What to watch vs. Kansas City
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
What to watch vs. Kansas City
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
A look at five things to keep your eyes on during Friday night's Eagles preseason game against Kansas City:
1. Todd Herremans: The left guard might be the most consistent member of the offensive line when he’s healthy. He hasn’t played this preseason. The Eagles say they’ve taken it slow with Herremans as a precautionary move, after he experienced soreness in his repaired left foot back in the spring. But you take precautions for a reason, because you’re concerned. Herremans needs to get through this game without any problems. If he helps solidify a struggling interior line corps, that would be nifty, as well.
2. Mike Bell: The running back penciled in as the main backup to relatively untested Shady McCoy has not played a down in the preseason. Be kind of nice to see him stay healthy and look sharp, as well. Maybe Bell can help convert an early third-and-1 like the chance the Eagles botched last week in Cincinnati?
3. The starters, in general: The third preseason game is the one where you see the main guys the most. In fact, it’s the last time you see them before the season starts. So red zone success for the offense would be a nice thing, and a little better push from the defensive front, without blitzing, also would be reassuring. Nobody getting hurt is a good thing, as well.
4. David Akers: The kicker, who turns 36 in December, didn’t practice all week because of a heel problem, but he’s scheduled to kick tonight anyway. If he falls down clutching his foot, that could have an impact on the season.
5. Kick return coverage: It’s been absolutely awful so far. Eagles seem to get guys down near the returner, but nobody takes that extra step and puts him on the ground early in the return. Big improvement needed here.
Wow. Birdman411, you really didn't say anything to make me believe you. TheKolbTouchdownMachineShow, said a lot of things and proved his points. This town didn;t throw "dirt" on McNabb. Otherwise they would of sent hi to Cleavland or Oakland. This town really did love McNabb, but the same things kept happening and after a while its time for change. Lets see how Kolb plays before passing judgment. So far I am liking what I am seeing. We just need consistency from our O-LINE.— dseidman- Racism is used by all races and done so frequently; sometimes we forget that bias is natuarally occuring in nature. There may be some fans who dont like McNabb for being black and there may be some fans who dont like Kolb because he is taking over for a truly great AFRO-American QB. BUt, for the most part McNabb needed to be traded,his value was as high as it was going to be and they drafted Kolb 3 yrs ago because McNabb couldnt stay healthy. Its very possible that McNabb suffers a season ending injury this year and many feel McNabb skills are diminishing alittle bit. WIthout his ability to scramble and pickup 1st downs with his feet a major part of his game was missing. Garcia ran the Birds offense very well with short,accurate passes which allowed the WR's to run after the catch. Kolb should have the same success as Garcia except, I think Kolb has a better cannon then Garcia. Kolb's first year will NOT be his best but I think the Birds should be competitive this year and will have to win some close games. If the Defense can stay healthy then they should have a shot to beat almost any team. Andy Reid IS NOT a great in game COACH but he is good at getting the most from his players and he is a good talent evaluator on OFFENSE. The Eagles offense always was competitve even when backups were in(DETMER,Feely,etc) so you have to give him credit there. My biggest beef with Reid is sometimes he leaves huge glaring holes in the roster but in 2 years, these Birds should be playing for a SUperBowl or in an NFC Championship game because the remaining pieces can be found and the Birds have the Money to fill these holes and Jeff LUrie has showed in the past that if the Birds are close,he will spend the money to get the players. The Birds F.O has done well to make the Birds so competitive over the last decade or so. GO BIRDS!
- McNabb last year went 0-4 against playoff teams (FACT), while putting up an average of 13 points per game (so no, it wasn't the defense's fault) (FACT). He went 9-1 against teams .500 or below (FACT). The Eagles had a soft schedule last year (Therefore, FACT). Also, last year the Eagles loaded up on talent and Celek, Maclin, Jackson, and Avant all broke out, helping McNabb and his stats (FACT). McNabb's statistical success last year (when he was 32/33, not 34) is not due to him getting better, it's due to a soft schedule (FACT) and the breakout of McNabb's WRs and TE (FACT). So now if you're going to check out Kolb's first start or when he was thrown into impossible situations years ago, why don't you instead look at McNabb's first starts? 8/21 (38%) for 60 yards in his first start. I'd much rather have Kolb's 31/51 (61%) for 391 yards 2 TD/2 INT. Yeah sure...different situations, etc, my point is that Kolb wasn't horrible, he was acceptable, while McNabb in his early days was downright terrible. Good QBs show you the qualities to be a good QB early on (applies to McNabb and Kolb), and then when everything comes into place, they show you that they're actually a good QB. What specifically have people said that makes you think everyone is throwing dirt on him? Maybe your comment is justified, but don't lump "this town" into one huge category just because of a what a few people said. Personally I'm of the opinion that McNabb gave us a good ride, but it's time to move on. To keep this on topic... I don't think this game will mean much, no matter how much the starters play. We won't get a true view of our team by beating up on the Chiefs. On the other hand, if we suck against them, we have problems.— TheKolbTouchdownMachineShow
- Well said, Over_Exposed.— TheKolbTouchdownMachineShow
- One thing that MIGHT be a worry is pedigree. There has never been a successful pro QB from U of Houston but there have been some pretty spectacular failures. I know I'm going to be torched over this, but there is a reason why Penn State QB's never get drafted, even when like Daryl Clark they are all Big Ten. Similarly Texas and Florida QB's usually fail at the pro level even though they may stay in the league as a backup. I hope there is a first time for eveything, but I worry because I am an Eagles fan!— jimmyj
Sono Calabrese - Why are you so ghetto?- TKTMS-GREAT POINTS!...solo calabrese-brian westbrook was the greatest running back in birds history.....my man.— wolf 4
- True, jimmyj. However, we no longer have to dwell on how Kolb did in college. Reid and his staff made his decision to go all in on Kolb after seeing him work every day for the past three years, and I've seen a reasonable amount of him during games to make me know he's at least going to be decent.— TheKolbTouchdownMachineShow
TKTMS, if not for being beaten by the Eagles some of those teams would have had +.500 records and some that finished .500 or below were over .500 at the time they played the Eagles. For example, the Giants fit BOTH description. None of that stuff matters to me at all but lets keep the record straight shall we. And the fact that wiff has his Kolbette pom poms out should make you look at your post again all by itself. Again, I don't care one way or the other. McNabb is gone.— tpizza
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- tpizza: So? They had .500 records which makes them .500 quality teams. If they weren't .500 at the time of us playing them, that could easily mean they were at a soft spot in their schedule and had yet to play the tough part. Sure, you could analyze all the schedules, but at a glance the best way to know the strength of a team is to look at its season long record unless you have a desire to spend days picking apart the entire NFL...— TheKolbTouchdownMachineShow
