Game Review: Eagles Offense Vs. Giants

Here’s a position-by-position review of how the Eagles’ offense performed against the Giants after having re-watched the game.

QUARTERBACKS

* Michael Vick never looked right, but it seems pretty clear that he did damage to the hamstring on a 1-yard run late in the first quarter. Vick ran out of bounds, and it sounded like the on-field mics caught him letting out an F-bomb. He then was shaking his head and clapped his hands in frustration as he returned to the middle of the field.

* When he played, Vick was 6-for-9 for 30 yards and an interception. He also fumbled once on a play where it looked like he had James Casey open in the flat.

* Matt Barkley went 17-for-26 for 158 yards, no TDs and an interception. Lots of screens and short/intermediate throws as he only averaged 6.1 yards per attempt. The Eagles entered the game leading the NFL with 36 pass plays of 20+ yards, but they only had one with Barkley.

* The evaluation here is a matter of expectations. I thought Barkley played OK. For most of the game, he got the ball out quick. On his first drive, he took a bit hit, but stayed in the pocket and delivered to Jason Avant for 14 yards. The decision-making needs work. He has to protect the ball better than he did on the fumble in the red zone in the second. In the third, Barkley took a sack that pushed the Eagles out of field goal range.

* Barkley’s accuracy was OK. He threw low to Avant on the 25-yard gain in the fourth, limiting his ability to pick up YAC. He was off-target on a throw to LeSean McCoy in the flat. And there were a few occasions where it looked like he and the receivers weren’t on the same page. Overall, though, he completed 65.4 percent of his passes.

* Barkley looked really good on the first drive until the fumble. And he made a nice throw to Avant for 15 in the fourth.

RUNNING BACKS

* McCoy once again had trouble getting going, finishing with 48 yards on 15 carries. His longest run went for 9 yards. Chip Kelly said today that McCoy sometimes wants to go for the home run instead of following where the play is designed to go. But Kelly needs to give him some help too. There were multiple occasions where the Eagles went with a zone read look, leaving a defender unblocked. That defender then crashed inside on McCoy, limiting his ability to maneuver.

* McCoy made a defender miss on a 3rd-and-1 carry in the second. He got better in the second half, running nine times for 41 yards (4.6 YPC). McCoy put forth a great individual effort on an 7-yard run down the sideline in the third. And he picked up 5 on a 3rd-and-2 run. He broke a tackle in the backfield and picked up 5 on another play. McCoy is usually excellent in short yardage, but he couldn’t pick up a first on 3rd-and-2 in the third. Tough to tell if there was a hole based on the TV angle.

* As a receiver, McCoy had a nice sell job on a wheel route in the second, drawing a pass interference penalty. He also made a defender miss and picked up a first down on another catch. Overall, four catches for 17 yards. As a blocker, McCoy had a nice blitz pickup on Vick’s third-down incompletion for Zach Ertz in the second. It looked to me like he made the most of his opportunities in this one.

* Bryce Brown continues to be a non-factor. He picked up 2 on a screen in the first. In the third, it looked like Jason Peters had Jason Pierre–Paul pinned inside, but Brown didn’t (for once) bounce it outside and only picked up 1. His best moment came on a 3-yard run in the third on 3rd-and-1. Brown got away from Pierre-Paul for the conversion. Overall, three carries for -1 yards.

WIDE RECEIVERS

* DeSean Jackson finished with eight catches for 63 yards, but couldn’t get anything going downfield. His longest reception was a 13-yarder. Jackson couldn’t shake Prince Amukamara one-on-one on the play where Barkley fumbled. And he did a bad job on third down in the third, not knowing where the first down was on a shallow cross. I’m all for Jackson getting out of harm’s way on catches over the middle, but he’s got to have better awareness in that spot.

* Riley Cooper was quiet with two grabs for 13 yards. Avant had the 25-yard grab and finished with three catches for 54 yards. He got whistled for offensive pass interference on a fourth-down conversion in the fourth. Jeff Maehl and Damaris Johnson saw limited action.

TIGHT ENDS

* Vick was looking Brent Celek’s way on the first-quarter interception. Celek caught two balls for 17 yards. He had a nice seal block on McCoy’s 6-yard run in the third.

* Zach Ertz had one grab for 5 yards. It looked like Barkley’s pass on a crossing route in the second went right through his hands.

* James Casey had an 11-yard grab on a screen in the first. He got matched up with Pierre-Paul and blown up on a McCoy 7-yard run in the third.

OFFENSIVE LINE

* Not a good day for Jason Peters, particularly in the run game. Early on, he pulled to the right and met linebacker Jon Beason head-on, but Beason still tackled McCoy after a 1-yard gain. Pierre-Paul jumped inside of Peters on an outside zone run in the first as McCoy was stopped after a 4-yard pickup. Peters got beat by Mike Patterson on a McCoy run that was stopped for no gain in the first. He got beat on Brown’s 3-yard run in the third. Peters went straight to the linebacker and left Mathias Kiwanuka unblocked on an outside run in the third. And he couldn’t get Pierre-Paul blocked on a McCoy run that lost a yard in the third. Overall, Peters was solid in pass protection.

* Evan Mathis put forth a consistent outing. He had a couple nice blocks on 6-yard runs by McCoy and held up well in pass protection.

* Not a good outing for Jason Kelce. He had trouble with Linval Joseph on the interior. Joseph got the best of Kelce and pressured Vick up the middle on the play where he ran for a yard out of bounds. Kelce got off-balance and was bull-rushed to the ground by Joseph in the second. He allowed penetration on a 6-yard McCoy run in the third and was driven into the backfield on a 1-yard carry by Brown in the third. Kelce also had a pair of bad snaps to Barkley. This was different than the first outing against the Giants, but Kelce did not play his best game.

* Todd Herremans was OK. He got bull-rushed by Joseph right back into Vick’s face on the intentional grounding call in the first, but otherwise held up.

* Not a good showing for Lane Johnson. He got beat badly by Justin Tuck on a McCoy run that lost 3 in the second. It looked like he let up a little and gave up a hit on Barkley on a pass play in the second. Johnson gave up a sack in the third, but Barkley held the ball for awhile. Johnson and Herremans double-teamed Joseph in the fourth, but Herremans slid off. Johnson thought he still had help, and Joseph sacked Barkley. He gave up a hit on Barkley in the fourth on a throw to McCoy in the flat. Johnson split out wide as a blocker on screens on a couple occasions. But both times, it seemed like he could have done a better job on the defensive backs. Johnson had a couple nice moments in the run game – one on a 9-yard McCoy run and another on a 6-yarder – but overall was shaky.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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