What I saw: Eagles vs. Patriots
Here are my observations from today's Eagles-Patriots matchup:
OFFENSE
* Vince Young finished 26-for-48 for 400 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but was nowhere near as effective as those numbers might indicate. The turnover looked exactly like one from a week ago as Young underthrew an open DeSean Jackson down the sideline.
* Jackson had multiple drops, including one in the end zone in the second quarter on a good throw by Young. In the third, Young threw a bomb to Jackson, but he dropped that one too. It would have been about a 51-yard touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Jackson sat on the bench while the rest of the starters stayed in the game for the offense. Overall, Jackson was targeted 10 times, but had just four catches for 73 yards.
* LeSean McCoy, who entered the game as the league's leading rusher, carried just 10 times for 31 yards.
* Evan Mathis got beat and was called for a holding penalty on a sack in the first. It looked like the Patriots got away with a blatant facemask on Young on the play though. Danny Watkins was later whistled for a false start. Overall, the Eagles had 10 penalties for 60 yards.
* Young was 9-for-12 for 107 yards on third down last week. The Eagles were 4-for-13 on third down today. And three of those conversions were in garbage time. They started 1-for-9.
* In the third quarter, the Eagles had a 3rd-and-1 from the Patriots' 2, but McCoy was stuffed. They went for it on fourth down, ran play-action, and Young threw incomplete to Celek in the corner of the end zone. After the turnover on downs, "Fire Andy" chants could be heard from the crowd at the Linc.
* With the loss, the Eagles are now 1-5 at home this season.
DEFENSE
* Tom Brady picked the Eagles apart, completing 24 of 34 passes for 361 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. That translates to a QB rating of 134.6.
* There was confusion all game on the defensive side of the ball. The Eagles struggled shuffling personnel in and out in the first. They got called for 12 men on the field on one play and had to use a timeout on another as Brandon Hughes was slow to get off the field.
* Deion Branch had six catches for 125 yards. Wes Welker had eight catches for 115 yards. Tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined for 10 catches and 121 yards.
* The Eagles gave the Patriots two first downs with third-down penalties on their first scoring drive. One was for having 12 men on the field. And Derek Landri jumped offsides on the other one.
* On the Patriots' second scoring drive, Brady bought time, and Branch got behind Brandon Hughes for a 63-yard gain to set up a BenJarvus Green-Ellis touchdown run. Right before the 63-yard completion, Brady had a wide-open Tiquan Underwood for what would have been a similar gain, but he dropped it.
* Later in the second, Brady hit Welker for a 41-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 21-10 lead.
* The Patriots went no-huddle at one point in the second quarter. Cullen Jenkins injured his thumb, which slowed them down (temporarily).
* Nnamdi Asomugha was active, but did not start. Hughes joined Asante Samuel and Joselio Hanson in the nickel. Asomugha played in dime packages. He blitzed on a third-down incompletion in the second.
* On the Patriots' opening drive of the second half, they missed two tackles on a screen to Aaron Hernandez, who picked up 18 yards. Brady then found Welker, who beat Joselio Hanson, for a 9-yard touchdown. Tackling in the secondary was poor all game.
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