Taking Stock of Eagles Preseason: Aug 27th vs the Jaguars
by Bob_Q on Aug 28, 2009 4:14 AM EDT
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintThe Eagles finally produced what every fan has been dying to see since last season ended: a win! And what a win it was, snatching a last second 33-32 victory from the claws of the Jaguars. Philadelphia lagged behind Jacksonville for the entire second and third quarters, and most of the fourth, causing many fans to wonder if our beloved Birds would start the preseason 0-3. Fortunately, a late rally by Kevin Kolb helped the Eagles punch back and score 13 points to edge out Jacksonville for their first preseason win. Not to be forgotten however, are the numerous stories that unfolded throughout the night as the two teams struggled against one another. Here is a brief look at who's stock is on the rise, and who's stock is falling:
Stock on the Rise:
Jason Avant- Avant once again put together a solid performance, leading the team in receiving yards with 5 catches for 92 yards, including a 28-yard bomb from McNabb that led to an Eagles field goal (the first score of the night). His routes looked flawless, and he seemed to catch everything thrown his way.
Kevin Kolb- Yes, his intentional grounding call did cost the Eagles a safety and yes, he did show questionable clock management skills by leaving David Akers a full 0:15 to kick a field goal, but most importantly, his production in the fourth quarter led the Eagles to their first preseason victory. Kolb finished the night by completing 10 of 18 passes for 102 yards with no interceptions and a 9-yard TD pass to Reggie Brown. Not bad for a guy just coming off of an MCL injury.
Michael Vick- The Eagle's new quarterback received a surprisingly warm welcome from the fans at Lincoln Financial Field, but didn't let that phase him one bit. Although he was only on the field for six plays, Vick's performance at the quarterback position reassured fans who doubted his shape after spending two years away from the game. He completed all four of his passes for 19 yards, and had a one-yard scramble off of a fake handoff.
More after the jump...
Marcus Mailei- The young fullback made a huge step forward tonight in his fight for a roster spot with a bruising 3-yard touchdown reception off of a McNabb pass. He was also the only player able to chase down Jacksonville's Gerald Alexander after McNabb threw an interception at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.
David Akers- Akers had a perfect game, getting plenty of opportunities to test his leg. Our kicker made all three extra points and connected on all four field goals, including the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. Talk about clutch.
Moise Fokou- The 7th round pick rookie linebacker continued to impress this evening, displaying a fantastic ballhawking ability and leading the team in tackles with 5 and one assist. In addition, he also earned the right to split time with Joe Mays at the starting middle linebacker position.
Asante Samuel- Samuel finally gave fans what they were dying to see from him: an interception. Samuel picked off a David Garrard pass intended for Torry Holt and returned it five yards to halt the Jaguars' drive. Our defensive leader roamed the field, stripping balls, knocking down passes left and right and delivering punishing blows. He finished out the night by racking up three tackles and a forced fumble.
Jason Babin- The BGN fan favorite delivered once again, forcing a fumble on Jaguars' halfback Chauncy Washington which was recovered by Quintin Demps and quickly led to a LeSean McCoy touchdown. Babin also provided three tackles and one assist to cap off his impressive defensive performance.
Stock Falling:
Kyle Eckel- Getting additional playing time in place of the injured Leonard Weaver, Eckel put on a less-than-impressive performance, especially for a player fighting to keep his spot on the roster. His only action of the night came when Donovan McNabb threw a short pass his way, which the fullback promptly fumbled, allowing Jacksonville's Scott Starks to recover the ball.
Donovan McNabb- Although he did put up respectable preseason numbers, McNabb still allowed a few mistakes to creep up. His interception to Gerald Alexander and his fumble to Brian Iwuh both led to Jacksonville touchdowns and a tough night for the Eagles.
Lorenzo Booker- Booker was absolutely silent throughout the night. He acquired no stats, while his competition Eldra Buckley racked up 8 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards. Looks like Booker will have to work some magic in the final preseason game if he expects to keep his job.
Todd Herremans- Although he didn't play in tonight's contest, after the game, Andy Reid announced that the starting left guard will have to undergo surgery on a stress fracture in his foot. Herremans is expected to miss at least the opening game and probably 1-3 additional weeks as well.
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Asante
is the voice of this defense right now, he went out tonight and showed it. That hit he layed right at the goal line was a bone rattling one, not to mention the forced fumble and pic
by worldphuckinchamps on Aug 28, 2009 5:23 AM EDT reply actions
Hmm
He’s in a contract year. I hope he’s back; I think the front office probably feels like that’s a good move and it wouldn’t cost too much either.
He reminds me sooo much of TO, not just because he wears 81.
He looked bigger, stronger then the past. And he caught the ball well with his hands. If he only had speed, but heck, TO didn’t have speed.
Donovan seems to love him, I think he may be our number 1 receiver. From this preseason, he may get 60 catches this year. Or am I crazy.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
He’s our #1 slot option and will likely end up 2nd or 3rd on the team in receptions behind BWest and maybe Jackson. I’m a monster Avant fan but he’s not Owens. Owens was/sort of is a YAC monster.
Avant catches everything that comes his way but he has not had the YAC production that makes TO, TO.
by andyreidswaistline on Aug 28, 2009 9:55 AM EDT up reply actions
He isn't Owens, but something about his game reminds me of Owens. Just the way he
catches the ball with his hands high in front of his face. His body control, and the way he uses his big frame to box out the defender reminds me of Owens. Of course, Owens is better. Just that Avants way of moving is similar to Owens IMO, not that he is in the same level.
Likewise, Westbrook style reminds me of Sanders. Not that Westbrook is better, but the way is low the ground and uses his hips so well. Even his jukes and the way he shifts direction in full speed just remind me of Barry. Not that he is Barry, but the styles are similar IMO.
I am just comparing the styles, not the talent.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
by yophillybro on Aug 28, 2009 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
The comparison fits a little. The only problem is Avant 19349834759834275 times slower than TO, and just about every other reciever in the league. I know TO wasnt a blazer, but Ive seen freshmen high schoolers run the 40 faster than Avant.
by philiafan14364 on Aug 28, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I dont care, preseason or not
I feel good when the Eagles win.
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."-Danny Ozark
I didn’t watch the first two preseason games and I only caught the second half of this one, but Brandon Gibson had two GREAT catches and I will be upset if he doesn’t stick around.
I am the people's troll :3™
Gibson is the real deal
He works the sidelines so well
I was in shock when the refs said that the pass he caught over the sideline was complete…
I’m like, “GTFO!”
by LegendKnight22 on Aug 28, 2009 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions
No sacks....
no sacks, no sacks, no sacks. Haven’t watched much of the second half, but what I saw of the first eased my fears of Peter’s becing a big mistake. Over the season, the play of the LT will be the biggest factor in the success or failure of this team’s offense.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
by NJBammer on Aug 28, 2009 8:01 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Vick
He did not impress me. He adds nothing, and only breaks up the rhythm of the offense. And why would you play your QB at WR. Do you want to get him killed?
i somewhat agree with you...
while it was fun to watch, it seemed like more of a dog and pony show to me. That said, it was a preseason game and i dont expect to see Vick come in every other play during the season
In the end i think it will be a huge advantage for us once we get the kinks worked out
dog and pony show is better than a dog and dog show!
by GreenInBaltimore on Aug 28, 2009 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions
i’m wondering how jason is blaming mcnabb for the fumble. it wasn’t the greatest of passes to the flats but it was more than catchable. mccoy should have caught that ball. i also think that the play calling in the redzone was, well, very andy reid like, which is bad. i think that mcnabb started out slow but once he came on, he played well. hank also should have caught that ball in the end zone. should have been 7
QB is a decoy on the wild cat, I never understood why that was needed though. But its traditional wildcat.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
He's practiced for a week and a half, out of FB 2 years
he got his feet wet there, I would be shocked if they ran plays like those in the regular season. They’ll have another 2 months to figure out how best to use him.
That being said, if our offense is as good as I suspect it will be (assuming a healthy BW), how much will we use him when we’re able?
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
I saw Rob Myers play a ton yesterday. I think Bright gets cut.
Also, Brent had a bad game yesterday.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
by yophillybro on Aug 28, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
I think Bright made a pretty strong case for making this team last night.
Played a ton of special teams, and showed that hes picking up the receiving thing.
who knows.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
by yophillybro on Aug 28, 2009 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Vick vs. McNabb
Watching the game last night, I got the impression that McNabb was much more effective at confounding the Jaguar’s defense when he rolled out of the pocket and threatened to run than Vick was, no matter what formation he lined up in. It’s easy to forget, now that he has remade himself into a pocket quarterback, how effective Donovan had been when he ran more. He drove defenses crazy.
I know a lot of people say that he should remain a pocket quarterback and that it was running that tore his acl a few years ago, Further he isn’t as fast and elusive as he was 6 years ago.
This may be true but I see McNabb as one of the most uncannily aware and elusive quarterbacks in the league even if he is not as fast as Mike Vick – and to me it seems like he is only playing with half his game when he rarely runs the ball.
The point of this post – yes, I am finally getting to it – is that if Donovan ran a few more times per game, he would have the opposing defenses reeling just as much as if Vick was out there ‘6-8 plays per game’ running ‘Wild-dog’ (sorry, had to do it) formations that could also serve to throw off the momentum and timing of rest of the offense with all the QB changes and trick plays.
D.McN is an outstanding quarterback, we are lucky to have him, We are also lucky to have Mike Vick as a backup QB. I’m not sure it’s smart to get into all this confusing changeup stuff though. Andy Reed is and MM are great at putting together ‘standard’ offensive packages, but historically, their trick plays have often been disasterous.
by IggleGrrrreen(F-da-rest!) on Aug 28, 2009 10:12 AM EDT reply actions
I agree. McNabb doesn’t need to run much, just enough to punish defenses who go man-to-man. If he rushes for one or two first downs per game, it’ll work wonders for the passing game.
by Tracer Bullet on Aug 28, 2009 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions
WR
I thought Maclin looked really good as a receiver yesterday.
In my mind there is no way Kevin Curtis should be starting on this team. Even Reggie Brown looked better than him last night.
With Avant, maclin, and DJax why would Curtis sniff the field.
His blocking was attrocious(where Avant excells), he totally ruined a potential big play on a swing screen to DJax, and he just doesn’t have the speed and skill that maclin has.
I realize he is hurt, but wasn’t that the excuse last year when he sucked.
+1, Curtis is our Slot, Avant and DJax are your starters.
Maclin and Gibson have had solid preseason. Those 2 are 2 potential studs.
Maclin looks soo much better than Nicks. Haahaa. he hasn’t looke that good in NY, neither Bardem.
Bleed green, or don't bleed at all!
by yophillybro on Aug 28, 2009 10:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Hicks and Barden
Giants fans expect so much from these two, but they haven’t played at all with the starters.
Maclin playing with the starters shows you he is much closer to contributing that those two.
Avant excells in the slot...
I dont know how well he would play as a starter in Curtis’s position split out left. Besides, Maclin is gonna be a starter maybe by the end of the year or next year so it would be wise to leave Avant where he is comfortable.
Felix is better than Brian. You can call me FIBTB.
I think said Avant. He was just a beast out there.
But really, what a step up across the board. The O-line, while not fantastic, was better. Samuel absolutely took over on defense and looked a bit like Dawk out there with his hitting. Fokou really impressed me and Babin just keeps playing well. McNabb had some struggles, but he looked better too I thought. He had some nice running throws and a couple good scrambles. I was very happy to see Maclin step up his game. He didn’t look as wide-eyed and he made some plays.
Vick didn’t really impress me, though it was nice to see his passes still had zip. I don’t think he has his speed and athleticism back yet, but that’ll come in time. I think Reid knew everyone was paying attention and he wanted to show Vick doing lots of things so that when he does come back, coordinators have to scheme for him. Which means (even if he plays very little) defenses will spend less time on McNabb, McCoy, Westbrook, DJax, Avant, Celek, Maclin, or Weaver, giving us that much more of an upper-hand.
In my opinion Fokou’s stock went down after he made a bonehead play when he jumped on the pile after the play is over for a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty. I believe that cost the Eagles to be deep in the end zone to start the series where we were charged with a safety soon after.
Felix is better than Brian. You can call me FIBTB.
I would take issue with one point:
While technically the 92 yd TD fumble return was charged to McNabb, that was really on McCoy for 1) dropping the ball when it was perfectly catchable and 2) not paying attention (right away) to the fact that it was actually a lateral. I didn’t blame McNabb for that one.
that whole play call sucked
i attribute that horrible play to the coaches… typical lousy call, and donovan’s inability to call an audible- the defense was spread wide and the middle of the field was open for a quick sneak or something. the corners were packed… just a bad read and call…
but there might be some merit to the fact that after the game Donovan said they didnt run their normal red zone/goalline offense… probably dont want to show anything on tape
by fitzy first on Aug 28, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions
buckley
don’t forget his tackle on special teams…. players make plays
The fumble that Demps picked up
Was forced by Bunkley. I will have to watch it again to make sure since I had to watch the replay on NFL Network but I am pretty sure it was Bunk that caused it.
fightlockdown.com
McNabb's stock seems up to me
He showed incredible elusiveness, arm strength, accuracy, and only made one mistake. The biggest difference for McNabb from last season seems to be his ability to cut. He made a couple of moves on defenders last night that he couldn’t make in the last 3 seasons.
I don’t think Vick’s involvement last night was necessarily their vision for him. I think they just wanted to get Vick adjusted to NFL speed again. I think their plan for Vick is to utilize him specifically in red zone packages. Think about it. All of their moves in the offseason have been to address their ability to convert in short yardage and score more points. Vick is another worry for defenders that will allow someone else to get open in the end zone.
Think back
To when LdT was the best player in football. One of the things he did for the Chargers, when they did NOT have a lot of other talent on offense, was show the ability to throw into the end zone, causing defenders to second guess what he might do with the football. And preventing them from just putting 3 people on Antonio Gates, OR stacking the box.
Even think back to McNabb’s “running QB” days, when he would race to the pylons. Sometimes he would pull up at the last second and find a receiver standing alone. It’s that kind of dimension that Vick can bring to the offense. It causes defensive confusion.
That WASN’T evident last night (if anything, he caused offensive confusion), but I don’t think that they were trying to show their cards yet. They just wanted to get his feet wet.
by ZorkNemesis on Aug 28, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree
I was very happy with mcnabbs performance last night especially with his elusiveness/speed. At the very least his legs were looking great. Does anyone know what happened to Brandon Gibson? I don’t remember seeing him nor anyone saying he had a shitty statless/booker type night.
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