Eagles Will Need To Adjust Their Offensive Personality

Everybody is making a big deal out of the fact that Michael Vick dropped back to pass 59 times during the game yesterday.  Think about it, Vick had a horrible day, but still threw for 317 yards.  The receivers were getting open, but many times Vick couldn’t set up in the pocket, make his reads and get rid of the football quick enough to avoid getting hit and making mistakes.  The team will need to adjust their offensive personality.

I don’t think you can put all of the blame on the coaches, the offensive line, or Vick.  I think all of them bear some of the responsibility.  I don’t think handing the ball off to LeSean McCoy 30 times a game is the answer.  Remember he caught the football six times yesterday, so that’s 26 touches and at least three of his runs were called back because of penalties.

The Eagles want to keep McCoy fresh so they have him available through the entire season.  Would you have wanted Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg to hand the ball to McCoy 30 to 35 times yesterday and pay for it down the stretch when he’s out of gas like he was a year ago.  Remember that last year, he per carry yardage fell dramatically in the last few games.

They’re going to need to utilize their backup running backs, Dion Lewis, Bryce Brown, and Chris Polk, a lot more because you can’t continue to put the ball in Vick’s hands if he’s turning the ball over like he was yesterday.  I’m sure the Eagles coaches were caught up in the knowledge that they had big matchup advantages against the Cleveland secondary.

The Eagles have some major problems on the left side of their offensive line with King Dunlap and Evan Mathis.  They were getting dominated early in the game, which forced Vick out of the pocket and into his daredevil, turnover prone and careless act.

There have been reports that the quarterback got hit 19 times in the game.  That punishment is going to build up over time and slow down the speedy quarterback as the season continues.  Vick wasn’t even aware that he was getting hit a great deal, but  that’s too much contact for him to stay healthy.

Who knows with the way he played yesterday, it might not matter whether he’s healthy or not.

Dunlap is just too tall to get underneath the quick and powerful pass rushers in the National Football League.  He’s going to get bull-rushed into the face of the quarterback all the time. The guy is 6’8″, has no butt to give him any power and he has those bird legs.   There’s no way in the world, he’s going to be able to withstand some of the pass rushers, who are on the schedule.

The Eagles’ left tackle is going to need constant help.  Tight ends Brent Celek and Clay Harbor are going to spend half of the pass plays helping Dunlap because he can’t do the job over there.

Mathis played poorly yesterday, especially early in the game and it looks like he’s missing Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters.  The left guard who had played so well a year ago, seems to have turned into that journeyman left guard, who could never get on the field previously.