Eagles Landing: Preseason Game 1 Recap: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens

Aug 22, 2011

Eagles Landing with Phillip Holmes
Preseason Game 1 Recap: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens
If you guys have missed it, please check out my previous article covering the Eagles defense in last Thursday night’s preseason game. This article will be dedicated to the Eagles offense.
The 1st team offense did an excellent job of moving the chains and then ending their initial drive with their 1st touchdown of the preseason courtesy of a 3 yard pass from Vick to TE Brent Celek. Truly a thing of beauty to watch the offense operate so efficiently in the redzone a place where they have had noted struggles in the past.
Great pass from Vick to 2nd year man Riley Cooper on a 46 yard completion to setup the redzone drive. Even with the mistimed fade route to Avant, Vick had a great showing in his 1st taste of the preseason. Always exciting anytime Vick touches the ball, I expect him to continue to show why he was #2 in MVP voting last year(100.2 QB rating) by having an even better showing this year. Skies the limit with this guy really.
The 6’3 Riley Cooper took flight and snatched away the somewhat underthrown ball at it’s highest peak while Pro Bowl FS Ed Reed was in coverage. That’s’ how you make a play. Safe to say that Cooper has gotten better in that area of pass catching as you recall in a similar play in last year’s NFC Wildcard loss to the Packers, Riley failed to come back and make a play on an underthrown ball in the waning seconds of the game.
Running back’s Ronnie Brown and Dione Lewis looked really explosive and elusive in their debuts constantly breaking tackles, running for good yardage and obtaining 1st downs. It’s still early but you can’t help but think of former Eagles great, Brian Westbrook every time Lewis touches the ball. He has a good chance of seeing the field in specified packages this year if he can hold up in the pass blocking game. So far so good. Another guy to keep an eye out for.
Jason Avant was already in mid year form, coming down with a 1st down reception on one play and almost coming down with a fade route in the back of the endzone on another. On that play Avant showed great footwork in adjusting to the ball and then making a diving catch that he could quite get in his grasp enough on the way down to be rewarded with the TD reception. Excellent vision, effort, and footwork by Avant though. You could tell that the timing of that route was just a little bit off between the QB and receiver but hey that’s what preseason is for, to get timing patterns such as that down to clockwork. Still Avant is arguably the best receiver as far as hands and route running on the team.
WR Chad Hall had the most productive day at receiver finishing with 82 yards on 5 catches. Good game for him and great film on him for another interested team as Chad will most likely not make this year’s 53 man roster with Maclin, Jackson, Avant, Cooper, and newly acquired 09’ Pro Bowler Steve Smith, ahead of him on the roster. Chad does a good job of getting open on some plays and gives great effort for a shifty little guy his size (5’8 187). The problem with him is that he’s just not explosive as you would like for a receiver of his stature. Lacks top line speed or even decent speed to runaway from opponents once he makes the catch.
Celek as we mentioned earlier came away with a TD reception however was unsuccessful in bringing in a pretty pass by Michael Vick on one play in the 1st series. Personally I’d like to see more out of Celek in the reception department this year. In Vick’s playing days in Atlanta, Vick’s prime target was former Pro Bowl TE Alge Crumpler. Vick has stated that during the off season this year he watched film of his time in Atlanta and vows that his TE Brent Celek will have a breakout year this year as Vick will be focusing more on getting him the ball. With such a variety of great playmaking WR’s and your typical Eagles screens and dump passes to RB Shady McCoy you wonder if there is enough balls to go around to get Celek really involved in the offense. One thing for sure is that Celek has shown flashes in the past (76 Recs, 8 TDs in 2009) of being a reliable pass catcher and if anyone can make their TE look good in that facet of their game certainly a QB of Vick’s stature can. It’ll be interesting to watch as the season goes on.
Vince Young #9(in honor of the late Steve Air McNair) made his Philadelphia debut going 3/5 with 45 yards. Vince extended some plays with his feet in his typical fashion and then found open receivers while in scramble mode. We all know Vince possesses this type of ability. What I would like to see from him is his ability to keep composure within the pocket, step up and deliver the pass. Many times Vince is prone to scramble because he is holding on to the ball too long. I expect Vince to get better at this as his reps increases. Vick struggled with the same thing his 1st year here as well so no biggie there.

Some believe that Young was the key component in all of the Philadelphia Eagles off season additions. While I believe that he does play a key role in being a back up in the NFL, I don’t feed into all the hype about Michael Vick not being able to complete a season healthy and that he’ll knock himself out of the game in Week 1. Folks let’s not forget here that in Vick’s last 4 years as a starter (going back to his time as a Falcon) Vick has only missed 5 games. That’s 5 out of a possible 80. That’s pretty consistent and tough if you ask me. Granted Mike has to flat out be better at sliding and avoiding senseless hits by going out of bounds at times but by no means is this player injury prone.
Mike Kafka the 3rd string QB did well in the game 13/19 132 yards. Mike looks more comfortable in the pocket this year. He showed good ability in stepping up and getting rid of the ball before the blitz came. You could tell that some of the Eagles blitz pick up drills has started to take effect on Kafka’s game. Mike has shown great intangibles for being a solid back up QB. If he can just play within the confounds of his game and complete the short to intermediate routes he will be just fine. Kafka gets into trouble when he’s forced to use his so-so arm as witnessed by the interception he threw in the game while trying to hit a receiver deep.
Howard Mudd’s (Eagles Offensive Line Coach) new offensive line looked pretty good on run plays. Far from great but better than in times past. I think that this year with the addition of rookie RG Danny Watkins and RT Ryan Harris (if he can stay healthy) we can effectively run the ball when needed due to having more athleticism along the line. Say listen, we all know here that Andy would rather wear bright red spandex in the middle of the Sahara desert than to run the ball more consistent to a 50/50 ratio. All I’m saying is that at some points throughout a game we will have a big lead on opponents where pounding away with the run game will be critical to running out the clock and having a better offensive linemen this year will aid us in that area.
The left side of the OL, LT Jason Peters and LG Todd Herremans were solid as usual. Nothing really to report here which is always a plus.
C Jamaal Jackson appeared to be in great shape and fully recovered from last years torn bicep injury. Jackson really has to show Mudd that he can stay healthy this year after missing the last two years with injuries. Jackson when healthy is among some of the better C’s in the NFL. He also has to show that he can get out on screen passes and traps as Mudd’s typical O-lineman (6’3 290lbS) are the more athletic smaller types where as Jackson is more of the big(6’4 325lbs) strong powerful type. It’s been a heated battle in training camp between rookie C Jason Kelce and Jackson. Jackson has very little room for error.
Speaking of C Kelce I really enjoyed his energy on the OL as he could be seen leading the charge on screen or dump plays and runs up the middle. Great hustle by this kid. Kelce’s main challenge will be if he can hold up against and get some good push on the bigger DT’s in the league. I’ve seen his feet take a step back when blocking bigger DTs in the Ravens game however he did manage to maintain his ground which is in essence what you would like to see.
RT Ryan Harris, RT Austin Howard , and RG Danny Watkins were up in down in their 1st preseason game. All 3 players had plays where they blocked well in the pass protection but then did not maintain the same effort in the run blocking and vice versa. Consistency is what makes an OL really special and the only way you can get to that level is to practice, practice, practice(no offense( A.I.).
The Eagles have really got to solidify that RT position as that tackle position is chiefly responsible for protecting Mike Vick’s blindside. I believe that if Harris can stay healthy he really has the physical and mental tools to excel there. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that both Harris and last year’s starter RT Winston Justice(currently on the Physically Unable to Perform list) can get back healthy where they can compete for that position and the best RT can walk away with the job, hands down.