What happened on Vick's 3 interceptions?
The first half Thursday night was one to forget for Michael Vick.
What happened on Vick's 3 interceptions?
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The first half Thursday night was one to forget for Michael Vick.
The Eagles' starting quarterback completed 5 of 12 passes for 47 yards. Vick also completed three passes to Steelers defenders for a quarterback rating of 13.7.
So what happened on the interceptions? Here's a quick look at each after having re-watched them:
Interception No. 1: The Steelers showed six men in the box before the ball was snapped. One of the defenders dropped back, but Pittsburgh blitzed, sending the other five at Vick. Fullback Owen Schmitt stayed in to block and did a good job. Vick had plenty of time, but he went with his first read, looking to squeeze the ball into Riley Cooper between the Steelers' cornerback and safety down the left sideline. Vick made a bad decision and a bad throw.
Interception No. 2: The Eagles went with a slow-developing play-action pass, and the Steelers only rushed three defenders. LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek stayed in to block. Schmitt went out in his route. That meant the Eagles had three potential receivers against eight Steelers defenders in coverage. Not a very favorable matchup there. Vick was looking for Chad Hall, who was blanketed. Just a bad decision. He had plenty of time.
Interception No. 3: The Steelers showed six defenders at the line of scrimmage. Four of them rushed, and two dropped back. But safety Ryan Clark then blitzed from Vick’s left side. McCoy stayed in to block, but saw Clark late and didn't pick him up. Vick got away, scrambled, but had nowhere to go with the ball. He decided to lob one to Celek and it was deflected before Troy Polamalu made the interception.
MORE OBSERVATIONS:
+ The Eagles looked for DeSean Jackson deep on their first offensive play, and Vick targeted him on the first two plays. Jackson went to the sideline before the rest of the first-team offense.
+ McCoy was 8-for-10 on 3rd-and-short last year. He converted a 3rd-and-1 with an 8-yard carry tonight.
+ With 11:06 left in the first half, the Eagles' offense had been on the field for just 3:03. The Steelers had drives of 7:36 and 8:15 in the first half.
+ Did you notice who lined up at right tackle with the second team? Offseason acquisition Evan Mathis. Could he be a potential option if Ryan Harris and Winston Justice remain sidelined?
+ The first Dream Team mention came at 8:08 p.m., before the game had even started.
+ How did Jason Babin not draw a penalty for hitting Ben Roethlisberger late? He hit him low too.
+ It looked like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played inside, not Joselio Hanson, when the Eagles were in their nickel package.
+ The Eagles plan on rotating their defensive linemen every four snaps or so. The first team was Jason Babin, Anthony Hargrove, Cullen Jenkins and Trent Cole. The second team was a surprise, with Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Derek Landri, Cedric Thornton and Darryl Tapp. Te'o-Nesheim later left the game with a hamstring injury.
+ Jenkins got called for a facemask early, but got good pressure on Roethlisberger from the interior.
+ On the Steelers' first TD, the Eagles rushed six, blitzing Rodgers-Cromartie and Nate Allen. Tapp rushed from the inside. The pressure didn’t get there, and Asante Samuel got beat on the outside. The Eagles were in their dime package and had four corners and one linebacker (Jamar Chaney) on the field.
+ On another play, the Eagles sent Allen and Chaney. Roethlisberger beat the six-man blitz with a dumpoff to Mewelde Moore for 24 yards.
+ On Roethlisberger's touchdown to Hines Ward, the Eagles rushed four and played zone coverage. It looked like Ward was Allen's responsibility.
+ Here were some instant reactions from our chatters: Andy Reid didn't have the Eagles prepared; Juan Castillo is overmatched; the wide-9 is horrible; they should have kept Kevin Kolb; and Casey Matthews stinks. Other than that, the people were happy with the Eagles' performance.
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remember: preseason games are meaningless.
unless your team does well. *then* they indicate great promise.
— ekw555- wow everyone does know its the pre season right? the eagles barely blitzed and didnt rush anyone! they let the front 4 get work and let the linebacker just watch plays develop because they arent interested in winning these games they are interested in getting game tape against good teams to show their d what to do! the offense didnt run any scripted plays just everyone go out and try to get open because they know what they have and why waste plays in the PRESEASON so stop whining and just relax you cry babies this is why reid doesnt show to much concern and thats why everyone was jokng around still on the sideline because they know whta they are doing!— satcho27
- What I have not read anything about is Brent Celek on Vick's third interception. He made very little effort to go after Palamalu thinking someone else would tackle him. They missed the tackle and Troy got a big gain because Celek loafed. Kudos to Michael for the hit he laid on Palamalu.— odojoe
- Passing to Chad Hall. WHY? What is the obsession with the little no talent?— banned
- After 12 years of seeing Andy Ried's offense you would think they would stop calling it a west coast offense. It is no where neaar a west coast offense. Its pass the ball deep, pass the ball deep, pass the ball deep, and then do play action and pass the ball deep. And about the whole white/black quarterback debate. Out of 40 some odd super bowls only 1 black qb has one the whole thing. Coincidence? Doubt it. It is very true that Jeff Garcia prolly ran Reid's offense better than anyone. Also, I want to get something else off my chest. I liked McNabb when he was in Philly. But since his departure I have to say I lost all respect for him and I now know why he never won a super bowl.— FranMc73
- I wonder if the Steelers fans are worried about their run defense ?
McCoy had 25 yards on 4 carries. That's not stopping the run ! ! !— bleedgreen
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