Well folks, in his unheralded 14th year, Andy Reid has done it again - completely baffled the fans of the poor Philadelphia Eagles. Only a coaching performance like that and a victory like that could spark such vitriole and bitterness about a win.
What happened that was so bad?
Passing
|
ATT
|
YDS
|
TD
|
LG
|
29/56
|
317
|
2
|
4
| |
Rushing
|
ATT
|
YDS
|
TD
|
LG
|
20
|
110
|
0
|
22
| |
7
|
32
|
0
|
16
| |
1
|
5
|
0
|
5
| |
2
|
3
|
0
|
4
| |
Receiving
|
REC
|
YDS
|
TD
|
LG
|
7
|
96
|
1
|
46
| |
4
|
77
|
0
|
35
| |
4
|
65
|
0
|
28
| |
4
|
27
|
0
|
8
| |
6
|
26
|
0
|
10
| |
3
|
16
|
1
|
10
| |
1
|
10
|
0
|
10
|
So, Vick had 317 yards with two touchdowns, but 4 interceptions. LeSean McCoy with 110 yards rushing on 20 carries. 30 total rushing attempts, 86 total offensive plays. So, the Eagles rushed 35 % of the time, 66 percent of those plays went to one of the best running backs in the NFL. Worse yet, McCoy was involved in only the 20 rushes, carrying only 25 percent of the offense.
Now, if you read last week's Flipping the Bird and/or you don't live under a rock, you would know that Cleveland is terrible against the run. The Eagles amassed a total of 150 rushing yards on 30 plays, or 5 yards per attempt regardless of who took the carry and McCoy's touches went for 5.5 yards per carry.
People are pissed at Reid that he didn't run the ball. I never actually heard him say it, but according to various things I heard, Andy wanted Vick to knock the rust off his passing game since he missed the majority of preseason action. I get that. However, to completely think that you can do that against a professional team in their staidum on their opening day in the first game of the year when you are constantly considered a Super Bowl contender, you make grave mistakes. If the Eagles lost this game there would have been calls for Andy Reid's head on a platter.
I could watch these mistakes develop as Vick played. I am no expert (although I am currently the ONLY undefeated coach in my son's flag football league - for the second year in a row) however I could see that he was trying to implement whatever these things are that the Eagles are trying to instill in Vick. That is what practice is for and the preseason as well.
What else I took away from that game is that when it seemed like all was lost, the Eagles changed the plan (in some people's minds) and had a balanced, nearly 5 minute long drive to eat the clock and ultimately deliver the game winning touchdown. Douchebags on the radio call in to the shows and start declaring that drive worked because of McCoy. Oh really?
That final drive, that consisted of 18 total plays was really great and what I said before that the Eagles need to do win this season in previous blog entries. Did you know that of those 18 plays, 5 of them were rushes (27 percent rushes)? Also, out of those 5 plays, on 3 of them belonged to McCoy (16 percent of the plays). The play also went 91 total yards and had its mix of penalty yardage and a negative yard run by Bryce Brown, and McCoy contributed only 13 yards (14 percent of the total yardage). This was also at a clip of 4.3 yards per carry with a longest of 7 yards. Also, the Eagles had 10 offensive series, and at 20 total rushes, McCoy averaged 2 plays per series (though we know that isn't the case).
So, suddenly Asian math wiz Duba, what does this all mean?
To me, it means that yes, McCoy is a vital piece of the Eagles offense. Had he run the ball more, at his average of 5.5 yards per carry, so up to 30 rushes, he would have had 165 yards, possibly helping the Eagles secure more points, perhaps keeping the defense more honest and subsequently keeping the Eagles to fewer turnovers (though McCoy did lose a fumble early in the game as well, perhaps hurting his overall value). And, in my opinion, you fool the fans into thinking that the last drive, which you should have been doing all game, was great and McCoy was the reason it worked.
It was not the reason it worked. The Eagles were lucky. By that point in the game, you've tipped your hand to your opponent that you plan a long, meticulous drive down the field that will involve a mix of running and passing. The rushing production of the Eagles was only average on this drive, but the passing efficiency proved superior on this drive. Yes, Vick worked out some of his demons and was almost picked off for a 5th time. But "almost's" don't count. I almost won $1 million in a scratch off lottery ticket, too. Instead, I ended up -$2. Long and short of it - Vick played like his 2010 self in this drive and it paid off better than whatever this new-look Mike Vick is supposed to be.
So, going against the top 2 defense against the pass, and eventually using the pass to beat the Cleveland Browns lauded pass defense. The Eagles could have taken the easy way out and ran the ball like madmen. I believe this game was important for Vick to struggle. He knows every game hinges on his every throw, his career rests on every game, and his coach's future rests solely on how he handles it all. With four interceptions already on his stat line for the day, the ball was still put in his hands to beat a team they were supposed to beat. Lofty expectations, some heaped on even by Vick himself, with his own play getting in the way, and seemingly the entire season rested on Vick for this one drive. And he did what he did when he won most of our hearts in 2010 - Victory.
Up next is one of my favorite teams, the Baltimore Ravens. They looked fantastic against the Bengals. One thing I did not mention in this blog yet was the Eagles' defense looked awesome. The Browns did not score a single offensive touchdown, had 6 turnovers, and the players we questioned in the past looked great. The Ravens are not the Browns.
The Ravens also beat up on their division opponent, making a mockery of the Bengals. However, the Bengals were missing a lot of pieces on the defensive side of the ball. The Bengals also did not get at Flacco a lot. It has always been stated that once Flacco starts getting rocked he tends to lose his grip on the game (i.e, incomplete passes as he still can be a decent game manager). The Ravens incorporated more no-huddle offense, perhaps not allowing the Bengals enough time to form their sets/select their packages to get to Flacco as often as they would in a previous season.
The Eagles have a standard defensive system that is almost like a "plug and play" type of system. The defensive lineman depth is so great right now that the linebackers have some easy layups in tackles/stoppages. With the rotation of linemen and to a degree linebackers, well, I expect the Ravens to slowly weaken allowing Flacco to go to his backo. Asomugha and Cromartie seem to be playing at the level they are known to be able to play at as well, perhaps making Flacco wait longer to find the open receiver, allowing that one extra second for Babin, Hunt, Jenkins, Graham, or Cole to get to Flacco. The depth at the defensive line will also be key for the Eagles to stop Ray Rice.
I predict that the Ravens will stick with the run and look for the deep ball in the first half randomly. The line depth will be needed to help fight off the offensive line and the rough Ray Rice. The last great running back the Eagles faced, Demarco Murray last season, struggled mightily when the Eagles were playing the minutes that mattered. The Eagles practically obliterated Dallas and relaxed themselves on both sides of the ball, when Murray was able to collect 100+ yards on them. That was in last year's already defeated Eagles team defense, which was far weaker than this year's improved unit.
The only thing that worries me in this game is the offense of the Eagles. The Ravens have historically been a great defensive team. I think their retooling and reshaping and redesigning of the offense will be hit or miss for them, and this week is a miss. The Eagles, however, after treating the Browns like the 5th preseason game, I would think normally to be ready for this daunting task. However with news of Desean Jackson and Maclin hurting with leg injuries, we may have to temper expectations.
I did see the Ravens dismantle the Bengals Monday night. I also saw BenJarvus Green-Ellis make some big runs on the Ravens. BJGE had 18 carries for 91 yards, 5.05 yards per carry. His longest was 14 yards, so take that away and 17 carries and 77 yards still equates to 4.53 yards per carry. I think McCoy can exploit that, as long as the Eagles start with running the ball first. Perhaps it will take some play action plays for Vick to turn around and see how his receivers are getting away or not in the secondary, see which tight end option is best available, and see what lanes McCoy gets the most production in. The game plan in Week 1 went from the long ball to a balanced passing attack in the final drive, so hopefully that means the Eagles are now using the philosophy that it is okay to change your game plan.
Knowing the Eagles, though, I expect some small gains and then going for the bomb at least 2 to 3 times before the first quarter is over. That could be make or break. If it works, then we can switch to the medium yard and running game and be fine I think. If it doesn't, we all know Reid will continue to try to deliver the ball in to the end zone no matter how far away it is. Let us hope for the former.
Do I still hold true to my prediction? Well, the Eagles are +2.5 points against the Ravens. I don't know much about that, but I do know that the home team is automatically awarded +3 points. So, that means the Ravens should win, in my opinion, but hints that home field advantage will payoff better for the Eagles to squeek out an upset. Is it really a home field advantage? Baltimore and Philadelphia are only 2-3 hours apart on any given day. Weather is the same and so is the verocity of the fans, just in the opposite direction for the Ravens. The Ravens are a well established team who have never missed the playoffs and been to a couple of AFC title games on the road and never really seem to get iced. This game will be brutally tough on both teams. But, I am a homer. I have faith in my team's players to step up when needed (which should be the whole f'ing game, not one play). I think they do it, and make it look better than the win at Cleveland. I have seen Andy Reid teams struggle and play poorly on offense one week only to kill it the next week. While I don't think anybody will "kill" the Ravens this year, I do think the Eagles get away with a good win. Eagles 23, Ravens 16.
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