No, I'm not from Philly. I've never even been there. But, I have to admit, I enjoy watching their professional football team, especially after they signed quarterback, Michael Vick. The Eagles made a lot of headlines after the lockout ended, as they picked up arguably the two most sought after cornerbacks in the NFL, to go along with Cullen Jenkins on the D-Line, Ronnie Brown as a backup tailback, Vince Young to back Vick up at quarterback, former Giants' receiver Steve Smith, etc. Vince Young made the mistake of referring to the Eagles as a dream team and the media has had a field day with that label ever since.
Today is the first full day of NFL action, after the Packers beat the Saints 42-34 on Thursday night. The Eagles traveled to St. Louis to take on the up-and-coming Rams, whom finished 7-9 last year and have sleeper expectations in the lowly NFC West.
The Eagles didn't get off to a good start, as they started with the ball inside their own 15-yard line following a short kick return. Vick was pressured on their first drive and St. Louis wound up with the ball around midfield for their first possession. On the first play of their possession, tailback Steven Jackson rumbled 47 yards for a touchdown to put his Rams up 7-0. That was the last time the Rams would see the lead, as Philadelphia scored 31 of the final 37 points en route to a 31-13 victory to start the season 1-0. They're headed to Atlanta next week to face the 0-1 Falcons, whom lost to the Bears quite handily this afternoon. It should be interesting to see Vick back in Atlanta.
As for today's game, I'd have mixed reactions if I were an Eagles' fan. On the upside, Philly showcased just how vastly improved their pass defense is in this game. It was do-or-die when they blitzed their opponents a year ago, because if/when they didn't reach the quarterback, 3 out of 4 times, they got burned. That didn't happen as frequently in this game. Also, the Eagles front seven got to Rams' quarterback, Sam Bradford, quite a bit and finished with 5 sacks and several other pressures. On the flip side, St. Louis ran the ball extremely well and if they weren't placed in such a hole in the second half, may have ended up running for between 150 and 200 yards. The Eagles struggled against the rush early last season as well, but improved quite dramatically around week 3 or 4. They'll need to make some adjustments and soon, as they'll square off against Falcons' tailback, Michael Turner, next week.
Offensively, the Eagles garnered over 400 yards of offense, tallied 31 points and busted some big plays in the game. However, the offensive line HAS to improve. Vick was pressured all game long and the running game wasn't efficient in the first half, excluding a couple of decent runs by Vick himself. Vick wasn't very sharp passing the football either. I will give the guy a little break, because his two standout receivers, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, couldn't have had great rhythm with Vick going into this game. Jackson held out at camp and Maclin had been fighting an undisclosed illness and it wasn't certain he'd be able to play today. Steve Smith returned from IR today, but I don't believe he had a catch. The Rams' defense may have gotten in Vick's head as well due to all the pressure they exerted. Regardless, the O-Line has to block better and Vick has to read the blitzes better and be more efficient passing the football.
A positive that can be taken from this game (along with the W) is the fact Philly was down early in this game, came back and took control of the game when they needed. Also, Philly was able to beat the Rams' underrated defense by throwing or running the football and not in a balanced fashion. Michael Vick had 26 pass attempts in the first half and over 150 yards through the air. This helped provide the Eagles with a 17-10 halftime advantage. Besides a couple good runs by the quarterback, Philly's running game was pretty well bottled up in the first half. In the second half? Vick attempted just 6 passes and the running game took over to vault the Eagles to two additional touchdowns and a 31-13 victory.
I'll be very curious to see if these problems for the Eagles today were more due to rust or can be considered legitimate concerns. We'll see before too long, as Philly takes on Atlanta on the road and the Giants at home in the next couple weeks.
Today is the first full day of NFL action, after the Packers beat the Saints 42-34 on Thursday night. The Eagles traveled to St. Louis to take on the up-and-coming Rams, whom finished 7-9 last year and have sleeper expectations in the lowly NFC West.
The Eagles didn't get off to a good start, as they started with the ball inside their own 15-yard line following a short kick return. Vick was pressured on their first drive and St. Louis wound up with the ball around midfield for their first possession. On the first play of their possession, tailback Steven Jackson rumbled 47 yards for a touchdown to put his Rams up 7-0. That was the last time the Rams would see the lead, as Philadelphia scored 31 of the final 37 points en route to a 31-13 victory to start the season 1-0. They're headed to Atlanta next week to face the 0-1 Falcons, whom lost to the Bears quite handily this afternoon. It should be interesting to see Vick back in Atlanta.
As for today's game, I'd have mixed reactions if I were an Eagles' fan. On the upside, Philly showcased just how vastly improved their pass defense is in this game. It was do-or-die when they blitzed their opponents a year ago, because if/when they didn't reach the quarterback, 3 out of 4 times, they got burned. That didn't happen as frequently in this game. Also, the Eagles front seven got to Rams' quarterback, Sam Bradford, quite a bit and finished with 5 sacks and several other pressures. On the flip side, St. Louis ran the ball extremely well and if they weren't placed in such a hole in the second half, may have ended up running for between 150 and 200 yards. The Eagles struggled against the rush early last season as well, but improved quite dramatically around week 3 or 4. They'll need to make some adjustments and soon, as they'll square off against Falcons' tailback, Michael Turner, next week.
Offensively, the Eagles garnered over 400 yards of offense, tallied 31 points and busted some big plays in the game. However, the offensive line HAS to improve. Vick was pressured all game long and the running game wasn't efficient in the first half, excluding a couple of decent runs by Vick himself. Vick wasn't very sharp passing the football either. I will give the guy a little break, because his two standout receivers, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, couldn't have had great rhythm with Vick going into this game. Jackson held out at camp and Maclin had been fighting an undisclosed illness and it wasn't certain he'd be able to play today. Steve Smith returned from IR today, but I don't believe he had a catch. The Rams' defense may have gotten in Vick's head as well due to all the pressure they exerted. Regardless, the O-Line has to block better and Vick has to read the blitzes better and be more efficient passing the football.
A positive that can be taken from this game (along with the W) is the fact Philly was down early in this game, came back and took control of the game when they needed. Also, Philly was able to beat the Rams' underrated defense by throwing or running the football and not in a balanced fashion. Michael Vick had 26 pass attempts in the first half and over 150 yards through the air. This helped provide the Eagles with a 17-10 halftime advantage. Besides a couple good runs by the quarterback, Philly's running game was pretty well bottled up in the first half. In the second half? Vick attempted just 6 passes and the running game took over to vault the Eagles to two additional touchdowns and a 31-13 victory.
I'll be very curious to see if these problems for the Eagles today were more due to rust or can be considered legitimate concerns. We'll see before too long, as Philly takes on Atlanta on the road and the Giants at home in the next couple weeks.
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