Well, as expected, the first thing on everyone's mind is how Vick did in his first NFL action in almost two years. Honestly, he was okay. That's it, just okay. He did a couple things that I liked, and a few things that have me on the worried side.
The best part about this play was his patience. He held the ball for between three and four seconds, allowing the route to develop before simply abandoning the pocket and just trying to run. He stayed in the pocket, allowed Baskett to run off the corner before making his cut and catching a well-thrown ball from Vick.
This shows that Vick is at least making a conscious effort to stay in the pocket, and wants to at least give this whole "being a real quarterback" a try.
The negative of this play was the fact that Vick made no effort to go through his progressions. From the second he took control of the ball he stared holes through Baskett. Really, this makes the completion all that more impressive. However, it's a little bit of luck to make a throw like that. If he tries that against a better defense in the regular season he'll get to showcase his speed by chasing down a defender.
As expected, Vick seemed a bit hesitant and a little gun-shy. It's his first game in nearly two years (has that been mentioned anywhere yet?), so I'm definitely not worried about it. Reid showed just enough to make a few defensive coordinators lose some sleep over Vick.
Sticking with the quarterback theme, Donovan McNabb was a bit inconsistent, but had an overall good night. My first impression was that he looks very quick, and very agile. He did a nice job, especially in the beginning, of avoiding pressure and keeping plays alive. Winston Justice and Jason Peters struggled a bit at the beginning, but McNabb was able to compensate.
McNabb's number one target tonight, outside of the hands of the Jaguars' defensive linemen, was Jason Avant who showed that he can be a target in this passing game. Even with the speed surrounding him, his ability to run precise and sharp patterns, along with his strong hands will allow him to make some big-time plays for the Eagles this season.
The offensive line was decent. As said before, Justice and Peters struggled a bit in the first quarter with outside pressure, but they seemed to get it under control and helped an offensive line missing two starters play fairly well. It wasn't great, but there's still time.
Even Brent Celek stepped it up tonight as a blocker, doing a pretty decent job of sealing the edge on a LeSean McCoy touchdown run where he tried to take the ball up the middle, got stuffed, and immediately bounced it to the outside and ran for the pylon. For those of you who didn't see it, think Reggie Bush circa 2006 playoff game.
All of the receivers played well, expect for Kevin Curtis who couldn't seem to throw a block if his life depended on it. None of these receivers are guaranteed any time, and if he can't block his reps are going to get a significant cut. That being said, I think Brandon Gibson is the real deal. He made a play where he planted his feet and made a falling catch to stay in-bounds. That's a real NFL-caliber play.
Outside of a couple costly fumbles by McNabb/McCoy and Kyle Eckel, the offense looked good. McNabb did throw a bad interception where he was behind Jackson on a flag pattern and didn't account for a roaming safety, but he understood the mistake and moved on. That's what the preseason is for.
Westbrook was a healthy scratch which was a fantastic decision. He's 30 years old and isn't going to show you anything new. He's an injury concern already, so let him sit and rest up for the season. If something were to happen to Westbrook in the preseason it would be an absolute disaster for this team.
