Man Up: Kelce, Watkins struggle
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Man Up: Kelce, Watkins struggle
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here's the player-by-player breakdown of the Eagles' offensive performance against the Dolphins after having re-watched the game:
Mike Vick - He was out of rhythm for much of the game. Vick was 15-for-30 for 208 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He's had issues with turnovers all season, but since he injured his ribs against the Cardinals, Vick has missed more throws than usual. I've got to think that injury is having an effect. On the INT, Vick rolled to his left before throwing across his body. Bad decision. The Eagles were up 24-7, and it was second down in Dolphins territory. He made a nice throw to LeSean McCoy for 26 yards in the first. Vick bought time and found Jason Avant for a 28-yard gain to help set up the Eagles’ third touchdown in the second. Good patience, good throw to DeSean Jackson for the 34-yard touchdown in the second. Vick had Jeremy Maclin open deep near the end of the first half, but overthrew him. He somehow escaped the grasp of Randy Starks in the third and found Riley Cooper for a 29-yard gain. Overall, though, Vick needs to play better than he did on Sunday.
LeSean McCoy - Rough day for McCoy. He turned the corner for 9 yards on his first run and picked up 11 yards on his next carry. But McCoy had 25 carries for 18 yards (0.72 YPC) the rest of the way. Many times, it was just a case of poor blocking by the Eagles or an exceptional play by the Dolphins. I'm sure McCoy has a couple runs he'd like back as well. He had a nice catch and run down the sideline for 26 yards in the first. McCoy also had a pair of touchdown runs from the 2 and the 1.
Ronnie Brown - He played about six snaps and had three carries for 4 yards. Brown did a poor job in blitz pickup in the first. He was late to recognize Vontae Davis coming from the corner and missed his block, which led to a Vick sack.
Owen Schmitt - He played about 22 snaps, mostly in the second half, when the Eagles were trying to run clock. Early on, Schmitt didn’t get much of a block on Cameron Wake as McCoy was dropped for a 3-yard loss. But he did have a pretty nice lead block on McCoy’s first touchdown run.
Jason Peters - He's had an All-Pro year, but Peters had issues in this one. He gave up a sack to Jason Taylor in the first, but Vick slipped on his dropback and stepped right into the pressure. The second Taylor sack was not on Peters. Vick took off to run, and Taylor got to him. Peters was called for a false start in the first. There was confusion in the red zone as the Dolphins rushed five, but Peters didn’t block anyone and Vick was sacked. Bad block by Peters on McCoy’s 1-yard run in the third. And he failed to block Starks, who pressured Vick before he escaped and found Cooper in the third. There were good moments too. Nice block on McCoy’s 11-yard run in the first and on his first touchdown run. McCoy ran behind him on the 1-yard TD in the second too. And Peters did a nice job to finish his block on Jared Odrick on Vick’s 28-yard completion to Avant in the second.
Evan Mathis - Mathis had some issues too. He and Jason Kelce had trouble with Starks, who pressured Vick on a completion to Jackson in the first. Mathis had trouble with a blitzing Karlos Dansby, which helped lead to a sack in the first. Starks went by him and tackled Brown for no gain in the third. Mathis did a good job on McCoy’s first touchdown run.
Jason Kelce - Not a good showing for Kelce, who had been playing well. He got beat by Paul Soliai, who chased Vick out of the pocket and forced him to run in the first. He had trouble with Soliai on McCoy's 3-yard loss. Kelce got beat badly by Starks, who pressured Vick on a first-quarter incompletion intended for Clay Harbor. Phillip Merling got past him, but McCoy broke a tackle on a 5-yard run in the second. Kelce got pushed back by Soliai on McCoy’s 8-yard run in the third. And Starks went right around him to drop McCoy for a 1-yard loss in the fourth.
Danny Watkins - Watkins struggled as well. I don’t know what his responsibility was on the play, but Watkins didn’t block anyone as Vick was chased out of the pocket and forced to scramble for 5 yards in the first. He had trouble with Kendall Langford on McCoy's 3-yard loss. Tony McDaniel beat him and ripped Vick’s facemask off in the second. Watkins probably got away with a hold on the play, and McDaniel was whistled for the penalty. He was called for a false start in the first. Watkins had trouble with Langford on Vick’s touchdown to Jackson in the second. Later, it looked like he was supposed to pick up Kevin Burnett, but Watkins did a poor job, and Vick was forced out of the pocket on the interception in the third. He was slow to pull and get to Merling on McCoy’s fourth-quarter run that was dropped for no gain. Watkins' best moment may have been when he pulled and got to Dansby on McCoy’s 1-yard TD run in the second.
Todd Herremans - Herremans got beat by Langford in the first as Vick was forced to scramble. He might have been expecting help from Watkins inside. Later, he got beat by Wake, who hit Vick and forced an incompletion on third down in the first. And Herremans had some trouble with Wake on Vick’s third-down incompletion in the third.
King Dunlap - He lined up in between Herremans and Watkins on goal-line runs in the second.
DeSean Jackson - He played a good game. Jackson had four catches for 59 yards, including the 34-yard touchdown. He gook a screen 8 yards to set up a McCoy score in the second. Jackson could have had a bigger day, but Vick was off-target on a couple throws.
Jeremy Maclin - He only played about 24 snaps and had one catch for 13 yards on 3rd-and-10 in the first. It looked like Maclin almost ran into Brent Celek on a throw over the middle in the second. Good effort from Maclin as a blocker on Jackson’s 8-yard screen in the red zone in the second. It looked like he was open deep at the end of the first half, but Vick overthrew him.
Jason Avant - He had two catches for 35 yards on four targets, including a 28-yard catch and run in the second. Avant also made a good block on Jackson’s 8-yard screen in the second.
Riley Cooper - He had just one catch for 29 yards in the third.
Chad Hall - I believe he played only one snap and did not have a catch or a carry.
Brent Celek - He's really improved as a blocker this season, but Celek had an up-and-down day in that respect vs. the Dolphins. He made an excellent block on McCoy’s 11-yard run in the first. And again on his second touchdown run. Celek did a good job on McCoy's 2nd-and-1 conversion too. But he couldn’t handle Wake, who dropped McCoy for no gain in the third. Celek had trouble with Wake in pass protection in the fourth, as Vick scrambled and ran for 4 yards. He had trouble with Dansby on a McCoy run that was dropped for a 5-yard loss. And Celek missed his block on a McCoy run that was dropped for 2 yards in the fourth. As a receiver, he and Harbor lined up in the backfield on either side of Vick on one play in the first. Celek leaked out to the flat, made the catch and had a nice 11-yard pickup. He had an 8-yard grab over the middle on the next play. Celek took a screen 11 yards in the second. And he lined up out wide before catching a 9-yard slant in traffic in the second.
Clay Harbor - Quiet game. Harbor was only targeted once, but played 27 snaps. He whiffed on his block in the third, as McCoy was dropped after a 1-yard gain.
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Line does a poor job, Vick running for his life, McCoy can't get any yards. Good thing the defense had a good day. Goes to show, can't blame everything on the QB when the line plays this poorly.
We take Watkins in the first round...Raiders take Wisniewski in the 2nd and is starting and doing well...and he is 6 yaers younger....another reason Andy has to go.— Romus- Reliable OL play is key to having a rushing game that can control pace, tempo and clock... coincidentally, a rushing game takes pressure off an underperforming QB. Shady is a "nifty" back and eagles need THUNDER RB as change of pace. Mudd is plenty of coach to make life miserable for DL's. More proof that OC and O coaching are not so much on same page this season. Like most of us, Vick always struggles when he is trying too hard. We have seen too much of the Vick who is "trying too hard"...can't fix that when OL is missing assignments and not run blocking or pass blocking.— Smashmouth
- makes you wonder how the hell we WON the damn game don't it?— TBear
- You would think that 13 years in you would have 13 years of experience and be getting better. Unfortunatey, all Reid has is 1 year of experience 13 times over.— Unstable1
- Vick isn't on the field when the defense blows the game in the 4th quarter like they've done all season so how can you possibly blame him? The ONLY reason we beat the Dolphins is because they suck so bad.— Kanayd
- Vick is ranked #22 this week in QB ratings. Well, that's about where the team is. So Vick is no worse than the rest!— 4thand10
- A QB throws by Rotating his torso so of course broken ribs impede his throwing. Romo is different- he throws shovel passes for thousand yard gains, has heart surgery at halftime, etc.— saunhi
- @Smashmouth I Completely Agree!— saunhi
- Some of those problems are on Vick. Vick needs to trust his line more. He's back to starting to run before the blocking even breaks down, then runs into a sack. He should just throw it away if there is nothing there. Shady needs to hit the hole that opens even if he sees a defender 10 yards down the field. It's not all the o-lin's fault.— PhillyFanSouth
- Fire marty n juan.why does nobody ever call for martys head like they do with reid n castillo?— Illeagle
- Kelce went up against a big, powerful NT. Unless he gets a lot bigger, he will always have problems against that type of defensive lineman.— davimcg
- I don't see where Kelce has played well. I've heard every talking head say so on TV, slobbering over the guy, how he's a Jeff Saturday type over and over again. And he is effective on screen plays. But what I've seen is that Kelce bleeds pass rushers and run blitz penetrators over and over again. In fact I'm really irritated Jamaal Jackson wasn't starting. Jackson dominated his opponents when given his, ahem, three snaps this year. I feel sorry for Jackson, a waste of pro bowl talent just so white tv guys can see Kelce and hit the repeat button on "blue collar guy." Anyway these up-the-gut blitzes are very dangerous to a QB. It;s not like a guy coming around the edge and getting their fingers hooked on your jersey as you try to dance away. This a freight train from out of nowhere and then bam straight in your face. I strongly feel this season could have been significantly better had we fielded the best player for that position.— HeelYes
- I am 100% with you. I want to tear my hair out when I hear, time and again, what a pleasant surprise Kelce is. How many times has this guy screwed up the snap in key situations to say nothing of his being an ineffective blocker? Jackson's contract must be up for renewal or something, because I just cannot make any sense of this situation. But it's all par for the course under Andy Reid. This O-line has been mediocre at best this year, and they were simply smacked around by Miami. — auntesther
- I think the Dolphins D is simply better than most people think. The Eagles and McCoy have run on everyone they've played--except Miami. Losing his starting QB early on (after a strong start by Henne) Sparano didn't deserve to be fired. This was great preparation for the Jets, who have an active front as well.— KNuff
- MM and Reid are joined at the hip. Same with Juan. Only way they go is if Reid is fired OR Reid replaces them after he makes sure they have a job elsewhere. Appreciate Andy's loyalty but it may be his undoing...or at least part of it. It is obvious what difference fine coaching can do. Mudd and Washburn have had a fine influence on the team. AR will most likely be back but if MM and Juan are too there should be a general uprising. Washburn "tete-a-tete" with MM was most definitely over play calling.— tpizza
- isn't it a little ironic that a former offensive lineman can't draft offensive lineman? the hits just keep on coming with this front office.— coloradoeagle
- I've said from traing camp on that starting a Kelce/Watkins tookie combination was a disaster waiting to happen. Yeah, they sat Watkins for about 3 games but Reid has continued to play Kelce while a proven center like Jamaal Jackson who can call blocking assignments to help Vick remains on the bench. That's one reason for the 5-8 record and one more reason for Reid to go. Jackson was a stalwart player over the past few years when the Eagles routinely made the playoffs with 10-6 and 11-5 records. I'd like Andy to tell us exactly what talent Kelce has that Jackson lacks as a pro center. Reid hates making too many changes because it might show his lack of judgement in talent evaluation. Both Kelce and Watkins (the 27-year old Wunderkind rookie who seriously thought about a career as a firefighter after college graduation) were high draft picks.— 1republican
- This is NOT a defense of Vick and I understand fans being angry about his "$100 mil" contract. The truth is only $40 mil is guaranteed and, of that amount, he had to pay back $12 mil to his creditors and the signing fee to his agent. He gets $16 mil this year. That's $28 mil, leaving $12 mil of guaranteed money for 2012. Chances are Vick will never see much, if anything, of the remaining $60 mil. He'll be released before any of that comes due.
That's the intelligent difference between agreements with the Players' Associations of MLB and the NFL. The Angels are on the hook for all of Albert Pujols $250 mil if he never plays another game after the start of the season. Baseball owners buy insurance against that happening. Vick (or any other NFL player) will only get the guaranteed money which is usually a minor portion of the total contract value.
You can make an argument that Vick doesn't deserve the $40 mil but don't get excited about the non-existent $100 mil that exists only on paper. Thankfully, NFL contracts always have an escape clause.— 1republican - The score in that game in no way reflects how Miami dominated the line of scrimmage on defense and simply pushed the OL around like they were on roller skates. On the Kelsey-Jackson debate, I'm okay with Kelsey playing center, but you can't tell me Watkins, or Mathis for that matter, is a better OL than Jackson.
Now they face a very creative Jets defense that can match their corners up against the WR's of the eagles and come with a wide variety of blitzes. Should be interesting.— dlivesay - Kelce looks like Jeff Saturday but plays like Tuesday Weld!— younged
- When arrogance and ignorance are combined, you get Eagles' drafts. Ubdersized DEs, 2nd rate safeties, old and unproven OTs. Coulda had Jason Pierre Paul, Earl Thomas, Rob Gronkowski to name a few. I have had it with these arrogant scumbags. Fans should boycott last game to send a clear message, these guys Howie, Reed and company go, or empty seats will be the rule and not the exception. Luries love their money and that more than anything would shake their tree.— mackwheaton
- When arrogance and ignorance are combined, you get Eagles' drafts. Ubdersized DEs, 2nd rate safeties, old and unproven OTs. Coulda had Jason Pierre Paul, Earl Thomas, Rob Gronkowski to name a few. I have had it with these arrogant scumbags. Fans should boycott last game to send a clear message, these guys Howie, Reed and company go, or empty seats will be the rule and not the exception. Luries love their money and that more than anything would shake their tree.— mackwheaton
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