Eagles Vs 49ers Review

Going out to San Francisco the week prior to the bye, the Philadelphia Eagles knew that they needed this game. Not only would be going 2-4 into the bye be a bad situation, but their division rivals weren’t losing many games, only two combined actually up until Sunday. So realizing that they were missing a few key starters and some depth players, the Eagles took the fight to the host 49ers and pulled their record to even after six games by beating the 49ers in Candlestick Park. And they did it in vintage 2008 Eagles fashion as well.

Which means, you know, it was FAR more exciting then it had to be.

The Eagles dominated early on, holding an 11 point lead at one point (17-6) but from the final minute of the second quarter until the beginning of the 4th, it was all 49ers with 20 unanswered points to enter the final frame of play with a 26-17 lead. But then in the fourth quarter, every unit clicked for the Eagles, namely the defense, as they jolted the 49ers for 23 unanswered points and three turnovers en route to a 40-26 high scoring affair in San Fran. This game had everything you could ask for: a combined eight field goals made, a touchdown thanks to a blocked field goal for San Fran, and then an interception for a touchdown by the Eagles to ice the game for good. Oh, and a pretty competitive match up between a career back up and an elite running back in the league (Correll Buckhalter Vs. Frank Gore).

The Eagles bye week couldn’t come at a better time, with injured starters Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, and Brian Westbrook all expected back in two weeks time when we play host to the red hot Atlanta Falcons. The only one uncertain will be Shawn Andrews, who missed his fourth consecutive game with back issues.

Quarterbacks: A few days after saying that things had to change and stepping up and voicing his concern for the offense, Donovan McNabb made sure he did his part in putting the unit back on the right track. The franchise leader in pass attempts (which he holds after the 49ers game) yards, completions, and touchdowns continued his fine play as he hit 23 of 36 passes at 63.8% (rounds off to 64% which was his season average when we went to the Superbowl in 2004) for 280 yards with two touchdowns, an interception, and a 94.7 QB rating. His longest pass completion was for 27 yards, nothing that evokes anything short of the Rams game in week one, but a lot more of the passes were hitting in the double digits and up, as opposed to one or two yard dink and out routes. And the interception was worthless, because not only did the defense come alive to stop them, but it was at their 12 yard line, and he rebounded nicely enough to make you forget about it. Another interesting element was the one McNabb roll out for four yards as well: it is interesting because you have to go back weeks to find the last time he rolled out of the pocket to run.
McNabb Grade: A (95%)

Running and Full Backs: With all the ailments and injuries that Westbrook is suffering through, Buckhalter has been making a pretty sizeable profit and impact during his time out. The General carried the ball 18 times for 93 yards and a touchdown while also leading everyone with seven receptions for 85 yards, totaling 25 touches and 178 yards and a touchdown for our fantasy football players. Even with Westbrook out of the game, Lorenzo Booker still only had one carry for five yards and no receptions in the game. And Dan Klecko, who was originally brought back home to Philly as a fullback but turned back into a defensive tackle, paved the way in the backfield for the running game and also caught a pass. In fact, maybe I am crazy here, but the 5.2 yards a rush for Correll and 4.9 as a team would allow me to insinuate that, perhaps, Klecko should be kept as a fullback, and we move Tony Hunt back to running back and move someone else out, like Booker. Speaking of, where the hell was Hunt at?
Unit Grade: A (93%)

Receivers and Tight Ends: The impending return of both Curtis and Brown after the bye week makes me wonder what we will do with DeSean Jackson, who has been a star for us at receiver since them two started suffering through injuries. Perhaps by moving him back to the slot and between #2 with Brown, he could be a load of fireworks over the middle as he caught six passes for 98 yards and had one receiver reverse for a yard. Hank Baskett posted four catches for 38 yards and a touchdown, which FINALLY came as a result of using his measurable size difference over corners and safeties on a F-A-D-E route! Greg Lewis caught three passes for 38 yards and Jason Avant had one catch for 17 yards, while LJ Smith had a reception for two yards after missing last week’s game and the second touchdown pass. But the only question I have to ask is, just what is the point of keeping Matt Schobel if he is going to be inactive, or inquiring about Tony Gonzalez instead?
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Offensive Line: I know the contention was made that Andrews should be considered the best player on the offense we are missing, but the case again on my behalf is to look at the 5.2 yards rushing for the General and, once again, NO sacks and NO penalties on the line. The former stat is especially impressive, considering that the line does not play their best against base 3-4 defenses like the one Mike Nolan employs (see the Cowboys and Steelers games if you don’t believe me). In fact, the closest anyone got to McNabb was end Justin Smith, who had their only quarterback hurry up against Tra Thomas. And Max Jean-Gilles never was called by name, which is a good thing, although Todd Herremans was called a couple of times for some devastating blocks on Correll runs and screens. While I would love to see Andrews back in, he can take as much time as he wants if this line is going to play like it has over the past two weeks: Max is doing just fine.**
Unit Grade: A (98%)
**This is my opinion ONLY: feel free to shoot me for it!

Defensive Line: If Juqua Parker was “only 75%” going into that game, then I will take him at 75% over some other ends at 100% then. Parker was a phantom to the offensive line of the 49ers, or so it seemed, as he had five tackles, two for a loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry, a pass defense, and an interception which he took 55-yards to the end zone to ice the game for the Eagles. Oh, and “JP’s” tackle on tight end Delanie Walker was a thing of beauty too, for a loss of ten. Trent Cole led the unit with six tackles and had a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble on 49ers Quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan., which fellow end Chris Clemons picked up. Rookie tackle Trevor Laws had two tackles, Mike Patterson had two assisted tackles, and Darren Howard and Broderick Bunkley each had one tackle apiece, with Howard notching a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hurry, and also the final sack on the final play of the game. And even though Gore ran for 101 yards, 25 of them were on one run, knocking him back to 76 yards on 18 carries then, and I cannot take away from the pressure we got on JT all game, and the fact that the D-Ends came up with ALL three sacks was pretty downright impressive.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Linebackers: As a defensive leader from the middle, Stewart Bradley has been taking it all in stride and doing all the little things that make up a great MIKE in this system. He again led the team with nine tackles but it was Omar Gaither who played gang busters on Gore, with seven tackles and two for a loss, both on Gore. Chris Gocong had two assisted tackles, while Akeem Jordan and Tank Daniels saw their action on special teams. But yet, the tight end was again a factor, although not really as much as Cooley, Olsen, and Witten before Vernon Davis. Although, Davis DID get 57 of his 75 yards on one freak pass: he had six of them as well.
Unit Rating: B (85%)

Secondary: Really, no matter what O’Sullivan tried to do for the 49ers, he couldn’t seem to find much, outside of a few spruce freak plays of 57-yards to Davis, 26 to Arnaz battle, 21 to Isaac Bruce, and 25 to Josh Morgan. Other then that, the secondary contained their little known names at wide out and tight end, as both Quintin Mikell and Brian Dawkins tallied seven tackles with Mikell also logging a pass defense, an interception, and two special teams tackles. Former 49er Joselio Hanson had three tackles while Asante Samuel had two tackles and two passes defended. Both Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown had an assisted tackle, which is good news because it means they weren’t getting beat at all.
Unit Rating: A (93%)

Special Teams: The story again was Dave Akers, although it wasn’t due to his missed field goal (even though he did miss one from 54 but I’ll get to that) as he hit four field goals and four extra points for 16 total points. Sav Rocca didn’t fair as well today, although it would mainly be because of coverage or lack there of, as he punted two times for 38.5 a boot but 16 a net, putting one inside the 20-yard line. Quintin Demps averaged 29 yards a kick return, although he got a 63-yard return which led to the first touchdown of the game, and Jackson had 14 an average on punt returns. Akeem Jordan led teams coverage with three tackles while Sean Considine and Mikell paced it with two each, and while Allen Rossum, another former Eagle in 1998 and 1999, had the one punt return for 45 yards, his average on kicks was 21.6, well below his NFC leading 29 yards a return coming in. As I mentioned out front, the missed field goal by Akers was blocked, as much his fault as the blockers out front, so that is a no fault.
Return Game Grade: A (95%)
Akers Grade: B+ (88%)
Coverage and Rocca Grade: B (85%)

Coaching: First thing is first…the inclusion of the F-A-D-E route should be more from here on out! That said, once more, the run pass game was tilted 67-33 pass run, but at least more shots were tried to the middle and long as opposed to just dumping it off all the time. Special teams were solid except for the field goal block, and the defense, at fault for only 19 of the 26 points, was phenomenal outside five or so freak plays and simply outstanding in the 4th quarter. And on top of that, the staff KNEW we needed this win, and we got it.
Staff Grade: A (95%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Donovan McNabb: I know, you say third place, but look at who is in front of him: McNabb did very well in the game, sans his interception.
2. Correll Buckhalter: Complete work horse whose stats spoke for themselves.
1. Juqua Parker: Most impressive is that he was allegedly “injured” coming into this game: played nothing like it at all in my opinion.

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-Keeping it on the back burner for two weeks, McNabb and Andy Reid set the record for most wins as a duo starting out together and what a coincidence…in San Francisco, bypassing Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, who teamed up for 75 wins. Speaking of more records, on the pass prior to the blocked field goal, McNabb set the attempts record for Eagles passers as well.
-On four passes where O’Sullivan passed for more then 20 yards a clip, he posted 129 yards and had 70 yards on 13 completions otherwise.
-San Francisco shot themselves in the foot with ten penalties and six on the offense, including three false starts, two holds, and illegal formation.
-San Francisco led the TOP battle 33:19 to 26:41, and in the second and third quarters, accumulated over 10 minutes in each set.

Well, as I said before, we needed this win to avoid going sub-500 to the bye week. Now, we rest up and get back Reggie, Kevin, Brian, and hopefully Shawn as well so we can return to host the Falcons on the 26th.