A frustrating Sunday night concluded in disappointing fashion as the Eagles blew a 10-point 4th quarter lead in Atlanta to fall to 1-1 on the season. The defense allowed the Falcons to drive 80-yards down the field TWICE in the 4th quarter as Atlanta went 5-for-5 in the red zone. With Michael Vick’s status uncertain due to a concussion the Eagles have a lot of uncertainty heading into their Week 3 matchup against the New York Giants.
THE GOOD:
Jeremy Maclin had a breakout game against the Falcons (AP Photo / Butch Dill)
WR Jeremy Maclin: When you look back on Sunday night’s game the one thing that most people will remember is Maclin’s drop on 4th-and-4 with 1:20 remaining. Maclin will be the first person to admit that not only does he need to make that catch; he should have made that catch. That being said, it was a great sign to see Maclin come out with a strong performance against the Falcons. After an offseason of uncertainty due to a virus, Maclin really bounced back with a huge game after his 1 catch for 18 yards performance against the Rams. It was amazing that he was able to come back into the game and have success after taking a viscous cheap shot from Dunta Robinson. His 13 catches were third best in Eagles history behind Don Looney (14 in 1940) and Brian Westbrook (14 in 2007).
LT Jason Peters: Jason Peters may drive fans crazy with his false start penalties but he showcased on Sunday night why he is a Pro Bowl left tackle. Peters was absolutely dominant in both pass and run blocking. He had an outstanding lead block on a LeSean McCoy run and was instrumental in Jeremy Maclin’s 2nd touchdown of the game.
The Cornerbacks: After a shaky first game against the Rams the Eagles cornerbacks showcased why they are considered one of the top units in the entire NFL. Nnamdi Asomugha was outstanding in coverage against the Falcons and picked up his first interception as an Eagle in a critical moment right before halftime. Asante Samuel showcased his ball hawking ability with an incredible interception off of Matt Ryan in the 3rd quarter. He became the 8th player in NFL history to record 50 interceptions before the end of his 9th season in the league. Even Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, slowed by an ankle injury, showed great coverage ability on a deep throw to Julio Jones in the second half. The Falcons wide receivers combined for just 7 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets. Most of their damage was done down the middle of the field.
Trent Cole was dominant against the Falcons (AP Photo / John Amis)
The Front Four: The Eagles front four was also outstanding on Sunday night. Cullen Jenkins showed how valuable he can be with a dominant first half. He finished with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for losses as he provided constant pressure through the middle of the o-line. Jason Babin had a second straight strong performance and registered another sack. Jenkins and Babin became the first Eagles with 3 sacks in their first two games of the season since Trent Cole (4.0) and Jevon Kearse (3.5) in 2006. Speaking of Trent Cole, his performance on Sunday night showed why he is one of the best defensive ends in football. Cole finished with 6 tackles including 1 sack and 4 tackles for a loss. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He was dominant from the start and had a major impact throughout the game.
RB LeSean McCoy: For the second straight game LeSean McCoy showed why he is poised to make the Pro Bowl this season. McCoy finished with 18 carries for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 4 receptions for 21 yards. The most impressive thing about McCoy is his ability to make defenders miss and turn a short loss into a positive play. He has gotten his 2011 season off to a great start.
WR DeSean Jackson: The numbers don’t indicate that Jackson had a great game (2 catches for 21 yards; 1 carry for 0 yards). But Jackson was a positive for his play outside of the receiving game. He had an outstanding block sealing off the cornerback on a LeSean McCoy touchdown run and his hustle prevented a Ray Edwards touchdown off of the Vick fumble. There are very few players in the NFL that could have chased Edwards down from that far behind. It was simply a great hustle play.
Mike Kafka made a valiant effort in relief for the Eagles (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
QB Mike Kafka: Kafka performed admirably in a tough backup role after Michael Vick left the game with a concussion. He finished 7-for-9 for 72 yards. His only two incompletions were a perfectly thrown ball on the dropped pass on 4th down by Maclin and his desperation hail mary attempt as time expired. The play calling for Kafka was far too conservative on his first two drives but that isn’t his fault. He did everything that was asked of him and more to try and pull out the victory on Sunday night.
P Chas Henry: Henry had a nice bounce back game after a shaky outing in his NFL debut in St. Louis. He finished with 4 punts that averaged nearly 45 yards per attempt and had a beautiful punt that was downed inside of the 1-yard line.
THE BAD:
Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo: The Eagles red zone defense was the worst in the entire NFL last season. Even after all of the changes they made during the offseason they still allowed Atlanta to go 5-for-5 in the red zone on Sunday night. That is simply inexcusable. Castillo failed to make an adjustment and cover Tony Gonzalez with somebody other than a linebacker or Jarrad Page. While the run defense definitely improved after the first two drives of the game, the Eagles continually got gashed up the middle of the field. At some point changes had to be made and they simply were not.
Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg: There were far too many cute plays called by the offense on Sunday night. The Eagles were having success moving the football all night on the Atlanta defense and then would kick themselves by trying a double reverse or a reverse flea flicker. While the WR bubble screen worked a couple of times the offense went back to that play far too often. The fake pitch, inside handoff that resulted in Vick’s fumble was an awful play call that close to the goal line. Just pound it in at that point. Don’t try and get too cute.
Coaching let the Eagles down against the Falcons (AP Photo / John Amis)
Head Coach Andy Reid: Reid has to get criticized for two reasons. First he must challenged the interception by Kelvin Hayden. Even if he didn’t have conclusive video evidence, the play was far too significant and borderline not to take a risk and challenge it. Secondly Reid was way too conservative when Mike Kafka entered the game. While it’s understandable to try and ease a quarterback into his first ever live game action, the Eagles essentially ran clock and handed the ball back to the Falcons on Kafka’s first two drives. You can’t completely limit yourselves due to an injury. If the Eagles had remained aggressive who knows how Sunday night would have turned out.
LB Jamar Chaney: Chaney played his worst game as a starting linebacker since joining the Eagles. He was poor in pass coverage and struggled against the run. Hopefully it was just an off night for the 2nd year linebacker.
The Linebackers: The linebacking corps is still a major concern for the Eagles. The team was gashed down the middle of the field throughout Sunday night’s game. For as talented as the Eagles are on the outside they still have major issues at linebacker and safety. At some point somebody is going to have to step up as a playmaker down the middle. While the linebackers did a good job adjusting to the Falcons running game after the first two drives, they simply have not played well enough through two games this season.
The Offensive Line: The offensive line shows flashes of brilliance at times. Their ability to pull and get down field to block in the running game is impressive. However the bottom line remains that Michael Vick is getting hit far too often. Vick stayed in more as a pocket passer on Sunday night and took a lot of brutal hits. Maybe it is the product of a unit that is still developing chemistry with one another but the offensive line has to do a better job in pass protection. The Eagles are going nowhere if they don’t.
THE UGLY:
Jarrad Page had no answers for Tony Gonzalez (AP Photos / John Amis)
S Jarrad Page: Page was a liability on Sunday night. He could not contain Tony Gonzalez in the passing game and took an absolutely awful route to Michael Turner on his 61-yard 4th quarter run. Hopefully it was just a bad night for Page because if it wasn’t the Eagles are going to need Nate Allen to get healthy very quickly.
NBC’s Telecast: It is simply inexcusable that the replay of Kelvin Hayden’s interception was not made available to the Eagles or the viewing audience until 10 minutes after the play had occurred and Atlanta had already scored a touchdown. Their replay stoppage on Tony Gonzalez’s first touchdown catch was also questionable as it seemed that the ball continued to move after they placed a freeze frame on the play (though I do think it was a catch). Regardless of what you think of the presentation of the game and the announcing crew, NBC should provide every replay view it has to both teams. Their failure to do so had a measurable impact on the game’s final result.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Sunday night was an incredibly frustrating game. Even after three bad turnovers, a blatant cheap shot on Jeremy Maclin by Dunta Robinson, and Michael Vick being knocked out of the game, the Eagles still had a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter. It is a game that they should have won and one in which they gave away. You just hope that they learn from their mistakes and improve upon them moving forward.
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