Juan Castillo ever develope as an O lineman? MJG, Nick Cole, Mike McGlynn, Jamaal Jackson? The only guy he ever coached up that I can see is Herremans. Andrews and Thomas were blue chip prospects and he had nothing to do with their success. Same for Runyan. The guy is a mediocre coach but he’s Andy’s buddy. Right now he looks like a joke on defense but I guess we will see. I am going to dial back my expectations a little bit. That game was a blessing of sorts. It smacked me back into reality. I have been WAAAYYY too focussed on the Eagles the last two weeks. It will take another month or two now for them to suck me again. Like maybe if they play great and beat Atl. That will be their next chance to suck me in. But I can put them on the back burner somewhat now because I’m not seeing a championship team at this point. Too many ???????
guys it is preseason. its vanilla offense/defense. yea we got smacked around a bit but this game doesnt count so im not too concerned.
The Negadelphians have spoken. OMG guys one bad preseason game? The preseason isnt a time when you say oh we gotta win these games its so important, no this is a time when you see what you have on your roster, Your testing your players, how do they react when adversity strikes, you have the label dream team right well lets see what you do when this or that happens… really the eagle coaches are happy this happen because its a good teaching tool going forward…
Paul, here you go again. Now your questioning the qb position? The most stable position on our team. You gotta chill man.
The eagles were playing very vanilla, there not gonna show there hand in the preseason, you guys are bugging out on here over this. Negadelphians!
Your forgetting the steelers played horrible last week too, it happens to teams every yr during the preseason. We looked good last game. We have 2-3 weeks left to sure everything up, let them do what they gotta do then judge them. Dont go off a preseason game that they dont even game plan for and so oh they have holes everywhere, that sounds so off the bandwagonish… Cmon!
Of course it’s only preseason and we shouldn’t overreact to everything but somethings do matter. If Casey Matthews can’t play well going against “Vanilla defenses” wait til he start playing against the more complicated schemes. Not saying he can’t or anyone else can’t improve but chalking stuff up as “it’s only preseason is dumb” but some problems are evident right from the beginning and bite you in the ass later in the season. The only bright spot is that the game does count on your record but it does count in the developing of young players, several new players on defense and a new coordinator. It does count for them. The world is not over but last week everyone was proclaiming how great this defense is with the DLine and CBs and as good as they looked last week they looked just as bad. But none of you guys said people were overreacting then. Quite the hypocrites.
@Jon Hart…that is real talk!
@Scorp
true true I agree, when it comes to players playing out of position that is a problem, that needs to be addressed…I do understand trying different plays, coverages…in preseason…but you should have the best players on the team at each position…We all know that Chaney can play the MLB position better than Matthews can at this time…Possibly even over their entire careers…I dont think Matthews needs to come off the field, just moved…
You can expect the defense to look disjointed with a rook in the middle, new parts, coaches, coordinator but WTF with Vick, he played terribly, and he hasn’t played well in a while, this eagles offense is supposed to be established but it stinks right now, if Vick turns south in his development this franchise will be set back 3-5 years as we look for a legitimate replacement for mcnabb, damn I can’t believe said that
soooooooooooooooooo youre saying I should panic… panic because a rookie who lost 2 months of rookie camps played his first legitimate half of NFL football poorly, and a safety, who’s fresh off of knee surgery… also played poorly ?
First off, all you a-holes panicking are the same ones that panicked about the phillies early this year, and the eagles last year…
HAVE ANY OF YOU EVER WATCHED A PRESEASON EAGLES GAME? they never show anything out of the ordinary… they dont blitz, they dont do things they will do in the regular season, and they dont do anything fancy on offense… and everyone panics EVERY YEAR, and it never means a damn thing. The steelers obviously played up to playing the eagles, because everyone is all over the eagles so far… the eagles however could care less, again because it is preseason, granted matthews and allen did look like garbage, but its preseason, and even if it was week 2 of the regular season, it wouldnt matter !!! the NFC east is trash, and they will be in the playoffs regardless…
A bogus excuse when I hear Eagles are playing Vanilla Offenses and Defenses.. (Isn’ tthis what the other team doing also..) I just thought playing a tough physical eam versus an instate Rivalry like the Steelers, that the Eagles missed a golden opportunity to learn how to play physical by running the ball more and trying to give this OL some confidence, Instead, Vick looked like a Rookie QB telegraphing and looking at 1 Receiver on many of his passes and yes I am concerned about his play and was unable to put any drives together.. In 2 Games the 1st & 2nd team Offense has put up 13 pOints so yes, I have worries about this EAgle offense.. Other teams 1st and 2nd Units are scoring TD’s in their “Vanilla Packages” why can’t the Eagles.
And as far as Casey Matthews goes, He’s a Special Teamer and a back-up LB which is what I thought he would be, so no surprise here..
He is what I thought he is and definitely not ready for Starters spot..
you also thought jeremy maclin had cancer.
The steelers got embarrased by rex grossman the last time they took the field… they had to take some initiative to try and win a game to shut people up, which is what the eagles will do in the only “important” preseason game there is… the 3rd one.
also the eagles have a vanilla way of doing everything… they always have
The steelers had added incentive to come out and really light things up. They gave up points and alot of yards a week ago to the redskins, so tomlin challenged his team, exactly what every great winning coach does and they accepted the challenge… they came out firing on all cylinders. They were good on offense and defense. Thats the sign of a great team from top to bottom. The eagles have a similar situation now. Andy will use this game as a teaching tool and challenge these guys and you better believe that they will try there very best to answer the challenge… This team has to prove on the field that they can play with the elites. I refuse to judge my team or any team for that matter off of a preseason game, thats just bone head. Ive seen teams lose every preseason game then end up in the superbowl…
And yes Vanilla. Juan said it himself, there are alot of plays that they put in but will not be using them in the preseason, you never wanna show your hand too early. Juan is a new D coach that has been given alot of toys on defense, give him a chance to work with them esp with the LBs, there is alot of potential with that young group…
Great points Zoltek, they coincide with my points. Its nice to see that there are still some on here that arent bandwagon hopper offers and are having a panic attack over a preseason game…
@Jakedog…slow down…Vick will be fine…in fact he will be better than he was last year…no worries!
I am not panicking Zoltec, I stated last week after the RAvens game that the Eagles look simply average to me (when everyone was going ga-ga over them) and now after the 2nd game, they regressed and look below average to me..
A couple things I would do though
#1) Get a NFL Starting Caliber MLB like Lafu Tatupu and have Matthews learn behind him for a season or 2 or even slide J Chaney back over to MLB and then get someone else at OLB Spot (Rolle/Clayton or Jordan)
#2) Get Nate Allen out of the Starting line-up, he looks lost out there so far and maybe it’s coming back from injury or something, but he was out of position all night last evening and still takes terrible angles on tackles..
GO with J Page and K Coleman as your Starting tandem..
#3) Ditch the VY experiment and elevate Kafka as the true #2 Back-up to Vick (to be honest and not cruel, VY is just not smart enough to play in this offense) Use the savings for another player or position upgrade, not sure if any of you remember, but I wanted the Eagles to pursue Steelers QB Dennis Dixon as a back-up for I though he would be a perfect fit in this offense and he looked pretty darn good last night didn’t he..
Get WR’s Turner and Jones more playing with the #2 Teams a little more..
I have been disappointed in WR Riley Cooper progress so far.. I don’t see him running routes all that great and he appears to have a tough time picking the ball up when he runs the deeper routes and is not much than a #5 WR in my eyes..
I’m worried about the eagles offense, Reid and Vick, Reid is a passaholic, puts pressure on Vick, it’s a bad combo, the defense will settle in, but this big strike offense doesn’t win championships, you need to have long, sustained drives, especially in late season, I am telling you Reid will f this up
@zoltek
I agree about us playing very vanilla defense. I think the thing that is most diconcerting to all of us is that that there were not one positive to take away from the game–aside that no one got hurt. It was an old fashioned butt whippin. We couldn’t stop the run at all, then they threw all day on our vaunted secondary. I could live with mental errors by the defense and Matthews, but we just completely were overmatched up front. Throw in how horrid the offense looked, and ugh.
One last thing about Zoltek stating that the Eagles always have a “vanilla’ way of doing tihings in Pre-Season.. Well,what has that Won for the Eagles over the years, that’s right, nothing..zippo.. In a year with a shortened camp and practice time, experienced coaching staff, maybe it’s time to change things up and try to actually work on things in Preseason games that you will use once the Season starts to see if they actually will work or not…Anyone notice how the Steelers Offense was completely aware and on the same page on what to do when the Eagles would blitz which lead to their first 2 TD’s.. They had the same amount of time of Practice and camp as the Eagles did so why are they planning and prepared and teh Eagles not..
The one thing that I cant take solace in is the fact that we have one linebacker who does not appear overmatched in Fokou. That guy really brings it and can hold up at the point of attack. He is serviceable in coverage while not spectacular.
Why werent the steelers more prepared than John Beck and the redskins last week paulamn? One bad game… See Bengals game last preseason. Relax brothers. They will be fine. a 10 win team. nothing less.
I am not saying that being vanilla is a good choice… but again its just how they are. Like I said on another post, the packers started 3-3 last year, and the eagles are always better the last 8 games of the season than they are the first 8.. so they have plenty of time. I only watched the first half last night… and nothing impressed me, except maybe mccoy. But by all means, in a shortened camp, and in the 2nd preseason game.. its no reason to do any sort of panicking, or changing, or anything.
Give it time, new players, new coordinator, short camp… everything doesnt work as good on the field, as it does on paper. If they are still this bad week 8… then I’ll have a crow sandwich.
Fran I agree..there was no serious injuries last night which makes last night’s meaningless game a success. I’m with Zoltec and JH on this..
The steelers looked just as bad last week when they got torched by Rex Grossman and the putrid offense they have..they had incentive to actually play last night.
Paulman if you think going all in for preseason games is the reason we don’t win the Superbowl you are much dumber than I thought. Yea, lets show the best offense and defensive plays for all of the league to see already so that we can win a game that means absolutely nothing. The steelers players, who win rings, would be the first to tell you preseason is BS which you can tell by they way they played last week. Their only goal is to stay healthy.
Most of the issues will be fixed. Maclin and Smith will be huge for the offense. and The DT spot will be fine as well once we get some people back healthy. Move Chaney back to the middle. and Use Page at the safety spot with Nate Allen, who misses having a veteran back there with him.
As for Cole being overrated–come on now. You admitted that he owned the tackles for the Steelers, yet you say that they were back ups. What was he supposed to do? He did what he should have done. Cole is a very good 4-3 defensive end. Is he elite? No, but who is in the league? Dwight Freeney is better on the pass rush, but can’t hold a candle to Cole as a run stopper and complete DE. Tuck is an elite 4-3 DE, and maybe 1 or 2 others, but Cole is the best of the rest. He has had little support since he has been a pro and I think the only reason Parker has remained functional is because of all the attention given to Cole. Our defensive tackles for the last few years have been non existent in the pass rushing aspect and Cole is the only concern other teams have on our defensive line for the last few years. Hopefully that changes with Babin this year.
Excuse me for a second guys, I read the fluff Casey Matthews report by G. Cobb and paulamn’s “Chaney sliding to the middle” comment.
I watched every play 3-5x and studied the starting linebackers.
The 2 weakest links of our defense yesterday were:
1 – Nate Allen (and this was obvious and I’m bummed, but it is early)
2 – Jamar Chaney
Fokou was just another guy on the field, very pedestrian.
On the contrary, Matthews was our best linebacker last night.
He showed his intelligence by not getting sucked towards the QB on broken plays.
He played his gaps and took on 2 blockers a few times, and unlike the other 2 he actually got off of blocks.
Chaney was hit or miss, and mostly miss last night.
He either overran a play action or couldn’t get off of a block.
He actually had a horrible game and was pushed around a lot.
Why would you say something if you didn’t do the correct research?
Rag on a rookie for being young and not “standing out”
But he played better than all of you think, and Allen played worse than all of us were hoping.
Besides Trent Cole, Coleman was our best defender on the field.
Not just last night, but in general Cole is a beast and under appreciated.
Cole is a top 5 end in this league, but he gets cross field tackles and stops the run as well.
He might be the “All Pro” that he was a few years ago.
Hopefully Washburn’s scheme and d-line improvement allow him to get his due recognition.
Cole was taken out of the game early on because his elbow swelled up…not sure how you could evaluate a player on a few plays???
BTW, the Steelers lost the Superbowl. They are hungry and pissed off.
They felt disrespected by the Washington Redskins last week.
They were clearly amped up for the “state championship” game.
OK, so we lost a preseason game that has no meaning.
We just have more stuff to work on, go figure…
We have new faces and new things installed, shut the hell up with your exaggeration (you know who you are since you wrote it above)
Wmonell…you must have some high tech ass television to study every play and watch the line backers positioning…I mean damn your TV must have a mind of its own, doesn’t allow the station to zoom, no closeups, strictly watching the LB’s and LB’s only…some of the ish some of you cats say is classic!
Shady is the best player on offense right now, better than our QB and WR. The Eagles need to let him run 20 plus times a game if they actually want to win something this year. If he got the carries some of the top RB in the league got his numbers would be just as good…Get the ball out of Vicks and into Mccoy’s once the games actually matter…It would benefit Vick’s play too.