The game won’t count on the Eagles regular season record, but it’s their most important game of the preseason. The Eagles offense hasn’t been able to get into the endzone in the first two preseason games, so it’s important that they play well in this third and final dress rehearsal before the season.
The starters will play three quarters, so this will give us a all a good chance to see what type of football team will be taking the field for the Birds. They’re playing the Kansas City Chiefs who are a bad football team and have been a bad football team for more than a decade.
To put it simply the Eagles should dominate. I’d like to see Kevin Kolb and the number one offense come out and play sharp, move the ball consistently up and down the field, then stick the ball in the end zone when they get in the red zone.
“It’s very important to us,” Kolb said. “Again, we’re not game-planning like we would be in the regular season, but the plays are there and we’ve got to make them and we look forward to doing that this week.”
We don’t want to see constant penetration coming up the middle of the offensive line. The return of Todd Herremans should help, but center Mike McGlynn and guard Stacy Andrews need to step up their games.
There’s one factor even more important than playing well and that’s staying healthy. Injuries are a certainty in the NFL but the timing and severity of the injuries varies. They can’t afford to have any major injuries at this time because depth isn’t a strength of this young football team at most positions.
The other thing that will be happening during tonight’s contest is a battle for the final positions on the roster. Veteran players like wide receiver Hank Baskett, linebacker Omar Gaither running back Charles Scott
We’re going to get the chance to see backup running back Mike Bell, who will play a key role on this football team. Bell may be the goalline and short yardage back this season. They need him to be able to step in for LeSean McCoy and not have the offense miss a beat.
It’s a given in the NFL now, that you need at least two good running backs because they get a hit a great deal and therefore are susceptible to injuries. In addition, they need a blow every now and then
We’ll get another look at rookie starters Brandon Graham and Nate Allen. They’ll get the chance to get more work which is invaluable to young players. These two could greatly improve the defense.
I want to see new linebacker Ernie Sims makes some plays. Let’s see him knock one of the Chiefs into never never land in the same way he was hitting his teammates out there at Lehigh. Let’s see him get his hands on the football.
Trevor Laws and Daniel Te’o Nesheim need to make a play or two on third down to seal their place as the team’s 3rd down inside pass rushers. If they can’t get it done, Graham may have to move inside on third down and that will take something away from the rush outside.
The defense is going in the right direction and they just need to keep up the momentum.
I’m pretty confident of a good showing tonight. After all, its the Chiefs. This game should help springboard the Birds into the regular season.
Too bad about Ingram. Let’s hope Celek stays healthy.
Not to be a doomesday sayer, but the Chiefs are a much improved team that is now in Coach’s Haley’s
2nd Season. Their Skill players on Offense are better than many think and QB Cassel has settled down and is playing some good ball this summer camp..
AT RB the have the tough Thomas Jones, the shifty J Charles and Rookie Dexter McCluster who
Eagle Coach AR was salivating to draft for the Eagles,but the Chiefs grabbed early in the 2nds Rd.
Then at WR, they have veteran C Chambers, Young D Bowe and added J Urban from the Cardinals,
at TE they have veteran L Pope (also from Cardinals) and a young TE in T Moeaki who I really liked out of the University of Iowa that the Chiefs drafted in the 3rd Round.
Remember Chiefs coach Haley was the O/Coordinator for the Cardinals when they moved the ball at will versus the Eagles defense in the NFC Championship game a couple of years ago and he is an excellent X’s & O’s Offensive coach who understands good Match-ups…
Defensively is where the Chiefs are very young with DL TG Dorsey, T Hali who were top picks a coupld years ago that are improving and of course they added all-world Safety Eric Berry to be the quaterback of the defense.. This game will be a lot closer than many think and the Chiefs will have a full house of many excited fans for the upcoming season..
My Prediction is Chiefs 23- Eagles 16
chiefs stink
the chiefs are the reason kevin kolb is the starter
i expect a huge game similar to last time he played them unfortunately just like the last time they played them this really wont tell me anything about kevin kolb
if we dont score points tonight we should be worried dont try to make the chiefs sb bound to have excuses
it is what it is a bad team so we should skunk them period
5 players that I will watch closely tonight
On Offense
#1) RG – Stacey Andrews (another poor perfomance and he will lose his Starting position)
#2) RB – Mike Bell (a poor performance, a no show or is he the back we have been waiting for)
#3) TE – C Harbor (is he a legitimate back-up TE for the Eagels, He has a bright future but can he contribute for 2010 at a position in needs of Depth)
#4) WR”s (Baskett & Washington) – one will win a job tonight, the other will be released
#5) QB – Can M Vick bounce back and play as a legitmate QB who can run this offense or is he going to just run around like he’s playing sandlot football…
On Defense
#1) M Patterson – It’s time he steps it up and earns his starting position and salary
#2) E Sims – Can he shed blockers and make plays, can he cover TE/RB’s in pass coverage
#3) T Laws – can he translate a good camp into a good performance in a game when it counts…
#4) K Coleman – another solid performance solidify’s his roster spot
#5) M Fokou – has fallen off the Radar, can he bounce back, needs a big game to show he belongs
#6) D Patterson – another solid game and he may overtake Hanson as the Nickle back
#7) D Tapp – can he make an impact or is he another disppointing Free-Agent signing
The play of Special Teams and whoh is going to step up to be a “return guy” on Kick-offs
Is anyone tired of listenting to Special Teams Coach B April make excuse after excuse about the play of the Special teams thus far this Pre-Season, It’s time for April to put his $$$ where his mouth is and get this unit to play smart,physical football …
This showing against the chiefs gives us absolutely nothing….Kolb should past for 3 Touchdowns in his brief time against this poor team. It’s a shame that because of the Chiefs we think this guy can replace Mcnabb..Think about it…..Was there any other team Kolb was able to dominate when he had opportunity? Even this preseason he is yet to get TOUCHDOWN…
We’ll know what we have in Kolb when this team actually plays a legitimate playoff team. This is nothing more than a walk through to avoid injury against a team that really have nothing to lose. I think this team will struggle to win 5 games this year and blame it on injuries instead of the incompetence of an organization refusing to plug obvious holes in the off season..There was no excuses for Mcnabb therefore we don’t want to hear excuses now Kolb is at the helm.
exactly songs i agree
he has played 5 games only 1 of them any good
i know its preseason but lets see kc at home he was tom terrific
saints at home stunk i dont wanna hear no yardage stats he stunk he lost the game damn near single handedly
ravens well yall dont wanna hear about that 1 but 1st pass 107 yard td for other team of course
ok so that brings me to the stifling defenses of jax and cincinatti
2 pretty good drives vs jax about 3 horrific throws in 2 drives tho any good secondary has at least 2 picks that game in 1 qtr
and oh the new look bengals are the ravens now supposeldy he stunk besides 1 roll out play where he made a nice throw to djax he did nothing impressive till the 2min drill which started on like the 50 he completed 2 passes and were at the 10
cmon kevin show us something
im tired of hearing these fans that see so much
im from missouri the show me state
No excuses for the old quarterback, just a reason. He wasn’t good enough. Doesn’t mean he was a bad Qback, but didn’t get it done. Now there is somebody new, pretty simple. His time here is over, let it go.
Simply put, this offense has picked up right where it left off last season..absolutely horrible in the red zone..Thats coaching fellas..Not players..Coaches have got to get this figured out. The Packers put up 59 points last night..FG’s aint going to beat the Packer’s..Fix this offense now!!! TD’s tonight not FG’s.
Rodgers looked pretty damn good last evening,
I don’t see the Eagles Secondary matching up well with Packers WRs Jennings,Driver,Nelson & Jones
and who on the Eagles is going to attempt covering their TE Finley..
If there is not heavy pressure up the middle in the interior of the line versus Rodgers and the Packers,
they will put 35 points up versus the Eagles D…
Eagles offense looks like POOP putting it lightly. Kolb is getting lucky alot of these passes arent picked off he keeps throwing into tight spaces especially in the red zone. WTF its the CHEIFS!!!!
When will Eaglesnation realize the real problem with the Philadelphia Eagles was never Donovan McNabb. The current head coach and his entire staff sucks. Just take a moment to understand why the Eagles have not won a superbowl yet…Andy Reid and the front office have yet to understand that size and speed and a power running game is what todays NFL is. We bring in Ernie Sims who weighs what 230 Lbs at will backer??? then we give Stacy andrews 30 mil for what??? Andy reid says Jason peters is the best LT in the game??? this may be true is Andy reid ran the ball behind him more. Our best player Desean jackson is what 5′ 9″ 175 you have got to be kidding. as good as desean is, if your best player is this small it is going to be a long year. remember in all the past Drafts Andy reid kept drafting all these offensive linemen where the hell are they now??? This team will never win a superbowl with this type of thinking. MARK MY WORD ON THIS.
EAGLES DIDN’T APPEAR TO DOMINATE. THEY LOOKED MORE TIRED THAN TTHE CHIEFS
Kolb is no Joe Montana. Why did Eagles run that quick pass play to Jackson who was tackled by four guys. Chief were 4-12 last year. No first stringers will play against Jets who are real competition and have a VICIOUS PASS RUSH. I DIDN’T SEE MUCH TO BE ENCOURAGED ABOUT.
The 4-12 Chiefs are no juggernaut. They look to be improved to 6-10, maybe.
“Quick Release,” “Accuracy” and “Increased Yards After the Catch” are all terms I heard repeatedly for the past couple of months, but not since the pre-season’s begun.
I also noticed that the Chiefs took away the “roll-out to the right.” I’m a bit nervous about the season.
Told you…..Remember life before Mcnabb? If you don’t you’ll soon have a serious reminder.
Mcnabb masked Reid’s deficencies as a play caller and when plays broke down he was able to turn a bad play into a big play. That element is gone and we can all see what happens without a playmaker with a strong arm that knows how to improvise. If this was Walsh or Holmgren with this team I would’nt be as nervous but it’s stubborn Reid who don’t know how important it is to have a running game as a legitimate threat. At first I wanted them to call up Jeff Garcia but no more..No more masking to give us hope in winning a few games yet fall short of the goal…We need to see if Kolb and Reid can be contenders and if not ship them both out and get Cower in here and bring a legitimate running game with smash mouth football back to philly with a ferosious .defense. No more ballet dancers on the offensive line. HARD HAT SMASH MOUTH MANO ON MANO FOOTBALL! We need it bad
One last thing,
When have the Eagles ever domniated an opponent…They haven’t and won’t with Coach AR and
O/C MM calling the plays with this Dink-dunk version of a WCO.. I don’t care who is QB,but when you have an O/Line who average 320lbs and you ask them to pass-protect 50 times a game, they are too pooped to dominant anyone, I have always though that this is part of the problem of them not being able to run the ball late in games and especially in red-zone/short-yardage situations
Smash-mouth football is a mind-set, it’s a tone that is set from the top..Coach AR and O/C MM don’t exude this confidence of we’re going to line up and beat you man to man… This is neither one’s philosophy or personality, instead, it’s we are going to out-smart, out scheme you and beat you that way, well guess what, teams and DC’s around the league have way caught up to this Eagles System for it’s been the same for the last 10 years.. Eagles are one of the most predictable teams on offense in the entire NFL, don’t you think other teams DC watch tape and come up with coverages and packages that negate the Eagles strengths, of course they do..
The Eagles are obviously going to stay with AR at least thru his contract of 2012, but to expect any different type of play and results from this Offense is wishful thinking… I think They need a change in HC and OC, with all this talent and not to be able to move the ball and score TD’s when you have basically been running the same system for 10 years in inexcusble and tells me that maybe this
Offensive System is just too stale and predictable and needs to be updated and changed
Kudos, excellent points Paulman and Songs… Paulman: Andy Reid WILL be exposed this year for his boring and predictable play calling beacause he doesnt have Mcnabb to improvise and save his butt!!!
Outstanding points gentleman!! Unless Vick can be the second coming of Mcnabb 5 years ago, AR AND THE O/C WILL GET EXPOSED