Week 6: What about Kolb?
Here's a breakdown of Kevin Kolb's impressive performance Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Week 6: What about Kolb?
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Kevin Kolb got his third start of the season Sunday, completing 23 of 29 passes for 326 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
The performance earned him NFC offensive player of the week honors for the second time in his career.
Here's the weekly breakdown of how Kolb performed. As always, let's start with the pass distribution.
| Targets | Catches | Yards | YAC | Drops | |
| Jeremy Maclin | 7 | 7 | 159 | 55 | 0 |
| Brent Celek | 7 | 4 | 46 | 25 | 1 |
| Jason Avant | 5 | 5 | 62 | 21 | 0 |
| LeSean McCoy | 4 | 4 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| Chad Hall | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| DeSean Jackson | 1 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| Owen Schmitt | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 28 | 23 | 326 | 122 | 2 |
Note that Kolb officially had 29 attempts. One ball was batted at the line of scrimmage so I didn't count that as a target.
The Kolb-to-Maclin connection has been prolific the last two weeks. Kolb has targeted Maclin 14 times, and those throws have resulted in 13 completions for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
On throws to Maclin, Avant and Jackson, Kolb went 13-for-13 for 255 yards. Of his six incompletions, two were dropped (by Hall and Celek) and was batted down at the line. Kolb was intercepted once and had another attempt to Hall nearly picked off. He was off-target on a short throw to Celek.
Only five of Kolb's 28 attempts were to running backs. Sixteen of his targets were to wide receivers.
The YAC number is up, largely in part to the 43 yards after the catch Maclin picked up on the 83-yard touchdown. But don't be fooled. This is not an offense that relies on intermediate throws and receivers making plays after the catch. This is a big-play offense that works when the quarterback can get the ball downfield.
Seven different receivers had catches - the same number as the last two weeks.
THE BLITZ, PRESSURE, SHOTGUN, ETC.
The Falcons blitzed more than the 49ers and Redskins, but they still relied on the front four for much of the game.
Against the blitz, Kolb was 6-for-8 for 48 yards. He was 3-for-3 for 24 yards on throws to Avant against the blitz.
Kolb was sacked just once and was rarely under pressure. Credit for that goes to the gameplan, the offensive line and Kolb. He got rid of the ball quickly when he needed to, and stayed patient to allow plays to develop downfield when he could.
He looks more comfortable every week sensing pressure and moving around the pocket. Kolb didn't have to do as much of that this week, though.
Most of his damage came on throws in the pocket. He was 20-for-25 for 311 yards on those throws. Outside of the pocket, he was 3-for-4 for 15 yards.
From the shotgun, Kolb was 10-for-14 for 103 yards. Under center, he was 13-for-15 for 223 yards.
Play-action has become a huge weapon for the Eagles. On play-action throws, Kolb was 10-for-11 for 200 yards. In the past two weeks on play-action throws, he is 18 for 21 for 335 yards.
THIRD DOWN, RED ZONE
As a team, the Eagles were much better on third down, converting seven of 14 opportunities. The previous week against San Francisco, they were just 3-for-12. Kolb was 6-for-7 for 74 yards on third down. He dropped back to pass nine times on third down and converted five of those. Two attempts were complete, but short of the first down. One was incomplete; and the other was a sack.
Maclin, Celek and McCoy caught two balls apiece on third down.
The Eagles had two red-zone chances. On the first opportunity, King Dunlap was whistled for a personal foul penalty, which knocked them out of the red zone.
On the second one, he completed two of three passes for 11 yards, including the 8-yard touchdown to Maclin, which might have been his most impressive throw of the day. The other completion was a 3-yarder to Celek.
SUCCESS BY DISTANCE
Here's a chart of Kolb's throws by distance. I used the same ranges that Football Outsiders uses so we'd have a point of reference. Short is 5 yards or less. Mid is 6 to 15 yards. Deep is 16 to 25 yards. And Bomb is more than 25 yards. These are measured from the line of scrimmage to the point where the ball is touched, hits the ground or goes out of bounds.
| Completions | Attempts | Yards | |
| Short | 11 | 15 | 53 |
| Mid | 6 | 8 | 75 |
| Deep | 4 | 4 | 81 |
| Bomb | 2 | 2 | 117 |
What immediately stands out from these numbers is how good Kolb was at getting the ball down the field. On Deep and Bomb throws combined, he was 6-for-6 for 198 yards. That's impressive. Two of the Deep throws went to Avant, and the other two to Maclin.
The Bombs went to Maclin and Jackson, respectively.
In the past two weeks, Kolb is 6-for-7 on throws between 16 and 25 yards and 3-for-4 on attempts of more than 25 yards.
OVERALL
As the above breakdown shows, Kolb played a tremendous game Sunday. More than at any other time this season, he fit passes into tight windows. There were multiple plays where Kolb had to put the ball in an exact place so the receiver would have a chance and the defender wouldn't be able to get a hand on it. He made those plays.
Kolb showed that when he has protection, he can get the ball downfield just fine. He and Maclin have developed a great chemistry. And keep in mind, Kolb's performance was with three backup offensive linemen playing in front of him and Jackson sidelined for three quarters of the game.
There are still questions that will need to be answered. Can Kolb still produce when protection is shaky and he's getting hit? How will he fare in the fourth quarter of a close game? Will he be able to adjust if the Titans focus on taking Maclin away next week?
But the important thing right now is that Kolb is improving every week and looks the part of a quarterback who can play at a high level.
Overall a great game by Kolb, but I'm sure the haters will find something to complain about. Meanwhile, Mcnabb had the ball in hand, down three at home with three minutes left, and comes up empty, yet again.— soybot
get off of mcnabb nuts. geez. dude isnt here anymore. anyway, congrats to kolb, he played a good game. but he'll really be saying something if he got player of the month award(vick). lol
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soybot, what kind of tool are you? like Phil MeNuggets said, the guy isn't even here anymore...move on nutjob.— EaglesBleedMoney- Philly_Mike -- people like you have no football I.Q. Its one thing to not like vick, but to say he never did anything and he has had multiple playoff victories makes you look silly. so what if he only beat the lions and jags(who beat the colts btw and are 3-3), he didnt make up the schedule. kolb only wishes to take a team to the playoffs. and yes, kolb is the starter now because vick is hurt genius. that'll all change after the bye. he was late? i thought reid said that he gave vick permission to arrive at that time. oh, u must have inside sources. my bad. its people like you that make it hard to root for kolb but i'm a fan 1st and i dont care who is behind center as long as he is productive. but the bottomline is that vick is better and the stats PROVE it. carry on.
Man, McNabb haters are like jilted 15 year old girls. Can't stop bringing him up bit**ing every chance they get. Very good game by Kolb. One thing I can't help thinking, though, is what happens when more tape is out there for defensive coordinators to study. If he can play at this high a level consistently over time then he is the real deal. Too many good college QBs start out well but can't hack it by the end of the season or season #2. Hope KK is the real deal if he's to be here long term.— Mabus- Hey Sheil, reread this one...
On throws to Maclin, Avant and Celek, Kolb went 13-for-13 for 255 yards. Of his six incompletions, two were dropped (by Hall and Celek) and was batted down at the line.
If Celek had a drop, how was Kolb perfect throwing to Celek, Maclin and Avant?— Clt Philly Fan - Guys, with that kind of protection I'd be getting the ball downfield fine too. That was just the Falcons getting worked, it wasn't that great QB play beat them. That's not saying Kolb didn't play great, he did, he did what is expected of an NFL QB. A good QB in this league is the guy who can put up this kind of game when the protection/offensive dominance isn't there. Good measuring stick game this Sunday.— sla6yer
- Whoops. Thanks Clt Philly Fan. One day I will get this post up with no mistakes! It was supposed to be Maclin, Avant and JACKSON, not Celek. - SK— skapadia
- Thanks dude. I know it happens. Trust me, my boss says I make enough mistakes. I just was not sure who the third guy was.— Clt Philly Fan
- another PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD for KK that's twice in four games,3-300 yard games-3-1 record,this kid is special,BIG RED has to wake up and smell the KK coffee.....wolf.— wolf 4
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- How many aliases does Wilma have? But, seriously, McNabb is a legitimate topic of discussion - whether it's lamenting or cheering that he is gone. He was a big part of us for a decade and whether it was wise to trade him will come up regularly. Don't be so freakin sensitive.
- If Eagle "fans" read Shei's articles they might be able to make logical statements in the never ending Kolb and Vick debate. Keep writing Sheil, keep reading fans. Who cares about McNabb except 2 x a year. Move on people.— pking222
- i generaly have no issue with Kevins play sunday, nor the stats put up here, just that three weeks ago, when Vick played, Sheil's article was headline "Vick not that accurate" even after destroying the Jaguars...i see why Mcnabb never gave these bunch any love, sounds like one article is fault finding while the other is opinion shopping. just saying...— jameslaka
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another PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD for KK that's twice in four games,3-300 yard games-3-1 record,this kid is special,BIG RED has to wake up and smell the KK coffee.....wolf
umm..wait...now back to reality...
clock struck midnight for kolberella..he showed true form today..now go back to bench where you belong..2012 - kevin "pick 6" KOLB and wolf..walmart security..wolf.— wolf 4
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