The Eagles defense particularly the secondary played well in the first game of the season. They took advantage of rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden by pressuring him with their pass rush and for the most part covering his receivers. Weeden, who was playing the first game of his career was definitely overmatched and didn’t seem to be comfortable in the pocket, nor sure of exactly about what coverages he was seeing.
The rookie finished the game with a 5.1 passer rating, while throwing for only 118 yards. He completed only 12 of 35 passes, which was a 34.3 completion percentage. The Eagles defense held the Browns to just 210 total yards and the Cleveland offense was only two for 13 on third downs. Even more importantly they picked off four of Weeden’s passes.
The 28-year old rookie out of Oklahoma State made the mistake of trying to attack the Eagles best coverage guy, veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on routes which were nothing but a foot-race down the sidelines. It wasn’t much of a challenge for the former Tennessee State defensive back, who is faster than any receiver the Browns have on their roster. Weeden must have gotten a bad scouting report, which encouraged him to go after the speedy corner with go routes.
Mohamed Massaquoi did beat him early in the game with a simple go route, but Weeden overthrew the receiver on the play, which should have been a touchdown. Rodgers-Cromartie got caught looking into the backfield which he does at times, but it makes no sense for wide receivers who are no where near as fast as he is to be trying to outrun him deep with straight go routes. For the rest of the game, DRC got his eyes out of the backfield and concentrated on the receiver he was covering.
The cornerback got in the hip pocket of two Cleveland receivers, mirrored them down the sideline, then picked off Weeden’s poor throws. The passes should have been outside closer to the sidelines, but they were inside and made the interceptions easy for DRC. On one of the picks he simply reached up to come down with the ball, but on the other, Rodgers-Cromartie used his 6’2″ height and tremendous jumping ability to leap up and come down with the ball with his arms extended, so he could catch the ball at it’s highest point.
Rodgers-Cromartie came to the game dressed in a pink suit with pick eyeglass rims. The eyewear looked like the gear which LeBron James and for 76er Andre Iguodala had been sporting in the past basketball season, only the cornerback’s goggles were bright pink. Thankfully for the Eagles, Rodgers-Cromartie plays better than he dresses.
Hopefully this game won’t go to his head. Looking forward to him matching up Torrey Smith next week.
Strog, Strong game by DRC.. I believe he will be getting a large Contract Extension here in the next few weeks or if he’s smart and has a monster year,
he will be a highly coveted CB in Free-Agency.. Carr got a $50 Million Deal from the Cowboys, Finnegan got a $50 Million Deal from SL Rams, E Wright got a $45 Million Deal from the TB Bucs so the Market Price is out there..
Y, I’m realllllly suprised DRC is having his best start to a season in a contract year.
Eagles’ will reap the benefits this year, but I would be very wary of signing him to a long term big $$ deal.
What the hell was the name of that other guy we traded after last season… what a great trade that was – a 2nd round QB for DRC and the pick that became Curry… sweet
Man, I REALLY miss that stud, MEsante….
haha, I was happy to see Kolb get in the game yesterday and lead his team to a TD and a win…was very happy to see that! I wish good things for Kolb, hope he gets his starting job back!
DRC is one of the best CB’s in the league…plain and simple…He has the ability, dont get drawn into the stats from Arizona…the line he was playing behind wasn’t that stout, which means less pressure on the QB, WR’s have time to get open….
Ryan’s is a beast, definitely met my expectations…
What are you doing here Vincent.??….This isn’t a Mike Vick Article
He doesn’t play cornerback?
Great game for DRC…. glad to see him on the outside where he belongs. The D played well yesterday and kept us in the game. I look forward to seeing them get even better as the year goes on, How amazing will it be if the D finds a way to be the strength of this team.
@Stevo – you know what really bothers me about some of these Eagles fans…
They dont appreciate anything…
The defense played great yesterday, but of course comments like “against the Browns” has to be stated…Not giving credit for the Eagles D basically man handling the Browns offense…Not giving credit to the Browns for stepping up and playing good defense against a good Eagles team…somehow
Had Vick threw 5TD’s and 0 INT’s….guess what would been said “against the Browns”….all of for keeping it real, but at some point there had to be credit given when credit is due…
The defense and Castillo deserve a head nod on this one…remember last season if the D would of stepping up in games like that, Eagles in the playoff….This is why football is a team sport…unfortunately only a few people on this site seem to understand.
@Mhenski – the previous post, tons of grammatical errors, spelling errors…I type fast…I dont stare at the keyboard and type with one finger like you do…so my apologies, professor dumb ass
DRC is the best corner on THIS team.. the height and recovery speed.. Nnamdi even said that DRC was the fastest football player hes ever seen..
CB Asmo has fallen out of the Top 10 CB’s in the NFL.. He’s basically an average player at this stage of his Career and clearly not in the same category as Revis,Cromartie,Carr,Tillman,Tramont Williams, Rogers-Cromartie, McCourtney,L Webb,J Johnson, Eric Wright, Joe haden,B ,FLowers, and some good Young CB’s who are getting their Careers off to go starts like Patrick Petersen, Jimmy Smith, and this yers draft picks Stephon Gillmore and Morris Claiborne..
Paulman. I actually thought Asmo played pretty well last week. I want to see him matched up man to man all day on Torry Smith who is going to be a beast this year. (I think the coaches would prefer to use DRC tho since he has the better speed)
But based upon where I rank him among the league, I’m going to wait and see how his season plays out this year. He should have had plenty of time now after a whole season and offseason to get down the playbook and get into a comfort zone on the defense.
Pheags Paul is same guy that said DRyans isnt in the top 15 as a MLB then DR has a big game and you dont hear a peep from him. If you listen to this clown he’d drive u nuts. Hes full of it just trying to get attention. Nnamdi is a top 3-5 cornerback in this league. He was b4 he came to philly and still is now. Because he struggled last yr learning a new defense that many of our own coaches didnt have down, causes people to jump to conclusions and immediately say the guy sucks. Paul said Drc sucked now because he had a big game last week he loves him and considers him elite. Hes the definition of a moment guy. If vick throws 4-5 tds tmr he ll love him.. Asomugha is right up there with Revis, Woodson and Bailey. Its disrespectful to even take him out of the top 5.
Let’s see how MLB Ryans and this Eagle Defense plays against a NFL Caliber Offense.. tell me what Skills Players on the BRowns woul be Starters on other NFL Teams… (Weeden,TE’s & their WR’s) Pretty easy job for the Eagles to focus on RB T Richardson who hadn’t played in 3 months …Let’s see how the EaglesDefense plays agains Top Offensive Players and Teams and Coordinators which Cleveland is clearly not and will struggle to score 14-17 points all Season long against eny Team..
To JH
,Where was your ALl-Pro MLB Ryans on this Drive… Ravens TE’s will exploit him and the Eagles Safeties all game long..
good play by ryans. Got to love losers like Pman and vinnie… all they care about is being right. Stuff it stats guy.. stuff it hater.
wow. this would be a story book ending for vinnie. but… no.
I’m back fellas. wooooooooooooooooo
LOL @ Paul hahahaha… You spoke too soon and out of your butt as usual. Your not into watching the whole game I see. D.R had another huge game, hes the leader of this defense and everyone on that team knows it. You sound ridiculous. DR was running with both TEs and RBs all game long, hes a 3 down LB point blank and is on his way back to his elite form. What DR will be midseason doesnt even compare to what he is now. But the 2nd game in he looks really impressive. Lets goooo!!! Birdgang swervin!!!