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What a difference a week makes

Also, what a difference having your pro bowl playmakers back in the lineup makes...

I'll post a full game review when I get a chance to watch the game in it's entirety, it wasn't shown in my area so I had to catch what I could on a bar TV... But I have a few quick thoughts.

McNabb. He's back. All the way back. Beware NFC. Just looking at the throws he made, it's obvious that he's just a class above AJ Feeley. Honestly he's a class above most QBs in this league. He made it look easy tonight.

Lito. The man just makes plays. It's that simple. He comes up big at big moments and can change a game. Very nice to see him back and looking good.

The pass rush. Thanks for showing up! I guess you didn't realize preseason started on Monday? 4 sacks, that's the production we're looking for.

Pass protection. See above.

The D. Against the Eagles starting defense the Panthers only managed 37 yards. Guess those "mental mistakes" Jim Johnson was so upset about Monday night were fixed. Although I have to agree with the guys commenting in the game thread. The Panthers just looked dreadful. I give our D credit for playing well, but this Panther team didn't put up much of a fight.

Akers with two 50 plus yard FGs, Tony Hunt looking like a legit goal line back with 2 TDs, Brent Celek looking like a flat out player, Abiamiri getting his first sack... Lots of positives from tonight. I didn't get to see Kolb, but his stat line of 11 for 16 looks pretty solid.

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Game in review
Quarterbacks - all three looked good.  Kolb had much less protection with the second string O-line, but still pulled off some nifty stuff.  Holcomb, while out of the game, may have more chance in Atlanta than in Minnesota given how dreadful Atlanta looked.

O-line - Max Jean-Gilles did a good job filling in for Andrews.  Still didn't think the run blocking was that great, but it also didn't seem to be emphasized as much as getting a chance to look at a QB and pass blocking.

Tight Ends - Celek continues to impress, Schobel did great.

Wideouts - Reggie Brown was almost invisible.  Not sure if that was by plan though.  Baskett and Avant both made great catches.  Bloom is very impressive in holding onto the football.  Bloom may make Lewis expendable.

Running Backs - good show by Westbrook, Buck, Hunt, and Ilaoa.  The Fullbacks Tapeh and Davis both showed they should not be given the football.  Davis definitely made the challenged first down - boo refs you suck! - but why couldn't he get another few feet so it was obvious?

Special teams - kicking, punting, returning all seem to be in good hands.  Coverage units and blocking units need to really step up their play.  Too many yards are being given up to opponents in returns, and Bloom is not being given many holes.

Defensive Line - excellent showing in the absence of Kearse.  Big plays made all up and down the depth chart.  I'd like to see more of Reagor and Scott though.

Linebackers - Gocong was invisible.  Trotter and Spikes made plays, but all of them were on the wrong side of the line scrimmage.  I don't see the downhill attack Trotter was famous for in 2004 and 2005.  McCoy, Bradley, and Gaither playing like second teamers giving up plays.  Akeem Jordan needs to learn to tackle, but is definitely putting himself in the right places.  Tank Daniels - invisible - can't make the team if you don't make plays.

Secondary - Sheppard shows why he is the #1 corner by not only getting the interception Brown and James just missed, but also returning it for 6.  Good show by Barksdale.  Safeties all played well - didn't notice any mistakes.  Graham played well except for giving up one long completion where he should have reacted to the ball.

by Andrew on Aug 17, 2007 11:52 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Kolb
Color me convinced. I knew from Day 1 he'd be good, but now I'm completely and utterly convinced that this guy could be a legit star in the NFL someday. "You can tell this from 2 preseason games, you idiot?" you say? "Abso-friggin-lutely!" I reply!

The beautiful part bout Kolb's play is that you would never know he's a rookie. He's out there playing with a lot of guys who will not make the team, and it's wonderful to see he's clearly a cut above the rest. At no point in any of the quarters have I doubted that he was the best player on the field.

  1. His passes are very tight, on good projectiles, with excellent velocity and rotation. Maybe he can't throw 100 yards on his knees like JaMarcus Russell, but this guy has the velocity of Roethlisberger. He can hit any window, his passes = bullets.
  2. He is athletic. He's not the burner McNabb is, but he is plenty fast to scramble for a first down. His rollouts have been solid, he's thrown very well off-balance. Today, after being hit on the shoulder after calmly avoiding another rusher, offbalance and already falling as another defender careened into his midsection, Kolb threw a perfect bullet right to Ilaoa. If that was Westbrook on the receiving end, he would have caught it and sprinted up an open field. As it happened, Ilaoa let it hit just in front of his fingertips.
  3. He doesn't have happy feet. In any QB, happy feet is a bad sign. Eli had it, Ramsey had it, Delhomme had it today, Vick usually has it. QBs that dance in the pocket when they're basically alone are QBs that have no idea what's going on. Kolb never danced, every step he took in the pocket had a purpose and either avoided the rush or added velocity/accuracy to his passes. The guy has good footwork from where I was watching. He always had his head up, he was always looking to make a good pass, he knew where people were and where they were supposed to be.
Maybe he isn't McNabb fast, but he has McNabb's uncanny sense of his surroundings. In fact, Kolb kind of reminds me of Jay Cutler + McNabb combined. Less arm power, but the same mold of West Coast QB.

Of course, the playbook is still easy on him, but it's always a good sign that your future QB gets into camp on time, handles what he's given with aplomb, and shows up on gametime and carries inferior talent. I hope he doesn't see a snap for the next half decade, but if/when he does get regular playing time, I'm completely confident that he'll be able to win football games. In 4 quarters of football, he's exhibited to me confidence in what he knows, ability to read the defense, mobility, a bullet arm with good accuracy, and a calm exterior that is a lot like what Mike McMahon had, only the exact opposite.

by Alon on Aug 18, 2007 2:47 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Kolb
I think that's a great review and very much in line with what I've seen from him. The great thing is that very quickly you can see he has all the mechanics. There's no doubt that those mechanics are probably what first drew Andy's eye. The poise and heady play are likely what convinced him to take the kid.

It's hard to say there's a better spotter of QB talent in this leauge than Andy Reid. In Green Bay, not only was he Favre's QB coach, he also scouted and brought Matt Hasselbeck to Holmgren's attention. Here, he drafted McNabb who is a multi time pro bowler and Feeley who has always been good in this system. It's hard to draft one pro bowl QB in your career, Andy has already found 2(McNabb, Hasselbeck). So frankly, the fact that Reid believes in the kid  makes me feel better about Kolb than anything he's done on the field so far.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Aug 18, 2007 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Good stuff
IIRC, Kolb started an unusually high number of games in college, like around 50, which probably helps account for his poise and judgment. It's great to see the Eagles are giving him a look at the field so quickly. Reid's history is to have his QB projects sit and watch (although preseason is good for just this kind of live experience). But I agree with what you said, I hope he doesn't have to take the training wheels off for a long time to come because that'll mean McNabb is continuing to lead this team to success.

by Dire Radiant on Aug 18, 2007 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

He had alot of starts
This blogger references a study done by Football Outsiders that should make us feel very good about Kolb.
Every year around April we hear stories of how great this QB prospect is going to be. During draft season everyone gets caught up in the physical abilities of each prospect, but fail to look at the big picture.

Using more than just physical ability, I will handicap who I feel in the 2007 NFL Draft has the best shot at long-term QB success in the NFL.

Criteria

Research done by the Football Outsiders suggest that there are two college stats that many successful pro QBs share: Starts and Completion Percentage. QBs who have started at least 40 games and have a career completion percentage of at least 60% tend to have more success in the NFL. These two stats will be the first criteria used to judge this year's rookie passers.

I will also use physical ability to rank the players. However, just being drafted means that you have enough physical ability to play pro football. I will look at size, mobility, arm strength, and accuracy. I will use the opinions of several draft guides in my analysis.

The last criteria is the most subjective. I call it the "X-factors." It includes my opinion of a QB's intangibles, like leadership, work ethic, etc. It also includes a fair assessment of the environment the player is in. Was he drafted to a talented team with good coaching? Will he be forced to play right away? These are all just as important, if not more so, than raw physical talent.

While my rankings may seem surprising, they represent a complete assessment of what it takes to be a pro QB.

Rankings

1. Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia
Grade: A+
Kolb grades very well in all the criteria I used. He started 50 games at Houston and completed 61.6% of his passes. He has all the physical tools necessary to be a successful QB. He's also in the perfect situation in Philadelphia. He gets to learn from an offensive mastermind in an offense that suits his skills perfectly. Their is also no pressure to start right away, with Donovan McNabb expected to return to form this season.


Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Aug 18, 2007 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

1st Down
I know it doesnt matter since its a preseason game, but that was a terribly blown call on the fourth down attempt... Unless of course the yellow line was incorrect
700 Level

by 700 Level on Aug 18, 2007 9:09 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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