Week 2: Wrap-Up
All was going well for the Eagles in this game against
their division foe, the New York Giants. McNabb was effectively moving the ball
effectively, Andy Reid’s play-calling looked solid, and the Eagles D was
suffocating. Even though Giants QB Eli Manning and Tiki
Barber hooked up on a 37-yard TD on the Giants’ opening drive, the Eagles
offense appeared unimpressed as McNabb and Westbrook were able to lead the
Eagles offense down the field. A Brian Westbrook rushing TD made the score tied
at 7. From there it was all Eagles as they rattled off 17 more points thanks to
two touchdowns by Reggie Brown and Donte Stallworth. Add in a David Akers FG and the Eagles appeared
to be cruising to an easy victory with the Birds ahead 24-7 in the 3rd
Quarter…then the team fell asleep. Conservative play-calling by Andy Reid,
ill-timed turnovers by the offense, a dreadful secondary, a tired defensive
line, and a hungry Giants team all contributed to what would turn out to be an
ugly Eagles loss. After the Giants tied the game at 24 on a Jay Feely FG with
10 seconds left, the game went to overtime where the Giants dominated the
Eagles on all cylinders. Eli Manning
connected with Plaxico Burress
in the end-zone as the Eagles lost a heartbreaker in their home opener, 24-7.
The Eagles will have much to think about as they look ahead to Week 3 in
Post Game Positives
Defensive Line’s pass rush
Despite getting tired towards the end, this defensive
line looked unbelievable. The Eagles were able to sack Eli Manning eight times
with sacks by: Patterson (1.5), Cole (2), Kearse
(2.5), Walker (1), and Thomas (1). The pass rush also allowed the Eagles to get
in the face of Eli Manning and force him to throw an interception to Jeremiah
Trotter. This defensive line has thirteen sacks on the year already. In 2005,
the defense only registered 29 sacks the entire year. The Eagles are definitely
looking good rushing the passer and if they keep up this pressure, good things
will happen for them.
Linebackers
Even though Dhani Jones was
again not much of a factor, Matt McCoy and Jeremiah Trotter did a fantastic job
holding the Giants to 86 yards rushing on the day. As mentioned earlier,
Trotter had the first Eagles interception on the year. McCoy continued to make
plays and Shaun Barber led the team in tackles with 9. The announcers also
mentioned that although Tiki Barber usually racks up
over 100 yards against the Eagles, they kept him in check.
McNabb, Wide Receivers, LJ Smith and Offensive Line
Say what you want about McNabb’s stupid false start
penalty, and yes it was stupid, McNabb had himself a good game and it was not
his fault they lost. McNabb had himself a pretty good day throwing for 350
yards, 0 interceptions, and 2 TDs. McNabb also
connected with his favorite target LJ Smith 11 times for 111 yards. McNabb also
completed very pretty passes to Stallworth, Reggie
Brown, and even newcomer Hank Baskett. The offensive
line also got tired towards the end of the game, but they still showed what
will make the Eagles a dangerous team in the upcoming weeks giving McNabb great
protection in both his running and passing game. There was one play in
particular where Shaun Andrews was able to run up from the line and make a
great block for Westbrook on one of his runs. Runyan
also managed to stuff up Strahan very effectively and
despite all his trash talking, Giants LB Antonio Pierce did not “mess anyone up”
like he promised.
Post Game Concerns and Worries
Andy Reid’s Play-calling
With the exception of the 2004 season, Andy Reid has often
been ridiculed for refusing to run up the score and playing conservatively once
he gets a lead. This was very evident today as his failure to take any chances
once the Giants got back in the game would ultimately lose the game for the
Eagles. Andy Reid is a great coach, but he has got to be more aggressive.
The Eagles were outscored 23-7 in the 2nd half of this game. The
Eagles have looked great these two games on both sides of the ball, but Andy
Reid needs to change his philosophy or this will happen all season.
Secondary
This is the second week in a row that the secondary
has looked dreadful. The Eagles appear to be undersized and under-matched in
their secondary. Michael Lewis’s failure to recover a fumble lead to a crucial
TD for the Giants and Sheldon Brown’s awful coverage on Plaxico
Burress in OT would decide the game. The only player
who has been consistent for the Eagles secondary has been Brian Dawkins. This
is a huge area of concern for the Eagles because these guys are either not
playing up to their potential or are simply not as good as we thought. The
Eagles will have to figure something out or sign a free agent at this
point because this is clearly the weak spot of this team.
Penalties and Team Health
Team health is a huge concern for the Eagles after
this week. In an already weak secondary that is missing Lito
Sheppard for 4-6 weeks, we can now add Roderick Hood to that list. A bigger
loss however, is DE Jevon Kearse.
Kearse registered 2.5 sacks today and a forced
fumble. The Freak appeared to be on his way to a career season prior to that
injury that the Eagles website says is to his left knee. If Kearse
is out for an extended period of time, the Eagles still have a good pass rush,
but it would be a huge blow for them. As far as penalties, the Eagles had 10
penalties for 66 yards. This may not seem like a lot, but a questionable
personal foul call on Trent Cole is what gave the Giants that little extra push
to seal the victory. You better believe Andy is going to be working those guys
after this loss. Staying healthy and not losing the game for themselves are extremely
important for this team.
Closing remarks
As far as losses go, this one is particularly hard to
swallow for those of us who bleed Eagles green, especially since it is against
the hated Giants. Division losses are important, but remember Eagles fans, it
is only week 2. There are 14 more games left to play and a lot can happen. The
Eagles are a team of professionals and you better believe they will never let
this happen again. Their veterans are too prideful for that to occur. Also, in
upcoming weeks the Eagles are playing teams not nearly as difficult and scrappy
as the Giants. They have no division games until October 8th against
the Cowboys. Next week against the 49ers, you can expect the Eagles to try and
go out and make a statement. This loss definitely will sting and leave a sour
taste on our mouths, but the Eagles will have their chance for revenge against
the Giants on Week 15. Andy and the guys will definitely be working hard this
week to prepare for Sunday and lets try to remain
helpful that Hood and Kearse are okay.