I have seen the future and it isn't that bad (unless, of course, you believe Darren Daulton and the Mayans). On Sunday, the Eagles dominated the Chiefs with offensive fireworks coming from Kevin Kolb, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and LeSean McCoy. All four of those guys were drafted in the last three years. They are the future of this team and that is a good thing. A very good thing.
Kolb got his second career start and played very well. He wasn't flawless, but had a darn good game (24-of-34 for 327 yards, two touchdowns in the air and one on the ground). Kolb was generally accurate. He made good reads and threw the ball well. His passes had good velocity. He was deadly at throwing on first down, going 10-of-12 for 170 through the first three quarters. That's impressive.
Kolb seems very comfortable in the shotgun. He can drop back, but doesn't look as smooth. He threw the ball well on a few intermediate routes. He hit Jackson for a gain of 43. He hit Celek for his touchdown on a downfield throw. I thought his best throw was a short pass to Celek on first-and-goal from the 9-yard line. He threw the ball quickly. It was accurate. It had zip, but was catchable. Celek caught it easily and got us down near the goal line. Simple play, but that's the kind of red zone passing you need. Be decisive, be on time, and be on target.
Kolb saw the field pretty well. There was one play where Celek was uncovered in the left slot. Kolb dropped back and immediately got the ball to him. That was a gain of 15 or so. Sounds easy, but how often do you see something obvious before the snap and the QB goes elsewhere? You yell at the TV "How could you not see that?"
As with any young player there are still plenty of areas that need work. Kolb threw off his back foot a couple of times. Both passes were caught and had some zip, but that can be a bad habit to get into. Good defenses will break on those balls and make you pay. My biggest problem with Kolb right now is that he's erratic on some throws over the middle. This cost us against the Saints on a couple of third downs. Ditto for this past week. The problem he has is throwing to his targets instead of leading them.
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When a guy is crossing the field you have to throw to the spot where he will be, not where he is. Young quarterbacks have to adjust to how fast the guys are moving and get the ball out in front of them. Kolb must work on this. There were also a couple of plays where Kolb was not on the same page with his receivers. One was almost picked off. The other simply fell incomplete. I don't know who was at fault, but this needs to be ironed out. You don't want to leave points on the board due to confusion and you sure as heck don't want a turnover because of it.
Michael Vick made his regular season debut. The team limited what it asked of him. He ran a couple of option plays. One he kept for seven yards. He pitched the ball on the other play and McCoy was able to gain five yards. Those were well-executed. Vick threw two passes. He didn't have open targets on either throw and just got rid of the ball. I mentioned last week to temper your expectations for Vick. You could see in the preseason that the speed of the game was a bit much for him. He'll get better the more he plays. You don't spend two years away from the game and step right in at quarterback without some struggles.
Jackson was great with his impact plays. He caught passes of 64, 43, and 17 yards. The first two listed are game-changing plays. They lead to points. It is hard to quantify that. Jackson is playing at a higher level this year than he did in 2008. He isn't any faster, but he's playing faster. There is no confusion or hesitation in his game. He knows what he's doing and that allows him to go full speed. I love the confidence and excitement he brings to the field. I wasn't keen on him flipping into the end zone with a gimpy groin, but star players usually feel the need to express themselves.
Celek is a great complement to Jackson. Celek works the underneath routes mostly and moves the chains. He catches the ball naturally and smoothly. He won't go down with the first defender. There are some plays when he won't go down with several guys on him. That's the kind of toughness you want in a tight end. He's no Mark Bavaro or anything to that level, but I love his attitude. This offense has needed a guy like him for several years. He showed his strength and RAC ability late in the game. Celek caught a pass in the deep middle and fought off the tackle of one defender. Next stop, the end zone. His 35-yard touchdown was a nice way to wrap-up the game.
Celek is versatile. We lined him up at tight end, in the slot and even out wide. He had passes thrown his way in each spot. Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg like to move the tight end around to create matchup problems. Celek is perfect for them. His blocking is still very inconsistent. He had at least one great block on Sunday, but a few bad blocks as well. The effort is there, but he's got to be more consistent.
McCoy had an impressive first NFL start. He ran for 84 yards and a touchdown. I loved the burst he showed. It makes a difference when a runner can get to and through a hole in the blink of an eye. He scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. McCoy was hit well shy of the goal line, but spun off the tackle and fought his way into the end zone. Some guys just have a nose for the goal line. McCoy is one of them. You could see his vision and cutback ability on a run that started left and then went to the right sideline. That play got 15 yards. He used a good burst and stiff-arm to get outside a defender and into the open. He took several direct snaps in the game and that play had pretty good results.
The best blockers were Jason Peters and Winston Justice. Man, that sentence would have seemed amazingly unlikely last January. Peters was still in Buffalo. I was calling for the Eagles to cut Justice. They decided to be patient and keep him around. We made the deal to get Peters and he has played well so far. Justice had his best NFL game against the Chiefs. Normally, he struggles as a run blocker. Justice had a couple of really impressive run blocks in the game. He got physical with defenders and worked hard to sustain blocks. That isn't the Justice I'm accustomed to watching.
I must apologize to Winston Justice. I was wrong about the team needing to let him go. I would like to ask a favor. Please continue to play well and make me keep eating my words.
The Eagles defense got back to the level of play from the season opener. It helped playing against a team with no firepower whatsoever. Still, good defenses go out and shut down lesser teams. I loved Sean McDermott's aggressive gameplan. We continually had the line of scrimmage loaded with defenders. The team only sacked Matt Cassel three times, but he was hit quite a bit and never was able to establish any sense of comfort in the pocket. I'm guessing McDermott made this week's theme ""no mercy.""
The defensive line got good pressure. Trent Cole played another outstanding game. Brodrick Bunkley had a couple of stops behind the line of scrimmage. Juqua Parker had a sack and hit Cassel a couple of times. Chris Clemons got to the quarterback for the first time this year. Unfortunately, he had to split the sack with Cole.
Middle linebacker Omar Gaither struggled last week. I thought he played much better against the Chiefs. Gaither led the team with nine tackles. He also had a sack and a tackle for loss. His run defense was much better. He shed blocks and got to the ball carrier on several plays. That didn't happen much in the first two games. Gaither still needs to get better. He can be a physical player, but must do it more consistently. A bad showing this week might have forced the team to make a move. Physical running teams like the Giants and Redskins are still on the schedule.
No one in the secondary really stood out. The pass rush was so effective that the Chiefs threw short, safe passes most of the game. Sheldon Brown had a pair of tackles on third downs that forced Kansas City to punt. You may remember that our tackling was very sloppy last week and allowed the Saints to move the chains a few times. Quintin Mikell played well. He was a sure tackler in the open field and was also quick to come down into the box on run plays. His run support helped the defense to really shut down Larry Johnson (19 carries for 38 yards).
The Eagles are now 2-1 heading into the bye week. Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook have a chance to get healthy. There are numerous guys on both sides of the ball that could use the week off to let some bumps and bruises heal. The good news is that the depth of the team has already been tested and the young guys came through pretty well. That is very encouraging for the next few months as well as the future of the team.
Sunday Morning Misinformation
I have watched the ESPN pre-game show now for so long that I can't remember not watching it. The guys on there say some dumb things each week, but usually offer enough insight that makes watching the show worth it. Last week Keyshawn Johnson, Cris Carter and Tom Jackson all ripped Kevin Kolb pretty hard. I could live with that. He'd never started a game. Those guys don't follow the draft and knew nothing about him aside from the Ed Reed end zone debacle. I figured Kolb's performance against the Saints would change that.
I tuned in this week and Johnson and Jackson were both saying the same idiotic things. Kolb has no business starting over Vick. Clearly, Vick is the better player and Andy Reid is just playing Kolb because that is his draft pick. Wow. They still weren't taking the guy seriously.
Kolb's teammates sure take him seriously. The sideline erupted after his long touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson in the Saints game. I haven't seen that kind of sideline joy for an early season play in a long time. There were veterans and young guys coming over to congratulate him. Both offensive and defensive players were there. Those guys knew the pressure that Kolb had been under and wanted to let him know that they believed in him and loved the big play. This week, I saw Sheldon Brown come over and celebrate with Kolb after a touchdown. I'm not just talking about a casual slap on the back. There was a real moment of bonding. You don't fake that kind of camaraderie.
I won't get to hear the ESPN guys talk about Kolb anytime soon. McNabb should be healthy enough to take back the starting reins after the bye. Should Kolb get another start, I hope they finally treat him with the respect he deserves. Listen, I'm not saying that Kolb is some great player and is headed for Canton. He's played pretty well in two career starts. My point is that the ""worldwide leader in sports"" shouldn't have a couple of football experts talking about him as though he has no business in the league. There is plenty to be critical about, but you also have to acknowledge the fact that he threw for 391 yards in his first start. How they glossed that over is beyond me.
I also hope that ESPN has figured out that the Vick of 2009 isn't the same guy as we watched tear up the league in his prime of 2004-2006. Vick is still a very talented player, but you don't shake off two years of rust in a month. That just doesn't happen. The analysts' notion that he's the same old guy is way off-base. I'm not sure how they don't understand such a simple fact. Their comments do a disservice to both Kolb and Vick. One player they give no credit to and the other player they are holding to a ridiculously high standard.
This isn't some kind of anti-Eagles bias. Tom Jackson has gone out of his way over the years to be very supportive of McNabb and Westbrook. This simply is faulty thinking from guys that a lot of people listen to. Let's hope they do better in the future. Give Kolb his credit and give Vick some time to get into the flow of things.
