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Man Up: Failures from the Eagles' offense

While the Eagles' defense was terrible on Sunday (see yesterday's Man Up here), the offense didn't exactly do its part to help the Birds stay in the game.

After scoring a quick 10 points, the offense went: three-and-out, interception, three-and-out, field goal, three-and-out in the second quarter.

Just like that, a 10-0 lead turned into a 24-13 deficit.

Here's the player-by-player breakdown of the offense, after having re-watched the game:

Vince Young - His supporting cast didn't help him out (I counted six drops), but Young did not play nearly as well as the numbers (26-for-48, 400 yards, TD, INT) suggest. Early on, he made a good throw to Brent Celek for 22 yards. And he connected with Riley Cooper for 58 yards. Young hit DeSean Jackson for 44 yards in the first, but underthrew him on what probably could have been a touchdown. The interception came on an underthrown ball that looked similar to the play from the previous week. Young made a terrible throw to Jackson, who was open, on 3rd-and-12 in the second. He underthrew Celek on what could have been a touchdown, but instead was a 24-yard gain. Young consistently put his receivers in dangerous spots, including a pass that got Jason Avant crushed in the second half. As a runner, he had six carries for 40 yards, but doesn't look nearly as dangerous as Michael Vick. Young struggled against the blitz as well.

LeSean McCoy - Ten carries anad 31 yards for the guy who is producing potentially the best season by a running back in franchise history. The Eagles had two choices offensively: run McCoy, keep Tom Brady off the field and take your chances. Or go with a pass-heavy attack and settle for a shootout. They chose the latter. The plays were actually there, but the offense did not execute. Of course, with no Vick and no Jeremy Maclin, that's not exactly a surprise. McCoy had the 2-yard touchdown run in the first. He also dropped a couple passes, although neither looked like they were going anywhere with defenders close by. McCoy did not do a good job picking up a blitzer, James Ihedigbo, from the slot, on 3rd-and-12 in the second. His longest run of the day was for 22 yards to the right side.

Ronnie Brown - He played four snaps, did not touch the ball and was not a factor.

Owen Schmitt - He played five snaps, did not touch the ball and was not a factor.

Dion Lewis - He played zero offensive snaps.

Jason Peters - He was very good once again protecting  Young's blind side. Peters did an excellent job on Young's 22-yard completion to Celek. He handled defensive end Andre Carter for much of the day. Carter beat him once in the fourth and hit Young. Peters had a key block on McCoy's 2nd-and-2 conversion in the second.

Evan Mathis - Mathis was good for the most part in protection as well. He made a nice one-on-one block on Young's 58-yard completion to Cooper. Mathis got beat once in the first and was called for holding as he tried to recover. In the run game, he did a good job on the linebacker on McCoy's 2-yard touchdown run. And he and Kelce had a nice double-team on McCoy's 2nd-and-2 run.

Jason Kelce - He seems to have improved quite a bit in pass protection. I don't see Kelce getting beat nearly as much as he was earlier in the season. He and Danny Watkins had trouble with a stunt on third down near the end of the first half as Young was hit while he released the ball for an incompletion. But really, that was it. In the run game, McCoy followed Kelce and Watkins on the 2-yard touchdown. And Kelce made a good block on the screen to McCoy that picked up 9 yards in the third.

Danny Watkins - Overall, he's showing improvement. Watkins won some battles and lost some others, getting matched up against Vince Wilfork for much of the afternoon. He did a good job on Wilfork in protection on Young's 22-yard completion to Celek. He and Kelce double-teamed Wilfork on McCoy's 2-yard touchdown. He held his block on Kyle Love on McCoy's 22-yard run. And Watkins made a nice block on Wilfork on McCoy's 5-yard run in the first. On the flip side, Wilfork threw him to the ground on a pass play in the first where Rob Ninkovich sacked Young. Watkins had some trouble with Wilfork on the Young INT in the second, but still kept him away from the QB.  He was called for a false start in the second. Wilfork got by him and hit Young on an incompletion in the third. And he got beat by Wilfork and called for holding in the fourth. Watkins' growth and development becomes a major storyline to follow in the final five games as we look ahead to 2012.

Todd Herremans - Herremans was pretty good for the most part too. He had some trouble with Mark Anderson on third down in the first, but Young took off early. He shoved Anderson upfield, clearing space on McCoy's 22-yard run in the second. And Herremans joined the penalty parade, as he was called for holding in the fourth.

Jamaal Jackson - Did you notice No. 67 on the field for one play? He lined up in between Herremans and Watkins on the fourth down incompletion to Celek in the end zone in the third.

DeSean Jackson - I'll admit I did not see things getting this bad with Jackson. He held out during the start of training camp. He didn't dress a couple weeks ago because he missed a special teams meeting. And he dropped three balls, including two potential touchdowns, Sunday, earning him a spot on the bench in the fourth quarter. Jackson had a 44-yard catch in the first that could have been a touchdown had Young led him a little or gotten rid of the ball sooner. He dropped what would have been about an 18-yard gain in the second, with the Patriots safety looming. The Eagles took advantage of the corner playing off of Jackson with completions of 12, 9 and 8 yards on one drive in the second. He dropped a touchdown in the second with linebacker and former Eagle Tracy White looming. A score would have made it a 21-17 game. Instead, the Eagles settled for a field goal. And Jackson's third drop came in the end zone also. He sped up to get to the deep ball from Young, which hit him right in the mid-section before it fell to the ground. Overall, four catches for 73 yards, but he left a lot of plays on the field.

Riley Cooper - He  showed excellent concentration and strength to come down with the 58-yard pass with Kyle Arrington all over him in the first. Cooper finished with three catches for 71 yards. He dropped a low throw from Young near the sidelines with under a minute left in the second. Cooper made a poor block on McCoy's 2-yard carry in the second, which might have turned into a nice gain, had he been able to turn the corner.

Jason Avant - Pretty much all his damage came in the second half, but Avant finished with 110 yards on eight receptions. He took a huge hit on a bad throw by Young in the third and was called for a false start in the fourth.

Chad Hall - He replaced Jackson in the fourth and had one catch for 16 yards on five targets. Hall also carried once for 2 yards. He was called for a false start in the fourth. Overall, 26 snaps.

Steve Smith - How telling is it that despite Jeremy Maclin being out and Jackson getting benched in the fourth, he only played five snaps? Smith's first action came with 4:28 left in the fourth. He was not targeted.

Brent Celek - He has had a very good season. On throws to Celek, Young was 5-for-6 for 75 yards. In the past two games, Celek has 11 catches on 12 targets for 135 yards. He had a 22-yard grab to start the game. Celek made a high degree-of-difficulty catch for 24 yards in the second. It should have been a touchdown, but Young underthrew him. As a blocker, he had ups and downs. Celek made a nice block on Carter on Young's 44-yard completion to Jackson. He took on a linebacker on McCoy's 22-yard run in the second. And he made a good block on McCoy's 2nd-and-2 conversion. He did not do a good job on Ninkovich, who dropped McCoy for a 4-yard loss in the second. And he let Julian Edelman get by him on McCoy's 2-yard run in the third.

Clay Harbor - He was only targeted once, but did a good job to absorb a hit and make a 25-yard grab in the third. Harbor's poor block on Ninkovich led to a first-quarter sack. I'm not sure how refs missed Ninkovich grabbing and pulling Young's facemask on the play though. Harbor did a good job blocking Anderson on Young's 24-yard completion to Celek.

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