What to watch for tonight - 2nd Preseason Game - Eagles vs. Bengals
by JimmyK on Aug 20, 2010 10:08 AM EDT
Email
Print
They say the 3rd preseason game is the "dress rehearsal" for the regular season, and usually the best of the preseason games in terms of getting a preview at what the team will look like when it counts. However, with the 1st teamers scheduled to play the entire first half tonight, I'm thinking tonight's game vs. the Bengals will be our best sneak peek at the 2010 Philadelphia Eagles.
We saw a lot of positives in the Eagles win over Jacksonville last Friday, but there's still work to be done. There will be a few things I'll be watching for tonight...
Kick coverage - The Eagles' kick coverage team was terrible in the first preseason game. The Jaguars racked up 257 yards on 7 kick returns, including individual returns of 41, 68, and 46 yards. That must improve, and for now, has me at least mildly worried. The Eagles have one of the best in the business coaching their special teams in Bobby April, and I'm interested in seeing how the Eagles recover from that performance.
Tackling - The Eagles' defense did a spectacular job of tackling against Jacksonville. I didn't see a missed tackle until the beginning of the 4th quarter. That's extraordinarily rare for a first preseason game. The Bengals should provide a great challenge tonight. The have a very physical offensive line, a bruising running back in Cedric Benson, and big, talented receivers that can break tackles, including of course our old friend Terrell Owens.
The secondary - The Bengals are absolutely stacked at WR, so no matter when Marvin Lewis decides his first team has had enough, the Eagles secondary will be tested all night. We all know what we have in Asante Samuel and Quintin Mikell by now, but this will be our first extended look this season at Nate Allen and Ellis Hobbs, who were only on the field for a total of 6 plays against the Jags, due to two 3-and-outs. I'll be looking to see if rookies Trevard Lindley and Kurt Coleman continue their strong play, and if Joselio Hanson can regroup after a poor showing last Friday. Hanson may even start tonight if Samuel isn't ready to go as he recovers from a dinged up hamstring. Also of interest is how Quintin Demps looks after being injured last week, and what role Macho Harris plays as he tries to fend off the scrappy Dmitri Patterson.
The first team DL rotation - How many snaps will Brandon Graham get? Daniel Te'o-Nesheim? Trevor Laws? Will we see Darryl Tapp mix in with the 1's? Will Sean McDermott reveal any exotic looks, dropping D Linemen into coverage?
Mike McGlynn and Austin Howard - Nick Cole will sit another one out tonight, which means McGlynn gets another test as the starting center. He played well against the Jags, and he'll have an entire half to impress tonight. Howard, meanwhile, is surprisingly making a very strong case to make this team. If he continues to play the way he did against the Jags, King Dunlap will likely be looking for a new job very soon.
Ernie Sims - Big Ern has been perhaps the most (*cough*) aggressive player in camp, and like the rest of the first teamers last week, we saw very little of him. I'm excited to see him beat up on some Bengals tonight instead of his teammates.
Kevin Kolb - Just because.
The backup TE's - Clay Harbor is a lock to make the team, and is the clear #2 TE right now, but he didn't get any passes thrown his way last week. I'd like to see him get involved in the offense with the 1's tonight. For Cornelius Ingram, it's do or die time. I'm rooting for him, but his chances of sticking with the team are in serious jeopardy.
What will you be watching for?
25 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
So….if the starters are playing the whole first half, how long are they playing the 3rd preseason game?
RIP Jim Johnson, best ever.
I'll be looking at:
can we get penetration from the 4 DL against a better OL? This IMHO is the most important part of us having a successful defense this year. Cole will be Cole, but if Graham, Tapp, even Laws can show they can get to the QB without blitzing, McD will throw them a party, and the entire Eagles D will become very, very scary. Last year the teams which gave us the most problems were the ones that had too many weapons to allow much blitzing (DAL, NO), or when we did blitz we got burned too often. If we can get pressure without bringing anyone….. look out, this will be a great D this year.
The other thing I’m going to watch will be Kolb’s performance. I actually thought he was better than he got credit for last week, and was about 5 inches away from having 2 TDs. Of course, he was about 5 inches away from having 2 INTs, too, so it will be interesting to see which half of my perceptions are correct. I like the way he tries to tuck the ball into tight places, but I’ll only like it for as long as he is successful. I get the feeling that when Kolb has good games, he’ll have 3 or 4 TDs with about a 70% completion ratio. Bad games and he might have 3 or 4 INTs…
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
re:Kolb
Especially his decisions in the red zone. I am comfortable in saying he can easily move the ball down the field. But the poor decisions he has made including last week have mostly been in the red zone. It seems he has trouble with the shortened field but I think he is smart enough to adjust so that is what I am looking for.
Most QBs have trouble in the red zone
as I said, he was about 5 inches away from having 2 red zone TDs last week. I wonder how it would have affected his perception if he had converted those…
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
Here's an interesting article on QB red zone performance
it’s old, but valid.
it’s tougher to move the ball efficiently inside the 20 because the field is compressed and the defense has less territory to protect. As a consequence, outside the red zone the 2007 league average pass completion rate was 63%, but inside the red zone it was only 56%. So in that sense, the red zone is real.
Although completion percentage is generally not the best measure of QB performance, it might be particularly relevant in the red zone for several reasons. Yardage measures are problematic because passes thrown into the end zone are truncated at the goal line. Efficiency measures may not make sense because a 2 yd pass completion from the 2 on 3rd and goal is more meaningful than a 4 yd completion from the 18 on 3rd and 8. Over the course of an entire season and across a full 100-yard field, yards per attempt might tell us a lot more than within a select set of passes near the goal line. In general, a completion in the red zone is always better than an incomplete pass or an interception. Close to the goal line, there isn’t often a better or deeper option—any completion is good.
From this, it appears that despite all analysis to the contrary, there is nothing special about any particular quarterback’s ability inside the red zone as compared to outside the 20. It’s simply a random subsample of overall performance. If a QB is a good passer, he’ll probably be good inside the 20.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
Kolb looked pretty awesome when he threw that touchdown pass to celek in the red zone, but celek just dropped it. I think Kolb will be good in the red zone.
by PhilsForever on Aug 20, 2010 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Few additional ones
- Backup RB and to see how Mallett plays because this team isn’t exactly loaded right now at the backup RB spot.
- Red zone execution because they stunk last year even though they moved the ball up and down the field pretty much at will against the Jags’ defense. My bet is that this team won’t have as many big plays this year as they did last year for a couple of reasons. Need to more TDs, less FGs here to be a playoff team again.
- Backup WR battle includign whether or not Baskett plays this week.
- KR because this is still a position that is relatively unsettled for the Eagles.
I wonder
if our secondary destroying T Blow and Ocho will sbe featured in both of their terrible reality shows.
Go Eagles
Personally
My big concern is the OL. Kolb’s season depends on this OL. We already know he has what it takes to make this offense work, we just need an OL to keep him in a comfortable situation and give him the time to make those accurate passes not under pressure. I’ll be critiquing every single play with our first and second string OL and I think they will be a huge part in our success this season.
In Kolb we trust...
any qb
really depends on the o-line… in fact i can really only think of 1 qb in recent history whose success didn’t depend on the OL… and that guy is our current backup qb…
by PHIGHTINPHILS on Aug 20, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Cincy boy!
lol
KOLB is a natural born leader - something the Eagles haven't had on offense in a long long time. Prediction, we win a SB in the next 3 years.
damn it didnt work..funny pic of Celek....oh well
KOLB is a natural born leader - something the Eagles haven't had on offense in a long long time. Prediction, we win a SB in the next 3 years.
by BWestFactor on Aug 20, 2010 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Vick
Waaay down on the list of things I’ll be paying attention to is Vick… Specifically, how they use him when the 1’s are on the field. I’m praying we’ll never see him start, but he does look faster this year, and may end up being a useful weapon in goal line/3rd and short situations.
Since I can't watch the game
I’ll be hoping for NO INJURIES and get my report from what you guys saw.
Dedication without talent is a daydream. Talent without dedication is a nightmare.
by LeonSA on Aug 20, 2010 12:02 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Things I'll be watching:
1. Can Brandon Graham turn pressure into sacks? In the Jaguars game he was getting some nice pressure on a couple of snaps where he just missed sacking the quarterback a few times. Can he manage to turn one or two of these pressures into a genuine sack? I’d love to see him sack Palmer in this game.
2. Can the linebackers and the safeties repeat their impressive performance from the last game? Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs looked like Brian Dawkins out there. Was that a fluke and will Asante revert back to Deion Sanders mode, or will he prove that he has truly recommitted himself to sound tackling?
3. Despite moving the chains and making some nice passes, Kevin Kolb also made a handful of really terrible decisions and was lucky to walk away from the last game without an INT on his stat line. Will he show improved decision-making this time around? Or will his risky style of play result in an inevitable turnover?
Andrews
Cincy has a god front 7. We should all be watching Stacy closely tonight.
Veritas Liberabit Te
God front 7?
Buddha, Jesus, Yawieh, Allah, Zeus, Jupiter, Aries?
That’s a scary line. =)
For the Love of the Game
Stockton to Malone- The perfect combination!!
"I think he just said, 'Oh my Gosh,' or whatever they say in Provo."- ESPN talking about QB. Max Hall after BYU defeated third ranked Oklahoma (2009).
MonSTARZ forever!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Giants to be honored with commemorative NY license plate; some would rather see a 9/11 plate
- The hidden play of Super Bowl XLVI: Justin Tuck’s third-quarter sack
- Report: Chad Ochocinco will become Chad Johnson once again
- Video: Bill Belichick implores his defense to make the Giants throw to Mario Manningham
- Training Day: Learning the 40 with an Olympian
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
