Man Up: Abysmal day for Eagles' offense
Time for our weekly player-by-player look at the Eagles' offense. We'll do the 'D' tomorrow.
Man Up: Abysmal day for Eagles' offense
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Time for our weekly player-by-player look at the Eagles' offense. We'll do the 'D' tomorrow.
Brian Westbrook – He was one of the only bright spots for the Birds on Sunday. Westbrook was Donovan McNabb's safety valve for much of the day, catching nine passes for 91 yards. He added 50 yards on six carries. Westbrook showed some burst on a 22-yard screen in the first quarter, and 18- and 34-yard gains in the second. He put together back-to-back runs of 25 and 9 in the third.
LeSean McCoy – Every week on Man Up, I say he needs to protect the ball better. McCoy fumbled in the first quarter, but the Raiders recovered. He did a nice job cutting down a blitzing linebacker in first quarter on an 8-yard pass to Brent Celek. It looked like he misread his blocking assignment on third down in the second quarter as Raiders linebacker Thomas Howard came untouched off the blind side to nail McNabb. McCoy had five carries for 13 yards, the highlight being a nice cutback run for a gain of 8 in the second.
Leonard Weaver – Quiet day from Weaver. He completely whiffed on a block in the second quarter, forcing McCoy to cut back. He had two catches for 3 yards.
Donovan McNabb – After re-watching the game, he wasn't as bad as I initially thought. McNabb made a good, but not great, throw to DeSean Jackson for a 51-yard gain in the first quarter. Had he hit Jackson in stride and not forced him to dive, it would have been a touchdown. McNabb showed good strength avoiding a sack and dumping it off to Westbrook for 34 yards on a third down in the second quarter. It's extremely troublesome that he didn’t know the situation and called timeout with 27 seconds left in the half even though the Eagles had none left. In the second half, he had two chances for big plays to Jeremy Maclin but could not fit the ball into the small window between the cornerback and safety. McNabb also threw at Weaver’s feet in the fourth. His best throws was a 42-yarder to Celek over the middle.
Michael Vick – He barely got in the book. Vick lost 4 yards on a handoff in first quarter. He didn’t really have a chance on the play as Howard was all over him as soon as he got the ball. As I mentioned Sunday, this would have seemed like the right time to get Vick more involved since the regular offense was struggling. If the coaches felt he could provide a spark, that is.
Winston Justice – He was easily the Eagles' best offensive lineman Sunday. Justice was solid in pass protection throughout. When watching the game live, it may have looked like he gave up a sack in the fourth quarter, but it was Justice against two blitzing linebackers. He had no chance. Bad play call and play design to run a slow-developing play-action pass on 3rd-and 7 with the way the Raiders had been pressuring McNabb. Justice did a bad job on a run play to McCoy to the outside in the third quarter.
Max Jean-Gilles – Easily his worst performance of the year. Jean-Gilles probably struggled as much as any starting Eagles offensive lineman all year. He was confused by a Raiders stunt where Trevor Scott came back inside from the DE position to sack McNabb in the first quarter. Jean-Gilles was beat badly by Tommy Kelly in pass protection in the first. He had a rough time with Kelly on a loss for Westbrook in the first and struggled on a run play to the outside to McCoy in the fourth. The bright spots were blocks on a 9-yard Westbrook run in third quarter and a 22-yard Westbrook screen in the first.
Stacy Andrews – He replaced Jean-Gilles for a drive in the first quarter after MJG gave up a sack. But what does it say that he didn't get on the field a lot despite Jean-Gilles' struggles? Did the off the field news of last week play a factor in the coaches' decision? Andrews did a poor job as a run blocker on 2-yard gain by Westbrook.
Jamaal Jackson – Jackson struggled quite a bit as well. He did a poor job in run blocking during a 3-yard McCoy carry in the first, getting beat by linebacker Kirk Morrison. Jackson was overpowered by DT Gerard Warren during a first quarter passing play, which would have been a sack had McNabb not been able to shovel the ball to Westbrook. He did give a nice effort on Westbrook’s 22-yard screen in first quarter.
Nick Cole – He was schooled by Richard Seymour on a near-sack in the second quarter. Cole gave up a sack to Seymour at the end of the first half. Not one of his better performances although he did do a nice job on a 9-yard Westbrook run in third quarter.
Jason Peters - Not much to say. He got injured early. It sounds like he'll be OK, which is good news. Peters was solid through the first four games.
King Dunlap - Seymour went right through him to sack McNabb in the second quarter. It was clear in the second half that the coaching staff decided it had to give him a ton of help. Brent Celek lined up next to him at times, running backs chipped, and Justice even moved over to his outside on one play. When the Eagles had to leave Dunlap alone on the final drive, he was completely overmatched by Seymour and company.
Brent Celek – He lined up as a blocker against defensive lineman Trevor Scott during the first drive and did not do a goodjob, allowing the sack. Although you have to wonder if that's a fair position to put Celek in. We saw him do a good job a week ago blocking defensive linemen one on one. Celek did do his part in protection, picking up Tommy Kelly during a 51-yard bomb to DeSean Jackson. On the receiving end, he had four catches for 75 yards, including a 42-yard gain in the fourth where he beat a Raiders linebacker. Celek did drop a pass in the second quarter.
Alex Smith – McNabb looked to him in the flat, but he dropped the pass in the first quarter. Smith gave a nice effort on a block during McCoy’s 8-yard run in the first half.
DeSean Jackson – He made a great catch on the 51-yard reception in the first quarter. He also did a good job on a low throw in the second to pick up 11. With time winding down in the first half, Jackson was able to keep his feet in bounds for a first down. And during the Eagles’ last drive, Jackson did a great job to get a first down and get out of bounds for a 12-yard gain. Overall, six catches for 94 yards.
Jeremy Maclin – He had just one catch for 6 yards after a monster game last week against the Bucs. Maclin had a couple chances for big plays, but McNabb couldn't squeeze the ball into a tight window.
Hunh, an article justifiably spreading the blame for Sunday around to the whole team draws no response from lonefraud. Who'd have guessed?— tpizza
what's sad is when you reference a play 'on that 8-yard run by McCoy', we know which play you mean. Only in a Reid-called debacle.— raoool- I think some of that Gov't Cheese is left over from the CIA LSD experiments (apologies if I am missing the sarcasm). Have you folks checked out the rest of the schedule? Other than the Cowgirls the remaining teams are currently 32-18 (8 of the 18 are from the Skins, who always play the Birds tough). The Birds only managed to go 3-2 against teams with a combined record of 10-18 (5 of the wins from the Saints). Double digit wins? Puh leez!— Joe Funk
- Birds will rally and win 11 games.— Government Checks and Cheese
- I was at the game. The fans around me started yelling "Eagles suck". I couldn't disagree. That beind said, it's a long season. The Eagles have a way of playing their best football in November and December. I have no reason to believe otherwise for this year.
- Live by the sword, die by the sword. Reid's reliance on the big passing play is not how you win a super bowl. In fact, didn't the Giants pretty much neutralize an "unstoppable" passing attack a couple of years ago in a big game? Until Andy lets the o-line actually get off the ball push some bodies around more than ten times a game instead of teaching them to take a step backwards off the snap first, this team will ultimately disappoint. The defense will wear out because they're on the field so much, even if we do score. We held the Raiders to 13 points, which should have been enough to win. Reid can't make in-game adjustments, and he'll never trust the running game. That will get you near-misses at Super Bowls.— phlexpat
Comment removed.- Offensive line rebuilds are not one year projects or everyone would be able to do it. The Andrews sisters enough said. Justice is Ok, can't run block yet, not that it matters. Herremens will help. Cole to RG helps. Peters back even at 70% helps. Disturbing is they played a real D-Line and did not nut up, second string or not. Offensive design that calls for play action passes that fool no known waiting for Macklin and Jackson to clear, with a weak line will only get KK to the wheel sooner. Hopefully, Bradley can fully recover. He sure made the guys around him better. And as far as McDermott, jury out.— oldBird
- Sheil...what tapes were you watching??? I recorded game and actually went back and watched a few plays....those "tight" windows McNabb missed several times were at least 10-15 yards! That is a canyon in the NFL!!— vincemcd
- How many draft picks and how much money do the Eagles have invested in the Offensive Line? Before the Season it was discussed that they had a Top 5 Line and tons of depth. The bid against themselves to get Stacy Andrews to try and appease his sister Shawn. Why was Buffalo so quick to unload a "Franchise Left-Tackle?" Andy is wearing too many hats. It will be same story again this season. I feel bad for Westbrook. He is a Pro and Class Act.— PaHoops
- Why in the world did they not draft Ray Rice from Rutgers? I saw this guy in person Sunday and he is the next Brian Westbrook— ghost78
- Very beatable Washington team! heck, Oakland was a very beatable team, how did we do there? Asante, your very "big contract" wasn't to Just intercept passes, you are getting paid to actually play complete defensive football too, you know, tackle the guy with the ball, not sure where you grew up but around here they taught us that in Pop Warner League Football, I sure hope your teamates rip you for your poor play, somebody needs to. Not even gonna mention Donovan, he apparently is playing like his old self, just sayin'...— DJ
- Apparntly we traded Brandon Gibson a 5th round pick for St Louis WILL Witherspoon— dseidman
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- Max Jean-Gilles is not an NFL caliber offensive lineman. He is big, but he is slow and does not generate any push off the line. When Herremans comes back I would move Cole over to RG and cut big Max. Much of the same can be said about Jamaal Jackson. Maybe McGlynn needs a turn. By the way, who is responsible for scouting and drafting offensive line talent for this team? Whoever it is he needs to be replaced.— davimcg
- Is Stacy Andrews a bust?— p-diddy
- Why isn't anyone talking about Asante Samuel's performance this past Sunday? Asante made a nice pick and played ok, but he put on one of the most abysmal open field tackling performances I have ever seen. Reminded me of the "For who... for what" Ricky Waters debacle years back. Take your skirt off Asante and make a damned open field tackle! Otherwise, you can take your fat contract and occasional pick sixes to a team that values occasional flashes over consistent mental toughness. Thanks God for Sheldon Brown... maybe not the most talented, but arguably the toughest and most under-appreciated CB in the NFL! Grow a pair Asante... or get the hell off our field!— ajball
- o line is in shambles - need them to get it together. Andy needs to look at this tape and realize how to adjust. Quick passes, running the ball more, and that deep ball will be there eventually. Andy really believed that his talent at skill positions would bail him out of this one. Hope he learns, but he probably won't. With all that said, the defense is the biggest concern - Chris Cooley and Portis are going to eat them as usual, lets hope the Eagles can score this week.— sore richard
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- To be fair ... Oakland's DL is probably one of the stronger ones the Birds will face. Richard Seymour, Tommy Kelly et. al are not stiffs. Not remotely. Throwing second stringers (Cole, Jean-Gilles) and worse (Dunlap)is not a formula for success. A lot of "compensating" has to take place. And that falls at Andy Reid's feet. Once again, he kicks it (problems) down the road rather than dealing with it creatively/productively.— CarpGuy
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- GO PHILLIES!!!! i hope reid and mcpuke were watching the phillies win in the clutch last night... THATS how you win a big game! Philadelphia is officially a baseball town now!— Fire Andy Reid
- they go 10 and 6 at best with the help of a couple of gift wins alonmg the way - I had high hopes for this season and am now seriously considering converting over to a Steelers fan— Tom Man
- Andy Reid is clueless. Same stuff year after year, week after week! No matter how many new toys he is given he continues to be his headstrong my way or the highway self. This team is going no where near a Superbowl as long as Andy is at the helm. He needs to go away. On a scale of 1 to 10 the Eagles are at best a 7 and that won't get them to the dance.— jakster
- Justice looks OK. We're on plan "C" already with the O-line and it's week 6. Get Castillo a prozac IV, it's gonna be a long year for him.— dragoon6
- Coaches scheme ways to beat you. Once again Andy Reid is unable to adjust his gameplan to the situation. Nevermind that McNabb is not the most accurate passer. I blame this one 100% on the fat man!
- Hey Max, when you want a new contract make sure you bring tape of this game along with you and that idiot Rosenhaus.— oharabri
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