NOT a bad showing.
EAGLES 13 – Colts 27
Passing: QB Tanner McKee (19/34 – 55.8) – 158 – 0 – 0)
Rushing: RB Trey Sermon (16 – 30 – 1.8 – 1 – 0)
Receiving: WR Deon Cain (6 – 62 – 10.3 – 0)
Defensive Leader: LB Tyree Maddox-Williams (7 – 0.0 – 1 – 0)
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The broad strokes are usually covered by lots of other publications and podcasts. You can go a hundred places and read the same four or five bullet points, mentioned in ninety-seven of those places. Stats aside, what about the Four Things you came here to review, right? Let’s see if we scored a HIT or a MISS on the areas I discussed.
1) Do The Starters Play?: Nope. Not a single solitary down. In fact, a number of Eagles didn’t even dress for this one. AGAIN! Third string RB Rashaan Penny, WR Olamide Zaccheaus (I actually spelled that right, on my first attempt), are examples of new players who didn’t dress.
And hey, for those who are still out there debating about who starts alongside FS Reed Blankenship: It’s SS Terrelle Edmunds. He didn’t even dress, but rookie Sydney Brown played; and K’Von Wallace was still out there in the fourth quarter. Glad I could settle that for you. MISS
2) Tanner vs Their Twos: The Colts went one better for us, and left their starters out there for the entire first half. While McKee’s accuracy stayed right around 50% again, the game didn’t look too big for him. So mentally there’s something to work with there.
As far as his actual play, he had trouble connecting on intermediate and long throws. The ball often seems to leave the palm and heel of his hand, instead of his fingertips. The result is, instead of a spiral, it seems to travel more like a shot put. Better secondaries will feast on that, if we don’t fix that. HIT
3) Play Ian Book: QB Ian Book went 11/15 – 73.3% – 80 – 0 – 0, with the ball coming out quickly and sharply. He looked nothing like the gun-shy player from the Browns game. Like McKee, Book wasn’t successful throwing the ball downfield. Still, the player we saw tonight, looked like he’d be worth a Practice Squad/developmental spot. HIT
4) Something Special: On the opening kick of the game, WR Devon Allen bobbled the ball, then recovered it and tore off a 73 yard return to set-up the game’s opening touchdown. He also had a big tackle for no gain on a punt. HIT
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Who Looked Good:
LB Tyreek Maddox-Williams – (See above) We just signed this guy yesterday, but like VISA, the Philadelphia native, was everywhere you wanted to be. Once he got in the game in the second half, he seemed to constantly be flashing. We need to find spot for him. LB Ben VanSumeren (17 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) had many more tackles than TMW, but he didn’t flash as much potential, or generate a takeaway.
QB Ian Book – He seemed to find his poise and his pocket presence. Whether diving for the needed yardage on a scramble, or spiking the ball on first down to stop the clock, his command of the moment was beyond reproach.
TE Tyree Jackson – Showed a MUCH better awareness of presenting as a target for his QB. His stats (3 – 31 – 10.3 – 0) were modest, but they also indicate that he could be a very QB friendly target this season.
Who Looked Bad:
RB Kennedy Brooks – His day (2 – 16 – 8.0 – 0 – 0) was punctuated by being wide open, and dropping what would have been a walk-in touchdown. At no point this preseason, did he demonstrate a reason for another team to want him.
The Offensive Line – They allowed 3 sacks in this game, three tackles for a loss, and showed no ability open holes consistently.
WR Joseph Ngata – While he did do some good things out there (2 – 32 – 16.0 – 0), his fumble killed a promising drive.
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On The Whole:
Given that we had a bunch of twos and threes, going against the Colts starters for a half, it’s hard not to give the Eagles a ton of credit. That’s not an attempt at finding a moral victory. It’s a preseason game. Nobody cares about the “W” or the “L”. What counts here is how hard our guys competed. It contributes to the ongoing culture.
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