Eagles-Saints Report Card

by BigGreek24

Tuesday September 22, 2009 

Eagles-Saints Report Card thumbnail

I think that before the game if anyone had said the Eagles would have walked off the field at halftime down 17-13 to the Saints everyone would’ve been pretty happy considering that Kevin Kolb was making his first pro start.   If not for a few breakdowns the Eagles legitimately could’ve gone into the locker room up 13-10 poised for an upset.  As we all know, the Eagles made too many mistakes against a good football team.  This game reminded me alot of the New England Sunday night game from a couple years ago except that the Eagles were in position to win that game in the 4th quarter.  That was not the case on Sunday.

Passing Offense: Kevn Kolb exceeded every expectation anyone could’ve had.  He threw for 391 yards and his 71-yard touchdown strike to DeShaun Jackson to tie the score at 7 was a thing of beauty.  He did throw 3 interceptions, but two of them came late.  Grade: C – plus

Rushing Offense: The Eagles picked up 85 yards on the ground despite having to go to the air for much of the second half.  The Wildcat formation seemed to work as the Birds got 45 yards from that formation.  Westbrook got just 16 touches but did have to leave the game early.    Grade: C-plus

Run Defense: Poor tackling set the tone, especially on Bush’s late 19 yard scamper. When are these guys going to learn that you cannot bring down an NFL back by his ankles? The Saints got 133 yards on the ground – not a good number for a unit that was supposed to be improved against the run.  Grade: D

Pass Defense: Just like in 2006 Brees went thru the Eagles pass defense like a hot knife through butter.  311 yards and 3 touchdowns by the time it was all over.   Third down was the killer – 9 for 11 for 131 yards as the Eagles pass rush was non-existent.   The defense again looked flat on the first drive just as it had against the Panthers, an issue that Defensive Coordinator Shawn McDermott has to address.  Grade: D

Special Teams: Were they even there? Yes they sure were.  Ellis Hobbs was acquired because of his ability to field kicks and his fumble to start the half started the snowball rolling downhill.   Hobbs did have a 63 yard kickoff return and Rocca booted a 61 yard punt but unfortunately neither produced when the Eagles needed it, and Rocca gave the Saints a short field a couple of times in the second half.  Grade: F

Coaching: I think Andy Reid had a nice game plan, and I loved the call to go deep to Jackson on the second play of the game.  Unfortunately all the game planning in the world doesn’t overcome poor tacking and poor decision making.  I’d like to give Reid an F here just for saying that he holds himself accountable.  C’mon – ten years and that’s all he can come up with?  Grade: C

Overall: To be fair, I didn’t think the Eagles would win this game.  I also didn’t think they’d get blown out and they were right there at halftime and going into the fourth quarter they were only down 14 points which this offense certainly is capable of overcoming.  If nothing else, Kevin Kolb lasted longer than I thought he would and earned himself another start.  Grade: D

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