Sunday's Recap

Site #1: Domination,  Next Site: Hotlanta

As September rolls around, a couple things become certain in the City of Brotherly Love: 1. The leaves will start to fall , 2. The EAGLES will start to dominate at the Linc and 3. Merril Hoge will pick against the Eagles because he hates us. (We don’t care because he is a clueless commentator anyway). With that being said, lets take a look at what we learned about the Birds in their first full game of the “Super Bowl Season”.

1.     We can be THAT good.

After all the hype that surrounded the Eagles on the opening week of the NFL season, there were a lot of doubters that thought the Eagles wouldn’t be ready to play. In fact, it even led one former great RB, Mr. Marshall Faulk, to claim that the Rams would put up a 40 spot on us. Through all of the problems to lead the game off and all the hype, we ended up being a much-improved St. Louis Rams team 31-13. On some drives, we looked like a well-oiled machine that could either pass for 15 yards or run for 20 on any given play at will. We also showed our explosive playmaking ability whether it was a big Desean Jackson catch in the first quarter, to a 49 yd TD run by Lesean McCoy to cap off the game in the 4^th quarter, we showed we have it all. After an awful opening play for the defense, they sured things up and looked pretty competent the rest of the way, even having some impressive three and outs of their own. Through all of the bad, we still had a blowout victory and showed flashes of greatness that can be expected a lot more in future months and games (hopefully).

2.     Our defense needs a little help stopping the run.

As you could see by the Rams’ first offensive play, we definitely have some deficiencies stopping the run. On only two rushes, Steven Jackson compiled 56 yards rushing and 1 TD. This is good enough for some RBs in an entire game, but it only took Steven two rushes to put up that total. After that, good old Cadillac decided to put up a modest 91 rushing yards on 19 carries. Throw in a couple other players, and the Rams finished with a total of  26 carries for 154 yds, which is not the start that this team wanted. Now, just to put it into perspective, a Jim Washburn defensive line will at times look vulnerable because of all the up-field, backfield play that is expected of them, but that leaves our young linebacking corps to make the plays. If they’re not up for the task, then this will continue to get worse as the competition gets better. Our linebackers are fast and intelligent, but we need to get off the blocks, take better pursuit angles, and get more physical at the point of attack. Look for this to improve in the near future because Juan Castillo won’t stand for it, and will force everyone to improve as the season continues.

3.     SHOW ME THE MONEY

"Yes, the rumors are true, I am the worst thing to happen to professional football since Mike Mamula."

This took place in a couple big ways in the opening game of the season. First and foremost, Desean Jackson needs more money. You can say all you want about how small he is, but the kid cannot flat out play football. With a severely underpaid salary worth about $560,000 the Eagles need to find a way to sign him in the next month or so. The more he plays this season, the higher the price tag goes up for his services and the more he can wait it out. Right now he deserves salary in the Miles Austin ($9.01 million) or Roddy White ($8.54 million) range, but if he keeps playing like that, he can get much closer to the area of ($16 million) range. Now, not exactly that close, but closer to it, as long as some dead beat overpriced agent doesn't mess things up again. Desean was dazzling and was even making the tough catches in tight spaces that he may have dropped in the past. He caught a mere 6 balls for 102 yards and one TD. The contract situation is fueling him to have a chip on his shoulder that could mean great things for the Eagles on their run to the Super Bowl. The second big way it showed in this game was through Michael Vick. He came out and showed everyone that he is focused, ready to play, and worth the $100 million dollars the Eagles paid him at the beginning of the year. There are just so many facets to this guys’ game, that he can make any team a winner at any time (which we hope is right now). He was only 14 of 32 for 187 yards, but he threw 2 TDs and was extremely efficient. He led a lot of long, tough drives and completed a lot of difficult passes in big spots. Aside from that, his legs looked like they were working yet again. He rushed for just under the century mark (98 yards) and he lost two of those yards on kneels at the end of the game. He looked electric and brought the term ”Greatest show on turf” back in a big way. Either way you look at it, both of these guys are worth the big money that they got/should get.

4.     The offensive line showed a lot of potential

Everyone of the naysayers out there can say what they want about the offensive line looking confused or overmatched, but they actually did a pretty solid job. Having the rookie center Kelce in there was the reason that everything looked so bad to begin with, not to mention it was in a loud dome in a hostile environment. After everything got settled and the game got moving, the line did an outstanding job of keeping Mike clean and upright. He had plenty of time to survey the field, make the correct read, and then the correct throw. The only time they really got through was when the Rams brought too many to block, and that is on the QB to get the ball out of his hands quicker. Aside from the pass game, as you could tell by LeSean’s McCoy’s stats just how good they looked in the running game. With a typical Howard Mudd center, Kelce showed his athleticism by doing a lot of pulling and leading on outside runs. The offensive line showed a good base for what is to come, and say what you want, but they have a bright future moving forward.

5.     Lesean McCoy is a SUPERSTAR

Not much needs to be said here, you all saw his amazing play he was a one man wrecking crew who can only be described as “Brian Westbrook-esque” (Trademark phrase of the continued success blog). His 15 carries for 122 yds and 1 TD spoke enough for themselves so all we can say is, enjoy:

6.     The Defensive line is going to be GOOD

We went over this in the preseason, but in its first full game, the defensive line looked every bit as impressive as it had in the beginning of the preseason. Under Jim Washburn’s new scheme, it was like the Birds D-line unleashed their inner beast. They racked up 5 sacks, 11 QB hits and backup defensive end Daryl Tapp caused a fumble that OTHER backup defensive end Jacqua Parker picked up and returned for the score. Whether it was just getting upfield or making the big play in the backfield, there is not much more that can be said here. They are more aggressive than ever and Trent Cole finally has the talent around him to succeed no matter the game situation or opponent.

What should you take from all of this? The Eagles played a semi-sloppy, but completely successful first game. There were some dumb penalties and time clock management (as usual), but it was the first game of the year and there were shortened training camps. The talent is all there, and with some more on the job training, this team will continue to play better and improve in some areas that didn’t work for them previously. If this team can look sloppy and still win by 18 points, we cannot wait to see what happens with a little more practice. Go Birds!