Eagles-Ravens Up-Down Drill
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles-Ravens Up-Down Drill
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Up-Down Drill after the Eagles came back to beat the Ravens, 24-23, in a thriller at Lincoln Financial Field:
Michael Vick
↑ – The first interception had an Uh-oh, not again-feeling to it, but Michael Vick was pretty darn near perfect the rest of the way. Sure, there were a few throws he could have had back. But for the second straight week the quarterback willed the Eagles to a comeback victory.
Replacement refs
↓ – Not to pile on, but that was a disgrace. The NFL should be ashamed. The officials’ Keystone Cops routine nearly cost the Eagles the game. The Ravens could legitimately say the same. In fact, they did.
Brent Celek
↑ -- The Eagles tight end was targeted 11 times and caught eight for a career-high 157 yards. He could have snared one that bounced off his hands and to Ravens safety Ed Reed. But that miscue paled in comparison to his domination in the middle of the field.
Third-and-one
↓ – The Eagles’ play-calling, as a whole, was better. The Eagles stuck with the run when in the past Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid may have panicked. But the third-down-and one call to Bryce Brown was a head-scratcher, as was rolling Vick out on second-and-goal with the game on the line.
Joe Flacco
↓ -- South Jersey's own looked like a different quarterback than the one in the opener on Monday night. Maybe the short week had something to do with it. Maybe the Ravens were looking ahead to the Patriots. But 22 of 42 passing and one interception isn't getting it done.
Justin Tucker
↑ – The Ravens kicker nailed 48-, 51- and 56-yard field goals. It looked like the Ravens needed to only get to the Eagles 40 to give him Tucker a makeable try to win the game. They were stopped 14 yards short.
Brandon Boykin
↑ – Does anyone now think the Eagles shouldn’t have cut Joselio Hanson before the season? Didn’t think so. Boykin, the Birds’ slot corner, was one of the main reasons why Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin was held to just two catches for seven yards.
McCoy fumble
↓ – LeSean McCoy did some tough running behind a patchwork offensive line, gaining 81 yards on 25 carries and scoring a touchdown. But he’s already fumbled twice this season. Last year, he fumbled only once on 321 touches.
Fake punt
↓ -- When Ravens coach John Harbaugh called for a fake punt in the second quarter, the timing and field position seemed right. The call appeared to be a good one, too, with the snap going directly to Sean Considine. But the former Eagle tripped and Stanley Havili took care of the rest, dropping the safety short of the first.
DeSean catch
↑ – With Jeremy Maclin out for most of the game, DeSean Jackson gave the Eagles some muscle on the outside. He finished with seven catches for 114 yards, but his biggest grab was a 49-yard catch in the third quarter. Jackson took a shot from Reed, but held on. Does he pull that throw in a year ago?
Reid/Babin
↓ – Reid accepted a holding penalty in the fourth quarter when he simply should have declined it and let the Ravens kick a field goal. Instead, the Ravens had second life when, on third and 18, Jason Babin was could for roughing the passer. The Eagles eventually held, and pushed the Ravens back to the 33. But Tucker nailed the 51-yard kick.
Chas Henry
↓ – A week after having the best game of his career, Henry was shaky. His punt out of the Eagles’ own end zone was below average and led to a Ravens’ field goal and he finished with a 32.4-yard net average.
Penalties
↑ – We rip the Eagles when they pile up the penalties, so it’s only fair to give them credit when they keep the number respectable. The Birds were flagged seven times for 58 yards – too many from this perspective. But they were clean on the game-winning drive, and other than a questionable illegal contact call on Nnamdi Asomugha, did not give the Ravens much on their last possession.
defense is solid— kramer1965- Much better. You have to feel good about the defense after what we saw last year. The o-line scares me to death now. All the work on continuity and playing together gets shredded by the second week of the season. This could be their achilles heel if they don't get it together. Injuries are part of the game. Andy has managed this well in the past, so we'll see. But they won! Worry about next week tomorrow.— iskabobpatel
- Anybody else see their right guard false start EVERY DOWN? Great game by the defense and Celek. The turnovers have to stop, we are living on borrowed time with those
- I did see that. It was a complete and utter disgrace. I didn't think that was legal. Wheres CG25. That guy is such a hack troll. Hey Charlie I Bet you rooted for RG3 and Romo pretty hard this week. Vick 4th quarter comebacks 2 Charlie Garners partners 0. EAGLES 6 in a row longest win streak in the nfl— aman1711
Yes. The Ravens right guard stepped back 1 second before the snap nearly every play. Didn't get called once. Having said that, we need another category: Rookies. Boykin and Kendricks were both key to the win today. Big up to this draft class.— soybot- It's early but the punter cost them field position several times. If its true the other guy was a better kicker but released because he wasn't a good holder, did they even think that one of the backup QBs could have held?
As has been said, Vick cannot take that pounding every game and survive. Can someone tell Marty that when the formation only has Vick standing back there the defense is thinking pass?
Huge improvement from last year with the two new LBs.— Johnny Callison - Hey yourdaddy, I saw the guy had some kind of jerky movement where it looked like he went back and reset. Good eye I thought I was seeing things— mackeyall
- I've been an Alex Henery booster for a long time, but how can he be the only kicker in the league that is not able to nail a touchback consistently? Why give the other team's kick returner a chance at all?— tomvallar
- Arrow down for Dierdorf . . . the guys was Pro Ravens the entire game. "Great block to drive Cullen Jenkins 8 yards into the end zone". Um No . . . As a Hall of Fame Tackle you certainly know when a lineman is holding . . . and that's exactly what the Ravens lineman was doing when grabbing Jenkins with both hands outside the shoulder pads on that play. A blatant hold and non call.
— shane-56
