State of the Eagles: Five thoughts
Here are five thoughts on the Birds as they prepare for Sunday's matchup in Jacksonville against the Jaguars.
State of the Eagles: Five thoughts
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Last week, for the Friday State of the Eagles post, I went position-by-position with thoughts on the Birds.
This week, though, I'm switching it up. Here are five thoughts/nuggets/opinions on the Eagles as they prepare for Sunday's matchup with the Jaguars.
1. When talking about the Eagles' execution against the blitz yesterday, Marty Mornhinweg said the offense has been "feast or famine." In other words, they've hit some big plays, but have also had some disastrous moments. I wanted to take a closer look to see if that's really been the case.
Last week against the Lions, Michael Vick completed three passes of 25 yards or more - all to DeSean Jackson. But none of those completions came against the blitz, so no real feast there as far as I can tell (although the 9-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin was against the blitz).
Vick completed 7 of 16 passes for 81 yards when the Lions brought extra pressure, but three of the Eagles' drops came on those attempts, so the completion percentage could have been higher. Three (and arguably four) of the Lions' sacks came on plays where they blitzed. Overall, Detroit blitzed on 21 of 43 (48.9 percent) Vick dropbacks.
Against Green Bay, Vick completed 8 of 11 passes for 95 yards against the blitz.
2. I did a radio interview yesterday and was asked if I had to bet, who would I predict as the Eagles' starting quarterback in Week 1 of the 2011 season. What a tough question. Two points here. One, I have heard people say there's no way Kevin Kolb can have a future here after the way things played out this week. Normally, I would agree. But I'm reminded of a Sunday afternoon in Baltimore when Andy Reid benched Donovan McNabb in favor of Kolb. At the time, many of us said the Reid/McNabb era was over. But McNabb returned the next week and led the Eagles to the NFC championship. He returned the following season and won 11 games. In other words, I'm not ruling out the possibility of Kolb being the guy in the future, as unlikely as it might seem right now.
On the other hand, what happens if Vick sustains this level of play the rest of the season? The Eagles would have to look seriously into re-signing him. And look at it from Vick's point of view. Where else would he rather be? The Eagles are the team that gave him a second chance, and the team that is apparently giving him the type of instruction he never received in Atlanta. If the Eagles want him back as the starter, you'd have to think Vick's first choice would be to return.
Which brings us back to Kolb (it's quite the game of musical chairs, isn't it?). He could be stuck for not only this year, but next year as well. Kolb is under contract for less than $2M in 2011. Conceivably, the Eagles could bring him back as Vick's backup. In fact, why would they not do that? It would save them the trouble of signing a backup, and they'd have a guy who could fill in for Vick if he were to get injured. I know I'm getting way ahead of myself, but just some thoughts on how things could play out.
3. LeSean McCoy is averaging 6.7 yards per carry. Of NFL running backs with at least 20 carries, only the Cardinals' Tim Hightower is averaging more (7.0). What will be interesting to monitor as the season progresses is how McCoy holds up. He's been on the field for 104 of 124 offensive plays. The Birds are thin at running back and need him on the field. McCoy talked about strengthening his lower body in the offseason, and so far it looks like that's paying off. Keep in mind that he had 308 rushing attempts during his final season at Pitt in 2008. Only three backs in the nation had more.
4. The beat guys report today that Nick Cole did not practice on the turf because of knee inflammation. To be honest, I thought there was a chance of the Eagles mixing Reggie Wells in at right guard anyway. Cole had quite a bit of trouble last week, and Wells has now been here for a few weeks. As for the offensive line as a whole, I'm interested to see how they perform Sunday. It's clear that some guys will have a chip on their shoulder after taking so much heat this week. The Jaguars have four sacks through two games and were dead-last in that category last season with 14. The talent is there on the offensive line. The continuity has not been.
5. Two defensive players to mention here: Akeem Jordan and Juqua Parker. I asked Sean McDermott how Jordan's been doing so far at the SAM linebacker position, and the word he used was adequate. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. The Eagles linebackers as a whole have been disappointing through two games. I really thought they had a chance to be the defense's strongest unit. Of course, Stewart Bradley have only played two quarters.
Parker, meanwhile, has been great. The sacks don't tell the whole story. He's been bringing pressure on other plays too. Parker has three sacks in two games. But maybe more impressive is that he's done so on just 51 plays. Parker has played less than 38 percent of the Eagles' defensive snaps, but been extremely productive. It will be interesting to see if McDermott increases his playing time. Through two games, Antwan Barnes has not shown much that would suggest he should be the defensive end in nickel situations over Parker.
You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
And download the 2010 MTC app from the ITunes store.
Shiel, to your point #5 and I know a lot of people will disagree, but I would like to see Fokou make his way back to the starting SAM spot. He does have to eliminate the dumb penalties, but I think he has a certain nastiness to his play that this defense lacks. He also can get downfield with tight ends as well as Jordan. With some maturity and game experience I think he could be an upgrade.- I have a hunch that Kolb will play while Vick is the starter. If things go as Reid hopes, Kolb will be the starter by the end of the season. All of the pressure will be on Vick and Kolb can gain confidence as he gets some experience. It doesn't make sense that he thought Kolb and Vick playing together was a great idea when Kolb was the starter but it's out of the question with Vick as the starter. And Vick can't complain because Kolb didn't.— MikeP
- Yea, I wouldn't mind seeing Fokou out there if he has developed better discipline. Has he really gone two games without a special teams penalty?
- not gonna happen MikeP because Vick came in with designed run plays usually with option to pass, Kolb doesnt have that skill set. Vick has taken a ton of sacks if youve heard natl media all week saying hes just under David Carr in that category. So he could get hurt, but whatever with predicting injuries, thats useless. I think Parker needs to play more, let Graham work his way up. Its obvious Juqua is responding to the competition, gotta love that.— peteike
MikeP -- how do you figure that reid hopes that kolb will be the starter by seasons end? stop hoping and wishing for kolb. this is vicks offense now. get use to it
Let's go Sixers!— Leegles- The fact that you are even comparing Kolb to McNabb just proves the ridiculous praise this kid gets without even doing anything in the NFL?!?!?! Really Sheil, this situation is much like when McNabb got benched? How so? Has Kolb led this team to 10 years of winning, 5 NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl? Mmmmm I think he beat the KC Chiefs...I think this is why people have a "problem" with Kolb, the guy has been annointed as the next best thing, but hasn't done anything to merit those praises.— EaglesBleedMoney
thin at RB? Don't they have more RB than WR now?— potus- Somewhat interesting that Jim Johnson, along with some better Birds Ds, compiled the 2 best videos of Vick defense every recorded in '02 & '04. AR, please get with Mike, watch those vids and develop a plan to combat it, because that is what is coming.— shakenbake
- Of course, Vick didn't have the weapons in Atl. that he has here, so I'm not worried about it.— shakenbake
- Of course, Vick never had the weapons in Atl. that he has here, so I'm not really worried about it.— shakenbake
- Jordan is not a SAM. Shoulda traded for Morrison and put Bradley at SAM.Eagles used to ake good personnel decisions. Carlos Emmons was an example.— friedmozzarela
- Its quite possible that Parker's increased production is a result of less time on the field. It seems as if in the past he's worn down as the season progressed. With playing less snaps perhaps he stays fresher and becomes more effective. After all, the guy is no spring chicken. Rotating him and Graham makes a lot of sense.— SteveS11
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
-
"Through two games, Antwan Barnes has not shown much that would suggest he should be the defensive end in nickel situations over Parker." C'mon Sheil, you know better. It's not the players, it's the SYSTEM that counts! That's why it doesn't matter if you start the smallest LB in the league, or if you rotate 8 pleyers on your DL regardless of position, or if you drop your best pass rusher back into coverage, or if you put guys at DT who are outweighed by 60 pounds or more or if your DL is lighter than the one the team had 20 years ago. It's just like Professor Harold Hill said. It's all about the think system!
— jimmyj - Time to roll with the puppy killer.— MorbidCuriousity
- I think it's time to shore up our interior dline. Bradley may be top notch mike, but we still need help. Patterson seems to have hit a wall and we have no one behind him. With the support of a outstanding player personnel staff, I believe that we should consider Haynesworth as a real possibility to give us run stuffer who has push in the middle.— lancasterjeff
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
