Eagles Beat Panthers; Everyone Gets Wet

Like Barry Bonds' record breaking home-run ball, this game must be stamped with an asterisk. The rain and field conditions made it tough to accurately evaluate the performances of some players. For whatever reason, the wet ball seemed to affect the Eagles more than it affected the Panthers.

But the real heroes were the Eagles cheerleaders who stayed in their white bikini-tops even after being soaked by the rain. I know I sure saluted them whenever they appeared on screen (if you know what I'm sayin).

Though it was nice to see the backups play with passion and turn a rain-delayed game into something worth watching late into the night, the win is meaningless. The first team offense got shut out, and though the Eagles outplayed the Panthers, they trailed going into half-time. I'll blame the rain for some of the follies, but it doesn't wash away everything.


Coaching
Reid admitted the fake FG was a bad coaching decision, though I'll disagree with him. It's the preseason, where results don't matter. This is the time to try (and fail). I don't like that particular play, but the decision to fake it wasn't a bad choice, IMO. Why not test it out in preseason? On a side note: Wet Andy Reid is far inferior to wet Eagles Cheerleaders.

Penalties continued to plague the team. It's preseason and some of the wrinkles can be ironed out before the season begins, but this is another coaching error. Our boys need to be limiting mistakes. A mixture of a poor return game and penalties makes seeing the endzone a rare sight. Finally, as much as I like to see McNabb and Kolb getting their reps, 52 passes compared to 22 runs is not the ratio fans were hoping to see in the regular season.

QBs
Donny was good, but not great. A number of his 13 incompletes were dropped balls, but he was really firing it in there. Some were a little high, but maybe I can chalk that up to the conditions. Kevin Curtis looked to have the most trouble catching McNabb, even after he put on gloves to help him grip the ball. Again, I hope this is a result of the weather and not a sign of things to come.

One final note. As much as I like to see Donovan look for the big play down the field, he needs to play smart football. He was penalized for an illegal forward pass on a play where he could have easily ran for 10 yards. His pass was caught for about a 20 yard gain, but on 3rd and 2, just go get the first down (and another 7-8 yards).

KK was fired up and ignited the 2nd and 3rd team offenses, throwing some great passes along the way. His INT was a result of a deflected ball (though it had McNabb-esqu velocity) and he looked mobile in the pocket (or lack of) during the rush. He under threw another ball, but as long as you miss to the sidelines or into the ground, bad passes don't concern me. It's a shame it's going to take a McNabb injury or epic falloff to see what Kolb can do full time, but it's going to be worth the wait.

Receiver woes (and whoas)
Potsnpans talked about Jackson's play and it seems more and more likely that he becomes a regular part of this offense. Especially with the sight of Reggie Brown wincing in pain as trainers went to work on his hamstring on the sidelines in the first quarter. Word is that it's strained, but he had an MRI today and we are awaiting the results. Not like it matters, considering Reggie has largely failed to impress in his time in the NFL.

I've gone to bat for him before, but this injury may be what it takes to slow him down (again) for yet another year. It seems like every season there's the expectation that he'll come around, but yet again, it's likely he'll fail to impress. Maybe I'm being near-sighted and pessimistic, but I feel like this was a make or break year for Reggie. An injury isn't usually the first step towards a good, productive season.

Greg Lewis had a drop on a nice pass and Baskett had a Kolb pass hit him right in the helmet. Kevin stood in and took a huge hit, but placed the ball perfectly in Baskett's range. Those are the types of throws that get me excited about his future with the Eagles.

Speaking of Baskett, he had a nice grab on another Kolb pass down the far sidelines, but came down out of bounds. The fact he physically made the catch is what impressed me. All may not be lost if Reggie is slowed this season.

Defense
A total of 212 yards allowed and only 3 points sounds wonderful to me. The Panthers aren't an offensive powerhouse, especially without Steve Smith, especially in the rain, but the D looked sharp and that certainly is a good sign. Jonathan Stewart (4 carries for 3 yards) and DeAngelo Williams (8 carries for 32 yards, 23 on 1 play) looked pedestrian as the front 7 used muscle to clog up the inside and quickness to protect the sidelines, giving runners nowhere to go.

Dawkins destroyed Mush in the endzone, declaring with certainty that last week's blown play against Santonio Holmes was an aberration. Ltio had a ball thrown right at him and I hope the interception brightens his spirits and keeps him excited to play in Philly. Considine continues to look solid, but Mikell has simply been the stand-out

Segrest out!
The Eagles' special teams are appropriately named. I'm assuming they're called "special" teams because "retarded" isn't exactly PC, but that's how they've played so far. Kick coverage has been good, but the return game is severely impaired. I know the ball was wet, but Lorenzo Booker dropped 3 kicks and failed to dance his way past the 15 yard-line.

This isn't entirely his fault, as the return unit looks to have mastered both the matador block (where you step out of the way at the last moment to avoid the bull) and the look out block (where you warn your return man with a "look out!" yelled from your ass, on the ground).

Rory Segrest (special teams guy) is making me truly miss John Harbaugh, and fans should never have to feel the loss of a SPECIAL TEAMS coach. That's on Andy. Unfortunately, after last year's problems, the Birds went out and supposedly improved their teams. I say unfortunately, because I don't see it so far. Field position is key in scoring points. It's a hell of a lot easier to go 55 yards to punch it in than it is to go 80. The teams had better improve or else the Eagles may be in for another low-scoring season.

Odds and ends
David Akers looks done. It seems he's lost his accuracy from long-range. I don't know how he quickly slid from the 2nd most accurate kicker in NFL history to a guy who can't hit anything deeper than an XPA. He needs to get it together or the Birds need to sign Jay Feely.

Jerome McDougle looked good again. It was still against Carolina's 2nd team, but he got pressure on the QB quite a few times. Parker had a sack and a few pressures, but I'd like to see more of Jerome with the 1st team in the game against the Pats.

Tony Hunt actually looked good. His big run was a product of good blocking, good vision, a missed tackle and some actual speed from the PSU back known for being "patient". It's not going to be easy to cut any RBs this year, and I'd actually like to see the Birds keep Westie, Buck, Booker and Hunt and let Ryan Moats practice with some other NFL team.

Offensive lineman highlight alert! Rookie G/T/C Mike McGlynn pulled and laid a great block freeing Booker for one of his 10+ yard runs. Considering how porous the 2nd string line looked at times, it was nice to see a rookie come out and make an impact running the ball.

Youngsters Bryan Smith, Joe Mays, Kyle Arrington and Therrian Fontenot all made plays, helping the Eagles win the 2nd half (and the game) and holding down the defensive dominance the Eagles exacted over the Panthers. Despite what I said about the win not mattering, it's always good to see the young guys making plays. Every team is a few injuries away from using preseason heros in regular games, so this is comforting.