Eagles VS Rams Review

The thrill of the season opener for both the players and the fans had to be tapered by the resistance to overshoot the outcome of it, as the Philadelphia Eagles kicked off their 76th season in the NFL at Lincoln Financial by hosting the St. Louis Rams, who last year were 3-13 but hammered by injuries. But yet you can only taper so much before the enthusiasm settles in and it is go time, and now that it is all said and done and week one is finally in the books, you only continue to contain the amount of words you could use to describe Sunday’s performance. Among them words you could choose dominating, you could choose controlling, you could choose overpowering, or you could choose magnificent as the Eagles started the season 1-0 as they rolled all over the Rams 38-3.

So much, then, for those starters being rusty huh?

The Eagles stormed out of the gates with two touchdowns on their very first two drives of the game, and even when they slowed down and punted three straight drives after that, the Eagles defense made sure that the Rams weren’t bound to be playing catch-up anytime soon. And Special teams, which had been lacking some solid return man and cover guys, looked pretty darn good on Sunday as well, in particular a little punt returner and receiver named DeSean Jackson. The win solidifies what we all expected to see from the Eagles in the opener without giving off too much against the fact that they only did it because they were playing the Rams because let’s face it, Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson are multi time pro bowlers as is Torry Holt, and they ALL played every single minute in the game on the offensive side of the ball for St. Louie.

Quarterbacks: Wow, when the receivers alluded to the fact that Donovan McNabb was once again the Donny Mac of old, they sure as heck weren’t lying about it. During the first half alone, McNabb accumulated 297 yards passing and hit anyone that had a set of hands and wore white jerseys: for the game he completed 21 of 33 passes (for 63.6%) with 361 yards (as of the two Monday night games, the most yards of any quarterback in the first 14 games) and three touchdowns to get a QB rating of 131 for the game. The best thing about him during the game might have been something not in the passing numbers: he was never sacked and was able to roll where he wanted to and found who he wanted while also running one time for three yards. In fact, the Eagles felt he did SO well they sat him late and gave Kevin Kolb meaningful season time in the game, and he did not disappoint either: Kevin nailed five out of six passes for 53 yards and had a rating of 103.5. As a whole, the two who numerically follow one another combined for 414 yards and were never sacked once during the game.
Unit Grade: A+ (100%)

Running & Full Backs: It was just another day at the office for Brian Westbrook…or was it? The mighty back who led the team and all backs last year with 90 receptions got more touches running the ball far more as opposed to his receiving touches, as he ran 19 times for 91 yards and posted a touchdown while only catching two passes for a yard and another touchdown to total 21 touches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Lorenzo Booker had a limited role in his first season game as an Eagle, carrying the ball five times for nine yards while Correll Buckhalter carried the ball two times for five yards, and in his first game as the fullback, Tony Hunt ran two times for three yards including a goal line touchdown and caught a pass for two yards. The unit averaged 3.4 yards a carry, but no one other then Westbrook (4.8) even cracked the 3-yard mark.
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Wide Outs and Tight Ends: Remember when the members of the Philly media made it a big point to remind everyone who would listen that without the services of Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown that we had no one to throw the ball to? I’ll bet that after that game, they were going into hiding or were trying to duck what they said in hopes of not hearing it from the guys they questioned. THREE Eagles receivers all topped the 100-yard mark, and be it as cheap as some of them may have been, it still happened, as Jackson razzled and dazzled in his first season game with six receptions and 106 yards (and including his punt return numbers, he had 14 total touches and 203 yards total) as Greg Lewis hauled in five catches for 104 yards and LJ Smith had five catches as well with 39 yards and a touchdown. Jason Avant had three receptions for 45 yards while Brent Celek had two catches for 15 yards, both coming from Kolb. But it was Hank Baskett who had the catch and run that stole the show with a 90-yard touchdown catch that put his 84 and 87-yarders to shame from back in 2006: for the game he had two catches and 102 yards.
Unit Grade: A (93%)

Offensive Line: Well now, with the way they dominated today, you would just as soon forget that William Thomas had back issues and that Shawn Andrews had off the field issues that kept him to only one preseason game and missing training camp. Donovan and Kevin collectively had enough time to place a call to Domino’s, sit and wait for their delivery, pay and tip the driver, and then eat their pizza all in the same duration with the big men in front laying out blue jerseys right and left. In fact, not only did they not allow a sack the whole game, but according to the NFL game book, they only allowed two tackles for a loss and not even ONE quarterback hurry on either #4 or #5. And remember folks, guys like Max Jean-Giles and Nick Cole were in when Kevin was in, so we DID replace some people. My one and only MINOR complaint is that the 3.4 yards a rush for the running platoon needs to improve a bit from that number.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Defensive Line: Now then, how smart were Andy Reid and Tom Heckert to keep Darren Howard instead of “J-Mac”, and how smart was the person who moved Dan Klecko back to defensive tackle and goal line lead blocker? In fact, 1.5 of the four total team sacks came from two guys that we were all pretty sure wouldn’t be on the roster at this point, but now we are better for it. Klecko contributed a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a quarterback hurry but was also a good road block and also a lead blocker for Hunt‘s touchdown. Howard combined with Mike Patterson on a sack and while both got a hurry for it, Howard got the tackle for a loss. And the other linemen saw scat work come there way while the above three stole the show: Trent Cole had three total tackles (2 solo and 1 assist) Broderick Bunkley and Juqua Parker combined on a Jackson tackle, and Chris Clemons had a pass defense. But the short of the long is this much: the entire unit worked to allow a former pro bowl selection in Jackson only 40 yards rushing on the day.
Unit rating: A- (90%)

Linebackers: Okay, so Jimmy Johnson might be going a little bit sinew at his rather experienced age, but he proved the “experts” foolish for doubting that Stewart Bradley wasn’t ready to be the man at MIKE. Both Bulger and Jackson were in danger when #55 was in the area as he co-led the team with nine total tackles (8 solo and 1 assist) and also posted two tackles for a loss, a sack, a QB hurry, and also had a pass defense to his name. In fact, Bradley was such a PIG in the stat column that Chris Gocong and Omar Gaither were pretty much cruising on easy street with one tackle apiece, and Akeem Jordan also found his way in for one tackle as well.
Unit Rating: A- (90%)
“Big Blue” Rating: A+ (100%)

Secondary: And so we understand now why Quintin Mikell, even with a healthy Sean Considine, is the starter at strong safety and why Sean is #2 there because the man makes plays everywhere on the field. Mikell co-led the team with nine tackles (7 solo and 2 assist) with a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble which, unfortunately, we did not pick up from Bulger. Brian Dawkins covered everyone without much discrimination and logged a tackle and a pass defense, while Sheldon Brown logged two tackles, including a bell ringing shot to Jackson which channeled his hit on Reggie Bush in January of 2007 (and also, isn’t Jackson a Drew Rosen-dork client?) while Joselio Hanson, Lito Sheppard, and Considine all had one tackle each, Considine with a loss on hitting Jackson. And just to prove that the Eagles defense is a stigmatism for a lack of turnovers, interception machine Asante Samuel in his first game as an Eagle had three pass defenses, but two of them were easily intercepted by him if he was a PATRIOT.
Unit Grade: A (92%)

Special Teams: What a difference the off-season can make for one unit: just nine months ago, the Eagles employed four or five different kick return men with little to no results, and also a slow but steady punt returner with guys who couldn’t really cover very well. Now all of a sudden, that has gone by the way side (well, except for the kick return aspect of it) as Jackson excited with his moves on punt returns, averaging 12.1 yards a return on eight with a long of 60 yards, getting back to the Rams nine yard line saved only by a tackle from Rams punter Donnie Jones. David Akers made his one and only field goal attempt of the game and all five extra points, while Sav Rocca used his boot for four punts and an average of 41.5 and net of 42, and also shocking us with his three punts inside the twenty. Of course, this is also in large part due to the two times Quintin Demps knocked the ball down and two subsequent times Jordan downed it deep. Jordan notched two tackles on teams, while Hanson, Considine, Avant, and Hunt all had one apiece. Oh, and Dante Hall, at one time called the “Human Joystick”, averaged 18 yards a kick return on five of them: apparently, someone broke the stick and didn’t replace the controller.
Unit Grade: A (95%)
“D-Jack” Grade: A+ (99%)

Coaching: Flawless execution on all three fronts, and the means to stay aggressive and not let up on the Rams late is good in my book. Oh, and as far as the pass calling ratio yesterday, we ran 71 total offensive plays, 39 of which were passes and 32 of which were runs, so it turns out to be 55-45 pass-run. That is not too shabby at all in my opinion, and the gun slinging was very effective, so we could have stood to do it even MORE if Andy felt it necessary to! Oh, and for the love of God, would some PLEASE tell Samuel it is OKAY to catch passes that hit you in the hands?
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Stewart Bradley: Handled his first game of the new season at MIKE with ease, and dominated both Marc and Steven like they were average players.
2. DeSean Jackson: Amazing at receiver and punt returner: begs the question, along with the others, as to WHY we need a big name receiver after all.
1. Donovan McNabb: The man proved that with time, the ability to make decent receivers look like all-pros is as easy as slapping makeup on a decent looking girl and turning her into an Eagles Cheerleader!

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-The Rams finished the game 0-for-11 on third down attempts, and also finished with 3.7 yards a play on offense: in contrast, the Eagles doubled that number with 7.4 yards per play on offense.
-Only one time did the Rams succeed in passing into Eagles territory, which was during their early fourth quarter drive for their only points of the game.
-The Eagles receivers averaged 15.9 yards per catch.
-After being criticized for not punching in touchdowns inside the red zone, the Eagles settled that issue with four touchdowns on five red zone attempts.
-The Eagles average starting field position was at their own 31 as opposed to the Rams, who started off on average at their own 17.
-Out of the nine penalties committed by the Rams, six of them were false starts, and four of them were committed by four different linemen.

And with that, this column is closing out with three words on my mind right now: BRING…ON…DALLAS!