Which Eagles helped themselves most in preseason opener?
August 11, 2017 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Rookies Derek Barnett, Mack Hollins and Rasul Douglas sure looked like players Thursday night in the Philadelphia Eagles’ preseason opener at Green Bay.
At the same time, Chance Warmack, Donnel Pumphrey and C.J. Smith were among those who didn’t.
Here’s a look at the top studs and duds from The Packers 24-9 triumph at Lambeau Field.
STUDS
QB Carson Wentz: What stood out on some of his throws, particularly the 38-yard touchdown to Mack Hollins, was how the new drills he and the other quarterbacks have been doing with their footwork have paid off already. All the quarterbacks now are required to make at least one extra move to sidestep imaginary pass rushers in individual drills. What Wentz did to avoid a sack by the legendary Clay Matthews on that play was identical to what he does in practice every day with no pass rush. Muscle memory can be a powerful thing.
WR Mack Hollins: Caught four passes, including a 38-yard catch-and-run in which he rejected two defenders with stiff arms on his way to the end zone for his team’s only TD. Tremendous special-teams player as well.
WR Bryce Treggs: Showed ability to get open deep with his speed and wound up with game highs of seven receptions and 91 yards. This is a player who hasn’t been talked about nearly as much as Marcus Johnson, who didn’t even play in this game because of a hamstring injury.
DE Derek Barnett: His explosion off the line and ability to create a super low pad level was too much for Jason Spriggs to handle. Barnett had 2.0 sacks and two other tackles for losses in what might have been the most encouraging performance by any defender in this game.
CB Rasul Douglas: The rookie used his large frame to overpower receivers at times and get away with what could have been pass interference more than once. He took his cue from second-year man Jalen Mills, who plays a similar style
Patrick Robinson: Played the kind of solid game expected of a veteran in his eighth season. The way he began training camp, with slow play and a recent admission that he was only 25 percent of where he needed to be only added to the concern of Eagles fans everywhere that the cornerbacks will be a disaster this coming season.
They will not. Repeat, they will not.
That opinion has nothing to do with what went down in this game, either.
DUDS
RB Donnel Pumphrey: Recovered his own fumble on a running play and muffed a punt return, which he also recovered. Finished with just 5 yards on four carries and five receptions for 12 yards
G Chance Warmack: Lost in pass protection most of his time in there. Failed to even see a delayed blitzer on one play. He’s a punishing blocker, but only when he can get his hands on somebody. His feet need to be quicker and more coordinated for that to happen.
WR Shelton Gibson: More drops plagued this struggling rookie draft pick out of West Virginia. On his last drop, he left his feet when he didn’t need to. Weird how a player who might be the fastest on the team is having the most trouble adjusting to the speed of the game.
CB C.J. Smith: Gave up two big pass plays early when singled up in man-to-man coverage on the outside. The latter was a 20-yard touchdown to Jeff Janis, who beat him with a double move.
T Taylor Hart: Lacked the quickness to deal with edge rushers after coming in with the third team. This was his first game since switching from defensive line.
As was the case with most players, there were some good plays and some bad ones.
Tight end Trey Burton, for example, made a nice move for extra yards after one of his three receptions, but lost a fumble in the process.
Left tackle Jason Peters didn’t exactly tear it up on a couple of plays, especially one in which he completely whiffed on a rather simple assignment to seal off outside linebacker Nick Perry from making a play that was designed to go in the other direction — off right tackle. Perry blew it up for a 5-yard loss.
Alas, it didn’t count because of an offside penalty.
There were a handful of other plays in which Peters didn’t make serious contact with anyone.
Maybe he answers the bell when the lights go on for real. But on this night, he looked old and slow, and that could be a problem before long.
Penn State’s Matt McGloin, who quarterbacked most of the game for the Eagles, had some good moments and some bad ones. The worst was when he tossed an interception near midfield to set up a Packers field-goal drive that made it 17-6.
He also made plays with his feet to get some first downs against a defense that was incredibly exotic for a preseason game.
Definitely not a total loss for the Eagles but still plenty of work to do before the season opener.
Nfierro@mcall.com
Twitter @nickfierro
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