Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg game-planned for tonight’s match against the Patriots, so I expect the offense to step it up and it’s important that they play well. This will be their last dress rehearsal before game one versus Cleveland. I want to see them put together at least a touchdown drive for each quarter they’re in there. They’re going to play at least the first half, so Michael Vick and the first team offense need to execute at least two touchdown drives.
Reid and Mornhinweg do a great job of putting their quarterbacks in position to succeed, so I expect Vick to look much better than he did in the Pittsburgh game. He will have a good idea what he will see defensively and who will be open. They’ll likely have a number of packages that are designed to take advantage of weaknesses in the Bill Belichick’s defense.
Belichick will have some tricks up his sleeve, so it will be a challenge to move the ball against an improved New England defense. Third down is likely to be the key to this battle.
I’m especially interested in him utilizing the short passing game to tight end Brent Celek, running back LeSean McCoy and the Birds wide outs, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.
Celek and McCoy will be utilized more often by Vick. If teams give him short to immediate routes, then he’s got to take them rather throwing deep to Jackson. You’re also going to see the quickness of rookie free agent Damaris Johnson utilized in the short passing game.
If the Eagles can succeed in the short-passing game, it will put opposing defenses in a very difficult position. It’s vital that the Birds are able to execute their short passing game in the red zone. Vick has to quick with his reads and his throws have to accurate in the red zone, because you have less room to work with. It will be one of the keys to their season.
We will be watching the game together here on GCobb.com, so make sure you join us in the comments section and Chatroom.
First team offense struggled last week against a very overrated Pitt D, now they get another team that statistically, was near the bottom of the league last year in D, especially pass D.
(watched a rookie QB last night recover from a 4 of 10 and int 1st Q to go 10 of 12 in the 2nd Q including 3 for 3 on a nice 40 second drive for a score at the end of the half – I find it terribly annoying to watch rookie QBs perform at higher levels than our $100million superstar)
As I mentioned on an earlier thread. Top QBs around the league have been posting pretty ridiculous numbers this preseason. Anything less than 14-20 for 150 and a td with no picks would be worrisome. Its what to expect from a “top 10” QB.
Celek and Maclins return to the lineup is huge – Avant and Harbour cannot replace them —
I like the Bird’s O — there is no one that can replace Jason Peters so I won’t cry about that but I think there is an upgrade at RG on the bench