Eagles Preseason Game 1 Takeaways

The Eagles lost to the Steelers 31 to 14 in their first preseason game. While it was just the first preseason game, there is still a lot to talk about.

Start with the Negatives:

1. One of my biggest concerns right now is depth at LB. Hicks and Bradham are above average LB’s at worst, but behind them the cupboard is bare. The team will probably only use two LB’s in most sets, similar to what they did last year. However, if one gets hurt, and we all know Hicks has an extensive injury history, or misses games for other reason, like Bradham in game 1, this team is going to have a problem. It looked like they started with Gerry as their WILL on Thursday night and that did not go too well. He got walled off and driven out on a number of plays and did not appear to be shedding his blocks well. They probably don’t need their WILL to be a thumper, but Gerry also looks vastly undersized for a LB. I would be worried if it came down to him playing major snaps. Kamu Grugier-Hill, KGH from now on, also played significant snaps. His body looks more like a linebacker and he appeared to hold his own a little more than Gerry. He made a nice play at the goal line on the Steelers option attempt. He filled his holes with more effectiveness than Gerry. I’d say KGH is winning that battle as of now. Without Bradham in game 1, it’s highly likely that both will have to play, Hick and KGH won’t play every snap in week 1, so hopefully Gerry looks better next week. LaRoy Reynolds had some good moments later in the game, maybe he can help out. Dido for Corey Nelson. 
2. Rasul Douglas had an odd night. He got beat for 2 touchdowns and also had an INT. Both TD’s he gave up he didn’t get completely burned, it looked like he mistimed his breakups on both. He was stride for stride with Juju on the first one and slipped/mistimed his jump. The second, he undercut to early and the QB did make a nice throw. I like Douglas. Filling in last year for Darby I thought he did about as much as you could expect from a rookie. He took some lumps but also had a couple INT’s. Some guys always appear to be around the ball and he is one of them. I would be interested to see him at safety. He’s physical, he’s a ballhawk and he’s probably a little slower than you’d like a corner to be. Not sure they want to do this, but seeing as they have a safety deficiency behind Jenkins and McLeod, it may not be a bad idea to try him out there. At worst, I still have faith in him to be a backup corner.
3. Nate Sudfeld did not have his best night either. His stat line was 10/14 140 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s. Maybe he was shaking some rust off, but it sure seemed like he had some opportunities and missed them. He wasn’t reading the right guys and didn’t make the best decisions. The first pick was a combined bad decision and bad throw, not a good combination. The second was some kind of miscommunication between the receiver and him, but either way, it looked like an awful throw. He had some good moments also, a couple throws to Dallas Goedert were nice and the bomb to Shelton Gibson was ok also. Overall, he needs to be quicker making decisions (he almost got Corey Clement kiled on a checkdown), something he can hopefully improve on as he continues to see major minutes in the preseason. He’s got some potential but the project is still there.
4. A somewhat mild observation, but I thought Doug left some guys in a little bit too long. We didn’t need to see Clement as long as we did. There is a battle going on for the last RB spot, guys are hungry for reps, I know Clement probably wanted to play, but sometimes you have to save the player from himself. Fletcher Cox was also in during the second quarter. He was a beast on Thursday night, he was a beast last year and he has been a beast his whole career. If I don’t see him again until Atlanta I wouldn’t be particularly disappointed
5. Isaac Seumalo continues to underperform. Generally, watching a game, it’s probably bad if you actually notice the center. Seumalo soared a snap over quarterback Joe Callahans head, a problem he’s had sporadically throughout camp. Can’t have that, it kills drives and can cost games.  
6. Penalties. Team had some bad penalties. Josh Sweat had a bad roughing the passer at the goaline that would have gotten the team off the field. Can’t have that as a rookie trying to earn playing team. Illegal blocks on special teams, a handful of offsides. Perhaps some of it was because there were backups and it’s preseason, but still stuff to clean up. Most of it was things the players can control.

 

Positives

1. It would be hard to not point out the obvious: Dallas Goedert looks really good. He certainly did not look like a rookie in his first NFL game Thursday night, minus the one bad drop. He had a Ertz like catch down the seam, ran a nice corner route for his first catch and caught a touchdown. The TD was a veteran play, he found the hole in the defense, sat and adjusted his route as he waited for the ball. It looked like he had a sixth sense for where the defenders were on that play. The scary part is that with teams focusing on Ertz, Jeffery, Ajayi/Sproles and Agholor, Goedert may slip through the cracks and kill teams. You simply can’t cover all those weapons.
2. The running back position looked great last night. Ajayi had a punishing 22 yard run to get the Birds out of their own endzone.Clement took over for Ajayi early and played quite a bit, as previously noted. Clement is a swiss army knife, you can throw to him out of the backfield, you can hand it off to him and have him run between the tackles or outside, you can even split him out wide. I’m looking forward to seeing how Doug uses him this year. Darren Sproles, did not suit up, as expected. The man that stood out most from the crew fighting for the last roster spot was easily Josh Adams. Ran tough and looks like a guy who could take some carries if the team gets in a spot. I was looking forward to watching Donnel Pumphrey but he was a surprise late scratch. Can’t make the team from the tub and he may not.
3. It was great to see Sidney Jones out there. He survived an injury scare, but just seeing him playing was a good sign. He had a bad helmet to helmet penalty, but besides that seemed like he was in the right places and made a great play on the kickoff team to open the game.
4. Fletcher Cox just beat up on people and seeing that will literally never get old. Got to love Long Cox. 
5. Cameron Johnston had an 81 yard punt. Let me say that again, Cameron Johnston had an 81 yard punt. That is an absolute bomb. Yes, it got called back for a penalty, but that was damn impressive. We’ll see if he can remain consistent and be a solid replacement for Long Ball Jones.
6. Shelton Gibson had an eye popping night. As a kid fighting for the last receiver spot, he made a decent statement. I don’t want to say that his TD was incredibly impressive because he ran almost in a straight line for 63 yards. However, teams need those guys to open up the field. He also had a couple nice returns, something this team desperately needs. If he can keep proving value on special teams and be an occasional deep threat then he will have a good shot at making the team.
7. Malcolm Jenkins and Jalen Mills both had a couple standout plays during there short time, they looked to be in midseason form.

 

That’s it for preseason game 1, can’t wait for the big Super Bowl rematch coming up this week in Foxboro.