Last Sunday’s win over the Browns hardly felt like a victory, as the alarming performance of Michael Vick has caused many to have doubts about the Eagles’ prospects for 2012. However, although most of the talk this week has focused on the negative aspects of the game, the were a couple of reasons for optimism in the win.
It will be hard for Andy Reid to coach as poorly as he did on Sunday. Despite a 10-3 lead entering the second half, Reid and the Eagles ran the ball exactly zero times with LeSean McCoy in the third quarter. With twelve passes in the quarter Michael Vick completed just four passes, good for 33.3% completions; his worst of any quarter on Sunday. This is the also the only quarter that Vick didn’t throw a touchdown and threw half of his interceptions. The argument to be made here is that the Eagles need to keep the offense balanced quarter-to-quarter to avoid a 6.2 QB rating like Vick recorded in the third. Reid knows how urgent the situation is to win this season, and in the past he’s gone to a balanced offense when his team’s back has been up against the wall.
LeSean McCoy was able to piece together an impressive game that would have netted him nearly 200 total yards had the Eagles not been penalized on many plays, taking away over 60 of his yards. Officially, McCoy finished the day with 110 rushing yards on 20 carries and also caught six balls for 26 yards. He also kept the game-winning drive alive on a 4th and inches run that he converted easily, running behind right tackle Todd Herremans. The Pro Bowl running back has a chance to turn in a big game on Sunday with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin ailing.
Vick was the reason the Eagles were able to score on their final drive to take the lead that would last the final 1:18 of the game. Orchestrating a 16-play, 91-yard drive that ate up more than five minutes of clock, Vick was aided on the final drive by a dropped interception in the end-zone, McCoy’s 4th down conversion, and a DeSean-Jackson-playing-cornerback broken up pass that saved another potential drive-ending interception. The drive ended with a Clay Harbor 4-yard touchdown and sealed the 17-16 win for the Eagles. Even though Vick’s mistakes nearly cost the Eagles, he was still able to find a way to pull out the victory when it mattered most, which is more than you can say about a lot of quarterbacks in this league.
This drive possibly saved Vick from hearing Nick Foles chants in his return to Philadelphia and kept the media from headlines like “One Loss Down, Seven to Go for Andy’s Job” or something similar. The Eagles next opponent will not go down as easily as the Browns did in the final six minutes of their game.
The biggest positive from the Cleveland game was the performance of Juan Castillo’s defense. Granted, they were aided by the play of a quarterback who performed even worse than Vick, but the fact is the defense did their job and shut the opponent down. You can only beat who you play, and the Browns were unable to expose any flaws within the unit. Key veterans like DeMeco Ryans, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Nnamdi Asomugha all performed very well, and the team also received contributions from young players like Mychal Kendricks, Fletcher Cox, and Kurt Coleman.
Hosting the Ravens in Week 2, the offense needs to fix their issues if they hope to avoid starting 1-1. Baltimore’s defense is still one of the best in the league and their Joe Flacco-led offense scored almost at will against the Bengals on Monday night. Week two’s game will truly show if the Eagles are a Super Bowl contender in 2012 as the Ravens are and have been for the past few years.
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Vick could have another tough week .. No preseason, hurt hand. Cleveland and the ravens know the eagles very well as do the rams. If he plays brilliantly in this one it should give us a good gauge of how good he can be this year..
Start prepping those Vickcuses now eh Larrwd….”his hand, the preseason….”
Are any fans outraged that YOUR 2nd round pick Vinny Curry is deactivated? Some fans have the ordacity to say he was best player on the board and we are good enough to let our 2nd round pick sit for a couple years. amazing. There was no player past Currys selection worthy enough to step in here and be a good player right now? lol, I dont give a damn what he does in 2-3 years we needed a 2nd round pick to contribute right now. Hes a 2nd round pick that isnt gonna play. Like we have that friggin luxury. If you needed a replacement at DE in 2-3 years than make it your #1 pick that year. Our 4th round pick is starting for us but we couldnt find a 2nd round pick to contribute? How about the best OLineman, LB, safety or reciever on the board in the 2nd round. What a wasted pick.
As long a Darryl Tapis on the Roster, Curry will remain deactivated.. You cannot have 6 DE Dress on game day for you leave too other positions short
Currly will have little impact until next Season when he moves up in the Rotataion.. He was selected as a back-up in case Graham and Tapp were duds this summer.. but both Graham and Tapp played real well so now Curry is a luxury but he has to be on the 53 Man Roster for his future upside is very good..
I think Paulman said it pretty well…there’s no need for six defensive ends, and the veterans have to play in front of Curry right now. You could probably argue that Curry showed just as much, if not more, than Brandon Graham in the preseason, but even though it’s discouraging to see a high draft pick not make an impact right away, imagine how much worse it would look if your first-round pick from 2010 was inactive every week in his third season?
The good news is that unlike other blown draft picks like the Jaiquawn Jarrets and Daniel Teo-Neshiems of the world, Curry looks he has a chance to be player, but he just has to wait for his time.
I like the RAvens big in the Game 30-13
Harbaugh knows Philly and it’s fans and Coach AR’s system as well as anybody and with d-Jax/Maclin not at 100% and not at full speed, I believe they will be overmatched physically by the Ravens tough and good CB’s I Also believer that the Ravens TE’s (Pitta & Dixon) will have big games versus the Eagles middle of the field Defense and specifically versus the Eagles LB’s & Safeties and then you have the Ray Rice Factor on screens/draw plays which are always effective against the very agreesive Eagles front 4..
only shot I see is Eagles creating a turnover or 2 early in the game and maybe getting a big play from their SPecial teams (punt return,block punt of or something to jump on and keep the Eagles Crowd pumped for the game..
Eagles Offense will not be able to trade scoring drivers versus the much more efficient Raven Offense with D-Jax/Maclin hurting
Also, if you think back to training camp, Graham, Tapp, and Phillip Hunt were all not locks to make this team. The Eagles may have originally only planned on keeping four or five defensive ends with Curry as a major part of that rotation, but the three ends performed exceptionally well, especially Hunt, which kind of forced the Eagles to change their plans for Curry this year.
You dont understand my point. We dont have the team to have LUXURY picks. Everyone understands why Curry is deactivated. He isnt good enough to beat out the other DE. My point is you should of spent the HIGH 2nd round pick on a player of NEED. A backup O lineman, a BIG WR(2nd round talent), a backup safety.Couldnt find another starting OLB in 2nd round? Not a LUXURY pick that probably wont have a impact(if any) for 2-3 years. If they didnt know they had enough DE before the draft shame on them someone isnt doing thier job.
I understand the point you’re trying to make, but I disagree with it (respectfully).
This was a weak draft for safeties, taking a safety at that point in the draft would have been no different than taking Jarrett in the second round of 2011.
Adding a big wide receiver would have been, as you say, a luxury pick, and no more justifiable than taking Curry. This team needed to focus heavily on defense, not offense.
You don’t spend a second round pick on an offensive lineman unless you plan on him starting or challenging for a starting spot. At the time, the o-line was set. They weren’t going to draft challenges for Mathis, Kelce, Watkins, or Herremans, and back then they felt good about Demetress Bell.
Linebacker is where you could make your best argument, but the team had already taken Mychal Kendricks with their first second rounder, and at the time they felt good about Brian Rolle/Jamar Chaney at the WILL.
As I said previously, Hunt, Graham, and Tapp were not locks by any means to make the team. Hunt and Graham were unknown quantities, and Tapp is a quality rotation player with a limited ceiling. Graham and Hunt showed very limited flashes before this preseason.
My point to you, which with all due respect I don’t think you’re understanding, is that they did indeed draft Curry with the idea that he could make an impact this year as third or fourth defensive end, but the play of the other ends in the preseason changed those plans. It doesn’t make the Curry pick a bad one by any means.
Would it be nice to have all of their high draft picks contributing right away? Absolutely. But that’s just not how it worked out. And besides, when you consider how great the rest of this draft is turning out so far (Cox, Kendricks, Boykin, all instant contributors) I don’t think there’s any reason to be upset that Curry isn’t dressing.
If a UFL player Phil Hunt is getting more snaps than a 5th backup in Graham..we can say that Brandon Graham is a first round bust.
We traded up to get him with JPP drafted 3 slots later.