Let’s get something out of the way with before I start getting to the meat of my argument. I’m not worried about the Eagles because of their game against New England, although that game didn’t help. This team does not need to play well in the preseason to have a successful year. Now having said that, I am worried about this team right now, at least a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. It seems like some fans and media shrug off some major factors and just say “eh, they’ll be fine” and maybe they will, but there are some serious elements working against this team right now.
First off, the quarterback situation. I will give Nick Foles a break for Thursday night, it was his first time in live action since the Super Bowl, he has missed a practice here or there for some soreness and the game did not matter. However, Thursday night was a striking reminder of what Nick Foles can be. I’ve always seen two versions of Foles, there is Good Foles and there is Bad Foles. Bad Foles showed up on Thursday night and when he is bad, I mean he is really bad. No rhythm, not moving well, can’t hit open receivers and of course, turns the ball over. The Good Nick Foles, well he’s the Super Bowl MVP. My perfect backup quarterback is a guy, where if you ask him to play 4 games, he can get you at least 3 wins, but if you ask him to play 8 games he will go 4-4. That is Nick Foles. He can get you lightning in a bottle, or he can stink up the joint. Hence my unease at the position going into the season. At this point, Carson Wentz seriously may miss at least week 1 and even if he plays, who knows what we will get from him.
Second, is the competition. Atlanta is a very good team that probably believes they should have advanced instead of the Eagles last season. The Falcons are entering their second year in an offensive system, which should help Matt Ryan and Co. In addition, they ended the year pretty hot, it looked like they started to find their groove until they ran into the Eagles at the Linc. For those of you that say, “Well they Eagles can’t lose on banner night, the crowd will be electric, etc,” I beg to differ. You don’t need to look any further than last year to see what Kansas City did to the Patriots in Foxboro on opening night to realize that the opening game won’t be a cakewalk. The Birds are getting thrown into the fire week 1 in a game that could have potential seeding consequences come January.
Next up is the defensive line. This was far and away their strength last year and probably will be again at some point this year. However, if Brandon Graham does not play, which is looking like he won’t, their dline is in a spot of trouble. Timmy Jernigan will be out as well, which means half their starters from last year are out due to injury. A third starter, Vinny Curry, is now playing in Tampa. Everyone hopes Derek Barnett can step up to the occasion, but the key word there is hopes, nobody actually knows if he can, he sure didn’t against New England on Thursday. Chris Long was great in spots last year, but can he hold up under more snaps? Nobody really knows. Yes, they also have newly acquired Michael Bennett, and he will help at the end spot, but their lack of guys on the interior may require he slides down more often. My point is, there is still talent on that dline, but tons of question marks that go with it. This group will be heavily needed come opening night against Atlantas versatile rushing offense.
While a good defensive line helps shut down opposing teams rushing attacks, more often than not, it’s the defensive lines trust in the linebacking core to mop up once they open lanes that really stops the rush. Which brings me to Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham and the rest of the linebacking crew. Bradham is out against the Falcons due to a suspension, so that starts to thin out that group already. I need to see more from Hicks next preseason game. I know he’s a good player, and some of what happened Thursday night was rust, but if he can’t tackle in the preseason he isn’t going to magically be able to tackle opening night. Not to mention the fact that we don’t even really have another linebacker we can trust on the roster, at least not at this point. Hopefully, someone can step up and definitively win that third spot in the next week.
The margin between winning and losing in the NFL is very thin. Sure, maybe Wentz plays and is immediately the stud he was before he went down, but if he doesn’t they can’t have the holes they currently have and expect to sustain success. I’d like to see the offense get in a rhythm in game 3. Move the chains, go on some drives, ease my worry a bit. Same goes for the defense. Get some stops, maybe a turnover here and there and sure up the tackling. This team has some great players with Championship experience and a coach that seems to have his thumb directly on the pulse of the team, so there’s no reason to think they can’t overcome most of their deficiencies. However, the fact remains that they still have a few major worries going into the third preseason game that will spill into the regular season as well.
By Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 