Lost amidst all the Michael Vick talk yesterday was the Eagles 27-25 loss to the Pats in their preseason opener. While it’s never wise to invest too much in preseason performances, it’s still our first look at the 2009 Eagles and for the most part it was a pretty solid night all around. Just a quick heads up before we begin: I missed most of the second half (writing about the Vick signing, of course) so these observations will apply primarily to the first and second team offense and defense.
Who Looked Good…
LeSean McCoy, RB – McCoy was the story of the night, rushing for 55 yards in the first half on 10 carries, and adding two catches for 12 yards, including a terrific 19-yard catch and run on a screen after the Patriots brought a heavy blitz. More importantly he showed a very Brian Westbrook-esq initial burst and breakaway speed. Heck he even looked good running between the tackles…there’s nothing this kid can’t do! I’m really excited to see how the Eagles work him into the offense in the regular season. McCoy may have been one of the biggest steals of the draft going 53rd overall.
Leonard Weaver, FB – So this is what it’s like to have a top fullback? Weaver was a force not only rushing, but receiving and blocking as well. A great performance for one of the most underrated free agent signings of the offseason.
Donovan McNabb and A.J. Feeley, QB – McNabb got out to an extremely slow start, putting several balls in the dirt and overthrowing a couple of his receivers on the first two drives. After that though he really got into a rhythm, and showed he is still more than capable of playing at a Pro Bowl level. He could use a bit more touch on some of his deep throws, but he looked mobile dancing around the pocket and should be in line for a big season.
Feeley surprisingly put up very good numbers, granted they all came against the Pats’ backups. Still it’s nice to know your third (maybe fourth now?) QB can step in and perform if need be.
Eldra Buckley, RB – Buckley was a bit of a surprise, picking up two TDs (1 rushing, 1 receiving.) While he didn’t run the ball particularly well, he led the team in catches with six. This is huge for Buckley, as he wasn’t really known for being a good receiving back prior to coming to the Eagles. If he can keep this up over the next three preseason games there is little doubt he’ll get a roster spot over Lorenzo Booker, who didn’t see the ball much Thursday night (3 carries for 13 yards.)
Desean Jackson, WR - Jackson looks like he has fully recovered from his knee injury in camp, and had an outstanding run off a reverse. After initially being met well behind the line of scrimmage near the far sideline, he switched directions and made it all the way back to the near sideline picking up 9 or so yards all while avoiding quite a few defenders. It may have been the play of the game for the Eagles.
Jeremy Maclin, WR - The receiver out of Mizzou made his first rookie mistake, muffing a punt in the first quarter that the Eagles recovered. After that he seemed to settle down, and made a couple plays down the field (2 catches for 44 yards.) McNabb also narrowly overthrew him on a deep route in the 2nd quarter. There’s room for improvement, but he showed why we was one of the top receivers in the draft and will be a factor in this offense.
Brandon Gibson, WR – He is my sleeper pick to make the team, and he made a strong case last night. The numbers may not blow your mind (2 catches for 20 yards) but it was how he went about making those catches that should raise some eyebrows in the Eagles front office. The first one was particularly impressive, as McNabb clearly overthrew him but he managed to leap up and haul it in for a six yard gain.
Brent Celek, TE – Celek made a couple nice catches before leaving the game with a sprained shoulder. Hopefully he can stay healthy because from the way he looked last night he should be primed for a big season.
Joe Mays, LB - He may have only recorded one tackle, but Mays was stout stopping the running game up the middle.
Sheldon Brown, CB - He had a nice interception on a poorly-thrown Tom Brady deep ball. It looks like he’s stopped sulking and started making a case for a big contract next offseason, something Lito Sheppard never did last season.
The Jury is Still Out…
Reggie Brown, WR - Brown had a nice sliding catch for a first down in the second quarter, but it was largely a quiet night for him. With so much competition at receiver it will be important that Brown makes some plays this preseason, as his roster spot is anything but guaranteed.
Every tight end other than Brent Celek - Eugene Bright had a catch and a nice block on a defensive end in the 2nd quarter, but other than that nobody took advantage of the extra playing time due to Celek’s injury.
Jason Peters, OT - Peters gave up a sack and was equally at fault with guard Nick Cole on another. He then left the game with a quad strain. I’m not going to rip on him too much yet because he did miss some time in camp with an injury, and you also have to consider there is no continuity on this line right now because so many guys are out. Still, for how much the Eagles paid for him, Peters shouldn’t be getting beat by the likes of Tully Banta-Cain, who beat him badly to the outside on a rush for a sack.
Winston Justice, OT - The Eagles don’t appear to be giving up on him just yet, but he’ll have to show more than he did last night to earn a spot on the team.
The red zone offense – The first team offense failed to score a touchdown and had long drives die out in the red zone on a couple occasions. Not good to see considering this was a huge weakness for the team last season. That being said I’ll withhold further judgment until Week 1 and chalk last night’s struggles up to rust.
The pass rush - The Eagles only managed one sack against the Pats and failed to get pressure on Tom Brady for most of the evening. They clearly missed Trent Cole, and I assume they ran a very vanilla defensive scheme, but I still would have liked to see more push up front. On the brightside they did a better job against the run.
David Akers, K – Akers missed two field goals (one got blocked) and nearly missed two more. He has clearly lost a step, but if he continues to struggle like this the Eagles would be wise to start looking at some Plan B kickers.
Sav Rocca, P – Rocca’s first punt was a horrendous 37-yarder that was a wasted opportunity to pin New England deep in their own territory early. He was better the rest of the night, but not a good start to the season for him.
Photos courtesy of ESPN.
